Major disaster, how do I get home made video off of mini DVD?

[usalabs]

Ok, here's the disaster, for 2 band gigs I've successfully edited and created a DVD from a camcorder's mini DVD including beginning intro's and ending credits along with transitions between scenes, but now (I recorded the band at a new venue) I have completely forgot how I got the video off the mini DVD, every program I tried from WinXDVD Ripper to directly importing the VOB into PowerDirector, fails, I've even tried copying the VOB to a folder, then importing it into PowerDirector, but either way, I only get about 28 minutes of a 45 minute video, it seems there is no way to extract the mini DVD video in it's entirety, from beginning to end, the entire 45 minute video. Playing the DVD in media player works fine, it plays all way to the end.

I need to get the full 45 minute video off the mini DVD (minus the menu created by the camcorder) and into an editable format for PowerDirector, preferably mpeg (.mpg) format.

[hech54]

I've never owned a MiniDVD camera, and I know that the "minutes" reference on regular full sized DVDs is not accurate but.....

[DB83]

Try this:

1. Decrpyt dvd to hdd with dvddecrypter
2. Extract video from vob(s) with vob2mpg

[usalabs]

Try this:

1. Decrpyt dvd to hdd with dvddecrypter
2. Extract video from vob(s) with vob2mpg

Used option 1 with success, used option 2 with success, but the resulting mpg file is 1.25GB.

When imported into PowerDirector the full video is imported fine, and I can successfully edit up to 32 minutes, then beyond that, seems to slow my PC down to a crawl, and when the PC has caught up, the video is out of sync with the audio, but when played back from just before 32 minutes and allowed to play to the end, it works perfectly, but editing beyond 32 minutes causes PC lag to the extreme.

My PC is powerful enough as I have an AMD quad core 2.6Ghz A6-3650 APU with inbuilt ATI Radeon video, 8GB memory and 1TB hard drive, running windows 7 home premium 64 bit, but for some reason, PowerDirector can't handle very large video files.

Previously I have been recording with DVD HQ, and the resulting mpg conversion (which I still have the master mpg files on backups), was up to 865MB which PowerDirector could handle, but at a cost of using 2 mini DVD's in the camcorder which resulted in the band having to stop after the 3rd song so that I could change DVD's, but yesterday I recorded at DVD LP, which allowed the full 45 minutes on 1 mini DVD, but converted to mpg resulted in 1.25GB.

[DB83]

The issue here appears to be your media. You have recorded the full video - as you can see in hech's picture the maximum size is 1.4 gig which, theoretically, allows recordings of up to one hour.

I presume that you are re-using a disk but even a new one could have some bad sectors and your editor coughs when you hit them.

Did you notice any read errors when you decrypted the disk or several attempts to read it ?

[usalabs]

These are brand new discs I opened at the venue.

No errors at all when reading from the disc, using DVDDecrypter, the mini DVD also plays perfectly on my home DVD player.

The computer 'lag' is not when reading the DVD, it's during the editing of the resulting mpg conversion using vob2mpg.

After conversion vob2mpg creates an mpg file of 1.25GB from an 865MB vob, it imports fully into PowerDirector, and I can add titles, effects etc etc up to about 32 minutes, then beyond that, the PC starts to lag badly, it looks like PowerDirector reads the mpg file up to a certain point then struggles beyond that, while it has to dump data behind the current edit point, then read from that point onwards, thus causing lag, it takes about 5 minutes before I can even click on a title template, then when I drag it to the title line of the storyboard, I have to wait another 5 minutes for the software to add it to that section of the video, the same happens when I drag the timeline slider, but that only happens when the video timeline goes beyond about 32 minutes.

Editing from 00:00.000 to 32:15:243 (just now checked while writing this post) is fine then it start lagging beyond that, and the video is out of sync with the audio in such a way that the video is way ahead of the audio by about 1 minute, but as I mentioned earlier, if the video is allowed to be played back starting from about 32 minutes to the end, it plays fully with no lag and fully synced, it's when I start editing beyond about 32 minutes is when I start getting problems, when attempting to use the timeline slider and preview.

I've been in touch with Cyberlink and they haven't had any reports of this problem, so they can't say whether it's the software or the video file, because there are no errors created during PowerDirector's video processing, also, monitoring the CPU usage during the lag, shows all cores never go beyond 15% usage.

[DB83]

You are mis-understanding what these softwares do.

Vob2mpg does NOT take a 895 meg vob and create a 1.25 gig mpg. It does not re-encode. It merely extracts from ALL the vobs on the dvd - check it in explorer and you will see more than one - and creates one mpg file from the contents. So you should have one 895 meg vob and one 300 meg vob.

If you only see one vob then there is an issue with the disk or the way the camera records to it.

Also, depending on how you used dvddecryper there should be more than one vob on your hdd. You can change the settings in that to decrypt the disk to one vob so if you did not do that it is worth trying.

PowerDirector should not cough on this size of file. It is more the reading of the mpg and this does appear to happen at the point where the recording goes to the second vob.

[hech54]

I'm wondering if the camera is dropping the bitrate near the end of the recording to allow for some extra time. My set-top box/recorder has that option though I've never gotten close to filling the HDD.
Or it's creating a second VOB at a lower bitrate?
Either way, the OP's obsession with how Power Director handles this footage is just plain nuts.

[DB83]

I don't think the second vob is at a different bit rate that would, I would have thought, be against dvd specs. You can do that but only with individual titles and not one continious one.

He did say that he recorded in LP mode so the whole recording is at a lower bit rate.

[DB83]

If you wonder how to create a single vob from your dvd, in dvddecrypter go to tools/settings/ifo mode >> file splitting change to 'None'

[Nelson37]

I've often found that a simple de-mux and re-mux will solve this problem, or add exporting the audio as WAV and re-encoding it, then edit

Try treating the two VOB chunks seperately in the conversion, with the merge coming later.

[usalabs]

You are mis-understanding what these softwares do.

Vob2mpg does NOT take a 895 meg vob and create a 1.25 gig mpg. It does not re-encode. It merely extracts from ALL the vobs on the dvd - check it in explorer and you will see more than one - and creates one mpg file from the contents. So you should have one 895 meg vob and one 300 meg vob.

Vob2Mpg did exactly as I said, it took the last vob (865MB) and converted it to a 1.25GB mpg file.

If you only see one vob then there is an issue with the disk or the way the camera records to it.

The reason only 1 vob was extracted using DVDDecrypter was that there are 2 vobs, 1 is the camcorder generated menu and the other is the main 45 minute video.

Also, depending on how you used dvddecryper there should be more than one vob on your hdd. You can change the settings in that to decrypt the disk to one vob so if you did not do that it is worth trying.

I used tried both IFO and VOBSET modes, and both gave the one vob, the main 865MB one.

PowerDirector should not cough on this size of file. It is more the reading of the mpg and this does appear to happen at the point where the recording goes to the second vob.

It's not only PowerDirector, but also MAGIX movie edit pro 2013 premium (recently purchased a few months ago) does the same thing, and also (borrowed a friends Corel Video Studio) does it too.

It seems video editing software no matter how expensive or high tech just can't handle large video files, at least not on a home PC, maybe on a specifically designed system built for video editing only, such as what's found in movie studios.

Attached is a screen shot of the contents of the mini DVD, as you can see there are only 2 vobs, menu and main video.

[DB83]

You are just being silly now.

Take your 865 or 895 meg vob, load it into mediainfo and post a text mode report of that.

Then take your 1.25 gig mpg and do the same in mediainfo.

Then. Take a look on your hdd where you decrypted the disk. One vob or two, ignoring the small menu vob.

I have seen mini dvd disks do kooky things and even seen a second vob as 'hidden' on the disk. But it is there else your player could not play to the end. It is there because eventually your editor can see the video. What you can not see are the suggestions that have been offered.

[usalabs]

Ok, I've spent far to long trying to get a decent mpg file that won't make any of my video editing software cough a splutter, so I've created an ISO image of the mini DVD and uploaded it to my dropbox, here's the link if anyone with PowerDirector can extract the main vob and create an mpg and import it into PowerDirector, then try to move the timeline slider to about the last 5 minutes of the video and try to play it, or better still, try to add a credits title, I'll bet there'll be problems.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xbkxfbph75xdwwb/mini-DVD.iso

[DB83]

You have wasted your time. Argue as you will but that iso is not the full contents of the disk.

Maybe you can do a proper ISO - a sector by sector copy - using imgburn. Even then I doubt if anyone will download it. Just do what has been suggested and not just by me. If you have doubts then just ask.

[DB83]

I can also offer you a very quick solution. Beg,borrow or steal a dvd-recorder and hook that up to your dvd-player. Play your dvd and record it in real time.

If you want to invest in a capture device then your you also capture the recorded footage back to your PC.

If you do not believe me about the disk contents then load the disk in to isobuster. The free version allows you to view the files. The paid version allows you extract them.

[qpskfec]

DVD files may be corrupted. This happens occasionally with DVDs from a set top DVD recorder/camera.

Try VideoRedo - quick stream fix. (Free trial) No problem with large files.

[usalabs]

You have wasted your time. Argue as you will but that iso is not the full contents of the disk.

Wasted my time?, well I guess that just goes to prove ask for help and get told 'I'm a liar', let me first explain precisely what is on a DVD.

AUDIO_TS
VIDEO_TS

AUDIO_TS is always empty
VIDEO_TS contains IFO, BUP, and VOB files

Depending on how many chapters are created the amount of IFO's BUP's and VOB files will equal the amount of chapters, and if a finalizing of a DVD does NOT create chapters, but instead creates 1 large chapter and no menu, then there will ONLY be 1 BUP, 1 VOB, and 1 IFO, but if there is a menu along with only 1 chapter, then there will ONLY!!! be 2 IFO's, 2 BUP's and 2 VOB's.

Most DVD camcorders auto create a menu and records a continuous video in 1 file, unless of course I stop and start the recording which in turn creates chapters, but a continuous recording from start to stop will ONLY create 1 video VOB along with the 1 VOB for the menu.

Maybe you can do a proper ISO - a sector by sector copy - using imgburn. Even then I doubt if anyone will download it. Just do what has been suggested and not just by me.

CloneDVD3 (purchased version) does just that, copies the DVD as-is, a mirror image if you like, and the ISO in my dropbox IS a mirror image of the original, mount it in daemon tools and it'll play, burn it to a DVD and put it into a computer DVD player an it'll play as long as the region is set to (USA) try it in Europe on a home DVD player an it'll fail because the video is in NTSC format.

If you have doubts then just ask.

I did and look where it got me, no disrespect to other people that offered help.

[DB83]

For the last time you can not get a 1.25 gig mpg from a 800+ meg vob.

Your iso is only 800+ meg.

I will just waste my time to download that.

If you do not believe me then take another dvd that you copied without issue and one that has less than 30 minutes play time. Compare the vob size with the mpeg size

Why do not not do as I ask and post those mediainfo reports. Then I CAN prove this to you (since you stubbornly will not believe me)

[DB83]

And do not 'humour me' on what is a dvd. I have probably authored more than you have had hot dinners.

Did you actually test that iso in full before you uploaded it ? I very much doubt it.

And for the record, I, or anyone else in Europe, could play your dvd on a PAL player. The reverse is not so true.

[Kerry56]

Downloaded your iso file and played the iso in VLC with no issues. Playing time of the dvd-video is 39:59.

Ran the video through VideoReDo's Quick Stream fix and produced an mpeg2 file. Running time of this output is 40:01. This file plays with no issues in VLC, and can be manipulated in VideoReDo TV Suite with no problems.

I opened the mpeg2 file with Sony Vegas 12 and also had no issues in playback within that program.

I have no idea if this video contains all the footage you expect to see. The band does come to the end of their set at the last point in the video.

[DB83]

@Kerry56

What is the size of your mpeg2 ?

The OP did say the running time was 45 minutes but given his track record he could be wrong on both counts.

[Kerry56]

Here is what MediaInfo says about the mpeg2 file:

General
Complete name : F:\Downloads\Mini dvd\Mini dvd_0.mpg
Format : MPEG-PS
File size : 813 MiB
Duration : 40mn 1s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 2 841 Kbps

Video
ID : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Custom
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=15
Duration : 40mn 1s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 2 529 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 9 100 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.244
Time code of first frame : 00:00:00;00
Time code source : Group of pictures header
Stream size : 724 MiB (89%)

Audio
ID : 189 (0xBD)-128 (0x80)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Muxing mode : DVD-Video
Duration : 40mn 1s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 256 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Delay relative to video : 62ms
Stream size : 73.3 MiB (9%)

[usalabs]

And do not 'humour me' on what is a dvd. I have probably authored more than you have had hot dinners.

Is that so, then you must be a lot older than me (maybe in your early 70's as I'm 55 and soon to be retired), and seeing that I have 30 years+ in the electronics industry, a UK certified City and Guilds in digital electronics, A+ certified in computer technology including ASM and C++ programming , and a USA masters degree in electronics, I should know what I'm talking about, you may have "authored" more than me, but "authoring" doesn't give one the knowledge of how appliances work.

Did you actually test that iso in full before you uploaded it ? I very much doubt it.

You must think I was born yesterday and just came over on the banana boat, yeah! I tested it before I uploaded it, otherwise it wouldn't be there, yeah!, I tested it by mounting it in daemon tools, then I burnt it to a full size DVD, and the ISO played in daemon tools, the full size DVD played on both my computer, my wife's computer and the DVD player in the living room, and in a neighbors home theater system, which means there's nothing wrong with the DVD or it's ISO.

So unless I'm working with a holographic image of a DVD, everything I posted about what's on my mini DVD *IS* what it is.

You remind me of the guy at a boot sale, some years back, that was so convinced that computers don't have internal video that he was telling potential customers not to buy computers from me because I didn't know what I was talking about.

I'll post the mediainfo just as soon as I get back from work.

[DB83]

Kerry56 has now posted the info I asked from you hours ago.

1.25 gig is nowhere to be seen and neither is 45 minutes. So the question remains how you got that from the software. But just to ensure that nothing really is amiss I am in the process of downloading the iso. I will then test it with vob2mpg and report back.

[DB83]

The play-time by playing the iso through vlc - no need to mount it - is 39:59 just as Kerry56 states. Now you know the footage and this ends with a couple of head-bangers in front of the camera and then the vocalist/guitarist comes to the mike and utters something. At this point he goes back to the stage and the video ends.

Keep tuned in for part 2.

[DB83]

Now I ran the extracted files file through vob2mpg and it gives me an mpg of 876,032 KB not 1.25 gig as you say. The run time again as reported by vob2mpg is 39:59. I also note a timecode on the video which starts at 8:03 and ends at 8:43 so that appears consistant.

The only way that you could possibly get 1.25 gig from a 856 meg vob - even that is not as you said - is that some re-encoding has been done. Vob2mpg in the version I have does not re-encode. In fact it would defeat the whole purpose of the program if it did re-encode.

So I ask I did you use something else to get the mpeg ? Maybe your favoured PowerDirector. I will, if neccessary, run some editing tests but I think Kerry56 has already covered that. There is a slight variance between his running time and mine which is probably due to the method of muxing but it is too small to make any real difference.

PS You should have spent more time filming that half-naked lady who walked past at some time during that gig. Much more interesting methinks

[usalabs]

Ok, I found the problem, not even my vast knowledge of computers and electronics can fix it.

It turns out it's not the DVD, or the video files or the software, it's the hardware, my PC sucks shit, it's not designed for heavy video manipulation, it all boils down to data stream interruption, basically, this is what happens, when data is read and written to the HD via software, and when the data is large enough, for some reason the PC interrupts that stream to perform other functions, be it in the background, so the CPU resource that's used in video manipulation is temporarily allocated elsewhere, thus as video manipulation takes up more resources than audio, the result is the audio continues while the video freezes for just under a second resulting in video to audio de-sync, the larger the file, the wider the de-sync, it also depends on how long that resource is being used by other processes, if the video editing is shorter than the other process(es), then no noticeable interruption occurs, but if the video processing takes longer than the required resource of another process, then that resource is temporarily interrupted and re-allocated to the other process, sooo, basically, being that Windows has too many processes that can easily take precedence over lesser resources, I tried editing the video in Linux (dual boot), using openshot, but that too also suffers resource interruption.

There is only one conclusion, I'll take the mini DVD to a professional studio and pay them $150 an hour for them to create the final DVD for me, with beginning title, song names as titles through out the video and ending credits, they have the specialized equipment that is designed for this, I don't.

Thanks for everyone's help.

[DB83]

Well years back I had a Pentium 2 and that could handle this type of video with ease. With respect, that is not your issue unless you really arer running all sorts of background programs that could be turned off.

Would you care to answer the questions raised.

1. Does the video end in the manner I described.
2. is the running length only 40 minutes ? - links to Q.1
3. Did you use vob2mpg to create the 1.25 gig mpg file ?

and a few new ones:

4. Would you care to upload that file ?
5. What is the phone number of the dancer(?)

[usalabs]

Well years back I had a Pentium 2 and that could handle this type of video with ease. With respect, that is not your issue unless you really arer running all sorts of background programs that could be turned off.

Would you care to answer the questions raised.

1. Does the video end in the manner I described.
2. is the running length only 40 minutes ? - links to Q.1
3. Did you use vob2mpg to create the 1.25 gig mpg file ?

and a few new ones:

4. Would you care to upload that file ?
5. What is the phone number of the dancer(?)

To answer in sequence:-

1. Yes it stops when the band has finished it's last song in the set, and the singer is walking to the back of the stage.
2. PowerDirector timeline shows about 40 minutes, I said 45 because that's how ling the band stayed at the gig, but I shut off the recording a bit earlier.
3. Just now downloaded and installed vob2mpg and got a 823MB mpg, and still PowerDirector, and other video editing software splutters and coughs when editing beyond 32 minutes.
4. I can upload the 823MB mpg, but I will have to take down the ISO as I don't have the room left in my dropbox for the mpg file.
and 5. Unfortunately, I don't know her, but if she's at the next gig, I'll ask, but no promises, bearing in mind the gig is in the USA.

Anyway what are you doing up this time of the morning? it's 12:45am in the UK, but I can't speak either as it's 4:45am here in the USA, got in from work about an hour ago.

In windows 7 I have just the bare essentials of background resources running,, the taskbar only has the additional icons for Avast antivirus and dropbox.

Even now, the HD light is flickering once about every 2 seconds, then the light stays on for about 1/2 a second, then continues flickering, it's during that 1/2 second when something is accessing the HD and has taken precedence over any other process, is when the PC hiccups during video editing, but only when editing past 32 minutes of the video.

To give you an idea, this is what happens when I try to edit beyond 32 minutes.

I click on the time line at about 35 minutes to add a title, the entire computer halts with exception to the mouse, while the HD light is steady on (not flickering), if I clicked anywhere on PowerDirector area windows pops up a warning that PowerDirector has stopped responding, and gives me 3 choices, quit program, wait till program continues or access internet to find a solution and close program, in actuality, PowerDirector hasn't crashed, it's waiting for the data to finish writing to HD, if I wait, then everything resumes, the same happens whatever I do in PowerDirector whether it's adding a title, moving the time line slider, or even clicking the preview play button, I have to wait till the system has written/read or seeking for the editing point, for the program to continue, but only when beyond 32 minutes, everything works fine up to that point.

The same goes for any other video editing software, including windows movie maker.