Right, I have recorded some things from the TV using my DVD recorder, ripped the DVD to my HDD using DVD decrytper, now I have the VOB files on my HDD, how do I convert them to xvid avi, the EASIEST (and preferably free, but if not then payware is fine) way of doing it please, I have tried AutoGK, and I can't figure it out at all, so any other suggestions would be great.

Also something to edit the resulting avi files so I can chop out adverts etc.

I had been googling but there are SOOOOOO many different programs, seems a right minefield

It's not free Dan, but WinAVI is what I use for many of my basic video conversions. It'll join, split and convert various formats and really couldn't be easier to use



Regards,

Ian

Quote from Ian.H :

It's not free Dan, but WinAVI is what I use for many of my basic video conversions. It'll join, split and convert various formats and really couldn't be easier to use



Regards,

Ian

cheers Ian, I'll take a look, hopefully it will be fool(me)proof

Funny thing, the older I get, the more technophobic I get, wierd huh?

So this Winavi thingy, will do DVD/VOB to AVI yes?, reading the blurb I am unsure.........

You may want to take a look at AutoGK, a simplified version of Gordian Knot.

Quote from the_angry_angel :

You may want to take a look at AutoGK, a simplified version of Gordian Knot.

Tried it, couldn't figure it out

Quote from danowat :

cheers Ian, I'll take a look, hopefully it will be fool(me)proof

Funny thing, the older I get, the more technophobic I get, wierd huh?

So this Winavi thingy, will do DVD/VOB to AVI yes?, reading the blurb I am unsure.........

There's a few options you can set, but on the whole, it's pretty much a "1-click process"

VOB to AVI should be no problem... you click on the 'AVI' button (the main buttons on the first screen are destination format), select the vob files. This'll display the main window with the files listed etc. Clicking the 'advanced' button is where you set any options you want.. such as AVI encoder, filesize (incase you want to split them into 700Mb chunks for example) and some other bits, most you'll probably leave as defaults. You'll have a choice to merge or convert as separate files, merge (the one you want) is selected by default. Select your output dir (this is remembered between sessions) and hit 'OK'. Next step, most important.. go and make coffee and wait for the conversion to finish



Regards,

Ian

Try this site and forum; Video Help
Tutorials are available for the programs mentioned, handy. Check the 'How To - Convert'

I used AutoGK, took a little bit of thought but did what I wanted it to do.

AutoGK is a pain in the ass IMO, options hidden all of the place, I find old GK much more usable.

Quote from Bob Smith :

AutoGK is a pain in the ass IMO, options hidden all of the place, I find old GK much more usable.

Both of the Gordian Knot's are a mystery to me

i was going to suggest AutoGK, because it is the easiest way i've found to convert DVD.
1) Rip the dvd
2) open AutoGK
3) select the folder
4) select audio and subtitles from dropdown
5) select the output filesize
and then start the conversion.

its as easy as that. you can get more involved with the settings if you like, but unless you are having a particular issue, the default settings work great.

for more info, and advanced settings...
http://www.autogk.me.uk/modules.php?name=TutorialEN

http://www.virtualdub.org/ is a great free video editor.

All the suggestions mentioned above are good. My personal preference is TMPGenc (not free) with the Dolby plug-in (also, not free).

TMPGenc does divx encoding now? used to be just mpeg1 and mpeg2.

Sure does At least in version 4. I generally just use it to convert PAL to NTSC in mpg so I can make DVD's of all the races I d/l from various places.