How to make a DVD from M2V & VOB files ?

[yura-v]

Hello All !

For some time I've been collecting videos of my favourite groups on my computer. At the moment I have a lot of videos in MPEG2 format. The files have an extention of M2V & VOB, they have different resolution, bitrate and even standard (PAL \ NTSC).

I want to make a DVD compilation of the videos (with a menu), so that I can give them to my friends to watch on their DVD players.
I have a XORO-311pro system myself, and that player automatically lanches a filebrowser, when it finds no menu on the dvd disk.
But some of my friends have older systems, that can view only "standard" DVDs with a menu.

As I'm a complete newbie in the world of MPEG-2, I have some questions I need to ask you:

1) What is the difference between a M2V & VOB file formats ? I've looked at my M2V\VOB files in a hex editor and found out that they have a similar header. So is there a real difference between them ? Or these extensions are just used to tell us if a file is in a SVCD resolution or in a "full"-DVD resolution ?

2) Can I make a "compilation DVD" from files in different
- standard (PAL \ NTSC)
- resolution
- bitrate
A friend told me, that all files on the DVD should be in the same standard (PAL \ NTSC) and resolution.
But on my XORO I can watch any files - this player has no problems with different standars & resolutions.
So can I make such a DVD ? Or such disk will not play on some DVD systems ?

3) If the answer to question 2 is TRUE - what programs should I use to prepare my DVD ? I was told that programs like "Sony DVD Architect" force re-encoding of all files in the project to a equal standard (PAL \ NTSC) & resolution. But I do not want that - 'cause it will desrease quality of the videos. So it there any program that meets my needs ?

P.S. Sorry if these are stupid or over-asked \ already-answered-many-times questions... I just couldn't find the answers in search systems.

[blutach]

1. The m2v is the video component. The VOB also includes audio streams and subtitle streams as well as navpacks.

2. PAL and NTSC won't go together on the same DVD AFAIK.
Resolution must be the same for a single VTS but can be different in different VTSs.
Bitrate can be variable or fixed - let your encoder do the work here.

Regards

[Dr.Khron]

This might belong in the "DVD Authoring" section, but I'll leave that up to the mods.

M2V is JUST a video stream... Vob files are made up of cells, which can contain: video streams, audio streams, subtitle streams, etc. etc.

Various elementary streams are multiplexed into a vob file with an "Authoring Program". The best free one is MuxMan.

If your VOB looks just like your M2V, then the authoring is simple, one video stream in one big cell.

2) Can I make a "compilation DVD" from files in different
- standard (PAL \ NTSC)
- resolution
- bitrate


Yes, you can mix PAL and NTSC, but it makes an uncompliant DVD that most players won't play. So yes, its possible to mix the two, but you shouldn't unless you REALLY know what you are doing. Better to convert to all one standard.

Resolution is tied to the standard you are using, so mixing resolutions is the same as mixing standards. What you CAN mix is aspect ratios: ie, all of the video is 720x480, but one clip might be widescreen, another letterboxed, another Pan Scan, etc. etc. This would be useful for material from multiple sources.

Bitrate can vary all over the place, as long as you keep within the given limits for DVD compliance.


EDIT:
Oops, Blutach beat me to punch.
Looks like I was wrong about resolutions, I would take his word over mine.

[blutach]

And you can't mix aspect ratios in the same VTS either.

Regards

[yura-v]

Hello, everybody! Thanks a lot for your answers !

I stil have a lot of questions, so let me post them below the quotes from your advices.

> The m2v is the video component. The VOB also includes audio streams and subtitle streams as well as navpacks

All of my video files start from a "00 00 01 BA 44" hex sequence, they contain both sound and video.
For example:
Video: MPEG2 Video 352x576 (4:3) 25.00fps 4020Kbps [Video]
Audio: Dolby AC3 48000Hz stereo 256Kbps [Audio]

The only noticable difference between them is that files with m2v extension are in SVCD resolution, and VOB files are in "full" resolution.

Does this mean that all my files are actually VOB files ? :)

> Various elementary streams are multiplexed into a vob file with an "Authoring Program".

So if my files already contain both sound & video, that means that they are already "authorised" - no "authoring" is needed ? Or I'm wrong ?

> Yes, you can mix PAL and NTSC, but it makes an uncompliant DVD that most players won't play. Better to convert to all one standard.

Does PAL<->NTSC Convertion spoils the video quality a lot ? Does it affects sound or only video ?

P.S. As I understood, VTS is the container for menus and audio\video files, and if there are 2 or more VTS on the disk - then the first menu that you see on the screen when you start your DVD is the "Choice of VTSs" ? Did I get it right ?
If yes than I want to try to make the DVD with a PAL VTS & a NTSC VTS (or a Hi-Res VTS & Low-Res VTS).

What programs should I try then ?
Do you know any programs that will let me leave Resolution, Audio Encoding type, Audio and Video Encoding rate "AS IS" ?

Can you recommend any FAQ (or better "walk-through") dedicated to HOW TO MAKE YOUR DVD FROM VOB FILES ? That teaches to make VTS from multiple VOB files, and then combining DVD from several VTS.