DVD -- converting VOB to MPG

[davision]

I'm having trouble finding reliable information on the web, so I thought I'd ask this here.

I have some DVDs (not copy-protected) that I need to convert to MPG for editing in Premiere.

I'm under the impression that VOB files on DVDs are just specialized MPEG-2 files.

How can I quickly convert them to standard Premiere-friendly MPGs? There is something free called VOB2MPG which is fast -- but it is not working with the audio in my case.

I'm willing to pay for something but I'm hoping to find something quick rather than doing a full-scale slow re-encoding (which I already have software for).

[Paul Oblomov]

VirtualdubMOD + some mpeg2 splitters and codecs (haali splitter) just in case.
Virtualdubmod opens vobs directly (plain VD doesn't), some mpg2 codec needs to be present for you to decode this vob. Now theres more "pro" way to handle vobs - use avisynth and dgindex to make smth like a template file, which can be opened in VirtualDub (it can be MOD or plain VD) and then you can do anything.
Also if you have kewl mpg2 splitter and decoder you can open your vob file through DirectShow (simply - your windows codecs), and not by internal VD ones.

Everything mentioned here - ablsolutely free.

Cheers

P.S. You can find more info on forum.doom9.org
P.P.S. There's a way to demux your vob so you can rip any channel (video or audio) without recompress. Free program able to do it called ProjectX

[aphex79]

tmpgenc can convert dvds, (not single vob files, but entire dvds) its not free, but cheap.. http://tmpgenc.pegasys-inc.com/en/shopping/te4xp.html

[tammo]

you can rename .vob to .mpg
this allows you to use the files directly in an editing app.

[Shimakaze]

The problem with vob files is they're often (depending on the length of the dvd) divided into different parts so you have to start joining them together and stuff. Using a ripper is usually easier. There's a lot of them around. there's even one in the Nero burning package.
but like Paul said, many of them recompress the files. I've used DVD Decrypter the few times I've needed something like that. just don't use it for anything illegal

[davision]

Thanks for all the information. I knew this forum would be a good resource.