Hi Rebbeca,

You might try to convert the video files to another format (e.g. Avi, Mpeg2, Mp4, etc.), using an outside video conversion program, before importing them to PD. Many free conversion programs are available if you do a Google search, though the paid for ones may offer a little more control over bitrates. “Super” is a very popular program with many forum members here.

Also, here is thread that even though it pertains to VOB files, “might” help sort out your issue.
http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/7428.page

Click here PDtoots for a collection of PowerDirector Tutorials and Tips

I have found VOB files difficult to work with. Convert to MPEG 2 and you will have a lot less trouble. __________________________________
CORNBLOSSOM

Remember i am a rookie here...
I don't know what all this means but what I don't understand is why they all basically say the same thing under properties but 1 works and 4 don't
(btw when I was playing around with them in Windows Movie Maker three would work there and 2 would not, BUT the two that wouldn't work there at least here I get video but its speeded up badly)

ok here's what it says about the files under properties

File
File path: E:\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_3.VOB
File type: VOB
File size: 1023.85 MB
Created by: 2009/08/16 08:49 AM

Video
Type: MPEG-2
Original duration: 00:26:51:17
Bitrate: 5.13 Mbps
Resolution: 720x480
Frame rate: 29.97 fps
Aspect Ratio: 4:3

Audio
Type: MPEG
Sample rate: 44kHz
Bitrate: 96Kbps
Channel: Mono

so what does this all mean? are these VOB files or not?
Thanks
Becky

A VOB file is basically an MPEG 2 file that has been made into a format that a DVD player will read. By converting it back to a standard MPEG 2, you are just making it easier on PowerDirector, so it will be more stable. It should take less computer resources to play and edit. I'm afraid that's the best way I can explain it. Maybe someone on here knows more details on how VOB's are put together. __________________________________
CORNBLOSSOM

so if I convert it to a mpg2 then the audio will automatically convert too?

Thanks for all you all's patience
Becky

Hi Rebecca,

In your original post, you said the files were VOD, but it appears they are VOB.
Just as it was explained in the thread I linked above, VOB files appear not to be always ideal for editing purposes, but they are the type of files that a DVD player likes (too put it simply). And just as Jaime said, VOB files are not always stable when used in an editor.
So, try this test as a starting point. (And by the way, there’s nothing wrong with being new to this, or asking as many times as you need to till it makes sense to you. There are lots of knowledgeable friendly folks here willing to help.) So try this Rebecca…

- Drag the clip that is “messed up”, into the master track. And without editing it, just click on the Produce tab
- Choose the Mpeg2 DVD HQ profile from the dropdown menus
- Choose the destination where you want to send or output this Produced Mpeg2 file to
(it also automatically should also appear in your library after it's done Producing)

Now play this new Produced version/file in PD and see if the problem is fixed. Then also open it in Windows Media Player, to see how it performs there.
If all is now fine, then use this file to do your editing. And now that you see if pre-Producing to Mpeg2 works, you can now consider whether converting these files to Mpeg2 (with a conversion program) would be easier and less time consuming than first pre-producing them in PD.

If however, after Producing, it still does not play right, then I would suspect that the file was corrupted when filmed or when transferred from the DVD.

You might want to re-read the last 3 posts in the thread I linked above again. It explains it in a bit more detail. And here is link to many fine video tutorials that cover many aspects of “how to” in PD.
http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/3523.page

Bottom line, video files come in many different formats. Some are fine for editing purposes, some are really only best suited for playback. So sometimes one has to change some files to a different format, if one intends on editing them.
In truth, it's a bit more complicated than that, but that's probably a good way to start out thinking about all this video editing stuff.

Good Luck Rebecca. You’ll get it!



Click here PDtoots for a collection of PowerDirector Tutorials and Tips

yes it was a typo in the original post sorry bout that...

I read through every linked post everyone gave me and it didn't really help because I didn't understand what a lot of it was talking about to be honest

ok I tried putting the messed up file in the master track, clicked produce and chose Mpeg2. It took about 15 or 16 minutes (the section is 26 minutes long more or less).

the end result was it appeared in the library after it was finished and when I clicked on it to play and it did the exact same thing although it seemed to have slowed down from super fast forward but with the audio still being almost a squeaky squeal (my dh said it sounded like a bunch of hyped up chipmunks)

so it seems to be the audio I am having the most problem with.

Rebecca -

Quick - while Jaime and Cranston aren't watching... see if this works for you:

1. Locate one of the VOB files on your computer - it'll be named something like "rebeccamovie.VOB"

2. Change the name of the file (right click > rename) to "rebeccamovie.mpeg"

3. Now import your renamed file into PD and see if it works.

Cheers - Tony
Visit PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials, tips, free resources & more. Subscribe!
Full linked Tutorial Catalog PDtoots happily supports fellow PowerDirector users!

Tony, it won't let me change the file type (did I ever mention I HATE Vista?) so don't know what I need to do to be able to do that

seems like the ONLY way I can get these clips to actually play is in
QuickPlay (other than the first one of course which plays in anything I've tried although 2 others of the 5, as I mentioned, will play in movie maker)

i'm giving up for tonight but will be back tomorrow to see if anyone has come up with any other suggestions...I hate to give up on doing this, there are clips from this video that family and friends want to see...

Thanks ya'll
Becky

Have you tried recapturing the video by ripping the DVD in Power Director? That would give you one file or a couple of continuous files as mpeg2. That might make it easier to work with.

Put your DVD in your DVD drive. Open Power Director and click on Capture up at the top. When it opens you should see options for capture. One should looke like a DVD (one of them will have a disc with a musical note, that is a cd) if your DVD is being recognized then the disc without the musical note will be darker and able to be clicked on.

If you click on the disc, you should see a pop up saying loading disc. On the left hand side under the tv screen you will see the number of clips in your dvd. If you click on the top box, it should highlight everything on it. If you click on the Record Button (the one with the red dot in the middle) you should receive a pop up saying extracting. This should give you a captured file(s) to work with.

As has been said above .VOB files are finicky some are editable some aren't, it sometimes depends upon the computer, the version of the program (many things) if you can convert the files somehow to mpeg2 this might make it easier.

Good Luck

When you tried to rename it, was it also open in PowerDirector? Try to open it with Windows Media Player and see if it plays correctly. With PD 6 I had a great deal of trouble with VOB files, especially those that had been shrunk to fit on the disc. With PD 8 I have been able to work on files that crashed PD 6 every time. I don't know what version you have, but I think v.6 was the first to support VOB files. That doesn't help you, but it's something to consider. __________________________________
CORNBLOSSOM

McLean,
When I tried to capture it from the dvd a little box popped up after a few minutes and said audio not supported...

and I am using 7.0...I just got it 2 nights ago because everywhere I read it said it was the the best program for beginners (and I had the beginning part that came with my laptop). No it was not open in power director ( I copied the file directly to the hard drive and tried to open it from there) and I also tried to open it with with windows media...the only thing I could get it to open correctly with was Quickplay but I couldn't fast forward or anything it would just play that one section...

so what's next?

Rebecca -

I guess it's confusing with so many of using trying to help with different ideas... PD really is easy after a while. You'll get there. You've given yourself a challenge right from the beginning.

How to change the filename? This is staright from the Windows Help page at http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/5bc67cea-5901-4563-b800-16af596dffb61033.mspx

To change a file name extension, first ensure that file name extensions are visible. Then, right-click the file you want to change and click Rename. Delete the file name extension, type the new extension, and then press ENTER. Windows will warn you that changing the file name extension might cause the file to stop working properly. If you are certain that the extension you typed is one that the program you are using will understand, click Yes to confirm the change.

Geez I hope it works for you - Tony

Visit PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials, tips, free resources & more. Subscribe!
Full linked Tutorial Catalog PDtoots happily supports fellow PowerDirector users!

LOL Tony, I know how to generally change file names (that's what happens when I answer when I am getting sleepy)
I usually do a "save as" but in this case it let me rename the file but not the type cause its in a different column when opened with windows explorer...if that makes sense and there was no "save as" option...so I guess the better answer would have been I could change the file name but not the file type
Becky

Rebecca -

By default, file extensions aren't visible... except in the "Type" column.

Here's how to make them visible, so you can change them, step by step:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5135856_change-file-extensions-vista.html

I should point out that changing .VOB to .mpeg doesn't work all the time. As others have said, VOB files can be finicky things.

Cheers - Tony
Visit PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials, tips, free resources & more. Subscribe!
Full linked Tutorial Catalog PDtoots happily supports fellow PowerDirector users!

Rebecca,

Tony’s renaming suggestion might work. I’ve tried renaming, and with some VOB files, that worked. With others it didn’t. Regardless, here’s what we know so far...
- Pre-producing to Mpeg2 in PD did not cure the audio problem.
- Capturing the VOB files with PD resulted in an error message "audio not supported".
So were right back to the fact that the VOB file(s) need to be converted (by extension change, or wholesale conversion), before PD can edit them. Remember, as has been stated above, and as I have recently learned, VOB files "playback" good (as in QuickPlay), but are often not ideal for editing depending on certain factors. And like you said, some of them didn’t play correctly in the Windows Movie Maker program either.
So the format(s) need to be changed / converted.

One last thing you might try (besides converting them in a converting program), is to…
- Place the VOB clip in PD’s library, but before you drag it into the time line.
- Right click on the clip and select "Extract Audio" (not "Split", but "Extract"), and name the extracted audio file EXaudio or something.
This will create a .wav file of the audio in the clip
- Now drag your VOB clip into the Master track.
- Right click on your clip in the Master track and choose "Mute Clip" or "Mute Track".
- Now drag the "EXaudio" wav file into one of PD’s Audio tracks, right under your clip in the Master track.

Does the audio now play correctly? If not, you should try to convert the VOB files in a program that will convert VOB files to Avi, or Mpeg2, or MP4, etc., as described in the posts above. Many convertors will also give an option as to what audio type you want it converted to (.e.g. Wav, WMA, MP3, etc)
Just Google "VOB to Mpeg2 convertor". Many free programs are available.

There’s nothing wrong with PD, you are just trying to edit a VOB file that PD and MM does not easily or fully recognize. And with respect to VOB files, this is not unusual as stated in the other posts above.

To McLean, Tony, and Jaime,
Thanks for chiming in as well. As I’ve said before, there really are a lot of good folks on this forum.

Click here PDtoots for a collection of PowerDirector Tutorials and Tips

ok guys here's the status (and THANKS SO MUCH for your patience)

I tried changing the type file-that did not work
I tried extracting the audio and muting then putting the wav file below- that did not work, in fact it resulted in silence as though there was nothing on the wav file which made sense since the wav file basically had no size so I assume it didn't extract correctly
I have tried converting it to mpeg and avi and no luck with either one, they still don't work
(I gotta figure out where in the heck it keeps storing all these attempts as my hard drive keeps losing available space so I know they are going somewhere LOL)

so honestly I am at my wits end...and ask of you....is there any hope for being able to edit these???

Boy oh boy, you are persistent, that is great. Have you thought about capturing (once again) but from a dvd player NOT your dvd drive? - assuming you have a capture card in your computer? You could attach the dvd player to your computer and run it through power director and capture it as if you were capturing a tv program.

BUT of course you need a capture device for that.

Have you tried any other .VOB files to see if it happens to be those specific ones, OR if it is all .VOB files? Sometimes it depends upon the .vob files too.

Rebecca wrote:

I have tried converting it to mpeg and avi and no luck with either one, they still don't work.

Which conversion program and method did you use?

....is there any hope for being able to edit these???

Yes. As McLean said, if you can indeed play the file on a DVD player, then capturing via a USB capture device has too work.
But I still can't help but think this can be resolved some how. However, I've pretty much run out of ideas, if the audio issue couldn't be resolved buy changing it using a conversion program. That can only mean that the convertor program can't recognize the VOB's audio portion either.

Click here PDtoots for a collection of PowerDirector Tutorials and Tips