Sony Vegas & VOB Files (DVD Editing)

carrspaints wrote on 10/22/2004, 4:18 AM

Hi, I'm brand new to Sony vegas. I bought a 3CCD Canon XM2 that I used extensively whilst traveling Asia with my wife. I have now recorded this all onto DVD in an unedited format. The quality is outstanding but I want to try and make this an edited, professional DVD with fade ins, picture effects, sound and ins etc.

Here's the thing....I went out and bought this Sony Vegas 5 and it seems it'll edit alright - just not VOB files from DVDs?? I have spent hours trying to figure out if I've missed something and my eyes now hurt.

Can anyone tell me if I can simply edit .VOB files from a DVD - with the audio as well (the audio is in AC3 format)

I am desperately trying to keep this SIMPLE!!!!

I'm fed up with software that requires converting files from one format to another, multiplexing and de-multiplexing, converting audio to .Wav etc. Why in Gods name would anyone want to spend hours converting high quality DVD .Vob files into lower grade Avi files anyway??? The quality seriously degrades with each conversion. I may as well use a £55.00, second hand VHS camcorder for my holiday movies!!!!

Sorry to go on about this but 6 years after DVDs hit the market and software companies are still wanting to complicate things - KEEP IT FRIGGIN' SIMPLE!!!!

If Vegas won't work, can anyone point me towards some software that will??? To confirm - I am trying to edit VOB video with AC3 audio. Almost all DVD recorders bought in the shops record in AC3 format, yet very few software packages allow for compatibility with this audio format. Thanks in advance

Comments

jaegersing wrote on 10/22/2004, 4:54 AM

Hi carrspaints. Don't want to lecture you, but you are more likely to stir up animosity with the tone of your post than you are to get useful advise. You are also showing signs that you don't know what you are talking about.

Anyway, if you are concerned about the quality of your video, (which I think you are because your camera is not cheap) you should always edit the DV data from the original DV tapes. The AVI files you get from these are much higher quality than DVD format MPEG2 files. By recording onto DVD you have compressed the video drastically (from 25Mbps to around 5Mbps), and any further editing will show losses, especially if you want to apply titles, fades, transitions, etc. Vegas and a cheap OHCI firewire card will allow you to transfer the DV video to your hard drive for editing.

After editing the DV files, you can then render the results into any format you like, including DVD. By saving the heavy compression until the end, this is the way to maintain quality in the workflow.

The subject of editing DVD files has been raised many times on this forum. It is possible, but it is not easy, because of the way the MPEG2 files are constructed. The AC3 audio is a further complication - Vegas will not import AC3, you would need to process the VOB using DVD2AVI (free download) to generate an editable wav file.

You are correct in one thing, the software companies are not making editing of DVD files as easy as they might. This will change in time, and will be great for those whose only copy of a video is the DVD archive.

But in your case, since you have access to the original tapes (you didn't overwrite them, did you?) you should really change your workflow around, otherwise your end results will always be quite poor compared with what you could be getting.

Richard Hunter

carrspaints wrote on 10/22/2004, 5:14 AM

Hello Richard,

Thanks for your reply and my apologies for the tone - that was not intended other than to demonatrate a little frustration on my part. You are quite correct in your assumption that I don't know what I'm talking about, or that at least my understanding of video editing is limited. So no offense taken on your lecture.

I held back on transfering DV to my computer as I read that the resulting files are HUGE...I have about 30 gigs free but am doubtful that this could store 2 hours of raw DV footage. It seemed much easier just to plu the camcorder into my stand alone DVD recorder and copy. I didn't realise the massive loss in video quality that would result....kinda thought that because it was DVD and DVD movies are generally of an excellent quality, my holiday movie would be too.

I'll read up more on your suggestion.....it certainly seems the way forward for me. Thanks for your help Richard.

Chienworks wrote on 10/22/2004, 5:34 AM

DV files from the camcorder will need about 13GB/hour. You'll also need space for the rendered files as well. I normally count on needing 20 to 25GB for each hour of material i'm working on.

250GB drives are selling dirt cheap these days. Get one. Or three. :)

ken c wrote on 10/22/2004, 5:58 AM

to do simple vob chopping/editing, use the free 'chopper' tool from www.digital-miner.com (or digital-miners.com , forgot the url).
also tools at www.boilsoft.com for rejoining mpg clips/splitting etc

ken

carrspaints wrote on 10/22/2004, 6:22 AM

Thanks one and all - I'm just about to head off to PC World and buy a new hard drive + digital video capture card. I'm really looking forward to this.

Just one last question though, when I get around to converting my Vegas edited, uncompessed AVI file to DVD - confirm that the video /audio quality will be of a high standard? Thanks all.

Zulqar-Cheema wrote on 10/22/2004, 2:40 PM

That will depend on the settings you decide to use on the conversion to DVD, if you stick yo about 60 minutes per disk (8mp/s) you will get the best quality, and doing a two pass will enhance a bit further.
You may want to purchase external fire wire HD to store your footage on to allow you to get all footage in when you are ready to edit or purchase and fit a caddie in the PC making the HD removable.

Lidl's are selling 250GB Western Digital drives for £99 from thursday,,,
http://www.lidl.co.uk/gb/index.nsf/pages/c.o.oow.20041028.index

Spot|DSE wrote on 10/22/2004, 3:22 PM

Just one last question though, when I get around to converting my Vegas edited, uncompessed AVI file to DVD

Just to clarify, unless you change defaults in Vegas, you won't have an uncompressed avi. It's DV. DV is compressed at 5:1. that said, Yes, you'll have a much higher quality DVD once you go down this road.

farss wrote on 10/22/2004, 3:40 PM

Just one more thing that no one else mentioned. If the audio on your DVD is ac3 then it too is highly compressed and decompressing that to edit it is also NOT the way to go for quality.
Think of DVD as an output only format.

Bob.

DVDeviations wrote on 12/9/2004, 12:33 PM

Hi everyone,

I have a customer who has a DVD she wants copied, of course there is something she wants taken out of the DVD, etc, making things more complicated. I explained it would be better to try to aquire the original video footage and I could make a new DVD from that, etc....

but, just in case, I need to investigate the tools necessary to edit the DVD, so I did a search on the subject. My search gave me some very useful information, especially that the sound quality may take a big hit! (this person is a singer, so now I really hope she gets the original footage!)

"jaegersing" had posted that there is a free download to convert AC3 files to wave files, if anyone could point me toward the URL, that would be great.

Here's a clip of his post: (BTW - how do I do Italics on this forum?)
" The AC3 audio is a further complication - Vegas will not import AC3, you would need to process the VOB using DVD2AVI (free download) to generate an editable wav file."

Chienworks wrote on 12/9/2004, 1:00 PM

Modifying text:

italics = italics
boldface = boldface
underline = underline

To post a hyperlink:

<a href=http://www.rchv.com/wallpaper/>free desktop wallpaper</a> = free desktop wallpaper

ScottW wrote on 12/9/2004, 1:01 PM

BeSweet can do the conversion from AC3 to WAV, DVD2AVI will also output WAV files. Go to www.doom9.net for a whole host of links to useful utilities.

wolfbass wrote on 12/9/2004, 2:54 PM

Carrspaints:

As a relative newcomer, I would recommend getting some re-writable DVDs to test out a lot of things before you start burning. There are many variables when aiming for the best quality.

Maybe start with a small project, try out all your transitions etc, then try rendering and burning to the re-writable DVD.

The guys on this forum will give you heaps of help, and Vegas is a great program to edit with.

Good Luck!

DVDeviations wrote on 12/9/2004, 9:03 PM

Thanks everyone for the information!