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  1. Member
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    Actually, first, just to clarify: I've been using a program called MacTheRipper to rip the titles from some DVDs as VOB files. Those are exact copies of the titles on the DVD, correct? When I play the files on VLC and compare stills of those to stills from the same point in time on the default DVD player playing off the actual DVD, they at least look identical to my untrained eye, but I've never really been sure what file type is an exact copy of the video data that is stored on the DVD, rather than some kind of conversion.

    Anyway, just as the title says, I'm wondering what program out there can split/trim vob video files and export them as lossless. I have read that this increases the file size for the export for some reason, which I don't really understand, but I'm not concerned with the file size and my OCD just demands that it's exactly the same quality (if at all possible).
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  2. You can use ffmpeg copy function. It is 100% lossless and very fast since it is a copy. You will have to fiddle with splitting by time and frame but you should get what you want.

    Like so:
    ffmpeg -i input.vob -vcodec copy -acodec copy -ss 00:00:00 -t 00:30:00 output1.mpg
    -ss gives a start time
    -t gives a duration
    You will find that sometimes when you copy a portion of the video that it is marginally longer or shorter than it should be. This is because of how video is stored. Again you will have to fiddle with splitting by time and frame. Like try adding a second etc. which should be okay if you have a definite scene change split by dark frames.

    Otherwise you use a video editor which will provide the same function BUT it will usually re-encode to get a frame accurate split. This is where you would use a lossless encoder to preserve absolute quality which would bloat the file. You can however opt to use a lossy encoder like x264 at a setting which can give you a visually similar video quality, you would be surprised. Of course you would have to consider if you want to crop and deinterlace your video and compress your audio (not necessary).
    Last edited by blud7; 6th Jun 2018 at 23:33.
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  3. VideoRedo is great for losslessly editing DVDs and then putting them back together again.
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    How about on a Mac?
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  5. Member hech54's Avatar
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    AviDemux was originally a Mac-Only product and still works on Macs.....but it can be a quirky bugger....AND you have to cut on Key Frames to get lossless cuts.

    Oh....you are going to want to use:
    Copy
    Copy
    MPEG-PS
    as your output....and add .mpg to the end of your file name.
    Last edited by hech54; 7th Jun 2018 at 00:56.
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  6. Member DB83's Avatar
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    What does not appear to have been answered is the OP's original query about the content of the vob file (I thought in this day and age it would not require clarification but there goes)

    A vob is a container of the original mpeg2 video and audio (various formats).

    I do not know of an program that can directly edit a vob and even if you did you could not play it back as part of a dvd. It just does not work like that.

    For your purpose you must demux the original video out of the vob and edit that and, if you still want a dvd, you re-author the video file.

    I also think you are confused by the word 'lossless'. It does have two definitions. For your purpose it is a direct encode of the video without any re-encode of bitrate etc thus no loss of quality. As stated above, avidemux is quite good in that respect and can trim/edit your video files as well.

    Since you want to use a mac you really should post in the dedicated mac forum in respect of software unless your mac also has Windows.
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    Apparently Movavi can do it? It exports as mpg. If it's not exact, it's at least damn close. Only problem is the start and end are a little off. I'm guessing it's related to that key frame limit again.
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  8. Originally Posted by DB83 View Post
    A vob is a container of the original mpeg2 video and audio (various formats).

    I do not know of an program that can directly edit a vob and even if you did you could not play it back as part of a dvd. It just does not work like that.
    Actually VideoRedo, which is what I recommended above, does exactly that. You are 100% correct that the VOB contains video file and an audio file, but it can contain multiple video files ("angles"), multiple audio files (different languages), subtitles, plus all sorts of timing and chapter information that are not part of a simple MPEG-2 stream (the video format used on DVD) or AC-3 or PCM stream (the usual audio formats).

    With VideoRedo you can combine all the VOB files in a titleset (they are limited to 1 GB, whereas the DVD-9 can contain over 4 GB). In fact, you can simply use the IFO file and VideoRedo will do the rest. From the help file: "VideoReDo will search the IFO and VOB files in the VIDEO_TS folder to create a list of all the titles on the DVD." Once combined, you can select which video and audio stream to edit; perform your edits; and then losslessly (no re-encoding) same the result in a variety of different ways.

    VideoRedo also lets you re-author a DVD when you are finished, although I have never used that feature.
    Last edited by johnmeyer; 7th Jun 2018 at 13:19.
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  9. Member
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    Originally Posted by 90sTV View Post
    How about on a Mac?
    Smart Cutter Ps/Ts has a version for OS X. It isn't free, but it has a free trial so it is possible to try before buying.
    Ignore list: hello_hello, tried, TechLord, Snoopy329
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  10. Member DB83's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by johnmeyer View Post
    Originally Posted by DB83 View Post
    A vob is a container of the original mpeg2 video and audio (various formats).

    I do not know of an program that can directly edit a vob and even if you did you could not play it back as part of a dvd. It just does not work like that.
    Actually VideoRedo, which is what I recommended above, does exactly that..........
    .
    That's fair enough. But I took the OP's words at face value and that he wished to edit the vob and end with a vob.

    And of course he states he is using a mac so that does kinda exclude the vast majority of software, including the free stuff.

    Me thinks he saw the different video files in the vob and thought he had to trim that to remove the unwanted bits.
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  11. Originally Posted by DB83 View Post
    Originally Posted by johnmeyer View Post
    Actually VideoRedo, which is what I recommended above, does exactly that..........
    That's fair enough. But I took the OP's words at face value and that he wished to edit the vob and end with a vob.

    And of course he states he is using a mac so that does kinda exclude the vast majority of software, including the free stuff ...
    Good points. And thank you for reminding me: I keep forgetting that he wants Mac software. My bad.
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    Well, when I rip it using MactheRipper (as title only), it will export an entire episode of whichever TV series I have inserted the disk for, and that file ending is .VOB. So I never really understand the whole "it contains multiple files" thing. And said VOB file plays on VLC no problem.

    When I go to "Get Info" it says "VOB file" for "Kind."
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  13. Member DB83's Avatar
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    Well I have no idea how MactheRipper goes about the process. Neither if the Mac version of VLC works like the Windows one.

    But if it does, check the audio menu to see if there is more than one audio stream or even the subtitle menu.

    There may be options within MTR that you are not alluding to that simply selects one audio stream - for all I know your dvd only had one audio stream to start with especially if it is just a tv series. VLC will play the first stream regardless until you tell it to change. Same for subs which could be turned off at vob level.

    And as I already stated you should be addressing your issues to the Mac forum. Some on here will have knowledge of both Windows and Mac. But the Mac forum is a dedicated one.
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    Originally Posted by DB83 View Post
    Well I have no idea how MactheRipper goes about the process. Neither if the Mac version of VLC works like the Windows one.

    But if it does, check the audio menu to see if there is more than one audio stream or even the subtitle menu.

    There may be options within MTR that you are not alluding to that simply selects one audio stream - for all I know your dvd only had one audio stream to start with especially if it is just a tv series. VLC will play the first stream regardless until you tell it to change. Same for subs which could be turned off at vob level.

    And as I already stated you should be addressing your issues to the Mac forum. Some on here will have knowledge of both Windows and Mac. But the Mac forum is a dedicated one.
    There's a button labeled "D" for demux, and when you click on that, you can click the "streams" button. For the stuff I'm working with, it just has Ac3 2ch checked for audio streams. Nothing else available to check.

    So I guess just one audio stream available, then?
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