I filmed a wedding 2 weekends ago - my 4th. Unbeknown to me, the father of the bride is a professional documentary producer!!! - though at the moment he is not working at it. So that is a bit of a test...:-)

Anyway, that is not why I'm writing.

It so happens he also had a video camera there - which I found out about the next day at a post wedding function. He got some good footage which he has just sent me for use in the wedding video if I want it. I do - I've just watched it.

Now...the issue is he has sent it to me on dvd as a .vob file. It would have been nice/far easier to have the original tape so I could have copied it, but that is not how it is.

I have a video ripper which I have hardly used - ImTOO DVD Ripper Platinum. With it I apparently can go from almost any format to almost any format.

There are two problems I think I have.

1. My native video file format, which I would like to be my output format for the conversion, is avi - but there are all sorts of avi formats. Which sort of avi does the camera record in/should be my output format?

2. I note there is more than one .vob format also, so which one is the dvd likely to be in? It says 'Type: NeroShowTime.Files7.vob"

Perhaps someone can help. Thanks in advance.

Try MPEG Streamclip — it'll convert vob files into avi & several other formats.

http://www.squared5.com/

Before trying to rip it with other software, you might try just copying to VOB file to your computer and then just change the extension from VOB to AVI. That works best for me most of the time. And, it is very quick. I can then just import to Adobe CS3.

Mike

What NLE do you use? The .VOB is a mpg. Just rename the file from .VOB to MPG and edit.

OR you can play the DVD into your computer as if you were capturing a tape THAT way you have an AVI file to edit instead of an MPG file which frankly are crappy to edit and THEN you are recompressing an already compressed file. Yes you can use a program like you have and that works well but regardless of which way you choose to do it get it out of the MPG format and into something that you can edit.

Don

Were it me... I'd throw the DVD out and ask the FOB to send the tape like he should have in the first place. Not a very astute "film" guy if you ask me.

Yeah, I've done VOB files before but that's because the source is gone. Here's a case where somebody is sitting on the tape.

But that's just me.

I'd second asking politely for the tape... far better solution. Unless of course the tape is some odd format that is even harder to deal with!

OR... if everyone is broadband, have him dump the tape and send it to you...

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

I'm using Vegas 8.

I discovered after the first wedding I edited - my youngest daughters -that I don't like editing mpg - but that I do like editing the avi that comes from my camera/s. That is why I want to get to avi.

Before I politely ask for the tape, I will try some of your suggestions, or a convert in someway.

However...so...vob is mpeg. That's fine.

But avi, there are a raft of them - apparently. Which one do I use if I go for conversion via ImTOO?

I do not have a grip on this format stuff...

I would choose the highest setting (uncompressed avi) and be sure its in NTSC (or PAL, whichever your using) frame size (720x486). I have never used ImTOO, but an avi file should be the same it just depends on the resolution and frame size you need.

You can import the .vob directly into Vegas, and it will handle it like any other video file.

You can import the .vob directly into Vegas, and it will handle it like any other video file.

How do you do that? Import doesn't give me any option to import a .vob or am I just not seeing it?

I'm probably thick, but I'm not a lot further on in regards to all of this.

To clarify, below are the various formats supported by ImTOO.

Under 'Supported targets' are both MPEG (different suffixes including vob) and AVI among others.

However under the 'Supported codecs' are a raft of both MPEG and AVI and quite simply the choice/alternatives baffle me...

Which avi is the avi that comes off my camera?

As I said I do not have a handle on this and feel like I'm flying in cloud...

------------------------------------------------


Supported Formats


Supported Sources
• DVD-video discs
• DVD file folders
• IFO files

Supported targets
• Video
MPEG (mpg, mpeg, dat, vob); WMV; ASF; AVI; QuickTime (mov, qt); FLV; MPEG4 (mp4); 3GP; DV (dv, dif); Real Video (rm); Animated GIF (gif - encoding only); Macromedia Flash (swf - encoding audio only)
• Audio
MPEG Audio (mp2, mp3); WMA; WAV; AU; MPEG4 Audio (m4a); Real Audio (ra); OGG; AAC (aac); Raw AC3 (ac3); AMR; NUT Open Container Format (nut)

Supported codecs
• Vedio codecs
3GPP - 3rd Generation Partnership Project (*.3gp);
3GPP2 - 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (*.3g2);
Apple TV h264 480P(640*480) (*.mp4);
Apple TV h264 720P(1280*720) (*.mp4);
Apple TV h264(320*240) (*.mp4);
Apple TV MPEG-4 High 480P (640*480) (*.mp4);
Apple TV MPEG-4 Low 480P(640*480) (*.mp4);
Apple TV MPEG-4 Normal 480P (640*480) (*.mp4);
AVI - Audio-Video Interleaved (*.avi);
BlackBerry 3GP Video (*.3gp);
BlackBerry AVI Video (*.avi);
BlackBerry MPEG-4 Video (*.MP4);
FLV - Flash Video Format (*.avi)
ASF - Advanced Streaming Format (*.asf);
Creative Zen Vision (*.avi);
Dell Axim X51 (*.wmv);
Dell Axim X51v (*.wmv);
DivX Movie (*.avi);
DVD - Video Format (*.vob);
General Pocket PC (*.wmv);
General Pocket PC-Excellent Quality (*.wmv);
General Pocket PC-Minimal Size (*.wmv);
HP IPAQ hw6500 series (*.wmv);
HP IPAQ hx2000/rx3000/rx1900 series (*.wmv);
HP IPAQ hx4700 series (*.wmv);
iPhone MPEG-4 (*.mp4);
iPhone MPEG-4 Extra(*.mp4);
iPhone MPEG-4 Wide Screen (*.mp4);
iPod (320x240) MPEG-4 Normal (*.mp4);
iPod Video (640x480) MPEG-4 Normal (*.mp4);
iRiver PMP-100 (*.avi);
MOV - QuickTime (*.mov);
MP4 - MPEG-4 Video (*.mp4);
MPEG-1 Movie (*.mpg);
MPEG-2 Movie (*.mpg);
MPEG-4 AVC Video Format (*.mp4);
PS3 Video(1080P) MPEG-4 (*.mp4);
PS3 Video(480P) MPEG-4 (*.mp4);
PS3 Video(720P) MPEG-4 (*.mp4);
PS3 Video(480P) MPEG-4 Excellent (*.mp4);
PSP - PSP MPEG-4 Video (*.mp4);
PSP - PSP MPEG-4 Video-Excellent Quality (*.mp4);
PSP - PSP MPEG-4 Video-Minimal Size (*.mp4);
PSP AVC Video Format (*.mp4);
PSP AVC Video(480x272) (*.mp4);
RM - RealVideo (*.rm);
VideoCD Format (*.dat);
VOB - MPEG2 PS Format (*.vob);
WMV - Windows Media Video (*.wmv);
Xvid Movie (*.avi);
Archos AV500/GMini402 (*.avi);
Archos AV700 (*.avi);
Super VideoCD Format (*.vob).

• Audio Codecs
AAC - Advanced Audio Coding(*.acc);
AC3 - Dolby Digital AC - 3(*.ac3);
BlackBerry AMR Audio (*.amr);
M4A - MPEG-4 Audio (*.m4a);
MP2 - MPEG Layer-2 Audio (*.mp2);
MP3 - MPEG Layer-3 Audio (*.mp3);
OGG - Ogg Vorbis Audio (*.ogg);
RA - RealAudio (*.ra);
SUN AU Format (*.au);
WAV - Waveform Audio (*.wav);
WMA - Windows Media Audio (*.wma).

Which avi is the avi that comes off my camera?DV AVI

Why don't you juist "plop" the VOB (or rename it to MPEG) on the Vegas timeline and go from there? You can always export it out to an AVI.

But seriously... I wouldn't edit with any compressed format like MPEG. There's going to be a noticeable difference when viewing that rip compared to the footage you shot.

By now the FOB could've mailed you the original tape. :)

I'm using Vegas 8.

That make life MUCH easier. Pop the DVD into the computer and go to:

File - Import - DVD Camcorder Disc

That will pull everything in for you and add the resulting files to the Project Media.

All I can say guys is that I did the same thing with getting new software and trying different setting and such, usually with undesirable results. Yopu also have to play the whole file to know if it is good.

Now I just copy the DVD's VOB file to my hard drive and rename it. Takes about a matter of seconds.

Example: Movie.VOB is changed to Movie.AVI and then I import it into CS3. Works great and I could have saved the money on the software.

Mike

Thanks Mike, Edward and Rick. It seems like it is/can be all straight forward.

Just so I can better understand what is going on, and I'm not even certain I am asking the right questions here, could any of you explain:

1. When Mike you rename MOVIE.VOB (which I understand is an mpeg file) to MOVIE.AVI, is it still an mpeg file and thus compressed as Rick warned against editing with?

If so, does it still have the disadvantages of mpeg re editing? I found editing with mpeg on my current machine slowed things up hugely. I'm getting a new, very fast machine today or tomorrow so maybe that will be no problem from now on. :-)

(I presume when you say you import it into CS3 you are taking it into Premiere as part of the CS suite.)

2. Does 'File - Import - DVD Camcorder Disc' as suggested by Edward, simply bring it in as a .vob/mepeg file with the above disadvantages re effecting on the computer?

3. 'You can always export it out to an AVI.' Does this mean that I 'rendered' out to avi or actually use an 'export' function? Just wondering if you are using terms loosely or precisely.

4. Any other I've missed?