CuCusofts Mpeg to VOB tool.....any success stories?

cdan,
im not really sure becuase it pretty much took care of everything and i didnt have to selet anything, http://www.arcsoft.com/en/products/showbiz/ this web site will tell you what it does, and under system requirements i think it mentiones that you have to have extra disk space to store video files for editing, or something like that, i wish i would have payed more attention so i could be more of a help. but i do know that my files were .avi and divx formats before. and .mpeg. arc soft also let me take 2 files that were one movie split in halfs and join them together and burn it to a disk and you couldnt ever tell they were ever split, i love the arcsoft showbiz dvd software, just too bad i cant afford it. anyway im at work and not on my personal computer, but when i get home i can search for any left over files arcsoft could have left behind and see what format they were transfered into and such.

 

@ cdan. I didn't say tmpgenc dvd author, I said tmpgenc. Different program.
To get a video onto dvd, requires certain steps.
You need to make it into a proper mpeg-2 (usually), then you need to author it (make it into vobs etc.), then you need to burn it.
To make it into a proper mpeg-2, you need an encoder. Some "encoders" also will author, and some will also burn.
Get VSO Divx to DVD, which will also do mpeg-1 and mpeg-2 to dvd, as well as XviD to DVD.
Load your avi, let it run, and burn the finished product to dvd.
If you have two avi's and you want to join them, just select the SECOND avi first, then hold down the CTRL key, and select the FIRST one, then click OK.

 

reboot..
i downloaded tmpgenc, got it to create 2 files : a .m2v and a wavesound file, but when i load the file to rejig and hit create...it freezes and i get error message that rejig is going to shut down. When i load and burn something from my hard drive w/dvd shrink, i just point it to the file folder and shrink opens it and encodes.....i just want to be able to do the same thing with this tv commercial file.
thanx, cdan

 

Transcode the .wav to ac3 in ffmpeggui.
Use the m2v and ac3 in rejig.

 

to anyone interested:
mpeg1 to dvdshrink recognizable file:
open tmpgenc
click on "dvd / ntsc"
use : cbr - mpeg1 audio -layer ll / mps
next screen
import the original file at the top into 'audio and video'
accept all default settings
hit next...next...next
browse to your output file folder, check:start encoding box
popup windown will ask if you want to create audio / video files, yes
when it's done.......close program
open rejig
click dvd author
for video: browse to folder tmpgenc sent files to, rejig will recognize it
audio: browse to same folder but rejig may not find anything unless you check open "all files". click the mp2 file
check: output audio/video as seperate streams
click: start encoding
save to same folder as other files
open dvdshrink and click 'open files'
browse to folder with all the files you created, shrink will use the one it needs......backup to hd and save or burn.
yee haw....it worked....and thanx to reboot jim for all the help.
cdan

 

small correction:
layer ll / mp2

 

Would like to hear from anyone who got Cucusofts freeware to work. Having arrived here for this reason, its unfortunate nobody has answerd the original question.
This util if it worked is most likely what I and others are looking for. I have tried many other converters/ reauthoring / editors and my ultimate conclusion is the simpler and faster the better. There are tonnes of video packages that will do all the menus, transitions etc but few if any which will do a simple conversion from mpeg2 to vob file structure suitable for burning.
This should be possible because there seems little difference between the 2 files. I can use something like Wombles mpeg2vcr to edit a vob and save as mpg in no time. Unfortunatey it doesnt work in reverse yet. The closest to a simple method I have found so far is using NeroVisionExpress but it is slow as it seems to do the same as all the other methods and work though the entire file again to render the vob structure. Nero itself can render a VCD using mpeg1 files so hopefully they will work on the same functionality for DVD. Ifoedit et al may be fine for single projects, but all I want to do is record my video tapes collection to mpeg2 (, do a bit of simple editing and trimming, then stick it on a DVD preferably in DVD format so any player can show it.(also maybe squash it down a bit with DVDShrink) That shouldnt be too much to ask.
No fancy menus, no splitting the audio and video or other messing.
PS for anyone doing similar, you do need to ensure your video capture is set to DVD compliant mpeg2 format.
I would be tempted to capture in mpeg1 vcdformat on to dvd if I could make them readable in any DVD player, a kind of "maxiVCD" as mpeg1 is so quick to edit and very compact and not much different to VHS quality. Any comments.

 

Forgot to mention to cdan, Womble mpeg2vcr will convert between mpeg1 and 2 in 1 step. It is the fastest simplest most powerful video editor I have come across. Trial available. Looks like it was inspired by the equally brilliant freeware vcdcutter (mpeg1 editor)

 

wacket:
what sort of dvds are you trying to save? if they're commercial movies...don't bother, rent them from netflix and you know what to do then. If they're family pics etc.....try to borrow a digital vcr with a firewire port from someone and use 'mydvd' to put them on dvd's. I've done 12yrs of 8mm camcorder to dvd......BIG pain in the butt...took forever, but nice to have it done.

 

mmm Digital VCR, that'd be nice, but unfortunately dont know anyone with one. Movies arent an issue just all the other stuff you accumulate on tape clutter over years. Have to stick to 2 options video capture card or DVD recorder. Both have limitations. Recorder works ok in that I can get the stuff digitized on to DVDrw, but I have no control over the settings it uses and at EP ie 4hr record (to accomadate 3hr tapes) it seems to use an odd 352 x 576 resolution. I can reedit/trim/split the vobs to mpeg2 no prob with Womble but reencoding to make it compatable with nero etc takes the time. My ATI AIW card is ok if I monitor it but it is so sensitive to macrovision that the slightest blip on the tape will kick in its paranioa subroutine (wish I could fix that but no joy to date) The AIW yields DVD compatible mpegs which give the least amount of problems. Id like to take my mpegs, convert to vobs without reencoding, thats where I thought Cucusoft came in, but no dice. DVdshrink works well to give the final product but doesnt work on mpegs and is no longer in development (Dimadsoft DVDRemake is a good complimment to Shrink as it can rejig/merge entire DVDs to get rid of unwanted stuff, maybe they could join forces for the ultimate shrinking chopping product and accomadate mpegs) Came across DIKO which makes some claims I may try out. More testing

 

mrlewp and wacket:

I sympathize completely. I too have been looking for a simple converter from MPEG-2 to VOB. I will try this CuCusoft freebie and see what happens, if anything.

This is what I have been doing to date.

I take my MPEG-2 program streams recorded by my digi TV card and remove the commercials (if any) with VideoReDo (unfreeware). Two 42-minute edited MPEGs will fit nicely on a RW DVD and play on my MPEG-4/DVix compatible players.

However, if I try to copy a 100-minute or so MPEG to DVD, both Nero and CopyToDVD say that it won't fit on a DVD-5.

I then turn to Nero (having got hold of the LiteOn CD which has the video plugin for Vision Express for free, unlike Pioneer and LG) and produce a basic DVD 'movie'. More than two hours later Nero manages to transcode a universally playable DVD. Hey, Ahead, my time isn't valuable. Feel free to waste it in spades!

As has been said, why can't the DVD Shrinks and One Click Copy DVDs of this world simply accept MPEGs. I note a suggestion that Shrink is no longer being developed. If this is so, what a shame.

Roll on a VOB converter that gets the job done quickly and can compress. Like you, I am still in the market for such a beast. I will even pay if that is what has to be done!

 

An update:

I tried the Cucusoft freebie last night. What a fizzer. It declared my MPEG-2 file not compatible with DVD, refused to analyse it and referred me to the Cucusoft unfreeware converter that would make my file compatible. Duh! Surely an MPEG to VOB converter should do that as part of the process. Back to Nero, unless someone can suggest a simple, one-click alternative.

 

see my earlier post about using TMPGEnc and rejig. Worked great for me.
cdan

 

cdan

Like others I am looking for a simple and quick MPEG to VOB process. How long does your process take? Nero does a perfect job, and is easy to set up, but its transcoding takes ages. A 1 h 39 min TV movie took over two hours. Surely something can do this quicker.

 

I use it for those small little video clips we all love so much and em everywhere. I use dvd shrink for movies, but anyalizing and encoding is always a long process.