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Any thoughts on removing a persistant watermark from VOB files?

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Hello,

Just got a full set of the "TB Release" SE DVD's - whoa, are they awesome. These are, in my opinion, more tolerable than the 2004 versions...even though the OT is still unbeatable...

Anyway, they are perfect except for a stupid watermark in the top right of the picture on the letterbox stripe.

Using VirtualDub and the logoaway plugin I was able to remove it...the only problem is that I am then unable to save the file as a VOB - it must be coverted to avi as far as I can tell.

Does someone with more experience with this stuff have any advice on how this watermark could be removed - they are perfect 97 SE letterbox transfers, save for this one MAJOR annoyance. I obviously do not want to lose any picture or sound quality through the conversions, so retaining 100% of the original sound and picture quality as the original VOB is of the utmost importance..

All ideas welcome...
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To remove the watermark you will need to re-encode the mpeg2 video, if you use an encoder that does multiple pass then you shouldn't notice any degredation in the picture quality. Re-encoding the video will also mean you'll probably have to remaster the DVDs.
There's no easy way round this watermark problem.
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Can't someone just create a subtitle of a black box over this mark? I know some programs allow you to place the subtitles in different places.

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>

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Yes, it's possible and I did it, the problem is I'm not familiar with reauthoring and I am afraid that I will screw up the sound and/or picture quality.

What I did:

Open .VOB files using VirtualDub

Used LogoAway plugin to make the black box cover up the watermark - works fine, problem solved

But then I need to save it and the only option is .avi file - I need to know what steps I can take to get back to the .VOB files after I've made the improvement in otherwords...

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No: what MBJ means is to create a DVD subtitle to cover the logo, not a hard-coded patch. That's a clever solution, and won't involve re-encoding -- but will involve re-authoring. Not the cleanest way to fix things, but it'll do.

I last saw this trick about three years ago, when I got some absolutely horrid Chinese boots: to watch the movie without Chinese subs, you were actually watching the hard-coded Chinese subs with DVD soft-sub black patches added!

By the way, if you're opening stuff in VDub, then whatever you do there will have to be re-encoded. VDub does not edit MPEG-2.

In fact, if you're using VDub anyway, what are you doing messing around with DeLogo and the like?? Just lop off the black bars that are there, and add them in again. In AviSynth, that takes exactly two commands, Trim() and AddBorders().
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Thanks for the feedback Karyudo,

What would be the preferred method for adding the dvd subtitle you spoke of? Also, what is the best method/program to use for reauthoring and would I be able to keep the VIDEO_TS format after I reauthor? Would this method cause any degradation in video or sound quality?

Thank you everyone for your help!
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I think the subtitle thing is pretty easy (relatively speaking), although I've never done it myself. You'll need to do a little work in a subtitle editor, and then prep it for DVD authoring. You're basically adding one subtitle (a black box), positioning it in the right place (upper right corner), and then telling the editor to turn in on at frame 1 and turn it off at the end of the film.

As for authoring, I hear very good things about DVDlab -- but I don't know if the bargain-basement version will do subs at all. Might have to get Studio or Pro. Can't remember.

Authoring means you'll need all the assets from the disc you've got: audio (as either MPEG or AC3), video (M2V with no audio is best), menu pages (as PNG, I guess?), and your sub file. DVD Decrypter should be able to easily demux from the disc you've got, IIRC, even though there's no encryption to be Decrypted.

That should get you started. Do a bunch of reading (and learning) on your own, and you'll know more about this than most of us here -- me included. Go on: be the 'one black bar subtitle' guru!
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The standard version will do subs.

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
<span class=“Bold”>JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

<span class=“Italics”>JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.</span>