Rendering from .vob to any format, = fuzzy?

[Bill Porter]

I'm using Vegas 6.0. I used DVD Shrink's 'Reauthor' to snip out and capture a section of a DVD. I dealt with the audio issue, but whether I render to .MOV or to .WMV, it looks much fuzzier than DV i've captured direct from my camera. Is this due to the compression settings DVD Shrink used? If I re-config'ed DVD Shrink to not compress, would this solve it? Or must I capture direct from DVD?

If I do have to capture from DVD, why do we have to run the DVD player through a deck/camera, and then out to PC via Firewire? Why can't we just capture from an in-PC DVD-R(W)?

Thanks!

[Edward Troxel]

So... let's see if I understand this right:

You took a highly compressed file.

You then further compressed the file using DVD shrink.

You then edited this highly compressed file and rendered to another compressed format.

This result looked fuzzy.


You started with a standard DV file.

You edited and rendered DV to a compressed format.

This result looked sharper.



Using the VOB files, you took an already compressed file, made it worse by compressing it again, and then compressed it again into another format... I'm not surprised it looked fuzzy compared to a good original compressed once.

[Mike Kujbida]

Converting a file from DV-AVI (camera original) to MPEG-2 (DVD) results in some serious compression. The original file comes is 13 GB/hr. while a DVD holds a mere 4 GB. and can store 2 or more hours. Like I said, serious compression.
Add to that the conversion from the 4:1:1 format of DV to 4:2:0 on a DVD and it goes from bad to worse in a hurry.
After all this compression, you're making it even worse by compressing it once again to another lossy format. No wonder it looks bad :-(
Unfortunately there's no way around a quality hit.

As far as the original capture is concerned, do you have the latest version of Vegas 6? They added DVD capture in 6.0c and enhanced it further in 6.0d.
Get it if you don't have it and then you'll be able to import the vob files without going through apps like DVD Shrink.

Mike

[Phil Hamilton]

Originally Posted by Mike Kujbida

As far as the original capture is concerned, do you have the latest version of Vegas 6? They added DVD capture in 6.0c and enhanced it further in 6.0d.Mike

So you can put in a DVD and capture directly from this? Can you comment on where and how this is done in Vegas 6.0d? I had no idea......what about commercially available dvds of movies?

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

Commercially available DVDs are encrypted, and therefore won't show up with video on the timeline when you attempt to place them there.
File>Import> DVD Camcorder disc

[Bill Porter]

I'm wondering the same. I just upgraded (thanks, Mike!) and have been messing with it but haven't figured out how to capture from my PC's DVD player yet. Tried Advanced Capture, internal vs external capture source, tried the Help file, searched dvinfo... still scratchin my head!

Edit: Simultaneous post. Thanks, Douglas!

[David Jimerson]

Go into My Computer and open the DVD like it's any other drive (you might want to right-click and choose "Explore"). You should see two folders: Video_TS and Audio_TS. Open Video_TS and look for files with the extension .vob.

You can drag those files directly to your timeline.

You might not be able to if they're copy-protected, or they may have things like huge green splotches on them (different way of copy-protecting).

Assuming you can open them, you can edit them right off the DVD, but if your drive is slow, it'll be miserable. If that's the case, you can also drag them to your hard drive and then to the timeline.

[Peter Jefferson]

easiest way to do this is to go into DVDShrink, turn off compression, go into preferences, ensure that "split vob over 1gb" is NOT selected.

No rip your movie, and throw it on the timeline..

I do this for PSP movies, ipod movies and wmv movies for my PDA for thoise long drives home..

[Bill Porter]

Originally Posted by Edward Troxel

Using the VOB files, you took an already compressed file, made it worse by compressing it again, and then compressed it again into another format... I'm not surprised it looked fuzzy compared to a good original compressed once.

Welp, I just brought un-recompressed .VOB files onto my timeline, recompressed once, and the results are still garbage. So, a good original compressed once, still doesn't look anywhere near as it should, considering the bit rate. Previews on apple.com/trailers for example, at the same bit rate and same file size per run time, look far better. Anyone?

[David Jimerson]

Those aren't rendered from SD MPEG-2s, though.

[Mike Kujbida]

Originally Posted by Bill Porter

Welp, I just brought un-recompressed .VOB files onto my timeline, recompressed once, and the results are still garbage.

Sorry Bill but there is no such thing as "un-recompressed .VOB files".
As both Edward & I pointed out, VOB files, by their very nature, are compressed, sometimes quite heavily. A 2 hr. DVD (which I've done before) is a mere 4 GB. The original DV-AVI file is 26 GB. There's a lot of compression going on to get the file size down so much.

Mike

[Bill Porter]

Well, the step I am referring to was #2 in Ed's reply:

<<You took a highly compressed file.

You then further compressed the file using DVD shrink.>>

I simply didn't further compress it this time. Still sucks tho!

[Mike Kujbida]

Originally Posted by Bill Porter

Well, the step I am referring to was #2 in Ed's reply:

<<You took a highly compressed file.

You then further compressed the file using DVD shrink.>>

I simply didn't further compress it this time. Still sucks tho!

Sorry about that. My misunderstanding.
Having said that, I've done this a few times (extracted from DVD when I had no other choice) and done a re-edit. As long as I stick with a high bit rate and a 2-pass encode, I don't find the results that bad. Definitely not as good as the original but not in the "sucks" category.

Mike

[Mike Costantini]

You cannot drag a VOB file to the timeline in Vegas. It doesn't even show up in the explorer window as a supported type..I just put a post up about what I'm trying to do about making a demo dvd from several authored DVDs.. If anyone can help, I would appreciate it..

[Steven Bills]

I'm using Vegas 7d, and I simply right-click on the VOB, and say open with > Sony Vegas. Works like a charm.

I think that Bill's original problem is that pixel aspect ratio of the project and of the movie are different. Try switching it around, and see if it helps.

SB