VOB to MPG Encoding for Doc & Co.

[Debbie]

Hi Folks,

This is my way of encoding VOB to MPG:

1 Have PowerDVD 4 Installed
2 Strip the DVD
3 Rename .vob to .mpg
4 Encode to MPEG for VCD in TMPGEnc

This way there will be no to use DVD2AVI thus
saving a considerable ammount of time.

Can this be done without PowerDVD 4 that supplies
the .ax file ???

If you have a way please let me know.

Regards,

Debbie

[pacguy]

You could look for programs like
flask mpeg

http://go.to/flaskmpeg

or xmpeg

http://www.mp3guest.com/xmpeg_index.asp

to transcode vob to avi,then tmpg.

[Debbie]

Thanks pacguy, those programs are quite valid, however you will still have to go via AVI not directly to MPEG.

[JerryH]

What is the purpose of of using DVD2AVI in the first place?

Aren't VOB files just MPEG2 format, which TMPGEnc can read?

[pacguy]

may be wrong

but doesn't flask/x/mpeg have a bbmpeg plugin ,
that is direct ?

vob files are supior to mpeg2 files i believe.

[Sciascia]

vob files are MPEG2 files, usually at a bitrate less than 9mbs, at 720*480. The biggest difference is that they are encrypted and that is why you usually need to have a ripping program. There is no quality difference between a vob or an mpg file that has been renamed from a ripped vob, they are the same, minus the encrytpion.

Flask is kind of cheesey, I can't stand it personally. Of course I don't rip DVDs to VCD, I usually will make a copy in DivX for when I travel, which is very often. For this DVD2avi is the absolute best when used to create a project file, then frameserve it to Nandub. It can't be beat, though is does take a long time.

Sounds like Debbie has a good method if you are using TMPGEnc for all of the resizing and what not.

[JerryH]

Then, according to the steps laid out by Debbie, TMPGEnc can decrypt/read VOB files directly? Does TMPGEnc require some kind of plug-in to do this?

I guess I'll just hafta try it at home this weekennd.

[Debbie]

Hi JerryH,

To use TMPGEnc you require PowerDVD 4 to be inatalled on your machine, that installs a .ax file that allows TMPGEnc to read the info.

I rename the .VOB file to .MPG so that it will be recognizes by TMPGenc, in fact you can leave it as VOB and set TMPGEnc to All files.

What you require most is to have PowerDVD 4 inatalled as far as I recon.

Regards,

Debbie

[Flying dutchman]

Some remarks:

The VOB method has the disadvantage that you can't select language and subtitles.

If you use tMpeg, you can use DVD2Avi and directly open the *.D2V file. No need to convert it to AVI first.

FlaskMpeg has an Avisynth plugin. This way you don't have to use intermediate avi's at all. Directly open the AVS file in tMpeg. Note: Flask stretches the contrast of the video to the full 0..255 range, so you'll have to correct that before making VCD's. And the stability of Flask leaves much to be desired.



I personally do it the following way:

Audio:

- Extract the desired audiostream using Vob2audio
- convert it to 44.1 KHz using total recorder

Subtitles:
- Extract the desired subtitles using subrip
- Convert these to SSA format.

Video:
- Create a D2V file using DVD2Avi (no audio, YUV format)
- Create an AVI file from this using the VFAPI
- Use an Avisynth script to :
(a) resize video (bicubic)
(b) do some DNR noise filtering.
(c) add subtitles (using a virtualdub filter)

-Compress video with BBMPeg
-Compress audio with tMpeg
-Mux with BBMpeg, cutting it into 785 MB sequences


This may seem like an enormously elaborate way but it offers some possibilities:

1) The original luminance levels are retained (Flask would stretch them).

2) I resize PAL videos (originally in 2.35:1 format) to 480x288 pixels and chop off 64 pixels left and right. This gives me a 352x288 letterboxed format that has only small black borders at the top and bottom and still is sufficiently wide-screen. I noticed that television stations do this all the time so the idea can't be THAT foolish. It is very pleasant to watch. Moreover, a letterboxed VCD in 2.35:1 format would only have a payload of 144 pixels height (120 in NTSC) and that's completely out of the question for me.

3) Subtitles are commonly used in my country, and I want them to look crisp and sharp. FlaskMpeg will only give me unsharp subtitles as soon as I resize the video to VCD size. Resizing a bitmapped font is generally a bad idea. Using my method, I can use true-type fonts which look great. As a by-product, I get the dialogs of the movie in Ascii format...

4) BBMpeg may not have the bells and whistles of tMpeg, but if you feed it with a properly prepared and noise-filtered clean video signal it actually gives better output quality than tMpeg with less artefacts and better color. Especially the DNR filter in my Avisynth script (borrowed from VirtualDub) performs miracles. By reducing noise in an unobtrusive way more bandwidth is available for the actual image and that means more sharpness and less artefacts.


The result is a VCD of breathtaking quality, easily comparable to commercially produced VCD's and certainly not worse-looking than a VHS original.

[Debbie]

Hi Art,

Yes that's the way the pros. do it, but it will take ages to finish the job. Beside I'm not interested in subtitles, I think they spoil the movie because you will have to keep one eye on the subtitles and the other on the movie, not nice at all!!. Personaly if I do'nt understand the lingo I will not be interested in the movie unless it is a short documentary.

Nice to be in touch with the dutch. Regards,

Deebie

P.S.

You can choose the available language from the ripping software.

[Flying dutchman]

Hi Debbie,

good to hear of you again. Got your soundcard running?


I feel that lip-synchronizing/translating a movie is unforgivable. A lot of the original semantics and humor gets lost if the dialogs are translated into other languages. Would you believe that the people in my neighbouring country (Germany) have never even heard the original voice of Humphrey Bogart?
As for the subtitles distracting from the film itself, I don't experience it that way. I read a lot faster than the actors speak. Moreover, if the film happens to be in a language which I do understand, I just don't look at the subtitles. It's also a very good way of learning foreign languages with a minimum of effort.
Most films are of course produced in a variety of English, but the second-largest film industry of the world is in India. They call it Bollywood and the products are all in Hindi...

By the way, 90% of the time involved in making a VCD is in the rendering process. The rest of the manual processing of the ripped material (Audio, subtitles) is about an hour. I can live with that. The elaborate processing makes the VCD's so good that I don't need to resort to SVCD's.

[Debbie]

Hi again Art,

Yes, my system is proding along fine now. Since I have upgraded to a PIII 1 Gig. The sound problem disappeared. I'm quite with you as regards the processing of DVD to VCD. Personally, I just hate subtitles.

Regards, (and also happy New Year)

Debbie