What is the best way to join VOBs ?

[TheRandomOne]

I ripped what I wanted with DVD Shrink from various DVDs & now looking to join them as one good file without any errors etc

[Ridder]

Here you go:

https://www.videohelp.com/tools/VOBMerge

[LigH.de]

The best way to join VOB files is not to do that at all. VOBs are not simply files. They are a part of a logical structure.

If you want to convert the content of different sources to a common target format, then never use a converter which doesn't care about the logical structure of a DVD, as described in its IFO files. Extracting the "main movie" PGC during the ripping is the most important preparation step.

If you extracted parts of different DVDs with DVD Shrink to join them without conversion, chances are high that the content attributes (video aspect ratio, audio format, etc.) of the DVDs are different, so trying to join these VOBs may either fail or result in files which are asynchronous, or may fail to play or seek in the middle.

[videobruger]

Others: MKVMergeGUI, MakeMKV, Mpeg Streamclip, VOB2MPG (VOB2MPG won't run on my Win 8. MakeMKV often gives BSOD on my Vista)

[PuzZLeR]

The real down to earth way is to first properly convert the .vob files to .mpg files (which is lossless to quality). The reason is that .vob has certain elements in it to adhere to a logical structure, menu/chapter points/etc in a DvD, etc, as was mentioned earlier. Also, worse, they can also contain segmentation, which will be a nightmare of "errors" you mentioned in any editing workflow.

Assuming no copy protection, I personally would use NeroVision to properly import the disc. It will properly create .mpg files from a DvD. (It's not only useful for putting together (authoring) a DvD, it can pull one apart.)

Once you have them in .mpg, you have great options with an MPEG dedicated editor like Womble, TMPGEnc MPEG Editor, VideoReDo. All will join (without loss to quality), and more, and will even help you create a new DvD if you wish.

Unfortunately I don't have much experience with the free apps for this, so can't comment on their effectiveness, but all I've mentioned can each import DvDs, convert to .mpg, edit (join, cut), and can create a full DvD afterwards (you will need the full suite for this with TMPGEnc though).

[flashandpan007]

MakeMKV is best

[Baldrick]

MakeMKV is best

No. It can't join dvd vob clips from several dvds.

[flashandpan007]

I have blu-rays splitted over two discs. How can I mux them into one MKV?

[Baldrick]

I have blu-rays splitted over two discs. How can I mux them into one MKV?

You create a new thread. A bluray has no vob files...

[flashandpan007]

Should be similar workflow for Blu-rays and DVDs?

[flashandpan007]

How to to it with DVDs?

[hello_hello]

I ripped what I wanted with DVD Shrink from various DVDs & now looking to join them as one good file without any errors etc

DVDShrink has an option not to split vob files into 1GB segments. It's either in preferences or it's somewhere in the window which opens when you use the backup function.
It won't join vobs file from a movie with vob files containing extras etc, but if you use it's re-author function it's pretty easy to resave the DVD files so you have a single vob file for the movie or a single vob file per episode. Using the re-author function won't allow you to keep the original DVD menus but that's usually a good thing.

Or as has been suggested, there's MakeMKV.

[cornemuse]

I have 'joined' several vob clips with diff formats from dvds (convert to iso, everything to iso for me!) using shrink & the only problem is once past a particular vob I cant go back, must start at begining to see again.

Im not really joining them, just stacking them in (whatever) order I want.

Does this make any sense??

[PuzZLeR]

...& the only problem is once past a particular vob I cant go back, must start at begining to see again.

Are you talking about playback?

Uh-oh, if it's what I think it is, this is the problem I was referring to in my earlier post about the need to remove segmentation. Using that VOB in any editing workflow is going to create problems.

Really, I do think the key to all this, and to avoid problems with VOBs, is a proper converstion to MPG. No, not just a change of extension, but a true conversion.

For some VOBs, you can get away with just renaming them - but NOT all, and you won't know till you attempt conversion.

[cornemuse]

...& the only problem is once past a particular vob I cant go back, must start at begining to see again.

Are you talking about playback?

Yes, just playback. I have dozens of clips from movies, 'young & old', I play with my Argosy media player. I've had 10 - 15 clips together. As I said, only problem is once it goes to next vob, it only (chapter or fast reverse) goes back to the beginning of the vob I'm watching. To view ANY particular previous vob, I must start at the beginning & go forward (next w/argosy).


Also,

Where on this board would I go to post/get info about the benefits/issues of all the different file formats used for capturing/storing/playback of 'mainly' dvd movies?? (mpeg, mkv, iso, avi, etc.)

[PuzZLeR]

...& the only problem is once past a particular vob I cant go back, must start at begining to see again.

Are you talking about playback?

Yes, just playback.

Well, a playback problem is important enough to reconsider.

I have dozens of clips from movies, 'young & old', I play with my Argosy media player. I've had 10 - 15 clips together. As I said, only problem is once it goes to next vob, it only (chapter or fast reverse) goes back to the beginning of the vob I'm watching. To view ANY particular previous vob, I must start at the beginning & go forward (next w/argosy).

That's a problem I was referring to earlier. It could be segmentation, or other info that's still in the VOB, from when it was part of a DvD structure. What's happening is that the VOB is still expecting some call or whatnot so doesn't cue properly in a structure that it wasn't designed for outside of its DvD, such as your computer or any media player.

You really need to properly convert it to .mpg, and I'm sure you won't get this cueing problem any longer.

I personally use NeroVision. I import the DvD and it converts them to .mpg. For individual VOB(s), just load them into the project content interface. It will ask you if you want to remove the segmentation, and you can say yes. It will either convert it to a proper .mpg in a different folder you request, or if it does nothing with it, then you can just rename the extension to .mpg. Either way, this .mpg will edit better and will cue properly in your system, and the conversion will be lossless in picture/audio quality.

I know there's a free app too that can do this, so hopefully someone else can recommend one too.

Also,

Where on this board would I go to post/get info about the benefits/issues of all the different file formats used for capturing/storing/playback of 'mainly' dvd movies?? (mpeg, mkv, iso, avi, etc.)

This is a whole forum's info actually, but the best advice I can give you is read a few posts on the subject, do your experiments, and ask any relevant questions.

But in a nutshell:
MKV, MP4, AVI, VOB, MPG are containers that contain video/audio (and other) info.
MPEG-1, MPEG-2, Xvid, DivX, H.264/AVC are video formats, the latter has better compression.
ISO is a DvD (or even CD) image in digital format that you can keep, for example, on your hard drive.
For capturing, many here use lossless formats, like HuffYUV, Lagarith and others typically in an AVI. But this is a whole mini forum on its own.