I’ve been using SHOTCUT for some months now. I’m systematically converting my family video DVD’s to MP4 (H.264) but I have found I can’t import my (non macrovision protected) .vob files fully into SHOTCUT. I only get 15 minutes or so of a 29 minute file to load into SHOTCUT. I’m running the latest version as of September 2017. I have a solution but it’s not ideal as I lose definition. I use WINFF to convert the the .vob files to basic .MP4. It does the job quickly and renders it to a smaller file size - typically 264 Mb - for a .vob file that begins as a 1 Gb file. I also experience synching issues when doing this. Can anyone shine a light on this whereby I can import the .vob file into SHOTCUT without losing half the file. Again, if I use a file splitter I am concerned about synching and other quality related artefacting. I’m running Win 10 with 8Gb of RAM. I have a 2Tb external drive and a 2 Tb SATA drive with a reasonable graphics card (AMD HD 8570D) and a 3.0 Ghz CPU running at 64 bit.
You could try a tool like VOB2MPG to make a more usable file.
https://www.videohelp.com/software/VOB2MPG
Or try multiplexing in a mkv.
The point is to “not re compress”. Did you search in this way?
Thanks Keno40, I’ll give it a go. I’ll repost shortly. Not sure about the multiplexing in an mkv but this advice is valuable to me and I’ll have pleasure in trying your fix. Thanks for your response on this. I didn’t mention it in my original post but isn’t SHOTCUT just a brilliant piece of software? The contributors need to be commended.
I also use a software videotovideo which has an option to change format without reencoding (selecting "same as source for video and audio).
http://www.videotovideo.org
Never try with a VOB but that could work. If so, it’s my number one advice !
Thanks Keno40. To begin, I have installed VOB2MPG on my second PC that has WinXP installed (along with versions of Ubuntu). The program worked well and saved the file to MPEG2. Microsoft allowed me to download a free MPEG2 codec to allow it to play it in the FILMS and TV application they bundle with Win 10. I read that VOB2MPG does not run on Win 10 so that’s why I did that.
The copy looked faithful to the original with no synching issues. The free version did not have an option for .MKV.
The downside is that my original video files have a 4:3 aspect ratio. WINFF, although somewhat problematic as I have explained, does allow cropping that I needed in order to lose some ‘edging video noise’ and will easily allow encoding to 16:9. I am aware of some other programs but I’ve not tried videotovideo as you have kindly shown in your post. I will look into this. I’m currently encoding the MPEG2 file in WINFF to H.264 MP4. I’m very curious to see if it’s cured the synching issue that I found with .VOB files. I know SHOTCUT has some ability to change aspect ratio. I’ve not been able to get that to work. That’s probably due to my relative inexperience. I have to say it again, SHOTCUT is an amazing program! Thanks for your help.
Thanks Keno40, the workaround you suggested with VOB2MPG worked! I was able to edit a 43 minute MPEG2 file. I did use WINFF for the reasons I explained in my last post but it rendered my file with no appreciable quality loss or synching issue this time. It worked well with the MPEG2 file, there must be a time code mismatch as I understand .VOB is essentially MPEG2. My original videos were not the best of quality having started as Hi8 video copied to a Daewoo standalone mono DVD recorder to create the .VOB file. I have no capture card and have to work with what I’ve got. Thanks for your attention to this. I hope this thread is of some help to others. As always, thanks to the SHOTCUT developers and contributors.