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[cookdp]

I apologize in advance if this question has been answered somewhere already.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find an answer to the following when I've searched the forum:

I have a problem with the "duration" field being incorrect under my Video>Shows>Series>Episode.  For example, I have a 1,024 MB file that is indicated to have a playing duration of 25 seconds.  So, I am unable to fast forward beyond the first 25 seconds of an episode that actually has a duration of 25:33.  I do not know how I can get an accurate duration.  It also appears that the "Bitrate" column is highly inconsistent as well.  For Episode 1, it is 343,020.  For Episode 8, the bitrate is listed as only 79, and the duration is listed as 26:28:15.

This is a file I copied from Season 1 of M*A*S*H.  I used DVDFab to copy the disk.  I then renamed the .vob file as MASH.S01EO1.vob.  The file plays properly and I have been able to get all of the episode information via TVDB, but do not understand what is causing the issue I describe.  This is a problem I am having with every .vob file I have (regardless of disk or show).  If I upload the whole VIDEO_TS folder, I can access the episodes with the correct duration in the play controls without any trouble.

I'd appreciate any help/suggestions for correcting this.

[blgentry]

I'm not aware of a specific VOB issue with duration, but there might be one.  I would try the following things:

1.  <right click file> Library tools > update Library (from tags)  . This has fixed a lot of wrong durations on my files.  This normally happens when a file is being imported into MC while it's being created by the ripping software.  MC catches it in an incomplete state.
2.  Open the Tagging Window and look at the [Playback Range] field.  It should be empty to play the whole thing.  You can set values here if you only want to play portions of a file.  This is most useful with Particles.  You may have accidentally set a value here.
3.  Delete the XML sidecar file, and then run #1 above.
4.  Delete the files from MC, but keep the files on disk.  Move them away to another directory and change their names subtly.  Like add a "b" at the end of the file name.  Re-import them and see what happens.

Hopefully you won't need to do #4.

Aside:  You know why MASH is such a brilliant show?  Because it gets you all comfortable and laughing at the humor and then, when you're not expecting it, it punches you in the gut with hard hitting drama.  It's a wonderful combination.  MASH is funny *and* deeply meaningful.

Brian.

[cookdp]

Hi Brian,

I agree that M*A*S*H is brilliant... it's my all-time favorite television series.  I can watch it over and over again!

I appreciate your suggestions, and tried each of the four things you suggested as follows:

1.  I did not import the files until long after the file was ripped using DVDFab.  I did try updating the files with the update Library (from tags).  Unfortunately, it did not alter the duration or any other field.
2.  I looked at each of the [Playback Range] field in the Tagging Window for each file, and they were empty.
3.  I deleted all of the XML sidecar files and then updated the Library (from tags) again.  There was no change.
4.  I deleted the files from MC.  I moved them to another directory and renamed them.  I then re-imported.  I wound up with the exact values in the [duration] field I had originally.

I really hope there is a way to fix this duration issue.  It'll really make working with all of the disks I have from around a dozen old shows really slick.

Thanks!

Dave

[blgentry]

  Sorry to hear that nothing seemed to work.

I don't use VOBs at all. I kind of have a philosophical issue with VOBs and DVD or BD structures.  I'd rather digest them into single files per movie or TV episode.  I'm a big fan of MakeMKV.

I was going to suggest that you transcode some of your VOBs into MKVs and see if they work any better; I'll bet they work perfectly.  I understand that this might not be practical though depending on how many you have to convert.

It might be worth it to play with one or two VOBs just to see if the technique works.  If you decide to, MakeMKV will work on VOB files just as well as it rips directly from optical disc.

Good luck to you,

Brian.

[cookdp]

I was always leary of going the .mkv route because I was concerned that there would be a loss of data in going away from the .vob.  My understanding is that the loss is relatively minor?  I suppose that when you are working with DVD content that was constructed from old television footage that loss is really meaningless.

At any rate, I downloaded MakeMKV and took files straight from the original DVD and then imported them into MC.  Everything worked like a charm!  I'm glad I hadn't really gotten too far down the road in converting all of my DVD television series disks before discovering the problem I was running across.

I really appreciate the help!
 

Dave

[glynor]

I was always leary of going the .mkv route because I was concerned that there would be a loss of data in going away from the .vob.  My understanding is that the loss is relatively minor?

That is not correct. If you rip to MKV without recompressing the video, then the video is unaltered. That's what MakeMKV does, it re-muxes the video, which is akin to putting it in a different kind of folder. It is completely lossless, because it doesn't even touch the video data contained within the original VOB containers on disc.

You could also convert to MKV and simultaneously re-encode the video (to save space or make it compatible with a hardware player perhaps), and that can impact quality. That's what a tool like Handbrake does. But MakeMKV doesn't even have the capability of doing that.

[blgentry]

To expound on what Glyor said just a tiny bit:

MakeMKV extracts the audio and video that you select from the titles you select.  The audio is completely untouched; it's the exact stream that's on the disc.  The video is stripped of encryption if any is there.  Every commercial DVD and BD use encryption; MakeMKV strips this encryption out.  But the original video is intact:  It is not transcoded and there is no loss of quality.  It's essentially doing what a DVD or BD player would do to show the video, but it saves the unencrypted video as opposed to displaying it.

This is why I think it's such a good solution:  Removes encryption, preserves original quality, and frees you from having to use those darned menus!  Menus can be kinda pretty.  But do you really want to see the same ones 22 times per season and wait the 60 seconds per title?  Not me! 

Brian.

[cookdp]

Thanks for all of the information!  I'm glad to know that the files are lossless.  I'm relatively new to the world of copying/ripping DVDs and am brand new to JR and really appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge.

Thanks!

Dave