DVD file to mp4

[DjMastR]

Hello there!

So I'm having a little bit of a problem. My father wants to digitalize the dvd footage of my babyself, so it is more protable and easier to acces. The problem is, that I know nothing about dvds. The first problem is that if we open it pc, it shows a lot of files, not just video files. We need all of that? The second one is that the files are in .vob, which I doesn't even know what is. The third and last problem is that the video is made up from little footages, like there is 6-7 files if I remember correctly. My question to the more experienced people around here is that how can we make this whole stuff into one, kinda good mp4 files? Are there any good (most likely free) softwares for it?

 

I would really apreciate the help, my father would be very happy!

 

[LogicalDrm]

Start with Handbrake. You can probably use 480p preset to save space. Or if they are already HD quality (my baby video footage was filmed on VHS, so....), 720p preset.

[abc_123]

13 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

Start with Handbrake. You can probably use 480p preset to save space. Or if they are already HD quality (my baby video footage was filmed on VHS, so....), 720p preset.

 

I wouldn't recommend using handbrake as it will transcode the video which will result in quality loss. It's much better to use FFmpeg or other programs to remux/rip into another container without re-encoding the footage. See below for how to do that.

 

19 hours ago, DjMastR said:

The first problem is that if we open it pc, it shows a lot of files, not just video files. We need all of that? The second one is that the files are in .vob, which I doesn't even know what is. The third and last problem is that the video is made up from little footages, like there is 6-7 files if I remember correctly.

This depends but in most instances the answer is technically yes for desirable modes of operation. To know why you need to understand a little about the DVD-Video specification.

 

A correctly authored DVD will have three file types:
 

• .VOB (Video Object) files are a DVD-Video container that can contain video, audio, subtitles, menus, and navigation contents multiplexed into a stream.
• .IFO (Info) files contain information about the menu and title structure.
• .BUP (Backup) files are copies of the .IFO files stored in a physically different location on the disk so they can be read if there is damage to the part of the disc where the .IFO files reside.

 

There are four data groups called domains, the most relevant one to you being the Video Title Set (VTS) domain. A Video Title Set consists of Video objects than can be one of

the three file types. The first two numbers of a file VTS_01_0 specifies the title set it belongs to and then the preceding number specifies the object number VTS_01_0. There can be multiple Video Title Sets on each DVD. If you buy a movie on DVD typically you would have a title for the movie VTS_01_xx and then separate title sets for other things like a trailer, VTS_02_xx for example. A DVD may also separate things further into separate titles.

There will be an .IFO file for each title set VTS_01_0.IFO this stores control and playback information for VTS 01 including information about chapters, subtitles and audio tracks.

 

.VOB files will be a maximum size of 1GB and content will be broken up into multiple .VOBs if the content requires more space. For example, in the VTS_01 title set you will have VTS_01_1.VOB, VTS_01_2.VOB, VTS_01_3.VOB, sometimes there will be VTS_01_0.VOB which contains the menu for the title set. Each title set can have 10 0-9 .VOBs

 

Typically you would want to get the Video objects from one onwards for each title set. You could just use FFmpeg to remux each object into a single .MP4 container however you may sometimes end up with audio out of sync and issues with timestamps. If you're ripping from the DVD you will want the information file eg: VTS_01_0.IFO for each title set too so that the program knows what to do with the data.

 

19 hours ago, DjMastR said:

how can we make this whole stuff into one, kinda good mp4 files?

 

You can try using FFmpeg to remux everything into a single .MP4 container. This will not transcode the video which means there will be no quality loss.

 

Assuming you had only one VTS with three Video Objects:

 

Navigate to the Video_TS

 

ffmpeg -i "concat:VTS_01_1.VOB|VTS_01_2.VOB|VTS_01_3.VOB" -target xxx-dvd -vcodec copy -acodec copy D:\output.mp4

 

• "concat:VTS_01_1.VOB|VTS_01_2.VOB|VTS_01_3.VOB"  — uses the concat protocol to read each file as if they were a single unique resource. if you have more or less .VOB files for VTS_01_xx add or remove them to this.
• -target xxx-dvd — set this to pal-dvd or ntsc-dvd depending on the format of the source material. If you're in North America it's likely to be NTSC and if you're in Europe its likely to be PAL.
• -vcodec copy and -acodec copy copies the video streams without transcoding.
• D:\output.mp4 the output file and path, assuming you wanted to save to drive D:\

 

If you end up having issues due to timestamps or audio sync issues this way then you could also try MakeMKV it's freeware with a 30 day trial but fully featured and requires no registration.

 

This will create a .MKV but is the most simple way is to use this will allow you to rip the contents without transcoding - ignore how it says it transcodes on the website it actually only rarely transcodes audio.

Go to file > open disc and select the drive the DVD is in then press the Make MKV button.

 

If you really need it to be in a .MP4 container you can use FFmpeg on the output file(s)
 

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -vcodec copy -acodec copy output.mp4

 

Hope this helps.