multiplexing D2V/VOB with MP3 to create simple MPEG

[recordista]

I've got some ripped video that is still in VOB/D2V form. Audio is AC3 and also BeSweet-converted MP3. I'd like to do a simple merge and get a n MPEG file (without transcoding the video.)

Have tried TMPG and about everything else I can locate, but it seems this rather simple task is eluding me.


--thanks!

[recordista]

Help?

[Dimmer]

Originally posted by recordista
I've got some ripped video that is still in VOB/D2V form. Audio is AC3 and also BeSweet-converted MP3. I'd like to do a simple merge and get an MPEG file (without transcoding the video.)

Have tried TMPG and about everything else I can locate, but it seems this rather simple task is eluding me. So which one is it - VOB or d2v? Perhaps, you meant m2v? That would make more sense.

Either way, standard MPEG files require MP2 sound, not AC-3 or MP3. After that, it's rather easy indeed: open VOB in TMPGEnc - MPEG Tools - Demultiplex, double-click on a stream marked as video to save it as .m2v, switch to Simple Multiplex tab, and then multiplex .m2v and .mp2 into a standard .mpg file. There is a Merge&Cut MPEG tool as well if you need to merge .mpg files.

[recordista]

> So which one is it - VOB or d2v?

It's three VOBs and also a D2V which refers to them.






> open VOB in TMPGEnc - MPEG Tools

I have three VOBs and one MPEG audio file for the whole bunch. Can I merge the VOBs somehow?


--thanks!

[recordista]

> I have three VOBs and one MPEG audio file for the whole bunch. Can I merge the VOBs somehow?

Nevermind, found 'merge & cut' and all is well.



--thanks again

[recordista]

Merged MPG is 4:3 aspect ratio rather than the wider one (16:9 I think) of the original VOBs. Is there a header edit that will fix this?

[recordista]

Merged MPG is 4:3 aspect ratio rather than the wider one (16:9 I think) of the original VOBs.

Correction: VOBs play back at 4:3 but if I open the D2V which references them I get the correct aspect ratio.

[cweb]

Perhaps you could use dvdpatcher? There's a tutorial/guide on doom9.

[recordista]

DVDPatcher seems to be what I was looking for, a way to manipulate the headers.

But after converting them from 16:9 to 4:3 the image is way too wide. I'm wondering if the D2V playback used square pixels (making 720x480 into a 1.5:1 image rather than a 1.33:1 (4:3) image. Is there a standard for this?

[recordista]

When I open the D2V file in MPclassic and do a File/Properties/Details on it, I get:
Video Size = 720x480


When I open the original MPG file I get
Video Size = 720x480 (AR 4:3)


When I open the DVDPatcher-modified MPG file I get
Video Size = 720x480 (AR 16:9)


So it looks like what I want to do is remove the aspect ratio tag from the headers somehow.

[Video Dude]

Lets clear up the confusion:

First, a d2v is not a video file. Rather, it is an index file of a video file. That means if you delete the mpeg/vob associated with the d2v file, the d2v file is useless. A d2v file can't be muxed with anything.

If you are not re-encoding or transcoding the video, why are you even using the d2v file?

The proper way to mux a vob is to strip out the m2v streams. So if you have 3 vobs, then you will then have 3 m2v streams after demuxing. Along with the demuxed m2v streams you will have audio streams (m2v, pcm, mpa). First merge the m2v files, then merge the audio. After that mux the merged m2v with the merger audio stream.

To go back to the first post. Do not use mp3 in the mpeg container. Use only mpa in the MPEG-2 program stream. If you authoring to DVD then you will be using the VOB container, which supports the audio formats mpa, pcm wav, ac3, and dts. I repeat: do not use mp3.

[recordista]

Originally posted by Video Dude
First, a d2v is not a video file. Rather, it is an index file of a video file. That means if you delete the mpeg/vob associated with the d2v file, the d2v file is useless. A d2v file can't be muxed with anything.

Which is why I said VOBs and also a D2V which refers to them.



The proper way to mux a vob is to strip out the m2v streams. So if you have 3 vobs, then you will then have 3 m2v streams after demuxing. Along with the demuxed m2v streams you will have audio streams (m2v, pcm, mpa). First merge the m2v files, then merge the audio. After that mux the merged m2v with the merger audio stream.

Will this preserve my 1.5:1 aspect ratio seen when playing the D2V file?

[recordista]

Originally posted by Video Dude
If you are not re-encoding or transcoding the video, why are you even using the d2v file?

It was created by gknot when I first started. I noticed that Media Player Classic could open the D2V file and that is used a different aspect ratio than it did with the VOBs. After comparing the two, its 3:2 ratio seems more accurate than the 4:3 did.

[Video Dude]

What are you trying to do? From your first post, you said you were trying to get the 3 VOBS into 1 big MPEG file without transcoding.

If your final goal is to just merge the 3 VOBs into 1 big MPEG file like you asked in your first post, there is no need to use the d2v file or gknot. Just use TMPGEnc to merge and you are done. If this is your goal don't worry about the aspect ratio as it will not be changed from the original.

But, if your final goal is to create an avi (which is why you would use gknot) then don't even bother to merge the VOB files. Just leave the VOBs as they are. If you are creating an avi did you try AutoGordianKnot? It takes care of all details automatically that you must set manually in GKnot, like the aspect ratio.

[recordista]

Originally posted by Video Dude
What are you trying to do? From your first post, you said you were trying to get the 3 VOBS into 1 big MPEG file without transcoding.

Basically, yes.


If your final goal is to just merge the 3 VOBs into 1 big MPEG file like you asked in your first post, there is no need to use the d2v file or gknot. Just use TMPGEnc to merge and you are done.

The D2V file was created when I ran the DVD through gknot months ago. The DVD is gone now. I ran out of time and came back to the project recently. Watching the D2V looks better than watching the VOBs.

[Video Dude]

Ok, I understand now.

But do you hear the audio when you play back the d2v? I thought it was only an index of the video stream.

You might get good playback results if you play the vobs directly in WinDVD or PowerDVD. They will automatically adjust the aspect ratio like the d2v file does. That way you can also have audio with it. That software has a playlist feature so you can enter all 3 vobs in the list and they will play one after the other. Just a suggestion if you can't get audio with the d2v.

[recordista]

Originally posted by Video Dude
do you hear the audio when you play back the d2v? I thought it was only an index of the video stream.

Yes, the audio comes with. Probably the .AC3 which is interleaved inside the first VOB (which I noticed when the MPEG tools portion of tmpgenc was run in the Multiplex mode rather than Simple Multiplex mode.)


You might get good playback results if you play the vobs directly in WinDVD or PowerDVD. They will automatically adjust the aspect ratio like the d2v file does.

I'm trying to get to a single MPEG so I don't have to keep track of all thes separate chunks, and so I have a more recognizable file format for future accessibility from a variety of platforms.

[Video Dude]

@recordista
Get a tool like VOBMerge. It takes many vobs and outputs one big vob.

http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downloads/showsoftware_vobmerge_108.html

A vob is an mpeg so it will be compatible across platforms.

[recordista]

Originally posted by Video Dude
Get a tool like VOBMerge. It takes many vobs and outputs one big vob.

Opening the first (or any) VOB I get a dialog box saying "File access denied."

Besides, the VOBs have the same aspect ratio problem that the MPEG does. Is there some way to remove the aspec ratio header?