Comments

farss wrote on 6/8/2003, 3:01 AM
As far as I know not directly however there a few tools around to convert these into AVI files that VV can handle. DOn't know how you'd go trying to write them though. If all you wanted was DVD-Video then no problem.
bgccdx wrote on 6/8/2003, 6:45 AM
Of course, trying to edit the DVD files (MPEG2 I assume) is a completely different thing. I have been doing it for months now, but I am changing over to DV as MPEG2 is problematic. It is difficult to get precise edits, it is difficult to preview edits, particularly when you start to add a few files and effects on the timeline as the preview frame rate drops so much, and for some unknown reason, Vegas 'goes bye bye' (by this I mean you get the hourglass cursor and have to wait minutes for control ot return) far too often when editing MPEG2. It is most frustrating. Avoid it if possible. Sofo don't recommend using Vegas to edit MPEG2. They are right.
transco wrote on 6/8/2003, 9:58 AM
I agree about trying to edit MPEG's. Premiere has a plugin for VR files which works OK, but the editing is still a major headache. Every cut requires you to render the timeline again. Movie Factory and Movie Maker "understand" VR files, but they aren't much...editior wise. What I have been doing is importing to Premiere, then outputing to DV to build my master work tape. Problem is it takes a long time to render long clips and my AC-3 5.1 soundtrack is reduced to stereo PCM. In addition, I'm getting a new computer and I'd rather not install Premiere if I don't have to. There are many MPEG-to-AVI converters available, but they don't understand the VR index file (IFO).

I went ahead and ordered Vegas+DVD so I sure hope SoFo has a solution in the works. There are now a lot of direct-to-DVD camcorders on the market as well as DVD-RAM set-top boxes that use the new VR format.
mikkie wrote on 6/8/2003, 10:15 AM
"What I need is a software VR-to-DV converter, but so far haven't been able to find one. "

I've seen a couple, but they weren't commercial products, meaning you'll have to do a bit of hunting on the web with google etc.

What I've seen written and would recommend (based on my understanding that these files are close to or modified mpg2 vob's)... Use DVD2avi to open the file (I think I might have seen a convertor that changes the headers to make this possible but it's no big deal to give it a try as is). Set dvd2avi as nec, then save your project only. Feed this saved proj to vfapi, and do a conversion -> this gives you a file somewhat like the signposts used with frameserving. Then open that file directly in Vegas (or most other NLEs).

The problem rendering to DV is that you're doing just that, re-rendering the whole video which takes time and is bound to lose a bit of quality. Doing as above you're getting the full info available in the original file to edit before rendering to DV or whatever, saving both time and a possible quality hit from that original re-render.
transco wrote on 6/8/2003, 12:37 PM
Mikkie -

VRO files are sort of like sectors on a HD. The sectors that make up a file aren't necessarily contiguous. In addition, deleted files are still there until overwritten. The IFO file is like the HD's FAT. It tells you the location and order of the sectors that make up your video file. Yes, you can just import the whole mess and sort it out in the NLE, but it is a bit of a pain to do it that way.

In NLE that does understand VR (such as Premiere with the VR plugin), you open the IFO file which then gives you a list, thumbnails, etc. of the scenes in the VRO file. You choose the one you want, and it loads it.