Audio Delay from conversion of VOB file

[changie]

I am in the process of digitising our home videos (8mm tape). First, I am burning/recording the original tape to a DVD-R and then I end up with IFO and VOB files. I am attempting to convert the VOB files to another format, one that is more compatible with both Mac and Windows. I have tried converting to MP4 but have issues with the audio once the conversion is complete. The audio first starts out correct but later on it starts to go out of sync. I am using the Movavi Video Converter at this moment in time.

Is there another format I can try convert to? Or what can I try to do to fix the issue?

Thanks in advance.

Edit: I should add for clarification that when reviewing the VOB file, the audio is fine and is not out of sync. However, when I convert the file it goes out of sync as described above.

[hech54]

Ditch that Movavi crap and just use HandBrake.

[orsetto]

Transferring directly from tape to a (good) DVD recorder is the easiest path to a digital copy, but you pay for it later if you decide you want smaller or more universal files. "DVD" is basically a dead end format: perfect if you will be happy only viewing an actual dvd disc, but a nightmare if you also want to view the videos on a phone, tablet, netbook, etc. "Re-purposing" dvd video can be difficult.

Converting the dvd data into more portable formats like MP4 is possible, but tends to be plagued with glitches like the audio drift you mentioned. Other issues can include steep video quality decline and spurious added artifacts like bizarre interlacing or "washboarding" that wasn't there previously on the original dvd. Simple conversion utilities are most prone to this, more complex software with command-line programming is better but has a learning curve.

If you don't mind large files, the most reliable direct conversion utility is MakeMKV. This quickly rips the VOBs from your disc and re-packages them as standard MKV video files. The original audio/video is not altered at all, just wrapped in an MKV file container. Most modern devices and computer OS can play MKV, its not quite as universally playable as MP4 but almost. The drawback with this workflow is the resulting MKV files will be as large as the original VOBs: up to 4.3 Gb if the entire dvd consists of one single recording. If your dvd has been edited into several titles (menu items), MakeMKV is a bit more practical (it creates an individual smaller MKV file for each title). But these will still be larger than usually desired for posting to social media, emailing, storing on a phone, etc. Employing Handbrake (as hech54 mentioned) on the MakeMKV files can reduce the size, depending on your computer OS it may also be possible for Handbrake to bypass MakeMKV and convert directly from your physical DVD discs to smaller MKV (universal) or M4V (iTunes) files.

If your primary end goal is MP4, you may need to re-think using the DVD recorder at all. It might be best to re-do the project from scratch using standard direct-to-PC capture workflow, described in many threads here on VH. Many later conversion problems are avoided by not using DVD VOB/MPEG files to begin with. Of course, direct PC capture is not as easy as using a dvd recorder: some people never get that to work well for them either. DIY tape digitizing often leads to "a rock or a hard place" decisions.

[changie]

Ditch that Movavi crap and just use HandBrake.

I have downloaded HandBrake and attempted to use that but I ended up with the same result. I am trying again using a windows OS, hoping that will work. Thanks

[changie]

Transferring directly from tape to a (good) DVD recorder is the easiest path to a digital copy, but you pay for it later if you decide you want smaller or more universal files. "DVD" is basically a dead end format: perfect if you will be happy only viewing an actual dvd disc, but a nightmare if you also want to view the videos on a phone, tablet, netbook, etc. "Re-purposing" dvd video can be difficult.

Converting the dvd data into more portable formats like MP4 is possible, but tends to be plagued with glitches like the audio drift you mentioned. Other issues can include steep video quality decline and spurious added artifacts like bizarre interlacing or "washboarding" that wasn't there previously on the original dvd. Simple conversion utilities are most prone to this, more complex software with command-line programming is better but has a learning curve.

If you don't mind large files, the most reliable direct conversion utility is MakeMKV. This quickly rips the VOBs from your disc and re-packages them as standard MKV video files. The original audio/video is not altered at all, just wrapped in an MKV file container. Most modern devices and computer OS can play MKV, its not quite as universally playable as MP4 but almost. The drawback with this workflow is the resulting MKV files will be as large as the original VOBs: up to 4.3 Gb if the entire dvd consists of one single recording. If your dvd has been edited into several titles (menu items), MakeMKV is a bit more practical (it creates an individual smaller MKV file for each title). But these will still be larger than usually desired for posting to social media, emailing, storing on a phone, etc. Employing Handbrake (as hech54 mentioned) on the MakeMKV files can reduce the size, depending on your computer OS it may also be possible for Handbrake to bypass MakeMKV and convert directly from your physical DVD discs to smaller MKV (universal) or M4V (iTunes) files.

If your primary end goal is MP4, you may need to re-think using the DVD recorder at all. It might be best to re-do the project from scratch using standard direct-to-PC capture workflow, described in many threads here on VH. Many later conversion problems are avoided by not using DVD VOB/MPEG files to begin with. Of course, direct PC capture is not as easy as using a dvd recorder: some people never get that to work well for them either. DIY tape digitizing often leads to "a rock or a hard place" decisions.

Okay great, thank you. I don't mind the large file size as we may offload some onto a hard drive for later viewing. I will give this a try if HandBrake does not pull through.

I have previously tried connecting the video recorder to my desktop, using a screen capture software through a USB-AV cable adaptor and had the same issue with audio delay. The file sizes were also very large, some being larger than 80GB, so I think there was some issue with the software maybe.

[hech54]

If these are "DVD Recorder" DVDs....you may also want to try the old FixVTS program on the VIDEO_TS folders that you have on your hard drive.

[changie]

If these are "DVD Recorder" DVDs....you may also want to try the old FixVTS program on the VIDEO_TS folders that you have on your hard drive.

Hi, I have made another attempt using HandBrake but this time on windows. It seems to be working! I've converted a few others and they also seem fine. Thank you very much!