I Can't Find Software to Convert Formats

What software will allow me to convert a VOB file into an uncompressed
AVI (or at least low compressed) file so I can edit with it. I want to
do a quick and easy edit with Windows Movie Maker and get the final
output to DVD.

I thought it would be an easy thing to do but it isn't. I've downloaded
half a dozen shareware and freeware over the past week and a half
without any luck. I can't remember half of their names (DVD2AVI,
Xili-something, #1, ...). Many simply crash and others give me too much
compression. I've tried fiddling with all the little cryptic settings
on the ones that do work, but my transfers all have little MPEG motion
artifacts. I'm at a loss as to what to do next. At this stage I want as
little compression as possible so I can render the finished edit in the
best quality possible. I'm willing to put up with huge raw files.

I'm happy to buy one of those sharewares but I don't want to throw my
money away on crap. Do I need to buy some expensive software like
Premiere?

I'm using XP on a laptop and have a more powerful Win2k workstation.

PLEASE HELP!!!
~ Lauren

 

I should point out that the DVD is a copy of some digital footage that
I paid to have converted to DVD from a MINI-DV tape, since I don't have
a firewire card.

 

Also, I read the letter regarding DVDDecryptor which leads me to
believe that I'm not alone in not finding this software. And such
software seems to be evaporating due to legal issues. The DVD I want to
copy is not encrypted. But I guess no one would bother to make a ripper
that doesn't deal with encryption.

~ Lauren

 

"Lauren the Ravishing" wrote ...

http://www.videohelp.com/tools?convert=VOB to AVI

 

You do realize that your "VOB" files are very compressed, and
that once you have something compressed you will not get back
what the compressor threw away. That said, it is often possible,
if the source is both less compressed and of a larger image size;
than the DVD compliant MPEG that you will make after your
editing, to have results with no noticeable degradation.

One good combination is to start with Full D1 at a high Bitrate
and convert that to "AVI" (or use an "editor" that will accept
MPEG/VOB files). Then do your editing in the editors native
format and output/export your edited results as Half D1 MPEG
at a somewhat lower bitrate. If the "editor" has no MPEG
output/export/save as.. feature then you would run the editor's
output through an MPEG encoder prior to authoring your DVD.

If you are saying, about now, that this is way too technical,
and you don't wish to spend the time and effort to learn enough
to do things this way; then you will have to settle for the results
that you can get from the "All-In-One" "One Button" converters.
There are plenty out there and some apparently do a good
enough job, keep looking. Perhaps www.videohelp.com which
has extensive, searchable lists of available software and hardware
would be of some help.

Luck;
Ken

 

If it's not encrypted, simply copy & paste the contents of the video_TS
folder using good old windows explorer

STRATEGY

 

Install Avisynth. Install VirtualDub. Write a text file with the line

DirectShowSource("MyVob.vob", 29.97)

and save it as Vob.avs (of course, instead of MyVob, put the name and
path of the VOB file. And I was assuming framerate to be 29.97. You
would use 25 for PAL video).

Load Vob.avs into VirtualDub, and save as Avi. Your choice for a
codec, but it is recommended that you choosee between Huffyuv (no loss
at all, but only compresses by half, or by 1/3 at most), MJpeg, DV, or
Alparysoft (yeah, I like this one).

 

Thank you all for your help! I managed to get a decent looking 1GB
file from one of the DVDs. I used DVDtoAVI (not to be confused with
DVD2AVI). If I still have problems I'll explore the solutions posted
here.

Many thanks!
~ Lauren