How to convert vob to avi file for Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0

Fri, Dec 21, 2007

Author : Christos Lelidis

There are times when you need to edit a video theme and it’s necessary to use footage from an archived dvd video. Which is the fastest way to put this type of content into your Premiere Pro 2.0 timeline?

The solution is much easier than you probably think. You already know that you cannot import directly .vob files in Premiere Pro 2.0
You just can’t!

But you can import other types of files such as .avi, .mov, .mpg, etc.
Mpeg file type (.mpg) is the solution for this kind of problem!

So, you have to rename the file’s extension from .vob to .mpg in windows explorer and voila…Premiere Pro 2.0 imports the file.

Let Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 conform the file and throw it into your timeline.

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Problems that may occur :

The only problem I have noticed so far is with the .vob audio stream!
Because video and audio streams are multiplexed into a single file, weird things may happened, such as after 3-4 sec the audio loops constantly! This can only happened when the audio stream is encoded in .ac3 format not .pcm or .mp2 (.ac3 isn’t recognized by Premiere)

The solution to this is to re-encode the audio stream with a AC3toWAV utility (there are plenty of applications on the internet but personally i prefer this) into .wav audio file and synchronize it with your video in the timeline! Then you’ll start editing without any concerns!

Conclusion

This tip have saved my a@@ from serious deadlines! I managed not to re-encode/convert video streams just to edit my archived footage in Premiere Pro 2.0 so i think it’s a life saving tip for all you semi/pro video editors (no i am not switching to another editing software, i love premiere)

I will appreciate any comments and permalinks, thanks.

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13 Responses to “How to convert vob to avi file for Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0”

Anonymous Says:
January 3rd, 2008 at 12:25 am

Well I hate to say this, it does not matter what you rename the .vob file to or what extension you give .mpg or other Premiere Pro still reads it as a vob file. I can’t get it to load into Premiere Pro following your instructions. Perhaps I missed something!

Krama Says:
January 3rd, 2008 at 2:32 am

Are you sure you have renamed the file properly?
I mean that the file should be filename.mpg and not filename.vob.mpg, check it out!

This tip works well as i have described in my article (i use it all the time in Premiere Pro 2).

The vob file has to be mpeg2 encoded (probably you know it already) so when you change the filename extension from .vob to .mpg you instruct premiere to import it as mpg file (premiere can’t import vob), it doesn’t re-encode the file just cheating premiere pro import option.

I haven’t test it with commercial dvd (copy protected – it’s illegal don’t do it) cause I only use it with my personal footage archived in DVD (not copy protected). I think this comment clears the matter a little bit more!

mb Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 4:36 pm

I too cannot get it to work. I have Premiere Pro 1.5 though and maybe that’s why. But I’m also unclear about the other files that open along with the VOB from the DVD I want to import files from. The IFO and BUP files. Should they also be renamed .mpg? What happens is I can open one name changed mpg then Premiere freezes or says its too oft seen message “…ecountered a problem and has to shut down.” Any advice? Thanks

Krama Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 5:02 pm

mb,

i think the problem is with Premiere pro 1.5 as it cannot parse .mpg files, i haven’t tested it as i am user of premiere pro 2.0.
Nevertheless, the steps you have to take are:

a.Locate the .vob file in your dvd disc and copy it to your hard disk
any other file is useless (no .ifo, no .bup files these are only for the proper execution of the dvd disc)

b.Rename the vob file
(for eg. xxxx.vob -> xxxx.mpg, be careful to rename it with a mpg extension, windows will ask you to change the file extension) – check the filename to be xxxx.mpg not xxxx.mpg.vob

c.launch premiere pro 2.0

d. IMPORT the xxxx.mpg file

e. wait for premiere to properly import the mpg file

voila. the vob file is properly imported in the timeline and is ready for edit.

As you can already understand, Premiere doesn’t import vob files, this tip cheats somehow Premiere Pro 2.0.

2 things :

1st. This works on decrypted vob files.

2nd. Sometimes the audio stream is out of sync. This is done because of AC3 encoded audio of the vob file. If the audio of the vob file is pcm or mpg layer 2 the audio will sync perfectly with the video.
How can you fix this? Find a utility to re-encode the audio stream from ac3 -> pcm wav and import it to the timeline.

That’s all mate
(is this a comment or a blog itself?),lol

John A. Says:
July 8th, 2008 at 9:59 am

This worked for me: Premiere Pro 1.5, Thank you!

Anonymous Says:
August 17th, 2008 at 5:13 pm

DPS said I have used the rename to import vob files into CS2 BUT about every 20 second I get a visual freeze for 6 frames that did not exist on the original. And of course you can also hear an audio blip at that point. So why the visual freeze?

Anonymous Says:
August 18th, 2008 at 11:26 pm

(1.5 pro) This trick worked to get premiere to import – sound is good but the video is jumpy and plays at a faster than the sound. Any suggestions?

Krama Says:
August 19th, 2008 at 2:50 pm

Assuming that the vob file has the proper compression settings (main profile : 720×576 PAL or 720×476 NTSC) and still you’ve got some jerky playback, i think, that there is something wrong with the premiere.

Try to change a scratch disk or add another one. Maybe there is something wrong (probably) with disk usage. When you import a file, the premiere conforms it into appropriate export codec you have chosen and you can see it visually with a blue ramp in the bottom of your screen. Maybe something has happened and stopped the conforming process.

Notify me if you have solved your issue. Cheers

Anonymous Says:
August 24th, 2008 at 11:18 pm

DPS I have gone back and revisited the renameing and import into CS2. It takes an extremely long time to import a 15 min vob video into CS2. If you wait it out it does import without any visual freezes and no audio blips. Seems as though during my 1st try I had Digital Media Converter convert the vob footage to mpeg before import into CS2 and that is where the freezes came from. I not ony was able to import but edit and burn to DVD without any problems. In fact was able to improve the audio. Great tip … and there are those of us watching even though we are not registered … your help means a great deal to us. Keep up the fantastic good work. You have earned a 5 star rating in my book.

Krama Says:
August 25th, 2008 at 4:33 pm

DPS: I am glad to see you bypass the vob problem you had. I feel great hearing from a reader that a tip or a tutorial made his life a little bit easier (!) although my english really sucks.
Thank you for your good words and for the time you spent reading this post. Keep on visiting my blog and criticize everything!!! This makes this blog better. (A new design is coming soon)

Ah, make a search for tutorials posted here, I think you’ll find some interesting stuff about photoshop and illustrator.

Cheers.

Jeremy Says:
September 17th, 2008 at 11:02 am

Thanks so much for this!!! It worked perfect. I am using Premiere CS3 and had no problems. I have been racking my brain trying to think of a solution for this and this saved my life.

Now I can get the commercial exactly the way my client wants!

Old poster Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 1:27 am

This is an old post, but people still want to be able to do this. The trick is to take a video conversion program and convert your mpeg to AVI immediately before editig at all. So, import the vob to ‘total video converter’, ‘virtualdubmpeg’ or whatever you can get a LOSSLESS avi from and do it. I also suggest putting the converted file on a large USB or external drive, so your hdd doesn’t get bogged down from reading and writing all the time. If you don’t convert to a LOSSLESS avi you’re lost for you edits. Because typical vob which is really an mpeg2 has about 1 keyframe per 15 or 16 frames. That’s not a file you want for editing. ESPECIALLY if the job’s important. Ideally, you want all your editing to be done with files that are completely lossless. Those of you who are having trouble importing the files, don’t worry, mpeg files are too trashed to edit with anyway. Like I said, CONVERT to lossless AVI….that means huffyuv, lagarith, even picvideo MJPEG at highest quality, because it’s all keyframes. To be honest, if I heard that someone used an mpeg file for editing, I wouldn’t hire that person, because they don’t know what they’re doing.

krama Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 3:15 pm

The technique you’ve just described is an appropriate method too…but only if someone wants to spend more time on such a thing. In this tutorial (btw is more a cheat than an actually hidden premiere pro 2 feature) I suggest people to rename vob to mpg in order to import the file to premiere’s timeline and handle it as they want. (maybe just to re-encode it to dv avi, etc.)
Btw editing a mpeg file doesn’t make anyone lesser editor, right? when at least they know editing theory and are not a bunch of application – ready clickers.
Thanks for posting

Anonymous Says:
January 3rd, 2008 at 12:25 am
Well I hate to say this, it does not matter what you rename the .vob file to or what extension you give .mpg or other Premiere Pro still reads it as a vob file. I can’t get it to load into Premiere Pro following your instructions. Perhaps I missed something!
Krama Says:
January 3rd, 2008 at 2:32 am
Are you sure you have renamed the file properly?
I mean that the file should be filename.mpg and not filename.vob.mpg, check it out!

This tip works well as i have described in my article (i use it all the time in Premiere Pro 2).

The vob file has to be mpeg2 encoded (probably you know it already) so when you change the filename extension from .vob to .mpg you instruct premiere to import it as mpg file (premiere can’t import vob), it doesn’t re-encode the file just cheating premiere pro import option.

I haven’t test it with commercial dvd (copy protected – it’s illegal don’t do it) cause I only use it with my personal footage archived in DVD (not copy protected). I think this comment clears the matter a little bit more!
mb Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 4:36 pm
I too cannot get it to work. I have Premiere Pro 1.5 though and maybe that’s why. But I’m also unclear about the other files that open along with the VOB from the DVD I want to import files from. The IFO and BUP files. Should they also be renamed .mpg? What happens is I can open one name changed mpg then Premiere freezes or says its too oft seen message “…ecountered a problem and has to shut down.” Any advice? Thanks
Krama Says:
April 1st, 2008 at 5:02 pm
mb,

i think the problem is with Premiere pro 1.5 as it cannot parse .mpg files, i haven’t tested it as i am user of premiere pro 2.0.
Nevertheless, the steps you have to take are:

a.Locate the .vob file in your dvd disc and copy it to your hard disk
any other file is useless (no .ifo, no .bup files these are only for the proper execution of the dvd disc)

b.Rename the vob file
(for eg. xxxx.vob -> xxxx.mpg, be careful to rename it with a mpg extension, windows will ask you to change the file extension) – check the filename to be xxxx.mpg not xxxx.mpg.vob

c.launch premiere pro 2.0

d. IMPORT the xxxx.mpg file

e. wait for premiere to properly import the mpg file

voila. the vob file is properly imported in the timeline and is ready for edit.

As you can already understand, Premiere doesn’t import vob files, this tip cheats somehow Premiere Pro 2.0.

2 things :

1st. This works on decrypted vob files.

2nd. Sometimes the audio stream is out of sync. This is done because of AC3 encoded audio of the vob file. If the audio of the vob file is pcm or mpg layer 2 the audio will sync perfectly with the video.
How can you fix this? Find a utility to re-encode the audio stream from ac3 -> pcm wav and import it to the timeline.

That’s all mate
(is this a comment or a blog itself?),lol
John A. Says:
July 8th, 2008 at 9:59 am
This worked for me: Premiere Pro 1.5, Thank you!
Anonymous Says:
August 17th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
DPS said I have used the rename to import vob files into CS2 BUT about every 20 second I get a visual freeze for 6 frames that did not exist on the original. And of course you can also hear an audio blip at that point. So why the visual freeze?
Anonymous Says:
August 18th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
(1.5 pro) This trick worked to get premiere to import – sound is good but the video is jumpy and plays at a faster than the sound. Any suggestions?
Krama Says:
August 19th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Assuming that the vob file has the proper compression settings (main profile : 720×576 PAL or 720×476 NTSC) and still you’ve got some jerky playback, i think, that there is something wrong with the premiere.

Try to change a scratch disk or add another one. Maybe there is something wrong (probably) with disk usage. When you import a file, the premiere conforms it into appropriate export codec you have chosen and you can see it visually with a blue ramp in the bottom of your screen. Maybe something has happened and stopped the conforming process.

Notify me if you have solved your issue. Cheers
Anonymous Says:
August 24th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
DPS I have gone back and revisited the renameing and import into CS2. It takes an extremely long time to import a 15 min vob video into CS2. If you wait it out it does import without any visual freezes and no audio blips. Seems as though during my 1st try I had Digital Media Converter convert the vob footage to mpeg before import into CS2 and that is where the freezes came from. I not ony was able to import but edit and burn to DVD without any problems. In fact was able to improve the audio. Great tip … and there are those of us watching even though we are not registered … your help means a great deal to us. Keep up the fantastic good work. You have earned a 5 star rating in my book.
Krama Says:
August 25th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
DPS: I am glad to see you bypass the vob problem you had. I feel great hearing from a reader that a tip or a tutorial made his life a little bit easier (!) although my english really sucks.
Thank you for your good words and for the time you spent reading this post. Keep on visiting my blog and criticize everything!!! This makes this blog better. (A new design is coming soon)

Ah, make a search for tutorials posted here, I think you’ll find some interesting stuff about photoshop and illustrator.

Cheers.
Jeremy Says:
September 17th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Thanks so much for this!!! It worked perfect. I am using Premiere CS3 and had no problems. I have been racking my brain trying to think of a solution for this and this saved my life.

Now I can get the commercial exactly the way my client wants!
Old poster Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 1:27 am
This is an old post, but people still want to be able to do this. The trick is to take a video conversion program and convert your mpeg to AVI immediately before editig at all. So, import the vob to ‘total video converter’, ‘virtualdubmpeg’ or whatever you can get a LOSSLESS avi from and do it. I also suggest putting the converted file on a large USB or external drive, so your hdd doesn’t get bogged down from reading and writing all the time. If you don’t convert to a LOSSLESS avi you’re lost for you edits. Because typical vob which is really an mpeg2 has about 1 keyframe per 15 or 16 frames. That’s not a file you want for editing. ESPECIALLY if the job’s important. Ideally, you want all your editing to be done with files that are completely lossless. Those of you who are having trouble importing the files, don’t worry, mpeg files are too trashed to edit with anyway. Like I said, CONVERT to lossless AVI….that means huffyuv, lagarith, even picvideo MJPEG at highest quality, because it’s all keyframes. To be honest, if I heard that someone used an mpeg file for editing, I wouldn’t hire that person, because they don’t know what they’re doing.
krama Says:
June 7th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
The technique you’ve just described is an appropriate method too…but only if someone wants to spend more time on such a thing. In this tutorial (btw is more a cheat than an actually hidden premiere pro 2 feature) I suggest people to rename vob to mpg in order to import the file to premiere’s timeline and handle it as they want. (maybe just to re-encode it to dv avi, etc.)
Btw editing a mpeg file doesn’t make anyone lesser editor, right? when at least they know editing theory and are not a bunch of application – ready clickers.
Thanks for posting

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