VOB to AIF: Extract Audio from VOB(DVD Media File) Video to AIF(AIFF/AIFC Apple Audio) with River Past Audio Converter, VOB2AIF converter, conversion

What is VOB?

VOB standards for "Video Object". It is the file type to store video on a DVD disc. It is actuallly a MPEG-2 video, with special extension to support PCM, AC3, DTS audio, subpictures, and button navigation commands.

To decode DVD-VIDEO, you will need both GPL MPEG-2 Decoder, and AC-3 Decoder.

What is AIF?

Short for Audio Interchange File Format, a common format for storing and transmitting sampled sound. The format was developed by Apple Computer and is the standard audio format for Macintosh computers. It is also used by Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI).

The AIFF format is uncompressed so AIFF files tend to be large. However, there is another format called AIFF-Compressed (AIFF-C or AIFC) that supports compression ratios as high as 6:1.

AIFF files generally end with an .AIF or .IEF extension.

AIFC files generally end with an .AIFC extension.

AIFF and AIFC are standard audio format used on MacOS systems. AIFF is not compressed. AIFC is compressed.

To encode AIF audio, please make sure Apple QuickTime is installed.

Launch River Past Audio Converter

Once River Past Audio Converter is installed properly, launch Audio Converter.

Install Decoders

To decode DVD, you need to have a couple of free decoders installed.

The first one is GPL MPEG Decoder.

GPL MPEG Decoder

Next, install AC-3 Decoder Filter.

AC-3 Decoder Filter

Add VOB File

Click on the "Add Files" button on the tool bar. The standard file open dialog appears. Select "VOB - DVD Media(*.vob)" in its "Files of type" combo box.

You should only use "Add Files" to select VOB files if they are generated by a DVD authoring software and each VOB file represent a single video clip. Do not use "Add Files" to add the VOB files on a DVD disc or DVD image.

A DVD contains many video clips, which are then divided into cells/chapters. All of the video clips are then streamed together in one big block. The VOB files on the disc is just a way to divide the block into 1GB files to be compatible with older operation systems like Windows 95, who has a file size limit.

Each VOB file on the DVD may contain multiple videos. Each video may span over multiple VOB files. If you use "Add Files", only the first clip in that particular VOB file will be parsed and added.

This picture below makes it easier to understand.

In this case, if you use "Add Files" to add VTS_01_1.VOB, you will only get the still menu. If you use "Add Files" to add VTS_01_2.VOB, you will get the end of chapter 3... This is how file based decoding works.

If you want to convert from a DVD disc or DVD VIDEO_TS directory image, use "Add DVD". We will parse the DVD information and find all the cell breaks. You will get to select which cell to convert, from 2 to 5. Still menus are ignored.

River Past Audio Converter

Select output format

Use the setting panel on the bottom of the window to control the output format. Click on the toggle to the left of the "Format" label to expand the panel. Select "AIF - Audio Interchanged File Format" as the "Audio Type".

Troubleshoot

If you don't see the AIF output option, you have a problem with your QuickTime installation.

You need to have the latest QuickTime installed. Occasionally, QuickTime may be corrupted. In any case, reinstall QuickTime should fix this problem.

You can change the compressor, and depending on the compressor, you can change the sample rate, channel (stereo or mono), bits/sample, and bitrate.

When "16 bit LPCM" or "16 bit PCM" is selected as the "Compressor", the file is uncompressed, and satisfy the original AIFF specification. When other compressors are used, the file is compressed and is considered to be an AIFC file.