VOB files - easy program to edit?

[lumbarpuncture]

Please excuse me if this question has been answered elsewhere; I have searched the faq's as well as all of the forums and I've not found my question answered.

I created a DVD using a Hitachi DVD-R camera. I would like to cut some of the footage out and make a new DVD that I can send to family. I don't want to do anything fancy, like add menus or anything else. I want to go from DVD to editing software to DVD again.

However, the software included with the camera does not support editing of vob files. So, I am looking for an easy to use program that will automatically recognize my DVD, allow me to edit it, and make a new DVD without first converting the vob's into avi or any other such conversions. So far no program I have seen has advertised that it is capable of such a feat. All the answers that I have seen up to this point require using at least two different programs, one to rip to avi or other format, another to combine, and possibly another to burn, and then people start talking about audio issues and how there's a problem synching, etc. It makes my head swim. Does anyone know of such a program?

Also, there was a final step in my creation of the DVD so that it could be played in DVD players ("finalization"). Had I hooked up the camera to the PC via USB prior to finalization would I have already been in AVI format or something close?

Any help is very much appreciated.

[setarip]

"I want to go from DVD to editing software to DVD again."

Use "TMPGEn DVD Author" (Different than "TMPGEnc" and "TMPGEnc DVD Plus")...

[lumbarpuncture]

Do you mean "TMPGEnc DVD Author", or "TMPGEn DVD Author"? I assume it's the former as that's what comes up in Google. I'm honestly not trying to catch you in a mistake - you make a point about things being different than other things with similar names. I really appreciate the help!

[rsquirell]

TMPGEnc DVD Author is an excellent program for cutting out segments and creating menus...the same company makes another product (TMPGEnc Plus) which is superb for other types of editing (making color corrections, cropping, improving the quality by eliminating ghosting and improving poor resolution)...but TMPGEnc Plus doesn't take VOB files directly...they have to be converted to MPEG2 by using MPEG Tools (which is another post in itself.) Thought I'd mention it, because when you go to download you can get both for a discounted price. TMPGEnc DVD Author will handle what you say you want...and is easy to use. By the way....since you are using a DVD Camera you should probably be capturing using the firewire (IEEE1394, i-link) as DV rather than going through the USB port. ULead Video Studio 7 or 8 will capture the DV as DV (and convert the large DV AVI files to much smaller MPEG2 on the fly) ...then you can do all kinds of editing and create your final DVD by using only one piece of software.

[lumbarpuncture]

Thanks rsquirrell for your reply. I downloaded TMPGEnc DVD Author and will give it a try.

I am a little confused however by the suggestion about using the firewire port for two reasons:

1)I thought USB 2.0 was just as fast or nearly as fast as firewire?
2)You make mention of another program ULead Video Studio, but would TMPGEnc DVD Author do the same thing?
3)If TMPGEnc DVD Author does not, couldn't I just do as I'm doing by making a DVD and editing it with TMPGEnc DVD Author? Or is this going to be a cumbersome process?

Thanks again for your help - I appreciate it!

[rsquirell]

Actually, i've seen reports saying USB2 is faster...but IEEE standards are carved in stone...and it will be around a long time after USB2 is forgotten. If you can get DV in DV clarity on your PC thru the USB2 port the more power to you. As with many things, there are several ways to skin a cat. Your original question asked how to edit VOB files....which is why setarip suggested TMPGEnc DVD Author...but with DV capture I suggest using ULEAD Video Studio because it'll convert large DV/AVI files (NOT VOB) that you get on capture to smaller MPEG2 files which are more manageable. If you want to go the cheap route....you can also download VirtualDub from this site...and use the huffy codec to capture DV/AVI using freeware. VD will also edit well....but eventually you have to convert the AVI capture to MPEG2 to get it into an authoring program in order to burn a DVD disc. Think all this is confusing? Wait til you actually try to use the software. hehehe.

[lumbarpuncture]

Success!

I was able to use TMPGEnc DVD Author to do exactly what I wanted. It recognized the DVD in my drive, automatically selected the clips in order, and allowed me to easily set start and end frames as well as add a menu(I didn't really want to do this, but it made me and it was easy). The software was fairly intuitive and without a manual I was able to figure things out pretty quickly. It then burned 2 DVDs both of which worked fine and can be sent out. I highly recommend it!

It's absolutely stunning how unintuitive all of this stuff is. I simply don't understand why there aren't more programs out that can do it all, rather than having to have huffy codecs, VirtualDub, ULEAD, etc, all to capture, edit, and burn DVD's. I was pleased to see that TMPGEnc DVD Author (what a horrible name for a piece of software) did all that for me. Seems like someone out there could come up with a killer app program that did everything you're talking about and do it well, and intuitively.

My thanks to you and setarip for setting me straight on which program to use.

[setarip]

"I was able to use TMPGEnc DVD Author to do exactly what I wanted."

My (Our) pleasure ;>}

(Sorry about the initial typo!)