Compressing VOB files?

[rurounihime.livejournal.com]

Does anyone have suggestions on the best way to compress VOB files? I'm making a video from clips I've made using DVD Shrink and DVDFab, but the files are just too large to work with in any functional capacity. I've heard HandBrake is a good way to go, as well as SUPER and AutoGordianKnot... Do you have a favorite?

I'm working on a PC and using Pinnacle to make the actual vid (it handles the VOB files well but does not compress them, though the vid it turns out is AVI. I am concerned because I did a test run vid made up of exactly two clips and a ten second mp3, and the file ended up at 48.3 MB).

Thank you so much!

Comments

[amnisias.livejournal.com]

I would advise not to compress before you edit, the whole point of working with high quality footage is to have high quality, which you would lose if you compress at this stage. I would advise to vid in VOB and then compress the completed vid to whatever format you like. I always render uncompressed (I'm using SVPro) and then convert with a converter program which seems to yield better results, but you can also compress with the editor during rendering. It's normal for an uncompressed vid to have around 5-10 GB sizes.

Either way, the programme I use is Total Video Converter, which offers a lot of control and around 40 different formats, including HD capability.

[rurounihime.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the advice! I'm relieved not to compress a whole bunch of little vids. ^_^ I will check out TVC once I'm done with my vid. Thanks again!

[littleheaven70.livejournal.com]

I second working with the VOB files uncompressed. I use Sony Vegas which also edits them happily. I set my project properties to match the media properties, then output the vid using those settings, and it's normally between 700MB and 1GB. Then I take my shiny, full-quality vid and compress it using Handbrake to an MP4 file of around 50MB and it comes out looking great. You definitely want to do any compressing on the finished vid, rather than editing with degraded quality clips, IMO.

[rurounihime.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for the advice. It's really helpful. I'm new to this... It's great to get tips from the people on this comm.

[littleheaven70.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!

You might find that your transitions/effects render better this way, too. I ended up using this method because if Vegas was rendering the file and compressing it at the same time, the end result was not great.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

I third using uncompressed files. I use avis and every five minutes is roughly 1GB. I have my episodes ripped on an external at 850 or so gigs. I then drop the clips into VideoStudio and work with those. Same wth music. I convert my mp3s into wav for better quality. Then I use MPEG Streamclip to convert the finished product to mp4s which I find are the best quality on the net on or my big screen tv. My finished vids are generally about 50 mbs for a three minute vid.

If you want lots of helpful advice by people smarter than me, try this forum: http://fpvideos.proboards.com/index.cgi

This is where I learned to vid by following their tutorials. Any time I had a question they helped me through it.

Good luck and have fun.

[rurounihime.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for the advice, and especially for the forum link! I will definitely make use of it. Got my external hard drive all set up with clips so I should be ready to go. Thanks again! ^__^

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

You're wecome.

[mresundance.livejournal.com]

Like everyone else said, you don't want to compress your VOB files because you'll reduce the quality. Compress when you've rendered the vid in some fashion! You won't regret it. Your footage will be much shinier.

I can't add much useful information, because I actually do what you shouldn't do. I open my VOB files up in Virtualdubmod and then cut clips from the VOB file. I use a lossless codec to encode the clips -- namely UT Video (http://umezawa.dyndns.info/wordpress/?cat=28). It is lossless, technically, but I believe there is some quality loss. I tweak clips on my timeline in sony vegas. Then I render using debugmode frameserver (http://dancingvader.livejournal.com/4364.html).

My vids are not the shiniest vids of all, but it gets the job done for my purposes.

You might also check out A & E's Technical Guide to Audio and Video (http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/avtech/). It is basically a Bible of vidding tech and useful information that might help. Also check the memories in this comm if you haven't already (http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=vidding). Full of useful tips and pointers.

But each vidder has their own process which is mostly based on their own setup and the technology/techno-know-how they have.