Railfan Technology > video files are not compatible with TO, were mp4 read please

I have a problem with my video files. 8mm film that has been converted to DVD and are MP4 compatible. I have spent spare time to work on getting short clips for TO and also making longer 60 minute films for a local club. I went to put one today and it is in a different format, originally it was MP4, now it is IFO, VOB or another format, (I cannot remember, it might be VUF). How do I go about getting them back to MPEG or MP4 format for posting here. They play thru the DVD as MP4, then after I download them and put them in a file they show up in a non-compatible format. I don't think I changed anything, but it is frustrating to see lots of clips that won't work. Do I need another program to convert them, or is it in my tower. It is a power media player 14, I also have windows media player. Any help would be appreciated. KCRW287

Have a similar problem getting VOB format DVD's to work in windows 10 media player.  There's
free software out there that I've some luck with, but unwanted ads come with it.  With all the
knowledge out there, hope someone can help us.

The program I'd recommend you try first is VLC, which you can get for Windows or a Mac. It is free and open source (making it unlikely to contain unexpected nasty things). I'd recommend you Google VLC and download it directly from VideoLAN, the non-profit that makes it.

The general outline for how you can use the program to create an MP4 file can be found here:
https://www.wikihow.com/Rip-DVDs-with-VLC

If you don't have an actual DVD, but just the associated IFO and VOB files, the procedure you follow will be similar to the above, expect that you will convert the entire folder/directory containing those files, instead of selecting a physical DVD drive.

Hopefully this will help get things going!

(Obviously these instructions are only for DVDs/files where you own the footage; it would likely fail with a commercial DVD, and wouldn't be kosher to do so anyway.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/21 21:54 by DivergingClear.

Thanks for the info, i will look in to it. KCRW287

Video formatted for DVD playback is encoded in MPEG-2, a much older encoding method compared to H.264 which is common with modern mp4 files. I think you're confusing MPEG, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 (encoding) vs. mp4 (file format).

So the assumption that they are "compatible with mp4" is not correct.

Anyway, if you had converted your 8mm to DVD format, then those files should be uploaded as MPG files, not MP4. Try that first before you mess with more conversions.

As is well known, DVDs are a different format than MP4, MOV, and a few others routinely stored on computers.  I found it necessary to 'rip' the DVD using free to try downloadable software that I liked, and ultimately paid for.  The same is true for CDs.  Simply copying a DVD to the hard drive comes up with what I consider an uninterpretable conglomeration of a couple of file types that require 'conversion' software to 'reassemble' and make them into MP4, etc. 

Simply put, I don't think there's a 'free lunch' any more when it comes to conversion software.  People need to be paid for their efforts.

Well, VLC is completely free (as in it uses the GNU General Public license), and will assemble the conglomeration of BUP, IFO, and VOB files from a DVD into a single MP4 movie. Of course they would be happy if you donated, but it's not required.