If you've recorded to DVD+RW using a consumer DVD recorder, how can you extract the .VOB files and edit video and audio on the Mac?
There are probably numerous ways you could accomplish this task. The graphic below is the workflow I use; it is laborious, but it works. Unfortunately it does depend on access to a PC—merely because the Apple SuperDrive does not acknowledge the DVD+RW format. However, dual-format third party DVD drives are now available which should greatly simplify the process of getting the .VOB files onto the Mac. You can use VLC to play the .VOB files on the Mac, but re-encoding them to MPEG-4 will (i) significantly reduce the file size and (ii) enable you to edit/ extract the video and/or audio channels using iMovie and iTunes. Other tools used here are VOBMerge, OpenShiiva, and QuickTime Pro.
Update 23.12.05: I no longer use the PC to merge .VOB files into a single MPEG-2 stream. Instead I use MPEG Streamclip (freeware), which has a straight-forward interface yet lots of options (requires Apple's $20 QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component). When you insert a DVD it even prompts you to open just the .VOB file you selected or all files in that stream. Scan through the stream to select your "In" and "Out" points (even if they transcend one or more sequential .VOB files) and then head to the file menu. Options include export to QuickTime, DV (e.g. for re-use in iMovie), MPEG-4 (including an iPod pre-set), and demuxing to the AIFF audio format. In short, MPEG Streamclip cuts out many of the above steps enabling you to re-use your digital content with a minimum of fuss.
Alternative applications with (IMHO) less endearing interfaces include HandBrake (freeware) and ffmpegX (shareware).
Tip: If you have an older Mac like me that does not read DVD+RW disks, but have access to a PC that does, try this: Set up your PC's DVD drive as a network share. Back in OSX choose Connect to Server from the Go menu and find your PC (something like smb://192.168.1.xxx). You should be able to select and hen mount the PC DVD drive on your OSX desktop and this will enable MPEG Streamclip to read the .VOB stream directly from your PC. Yes, it will take a wee while to suck the files across the network—but it's cheaper than a new Mac!
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i know this is a "Mac" website but i have a PC (windows home) anyways if u could help me i'm trying to find out how to edit my dvds but there coming up as ".VOB" files and i cant find anything that would work... i want to cut out some stuff and add music.
so yeah if u could help me or even send me to a website that could help it would be most pleasing..
thanks
Aaron, I'm not overly familiar with tools on the PC side, but have used Nero previously which is a very capable product. I understand it will allow you to recode non-copy protected DVD video which you can then edit in a tool of your choice e.g. Windows Movie Maker. There are some tutorials for the current version here, which include how to Burn DVD-Video Files, Make or Modify DVD-Video (VR), and Recode DVD-Video. You can download a trial so why not start there and feel free to report back how you get on!
Hi I have copied a video to vob and was hoping to edit it on imovie, is there a program I can download to convert the vob into a format that imovie can read.
Thanks for your help
Peter M
Peter, as mentioned above MPEG Streamclip will take .VOB (MPEG-2) files and export to DV for use in iMovie. Or try Handbrake, also mentioned above.
how do you convert VLC files so that I can burn onto DVDs
That depends on what you mean by "VLC files" Paul; VLC is not a file format it's a media player. First you would need to convert the media (e.g. using QuickTime Pro or MPEG Streamclip or iMovie) into full-quality digital video (DV) which you can optionally edit; the easiest way to create a DVD from exported .dv footage is to use iDVD, part of Apple's iLife suite.
hi, i have VOB files on my computer and the thing is I want to shorten it. The file size is like 947 MB and I just want some parts from the movie (its a wedding) but the thing is I have no idea on how to do it. Any help? plz
Anam, use one of the tools mentioned above to re-code the entire .vob file as (for example) digital video, then use a video editing tool to extract the bits you're interested in. Or, using MPEG Streamclip, set your "in" and "out" points and export just one sequence each time. If you're on a PC, see comment #2.
Have you Windows guys tried virtual dub? I have no idea if it will work with VOB files or not, but worth a try.
Nice howto, Bruce.
The howto is a bit dated now Rob! Also on the Windows open-source front, DVD Flick looks like a useful and straight-forward DVD creation tool once you're ready to burn those .vob extracts back to DVD.
What are you using these days to burn DVDs on the Mac, Bruce? Besides iDVD I mean?
Other than iDVD Rob the only other Mac software I've used to burn DVDs is Popcorn.
hi thanks bruce but Nero is a massive file. Its huge! Anything that would be able to
do what I want with the video but in a smaller format?
thnks
Anam I don't use a PC unless forced, so this isn't really the best place to ask about PC tools (this post is in the Mac category). A quick Google search, however, led me to MediaCoder which I understand can transcode .vob files, but I don't know the size of the download.
can anyone tell me how to make two VOB files into one in stream clip the help menu isnt too helpful
cheerse sach.
The help menu of what Sach? Which tool are you using?
bruce its stream clip im using, stream clips the program that stops you from messing around with allot of things to make 2 VOB files into one or so a re-view said.
It's just that i have never tried doing this before got any ideas on how to do it? or how to do it another way?
cheerse sach.
OK Sach. Let's say you want to convert a section of video that includes the end of one .vob and the beginning of another. Using MPEG Streamclip I'd first merge the streams then select the segment I wanted to export, like this:
Mount a DVD;
Open MPEG Streamclip;
Choose Open Files from the File menu;
Navigate to the VIDEO_TS folder on the DVD and select the two (or more) .VOB files you want to join (hold down Shift as you click to select multiple files) and click Open;
Content from both clips will appear in the preview window as a seamless single stream;
Select your In and Out points from the Edit menu;
Export your selection from the File menu.
wicked!!! awsome!! that what i wanted!!! yey! shall try it today :) he he b4 my bf figures it out hahahahaha cheerse smilexx
I just thought I would mention this because I can't find anyone else that did but VLC can transcode anything it plays into a number of other formats, including Quicktime and Mpeg . In the File->Open dialog there is a "stream/save" option that will let you choose a filename and encoding options.
Worth noting Matt, thanks. I recently discovered this myself when I used VLC to transcode an .flv file (from YouTube) into a QuickTime container. Incidentally, Mac users can save a handy JavaScript snippet into their Bookmarks Bar to download the currently displayed YouTube video:
Once downloaded append the .flv extension to the resulting "get_video" file, and then open in VLC for viewing (or transcoding).
As an oldie silver surfer in the uk I've recently switched from pc to mac and am enjoying finding my way round the new system. I'm trying to find out how to convert an idvd file into an flv so that I can download into a website. I'd be really grateful if anyone could point me in th right direction.
Jenny, there's a tutorial on using ffmpegX to create Flash .flv video here. You should be able to convert directly from .vob, the container format that iDVD uses.
I was wondering whether it is possible to create/burn a dvd
with only vob files. I have a bunch of them in order which can
be read by VLC but dont have the ifo bup files.
cheers
Mark
Not sure about that Mark; you could always convert the .vob files to a format iDVD can handle, and create a DVD that way. The other app that might help is Popcorn; I'm travelling at present but will try and remember to see if it can do this once I have my own computer re-assembled.
I am a complete MAC neophyte and a collector of old TV commercials...I have Realplayer on my PC and have been downloading commercials from Youtube and saving them. What I want to do is transfer my files a bit at a time to my memory stick...plug it in to my MAC and make a DVD that will play back....seems simple enough but as I say...I'm new to MAC and have absolutely NO skills to pull this off at the moment...I have transfered some of my files to the stick and my MAC is reading the stick but I can't burn to iDVD.....any help would be greatly appreciated.
@Donald, it's a bit off-topic since this (old) post concerns .vob format—but nevertheless an interesting idea. You confused me a bit by mentioning RealPlayer and then YouTube, but as I understand you want to take a collection of YouTube videos and burn them to DVD using iDVD without breaking into a sweat, right?
What I would try is downloading TubeTV for OS X which will either directly download from YouTube or process already downloaded .flv files. In the apps "Downloading" preferences, choose the "Apple TV" preset to get the best quality. From the "File" menu choose "Convert files" (for existing downloads) or enter the YouTube URL into the path box to automatically download and convert new content.
Your converted videos will be in an .m4v container, which you can drag directly into an iDVD project and burn your DVD.
Note that you can use VLC to play the .flv source files on the Mac. Also, if you extend a default QuickTime installation using Perian then iDVD will be able to handle the .flv files with no conversion; I just tried it ;-)