How do I create a single .VOB file for each TV episode from a ripped DVD in Snow Leopard?

June 18, 2010 12:16 PM

How do I create a single .VOB file for each TV episode from a ripped DVD in Snow Leopard, when it looks like the episodes span multiple .VOBs?

I'm ripping my DVDs for use in Plex and would like to use the VIDEO_TS folders or .VOB files instead of transcoding with Handbrake or the like.

According to the suggestions for naming TV shows for Plex, I should use one .VOB file for each episode. However, when I ripped a "From the Earth to the Moon" disc, the episodes span more than one file; e.g. the first episode on the disc would be in all of VTS_01_1.VOB and about half of VTS_01_2.VOB, and the second episode starts in the middle of VTS_01_2.VOB.

Is there software available that can extract just one episode per .VOB and runs in Snow Leopard? Or, if there's a setting in Plex that will allow the scraper to see individual episodes in a VIDEO_TS folder, that would be fine, but Google-fu is failing me so far. Thanks!

posted by DakotaPaul to computers & internet (5 answers total)

You need software that will parse the titles on the DVD and remux them as a single VOB. On Windows, I'd suggest DVD Decrypter in IFO mode or PGCDemux - perhaps these as search terms can point you in the right direction.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 12:19 PM on June 18, 2010

You can use the Chapter Extraction feature of Mac the Ripper.
posted by jedicus at 12:21 PM on June 18, 2010

Oh man, jedicus, I can't believe I forgot that MTR does more than do full extracts. :-) Will try that when I get home.

Thanks for the DVD Decrypter tip, Inspector.Gadget. If MTR fails me I'll do some searching in that area, or get Boot Camp running on my mini and dig up my old copy of Win XP.
posted by DakotaPaul at 12:28 PM on June 18, 2010

I use VOBMerge - very simple software that does one thing well.
posted by coolguymichael at 1:21 PM on June 18, 2010

Seconding Mac the Ripper. If your DVD doesn't have chapters that are nicely labeled, open up the dvd player app (the default one). In the remote window (where the stop and play buttons are) click on the time indicator, and it will cycle through chapters, time elapsed, etc. Then you can figure out what chapters you need, and rip them out cleanly with MTR.

MTR will also do non contiguous ranges of chapters (eg, 1-3, 5)
posted by fontophilic at 2:20 PM on June 18, 2010