Playback support for VRO files

[Bodders-11]

Hi,
I've a number of VRO files that I would like to playback to a Panasonic TX-P42GT30B. I note that Mezzmo does not support such files directly, though they are essentially VOB files (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VRO#VRO_file_format). These files are created from a Panasonic DVD Recorder saving to a DVD-RAM disk

To allow playback WITHOUT Mezzmo needing to transcode, what would you recommend for a Panasonic Viera 2011 profile? As I see it my options are :-
1. Transcode to MKV (H.264 video etc) using Handbrake
2. Extract the MPEG-2 video from the VRO and create an mpg/transport stream file
3. Rename file to VOB extension and see if it plays?

Can you see any possible gotchas with Option 3 which seems the easiest/quickest?

Thanks,
Bodders

[Paul]

I think option 3 is the best - if that works, please post FFmpeg information on the file here and we'll add that extension to our list.

[Bodders-11]

Bingo ;)

I renamed the file (to 'ts' as a VOB is effectively a Transport Stream) and it played through the Panasonic without need of transcoding. The FFmpeg info is as follows:-

ffmpeg version N-36036-ga40f43d, Copyright (c) 2000-2011 the FFmpeg developers
built on Dec 22 2011 13:44:49 with gcc 4.6.2
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-w64-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-postproc --prefix=/media/ffmpeg --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect --extra-cflags=-I/home/dennis/cc/include --extra-ldflags=-L/home/dennis/cc/lib --pkg-config=pkg-config --disable-w32threads
libavutil 51. 32. 0 / 51. 32. 0
libavcodec 53. 46. 1 / 53. 46. 1
libavformat 53. 27. 0 / 53. 27. 0
libavdevice 53. 4. 0 / 53. 4. 0
libavfilter 2. 53. 0 / 2. 53. 0
libswscale 2. 1. 0 / 2. 1. 0
[mpeg @ 003d82a0] max_analyze_duration 5000000 reached at 5024000
Input #0, mpeg, from 'E:\Film & TV\TV\Test\VR_MOVIE.ts':
Duration: 01:53:22.93, start: 3652.621711, bitrate: 4237 kb/s
Stream #0:0[0x1e0]: Video: mpeg2video (Main), yuv420p, 720x576 [SAR 64:45 DAR 16:9], 9282 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 90k tbn, 50 tbc
Stream #0:1[0x80]: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 384 kb/s
At least one output file must be specified


---> DB Level Info: 8, 4
---> Frame rate: 25.00
---> Aspect ratio: 16:9

[Paul]

Thanks for posting back. We'll add the extension to our supported list in Mezzmo.

[Paul]

Actually that extension is already in our supported list (v2.5.0) - strange that it wasn't picked up. Can you please confirm that the file had the ".vro" extension originally?

[Bodders-11]

Yes - originally it was a VRO file. I manually renamed it (in Windows)to have a TS extension. To confirm here is the FFMpeg output of the same file but with a VRO extension. So in essence, you could prove this for yourself by creating a TS file and renaming to VRO :-)
My understanding is that the contents of a VRO file are pretty fixes - especially compared to MKV files. So I don't think there is anything special because it was created on a Panasonic DVD recorder

ffmpeg version N-36036-ga40f43d, Copyright (c) 2000-2011 the FFmpeg developers
built on Dec 22 2011 13:44:49 with gcc 4.6.2
configuration: --enable-memalign-hack --arch=x86 --target-os=mingw32 --cross-prefix=i686-w64-mingw32- --enable-static --disable-shared --enable-zlib --disable-postproc --prefix=/media/ffmpeg --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libx264 --enable-gpl --extra-libs='-lx264 -lpthread' --enable-runtime-cpudetect --extra-cflags=-I/home/dennis/cc/include --extra-ldflags=-L/home/dennis/cc/lib --pkg-config=pkg-config --disable-w32threads
libavutil 51. 32. 0 / 51. 32. 0
libavcodec 53. 46. 1 / 53. 46. 1
libavformat 53. 27. 0 / 53. 27. 0
libavdevice 53. 4. 0 / 53. 4. 0
libavfilter 2. 53. 0 / 2. 53. 0
libswscale 2. 1. 0 / 2. 1. 0
[mpeg @ 003a82a0] max_analyze_duration 5000000 reached at 5024000
Input #0, mpeg, from 'E:\Film & TV\TV\Pacific\VR_MOVIE.vro':
Duration: 01:53:22.93, start: 3652.621711, bitrate: 4237 kb/s
Stream #0:0[0x1e0]: Video: mpeg2video (Main), yuv420p, 720x576 [SAR 64:45 DAR 16:9], 9282 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 90k tbn, 50 tbc
Stream #0:1[0x80]: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 384 kb/s
At least one output file must be specified


---> DB Level Info: 8, 4
---> Frame rate: 25.00
---> Aspect ratio: 16:9

[Paul]

If the file originally had a ".vro" extension, then it should've been picked up by Mezzmo as well. Mezzmo doesn't rely on the file extension to determine file type, but it does rely on the file extensions when adding files in (using scan/add folder). Can you please try renaming the file back to its original form (with the .vro) extension and add it to Mezzmo? It should work just like that, without the need to rename it to .ts.

[Bodders-11]

Dennis,
'Yes' - the VRO file was handled natively by Mezzmo and streamed to the Panasonic without needing to be renamed or transcoded.

Bodders