Converting to avi

[Noah2005]

Hi again all,

Ok, following on from my thread regarding the transfer of vhs footage to pc, I have now reached the stage where I have some of this footage on DVD RW having used my DVD recorder.

I now have 39mb of dvd files (video ts files etc) sitting a folder on my desktop. My problem now is that I don't know which program to use to transfer them to avi's to use in WMM2. There are so many out there which all claim to be the best, therefore I'm lost !

Any help would be much appreciated

[senu]

Canopus Procoder 2 . I had previously suggested TMpGenc
.
Wanting to put my money where my mouth was and Just to test the theory I got a 450mb vob file and imported it to procoder2. It took just 4.0 min to turn it into a 2.1g dv avi.
Tmpg enc 3 gave an estimated 1hr 15 min . After 20 min I gave up. AVI from either program imported into WMM without problems.
The quality from mpeg (VOB) to avi was dissapointing not suprisingly since we were starting from already compressed material.
Which brings me to the point of : why you need to use WMM ? It will involve all the intermediary alteration of an already compressed file and Canopus is not exactly cheap unless you already have it. You may be better off using an mpeg editor if you must edit the stuff. It may or may not see the vob as an mpeg.
For comparison, I imported the same vob into Adobe Premiere Elements2 and was able to do as small edit and output as wmv with good quality all in one program which is also a fully featured video editor unlike WMM which will only do so much
I would seriously consider using a "proper" video editing program which can import vobs (like APE2) and save yourself money and several stages of converting and encoding which will only worsen your final PQ

[Noah2005]

Cheers senu, I'll give them a look in the morning

[jomike]

Hi Noah

I think Senu misunderstood you. Tmpgenc and Procoder convert from avi to mpeg1 or 2 only. If you want to edit DVD files (mpeg2 format) you don't have to convert them to edit them in WMM2. However this is not the best app to edit mpeg files and you will then have to re encode the wmv files that WMM2 produces to burn a DVD, losing PQ at each conversion. Better apps would be Womble mpeg wizard or VideoReDo. These do minimal re encoding when editing mpeg files.

[senu]

Mike,
Im dont think I misunderstood him. I am aware that he has vhs tapes which are now on DVD from a settop box which now need editing
WMM can only import avi and wmv and is quite fussy with mpegs although its says on the box it supoorts them hence his need to change the vob to AVI.
Canopus can go from mpeg or vob to avi but as demonstrated it is never a good idea and your suggestion of an mpeg editor like womble or VideoRedo is so much better.
I just went thru the hassle myself to be sure I wasnt living in the past
I did create avis from both tmpeg and canopus from the vob but they werent worth the effort given the bigger file size and so so quality.
Hence my suggestion that he use a program which can import and edit mpeg ( vob) and then output in whichever way he liked but unlike you my experience of such programs is almost non existent
PS: WMM2 did not import vobs. I renamed them as mpeg and although WMM 2 imported them they only appered on the audio track: give it a go ! you may be luckier

[Noah2005]

Hello guys, thanks for your input.

Just to put you in the picture, the reason why I'm taking this complicated route is because I would like to edit the footage on my PC. In another thread it was established (with the help of others ) that my cam won't let me pass through it to get the footage onto my PC ( despite the manual definately suggesting otherwise - Sony DCR-HC22E ).

Obviously I can just hook a VCR upto my dvd recorder and put the footage onto DVD and be done with it, but it's the editing part that is crucial.

[jomike]

Hi Guys

Sorry Senu, I stand corrected. I was not aware that tmpgenc can create avis from mpegs.

Noah - for what you want to do Womble or VideoReDo are definitely the way to go. Both offer 30 day trials. I use Womble to edit video from my Sony DVD camcorder and find it very easy to use and fast. You can import the vob files direct from the DVD, edit them and then save them without any re encoding (except around transitions and fades). If you use filters on the footage it does re encode and saving is then very slow, but the quality stays good.
I have used WMM2 to edit (cut, add titles transitions, fades and soundtrack) mpeg2 files. They need to have a .mpg extension in order for WMM to import it. (just rename the .vob to .mpg) You can then only save the edited footage as .wmv or dv-avi. Both need to be re encoded back to mpeg2 to burn to DVD. This will result in loss of quality. (I used WMM to make low res clips to post on a website)

Regards

Mike

[Noah2005]

jomike, thanks very much, womble is the tool I need.

Up and running and doing the trick

Thanks again

[senu]

Originally Posted by jomike

Hi Guys

Sorry Senu, I stand corrected. I was not aware that tmpgenc can create avis from mpegs.

Noah - for what you want to do Womble or VideoReDo are definitely the way to go. Both offer 30 day trials. I use Womble to edit video from my Sony DVD camcorder and find it very easy to use and fast. You can import the vob files direct from the DVD, edit them and then save them without any re encoding (except around transitions and fades). If you use filters on the footage it does re encode and saving is then very slow, but the quality stays good.
I have used WMM2 to edit (cut, add titles transitions, fades and soundtrack) mpeg2 files. They need to have a .mpg extension in order for WMM to import it. (just rename the .vob to .mpg) You can then only save the edited footage as .wmv or dv-avi. Both need to be re encoded back to mpeg2 to burn to DVD. This will result in loss of quality. (I used WMM to make low res clips to post on a website)

Regards

Mike

Hi Mike
No worries , we are all learning and mpeg to avi is possible but is a big no no as there is no advantage in PQ and the need for more HDD space cannot be justified.
It is however useful to know that material from a DVD can be edited as native mpeg ( without extensive repeated reencoding) with minimal quality loss .
This bypasses the need to recapture the original as conventional wisdom would suggest .
At your instance I finally took the plunge to give Womble a go and it seems rather good.
Question:What do you do with your edited mpegs after saving them?
Do you turn them back to DVD if so what with? Does any PQ-reducing reencoding occur during that process?

[jomike]

Hi Senu
I do burn DVDs from my edited mpegs and I use Nero 7 to do this. I don't think any re encoding takes place during this process and there doesn't seem to be any PQ loss.

[senu]

Thanks Mike
I take it you mean Nero Vision Express: .

[jomike]

That's the one

[felix2]

Hi, I know you’re happy now Noah, but I thought I might just add my two pence worth for anyone else looking in… It’s the old chestnut, Ulead DVD Movie Factory 4. It probably doesn’t do everything quite as well as separate programmes instead (I haven’t tried any of the others mentioned), and does more than you need just for MPEG editing, – but as an all-in-one solution, I find it a rather useful and versatile alternative (at only about £25).

It will import MPEGs (VOBs) straight from DVD, or take most types of video files (except MPEG4 – I think you have to get an extra add-on for that), and will also capture from a digital camcorder. It will do “lossless” MPEG editing for basic editing (e.g. cutting and pasting), and will do fades / titles / soundtracks etc.. Editing is obviously limited compared with full NLE programmes (Adobe Premiere Elements, Video Studio, etc.), but I’m assuming that they’d all have to re-encode everything edited as MPEG at the end, losing quality??? And as I say, I don’t know how it compares with Womble or VideoReDo for editing?

If you’ve got an MPEG video, then Movie Factory, like NeroVision and TMPGenc, will author it (do menus, chapters, etc, and put the files together for a compatible DVD) without re-encoding it, and also burn it to disk. If you’ve got any other video file (e.g. DV-AVI), it will encode it to MPEG for authoring, – although I’m led to believe that Canopus Procoder (Express) or TMPGenc are actually better encoders for picture quality (haven’t tried them personally). Horses for courses and all that!!

[evans]

Hi guys

Glad to see you are making progress. I recently downloaded a trial of canopus Edius pro 3 just to use the capture facility not the editing. I wasnt dissappointed it is much clearer than nero vission express dv avi file. You do notice the difference.

I clicked on the properties of the avi file and it uses the canopus dv codec to compress and gives stunning results as i made a dvd and it is fantastic. I also used their canopus HQ codec but although results were good not as good as their canopus dv codec for compression. The problem is that it captures footage of different file sizes without completing all the capture and i dont know what is the problem.


There is a pluggin for adobe premiere and I am trying to download this software to see if is compatible.

I didnt think there would be much difference using different capture programs but its really down to the compression codec and camopus dv codec does a stunning job. Nero vision has an option to use a different codec while capturing but strangely only canopus lossless codec and HQ show up not their DV codec.!!