@CarpentersMate

Mike, converting them to AVIs will incur a generation loss, albeit probably small. Nevertheless, it is to be avoided if possible.

MEP's handling of VOBs is arcane: what you do is drag the first VOB of the movie ie VTS_01_1.VOB onto the timeline and MEP will automatically add the remaining VOBs for that movie (individual VOBs can't/shouldn't be used on their own as they are interlocked with the others of the movie). You don't get any indication that the second and following VOBs are being used as their red dot doesn't appear and you only have the "VTS..._1" name on the timeline.

For ease of file management, I would create MPEGs from each set of VOBs using DVDVOB2MPG. It's pretty basic and deals with only the primary audio, but will suffice for your DVDs, I think. You can rename the MPEGs into your desired convention and then drag them into MEP.

@CarpentersMate

Greetings, I don't have any problem loading VOBs into 2022 but when the older versions were new (such as your 2016) to make the VOBs more usable i simply changed the VOB extension to MPG. I said it was simple.

I appreciate that VOBs have different "thingy" bits (would you believe I'm not technically minded?) in the coding to what MPGs have but it works. You can easily load just 1 file without having to laod the whole DVDs. Processing always seemed faster and smoother as well.

Just my 2 pen'th. Feel free to laugh and shoot me down in flames. I'm used to it, my wife does it all the time!

AndyW

Hello again friends nice to see you all again ...

I'd like to clarify what Alwyn mentioned: "For ease of file management" So I'm to understand one reason to create MPEGs from a source VOB, is merely a suggestion to 'categorize' or divide/separate where too many VOB's could become confusing or too large? Correct? Perhaps?

The distinction/clarification I'd like to make is that when composing on your timeline, one should 'edit' straight off the original VOB, as John pointed out... Yes? And therefore should behave as any video clip (separating) the video and audio and so on ... Yes? And hopefully when rendering your project, MEP or FC will render accordingly? "MEP's handling of VOBs is arcane" Thanx Alwyn, understood, I'll make some tests ...

Converting a VOB to an AVI is unnecessary and may even degrade the quality... (as Alwyn mentioned). Its also my understanding (unlike capturing Mini DV and archiving to an AVI for eventual editing), the data rate within a VOB has already been established. You can't get a Cadillac out of a VW Beetle ... True? LOL

The reason I occasionally use VOB's: 'The Nat'l Archives' also has an arcane way of making some things available: Once in a while you can actually locate a DVD on their shelves which has taken preservation copy (a pristine source) and digitized that higher quality onto DVD. That becomes a 'treasure' even though its probably been compressed ...

Thank You

Mike

@CarpentersMate

one reason to create MPEGs from a source VOB, is merely a suggestion to 'categorize' or divide/separate where too many VOB's could become confusing or too large? Correct? 

Correct.

one should 'edit' straight off the original VOB, as John pointed out... Yes? And therefore should behave as any video clip (separating) the video and audio and so on ... Yes? And hopefully when rendering your project, MEP or FC will render accordingly? 

Yes. Provided you pull in the first VOB of a movie ie VTS_01_1, the whole movie will load, with MEP "joining" the following VOBs together. The video object on the timeline, though, will only be named VTS_01_1.

 the data rate within a VOB has already been established. You can't get a Cadillac out of a VW Beetle ... True?

That becomes a 'treasure' even though its probably been compressed ...

Sort of. MPEG 2 (which is what a VOB is) is just another video format, but it probably has come from another format such as DV, AVI or MP4, so it could be considered to be a 2nd gen video. But it all depends on it's bitrate; high bitrate DVDs/MPEGs are fine for further editing.

BTW, converting a group of VOBs to an MPEG (if done with DVDVOB2MPG or similar) or dragging the VOB onto the timeline, does not incur quality loss. As Andy points out, you can just change the extension from VOB to MPG and MEP will happily accept it. I don't do this because I don't think the following files in the group join up properly.

Hello again Alwyn and thank you ...

"it probably has come from another format such as DV, AVI or MP4, so it could be considered to be a 2nd gen video"

In my particular unique situation, (copying media at NARA), unfortunately the source of the DVD content is not clearly stated. However (by simple playback), a skilled NARA researcher can easily determine whether it's a copy from 'reference media' (or) as I mentioned (a higher quality) from a preservation copy, (which when paid for), is quite costly. Fortunately I've lucked out many times as in this example the video is obviously a high quality copy and not 'reference media' http://www.ww2survivorstories.com/342-USAF-19152WS.mp4 And here's an example of lower quality of 'reference media' http://www.ww2survivorstories.com/38.1-Reference.mp4 A researcher can also copy lower quality reference material themselves (like VHS, U-Matic, 35mm film, DVD's etc.)

Getting back to 'DVDVOB2MPG', if I find I cannot successfully open/drag/insert VOB's onto the timeline using MEP2016 Plus, can you comment how 'Wondershare' compares to 'DVDVOB2MPG'? I definitely know I can extract VOB's using Wondershare and (if necessary) convert them to MPEG2 then insert them into MEP.

Thank You

@CarpentersMate

Fortunately I've lucked out many times as in this example the video is obviously a high quality copy and not 'reference media' http://www.ww2survivorstories.com/342-USAF-19152WS.mp4 And here's an example of lower quality of 'reference media' http://www.ww2survivorstories.com/38.1-Reference.mp4 

Interestingly, both those files are almost exactly the same bitrate (~6k), so the 38-1 source file was obviously a poorer-quality video compared to 342 (I do note that the 38-1 file is 1280x720, but viewed in the same size viewer looks much worse).

Getting back to 'DVDVOB2MPG', if I find I cannot successfully open/drag/insert VOB's onto the timeline using MEP2016 Plus, can you comment how 'Wondershare' compares to 'DVDVOB2MPG'? I definitely know I can extract VOB's using Wondershare and (if necessary) convert them to MPEG2 then insert them into MEP.

If you can get Wondershare to smart-render from VOB to MPEG 2, then you may as well use that, as you are familiar with it. If it is smart-rendering, it should "convert" pretty quickly: about a minute for 4gb of VOBs already on my hard drive. If it takes a few minutes, I suspect it is doing a full re-encode/render, which is undesirable.

Also, if Wondershare is reading the VOB files off the disk itself, it will be much longer.

Hello again Alwyn and thanks for your reply ...

You mentioned: "Interestingly, both those files are almost exactly the same bitrate (~6k), so the 38-1 source file was obviously a poorer-quality video"

As I explained earlier, with regards to NARA DVD's, The source settings are what they are; "the data rate within a VOB has already been established"

However (as researchers learn quickly), take whatever's available (be grateful) and hope for the best. Unlike other countries, there is soooo much available (its a wonderful place).

Back to VOB's and clarification, (no matter which application), you mentioned: "drag the first VOB of the movie ie VTS_01_1.VOB onto the timeline and MEP will automatically add the remaining VOBs for that movie"

Yes?

Thank You

Mike

@CarpentersMate

Hi Mike

. . . . Can you ask John to please take me off the 'prohibit list' .... I can't post any photographs (of any nature) at all now . . . .

There appears to be an issue with the Magix media server, any media in a post, or the media section of the forum, are not available at the moment.

John EB

Ok Thanx John - Standing By ....