Help - need basic information

[Mike109]

I just installed an LG burner in my PC. From previous reading it appears there are, or could be, several folders and/or files on a DVD. I've heard of audio folders, video folders, VOB files, etc.

I want to edit out commercials from DVDs I have made with a stand alone DVD recorder and don't know where to start. Cyberlink PowerProducer came with the LG drive, but I'm having a difficult time working with it. I can view several files with it but don't know which ones to Import to the hard drive. And their Help file is useless in this regard. And I don't even see an audio folder or file.

For starters I would like to know what folders and files are on a DVD. From my previous searching it seems I may not have to be concerned with all of them. Is that correct? If so, what happens to the ones I ignore? Is there any online guide that explains all this?

From searching this forum it appears ImgBurn is the preferred software for burning DVDs. But I would also need software for editing. I do not plan on doing anything fancy, I just want to cut out commercials and burn to a DVD-R.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[imkidd57]

Viewing the contents of a DVD-Video from a PC, there are two folders: VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS. You can forget the AUDIO_TS folder as it isn’t used.

The VIDEO_TS folder has .IFO (information), .BUP (backup of the IFO file), and .VOB (Video OBject) files. The IFO file is effectively a massive script that contains all the instructions needed to play the movie. The actual movie content is in the VOB files, but split up into about 1 GB chunks for compatibility reasons.

Some programs can read the IFO file and reveal how the DVD is organised. Basically what you want are the VTS (video title set) that represent the single movie; or perhaps several VTS that are episodes of a TV series; or your individual recordings. It’s important to realise that you need to read the IFO file to get this information; the PC file system can’t tell you which recording is which from just the VIDEO_TS folder and its content of .VOB files.

For DVD recorders, it is basically the same structure except the folders might have a different title (e.g. VIDEO_RM instead of VIDEO_TS). Also the .VOB files will be of equal size; rather than several at 1024 MB and the last one being less.

If you are just starting out then I suggest you use DVD Decrypter (download from [U]here[/U]) to extract the individual recordings off the discs. Set it to IFO mode to reveal the VTSs, and in the ‘Tools’ -> ‘Settings’ -> ‘IFO mode’ tab’, set ‘File splitting’ to “None”. Then, although you have to choose the VTS by its running time, it should be a simple matter to extract the recording as a single .VOB file. It’s actually an MPEG2 file so you can change the file extension to .MPG.

This is the best starting point for editing, so see how you get on with that.

[Gummigutta]

One free tool you can use to cut out those commercials physically from the VTS is VobBlanker, as it seems to me that you have the stuff in the DVD format already.

[Mike109]

Thank you imkidd57 and Gummigutta for your replies,

I’ve been looking at some DVD files via Windows Explorer. Never looked before because I did not have a DVD drive till now. The drive came with Cyberlink PowerProducer which was listed as DVD Authoring Software, so I figured it would do what I needed, but appears not. Basically it looks like it will let me import several video files & burn them onto a single disc.

I did download DVD Decrypter (I have previously heard of it, but never had a need for it). I will install it, but do have some questions. I’ve been searching for guides, but what I see is how to use DVD Decrypter to reduce file size, & frequently in conjunction with DVD shrink. I’ve read through several of these, but there is a lot of information to absorb. I do not want to shrink any files as all my programs already fit on their own single disc. I want to cut out commercials & burn back to DVD-R discs without going thru any decode/recode process as I do not want to lose any quality.

1. Do I copy the DVD files to my PC using DVD Decrypter, or do I have to import them to my hard drive using a program such as Cyberlink PowerProducer, which I found cumbersome?

2. Does DVD Decrypter work with DVD RAM? Some of the programs I recorded are on RAM discs and I understand the files are different. And when I looked they are different.

3. The same two questions regarding VobBlanker.

Thank you again.

[imkidd57]

Yes DVD Decrypter has the ability to remove the copy protection from commercial movies, but we’re not intending to make use of those facilities here. More important is its ability to read the IFO file, and extract the DVDR recordings that you have made, as a single MPEG2 file.

To deal with your sepcific questions:

1. Yes; copy the individual recorded programs to your computer using DVD Decrypter. If you find PowerProducer cumbersome then don’t use it for the moment.

2. Yes; DVD Decrypter works with DVD-RAM. If I remember correctly, the file extensions are named differently (as .VRO or something).

3. I am not familiar with VobBlanker so can’t help you there.

[cholla]

I don’t have this software so this is not a recomendation for it.I just thougt you might check it to see if it might do what you need.It has a trial version.
http://www.dvdredo.net/

[slytrans69]

With Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD, you can manually scroll through the video and cut out anything that you want.

[Mike109]

[B][B]imkidd57[/B],

[/B]I ran DVD Decrypter as you stated and now have the video files from a DVD-R on my hard drive. I presumed that DVD Decrypter was going to have editing features but I guess not. What do I now use to edit out the commercials?

Where do I find a tutorial or guide for DVD Decrypter? I did a lot of searching and found bits & pieces, but not a guide discussing all the features & settings. I find it strange that there are several sites to download this controversial software, yet cannot find a full guide. Does such a thing exist?