Re-create a DVD from one or more recovered VOB files (e.g. recovered from a camera made disc)

This article is related to an earlier article: "How to re-author a DVD from one or more VOB files on my hard drive" as it basically aims to achieve the same goal. The only difference is that this article is more recent and makes use of more recent software to get the job done. Personally I use the method described in this article.

So assuming you have recovered one or more VOB files with IsoBuster, for instance via the method "find files based on their signature" and you need to make a new DVD from them, then this method comes in handy.

The only program needed is ConvertXtoDVD from VSO. Click here to download ConvertXtoDVD.

So let's get started. Download and install ConvertXtoDVD. During installation you will be asked a few questions. The most important question is whether you want to encode in PAL or NTSC. If you are in the USA or in Asia (e.g. Japan), choose NTSC, in Europe you should choose PAL. This is to assure that your DVD player can actually play back the Video. You can also always change this again, in the general options, or per Video project.

Next launch the program:

Before you start adding the Video (VOB) files, make sure that a couple of settings are set optimally for the project. Mind you, these are just the basics, if you have time, explore all options to familiarize yourself with the program. Some of the options are very technical, but you can rely on the default settings for them. So, in the main menu (top selection area of the program), choose "Settings" and select the tabs displayed below:

The DVD Specification tab simply to point out PAL versus NTSC again. To make sure that is set correctly.

In the DVD menus tab you can see my preferred settings but what I want to point out in particular is the checkbox Play titles one after the other. If your recovered video consists of multiple files, yet it is one longer movie devided up in several files, then you don't want to have to select playback of the next part all the time, you want it to play in one go. That's what this option is for.

The last Settings tab I want to bring to your attention is the Burning tab. Select the writer you are going to write the disc with, or select ISO file. So, as you notice you can also write the result to an ISO file rather than to the disc directly.

Now that the settings have been set to what you prefer, drag the VOB files that you want to put on the DVD to the main view (Tree View) of the program. The program may need to determine the movie duration, so while importing, a dialog may be displayed saying Determine Movie Duration.

After all the importing is done, select the top tree entry and click it again, you'll notice that you can change the DVD title. I set it to "My DVD". Do the same with the individual titles (VOB) files that you added. E.g. change "recovered file 1" to "Part 1" etc.

You can also expand every tree object to see the underlying options. Mess with those when you know what you're doing.

Hit the Convert button and the encoding will start, next, per your settings, the disc will be written.

For more information on the usage of ConvertXtoDVD check out its product page and watch the movie.