Editing with Premier Elements 8 - use .MPG or .VOB files ?

[scogdell]

Hi KP,

You converted a bunch of VHS tapes for me a couple of years back. Now that I have time, I’m actually going to start working with the files.

1. Using Premier Elements 8. Should I use the .mpg files or the .vbo files. I can import both types into the software. Which is better? I am going to do some minor quality editing…but will mostly make DVDs with menus, etc.

Thank you.

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[kpmedia]

Hello again.

.MPG files = MPEG files in "raw" form (not authored to a format specification, such as DVD-Video or Blu-ray BDAV/BDMV).

.VOB files = MPEG files authored into DVD-Video format, which may contain non-video/audio navigation data, multiple audio streams, and subtitles streams, which can interfere with the precision and abilities of editing software. In the worst cases, video software will butcher the audio and video, because the DVD-Video format navigation packets confuse the software. DVD-Video is a distribution end-format, and editors generally don't handle distro formats very well. They're best suited to uncompressed or intermediary/mezzanine formats (which includes both MPEG-2 and lossless compression).

I realize that VOB description is pretty technical.

In short, use the MPEG-2 files when available.

Adobe Premiere Elements is, to my understanding, going to force a re-encode of MPEG video assets. That may result in quality loss, if all you're doing is cut/splice type editing (removing footage, re-arranging footage). A better choice would be an MPEG editor, such as Womble MPEG Video Wizard.

See these:
- Womble MPEG-VCR and MPEG Video Wizard [DOWNLOADS]
- Editing with Womble MPEG Video Wizard [VIDEO GUIDE]
- Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD help/info [PREMIUM]

If you have any other questions, just ask.

Thanks.