Hi Everyone,

As the title says, I am having some problems working with the VOB files that are generated by my very lowest end SD Panasonic VDR D100 SD mini DVD camera. I don’t use this camera much, and the main problem is probably that I really don’t understand all that I don’t know about this subject. My searches revealed some similar and different problems, but I’m still a bit puzzled by it all. Here’s what I’m up to and the problems…

I used to capture off the mini DVDs by either using a USB capture device by Turtle Beach, or with PD’s capture function. But the Mpeg2 video quality always seems just a little bit jittery. But using this method works fine, and I can easily work with and edit the footage in PD.

If I create a TS Folder by copying the VOB files directly to my hard drive (from the mini DVD’s), and try to play any of these direct copy VOB files in either Windows Media Player 9 or VLC Player, the players only play the first 10 to 15 seconds and then zip to the end, and stop.
I’ve tried to convert these files (to Avi or Mp4 and other formats), in 2 separate conversion programs. But either only the first 10 to 15 seconds seem to covert, or the conversion just aborts and says it doesn’t recognize the file type.

However I “can” load these direct copy VOB files (from the TS Folder), into PD7’s Library. And when I drag a clip to the Master Track, it seems to play fine all the way through in the preview screen without the aforementioned jitters or any audio problems.
So why wouldn’t the same clip play in either WMP9 or VLC?
BUT… if I make just one simple split at say 2 minutes into this clip (who’s total duration is 15 minutes), when I highlight the remaining 13 minutes long clip and try to play/preview it, the video is fine, but the audio I get is the audio from the very start of this overall 15 minutes long clip, and not the audio that should be there at 2 minutes in. Or to put it another way, the video I see after the split is fine, but the audio is from 2 minutes ago.
As a work around I could extract the audio, mute the Master track, and the make splits in both the video and audio track. But… well, you know.
So editing these direct copy clips in PD is not a very productive enterprise.

Here is what I see upon clicking on Properties for the clip.
File
- file type > VOB
- file size > 1023MB
Video
- type > Mpeg2
- duration > 00:15:04:06
- bit rate > 9.56Mbps
- resolution > 704 x 480
- frame rate > 29.97
- aspect ratio > 4:3
Audio
- type > Dolby Digital
- audio > 48kHz @ 256Kbps

Here are my Desktop’s Specs
(Note: For those of you who gave your generous advice on my questions about a new computer purchase a few months back, you’ll see I had to comprise a bit (owning to medical expenses). But still, it’s a huge improvement over my laptop.)
- Intel Core2 Duo Processor > E7400 > 2.80 Ghz
- 4GB DDR2 SDRAM > 800Mhz
- 500GB Serial ATA II HD > 7200rpm
- AMD Radeon HD3450 > 256MB
My codecs come from the K-lite Full codec pack (which does list ffshow).
Post defrag, I have 97% available memory.

In summary:
- The direct copy VOB files won’t play in my Media Players, but they will play in PD.
- Though when only one simple split is executed in PD, the audio goes nutz.

I’ll probably eventually figure out what I’m doing here. Or go back to capturing, which works fine except for the little jitters (or get a real camera, maybe a Lucey C-Cam).
But if anyone has a couple of minutes, and has any wisdom or links to wisdom that they’d care to impart, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks.


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