Recording Video - Transferring to Portable Player

[MikeS21]

OK, I have a dumb question.

I would like to record a TV program on to a DVD via my DVD recorder hooked to my TV. Is there any way to transfer that program from the DVD to a portable media player?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[camisadelgolf]

Yes, it can be done. Don't ask me how, but I'll try to get the ball rolling. What kind of portable media player do you have in mind?

[dougdirt]

It can be done pretty simply with a program or two. How to go about it depends on what you are trying to put it on.

[MikeS21]

My daughter just got a Phillips 4GB "GoGear" Flash Audio/Video Player. The manual says that the player can play WMV videos.

All she's wanting, is to record a one hour show like "American Idol" on to a DVD, via our DVD player/recorder connected to the cable, and then transfer it to her player so she can watch it later. I know it will require some format manipulation, but I guess my main question has to do with the recorded DVD.

Once I insert the recorded DVD into the computer, and I access the actual files on the DVD, there are two folders: one named "VIDEO_RM", which contain some IFO files, a DAT file, and a BUP file.

The second folder is named "VIDEO_TS", and it contains a BUP file, a IFO file, and a MPEG file.

What files do I need to work with? I am assuming the MPEG file has to be converted to a WMV file?

[MikeS21]

OK,

I think I have figured out that the files I need are in the VIDEO_TS folder, and I specifically need to convert the VOB files to WMV. I did a 3 minute recording off the DVD recorder, and converted the files and actually got the files on the player.

On recorded DVD, in the VIDEO_TS folder, here are the files listed:
VIDEO_TS.BUP
VIDEO_TS.IFO
VIDEO_TS.VOB
VTS_01_0.BUP
VTS_01_0.IFO
VTS_01_1.VOB
VTS_01_2.VOB
VTS_01_3.VOB
VTS_01_4.VOB
VTS_01_5.VOB

These VOB files were only about 30 seconds each, which means the converted WMV files were only about 30 seconds in length. There was a pause in playback, as each file loaded in the player. Is there any way to tie all the VOB (or WMV) files into a single playback file?

[Dracodave]

IFO is the movie. Try converting that one. THats what I have to convert to get the movie into IPOD format.

[dougdirt]

I have a lot more video editing software than you do (or you wouldn't be asking this question), but I generally just change the file extension of the VOB's to MPG then create 1 file out of them all then convert that to a WMV. Not sure if you have that option available on your computer.

[MikeS21]

OK,

I found an open source program called "Any Video Converter" that will allow me to directly convert all the VOB files into a single MPG file, which I can easily import to the media player via the software that came with the player.

I did a test run by recording a five minute segment of the Andy Griffith show. It took several minutes to convert everything, but I finally got the segment up and playing on the player. I recorded the DVD at the lowest quality, but the video and sound on the player was pretty good.

Unless there is faster conversion software out there that is pretty low cost, I'm finding that one minute of DVD time takes about one minute to convert. I suppose that's OK.

Thanks for the input, folks!

[dougdirt]

OK,

I found an open source program called "Any Video Converter" that will allow me to directly convert all the VOB files into a single MPG file, which I can easily import to the media player via the software that came with the player.

I did a test run by recording a five minute segment of the Andy Griffith show. It took several minutes to convert everything, but I finally got the segment up and playing on the player. I recorded the DVD at the lowest quality, but the video and sound on the player was pretty good.

Unless there is faster conversion software out there that is pretty low cost, I'm finding that one minute of DVD time takes about one minute to convert. I suppose that's OK.

Thanks for the input, folks!
Its generally not the software that is the time issue, its the computer you are using. There are a few exceptions, depending on what you are converting it to, but yeah. It seems like you found something that works for you and thats what matters.