Summary: Out of AVI, MPEG2, MKV - which type of file should I convert my VOB files to, so that I can play them off my HD onto my HDTV thru a WD Media Player? Fairly new to this. I got a 1 TB WD external HD a few days back. I also will be getting a WD Media Player in the near future (Christmas gift). I am in the process of archiving all of my DVD's onto my new HD. Right now I'm using DVDFab5 or Shrink to put the disc onto my computer. All the files are VOB. I have had MKV, AVI and MPEG2 all recommended to me, so I'm just trying to decide which would be the best choice? The media player has this to say about MPEG2: "MPEG2/4, H.264, and WMV9 supports up to 1920x1080p 24fps, 1920x1080i 30fps, 1280x720p 60fps resolution." No further information on MKV or AVI files. What would you recommend for the best possible picture/sound? And what program can be used to do this conversion? free?
What are the VOB files? Full DVD res ? (720*480 NSTC or 720*576 PAL) If so, don't they play on the WD player directly? Or do you have a video_ts folder, with all the VOB's split (1gb each in size) ?
mkv will be the best for blueray or hd conversions. For normal dvd conversions use avi (using the h264 codec). Mpeg2 is best for streaming but they take up too much space. I only use fairuse wizard to convert my dvd's to avi (using the h264 codec and 2-pass mode). It is extremely reliable and always keeps my video/audio in sync. In your situation, you will need to try different codecs/formats until you get one that will work on your system. I'm happy with my h264 avi on my 27 inch lcd, but on your TV it might not be good enough. Also some mkv might not be able to stream through the wd media player.
Well...Isn't that MKV is just a plain container to hold a bunch of stuff you put in. For instance, if you have a movie with dual or triple languages, or multiple subtitles, by putting them all into the MKV container, you could select the one you want when you play the movie in MKV format and whether including a bunch of subtitles or audios are optional. But AVI is a different story, you could only include one audio at a time and for subs, you have to either hardcode it or use external subs by placing them into the notepad with an extension of srt or sub. If you make a dual audio AVI, you won't be able to select which audio you wanna play, because both of the audios will automatically play at the same time. Now H.264 exist, so with this tech, most of the movies could be encoded more smoothly and you can get quite a good quality picture.
Thanks for the reply guys. I tried using Handbrake, as I believed it would convert VOB to MPEG4 (in the form of H.264, right?). Maybe I'm wrong there. Anyway, I was backing up a season DVD. It has 4 episodes per disc and each ep is an hour long. It took 40 mins to do one episode. Is this the fastest way?
Does the media player play the VOB directly? Regarding processing time, it's really a factor of the cpu and memory speed, don't know what else to suggest.
Hi, I use Windows Media player, so I prefer wmv and avi, the moive in those formats are good on my pc.
I have the WDTV media as well, I want to change the VOBs to MKV as the player doesn`t play chapters in VOB but supposedly does in MKV. I`ve tried Handbrake but it is slow. Xilisoft was rec, according to the spec it does this conversion but I can`t see anything saying MKV in the GUI. I have the option of DVD, MP4, MPEG, MPEG4, H264 Can MKV be known as something else? Thanks
MKV is just the container. H264 video can live in many containers including mp4, quicktime, mkv, avi etc,etc. If it doesn't create an MKV directly, you could probably find a tool such as YAMB and demux the streams. Then MUX then into the MKV using the MKVtoolnix package or similar.
ok, so I'm looking for a program that will convert my VOB files (or DVD's that are in my drive) into MPEG4 or AVI format. Does anybody know a good, free program that will do that. I've tried handbrake, but was not impressed. should I try XviD Codec v1.2.2, or is that only for watching MPEG?
I`ve found a free program MakeMKV dead easy to use, you can choose the audio you want to be converted over ie DTS or DD 2 or Ch stereo and away you go 30 mins to do a 4.5GB DVD over to MKV.You can also decide what video you want to keep.. The only downside with the prog,it is Beta? and time limited for 60 days then you just redownload, this is what they say to do so I`m not saying do something naughty. I expect when/if the prog proves popular it will then cost so for now give it a go. I`m not connected with the company, this isn`t spam but just trying to help others who might be in the same boast as me.
