converting vob to mpeg

[umair]

i'm trying to convert a vob to mpeg. i used dvd2avi to convert he vob to a d2v and wav file. i was then thinking of using tmpgenc but when i did that the file size was small and the quality wasnt that good. can someone tell me how i can make the quality good?

[BubbaLeroy]

Increase the bitrate. What settings did you use in TMPGEnc?

BTW, this is not an advanceed question.

[dcsos]

What happens if you rename the file .MPG?

That is take the VOB, click RENAME, and call it an .MPG
now you've renamed a MPG that's dvd compliant to be named like a "mpg transport stream"..

I don't know idf there are serious repercussions to this action, but its always worked for me...

NOTE however, if the VOB was not made by youself,
it may contain AC3 audio that is more difficult to author with than one of the mpeg-streams with mpeg-audio you may produce at home

[umair]

that is the dumbest thing i've heard. it would still be a vob file, just because you rename doesnt mean its a real mpeg.

BubbaLeroyhas thats a good idea, i'll try to figure out how to do it. which settings did you want to know?

[DJRumpy]

Actually, your both right. It's a VOB file, but it's also MPEG. You'll find that any reader capable of decoding MPEG 2 video, working with MPEG2 video streams, or otherwise working with it, will have no problem with either extension.

[dcsos]

Hey amair, If you want to spend hours destroying the quality of your media file, its ok with me...
But when you ask for help, and I try to give it...don't call me dumb..
Did you try renaming the file?

or would you rather spend hours trying to make a mpg out of a vob, which is also an MPEG-2 file- thus already an mpg?

[wulf109]

Tmpeg's Mpeg Tools option will remux a vob into an mpg,I've done it many times.

[DJRumpy]

Yep..an mpeg by any other name, would still smell as....nevermind.

[SaSi]

A VOB file is a multiplexed stream that can (and normaly does) contain quite a few interesting things including multiple soundtracks in various forms as well as subtitles.

The video stream inside is certainly MPEG-2.

Another approach would be to rip the vob file into the components. That is, use Smartripper (for example) in movie mode, select stream processing and demux the video stream into a separate file. An .m2v file will be created, which will be an mpeg-2 elementary stream. No decompression or re-encoding happens in the process, therefore it is very fast and quality is not lost.

You will probably want audio, so demux the audio stream you want into a separate file. It usually is AC3. To make a "genuine" MPEG video, you should convert the AC3 file to an MPEG-2 layer II (prefferably) stream (I would use Re-MPEG tool because it has an AC3 --> MPEG audio converter which is nice and handy.

You can then multiplex the two streams (tmpgenc is fine for that).

Perhaps this is what you want to do.

[DJRumpy]

Sasi's got it. You can always demux your VOB's directly using any number of editors. I like VOBrator, althoug it tends to be a little buggy. MPEG-2 video can have any type of compliant audio. There is not a 'genuine' type of audio for mpeg per say. PCM, MP2, or AC3. Any of these will work fine, although your authoring program may not fully support one or more of them, that does not make them less valid. It's a flaw in your authoring sofware.

Just search the forum for AC3 and Author to find a list of all of the authoring software that fully supports AC3 audio.

[SaSi]

DJRumpy,
The term, I used, "Genuine" mpeg-2 audio refers to the MPEG-2 standard. So according to ISO/IEC 13818, there are specs for the system stream (part 1), video (part 2) and audio (part 3).

In the part 3 document, all the nice things about layers I, II and III are defined. Therefore, I think that for an MPEG-2 video to have the "correct" audio stream, mpeg-2 layers 1 ~ 3 should be used.

Of course, then comes the DVD reality. For the video stream to be correct for DVD use, a subset of the MPEG-2 specs must be used (mainly MP@ML plus some other considerations - e.g. length of GOP). This is a restriction.

On the audio side, DVD specs introduce additional options, such as PCM audio, AC3 audio, etc. Nowhere in the mpeg-2 standards is there any reference for AC3 streams. This, I believe, makes AC3 not mpeg-2 - but only DVD conformant.

The discussion above is just to point out that there are standards and definitions, on one side, and the sort-of "reverse engineering" in knowledge of commonplace implementation of these standards most of us achieve. This is where, I believe, many of us get it wrong and in trouble, at times.

What I am implying is that, perhaps, an "MPEG 101" tutorial would be nice to be posted on the forum, so that people trying to get things right know where the need to go from square 1.