I certainly wouldn't have the patience for this sort of stuff.

I've done some file conversion, including MPEG2 to AVI, but not from a
DVD. I usually use Virtualdub-MPEG2 (a variation of the great free
program Virtualdub) for this. Unfortunately, although it can be used to
append files together, it will not do this for non-AVI files. I suppose
you could individually convert each VOB file to an AVI, and then append
them all into a single file, without recompressing during this last
process. That way you'd be recompressing only once. If you want more
options and are willing to pay for them, there's Canopus Procoder2 and
EO Video, both of which, if I rememebr correctly, will handle MPEG2
files and will enable you to stick individuall files into a single one.
The time it would take to process teh files very much depends on the
compression options you select, including, if we're talking about
MPEG4, the number of passes. Still, I cannot imagine anything as long
as the times you give in your post.

AA Smith wrote:
> I'm using a trial version of AVS Video Converter. It seems to be incredibly
> slow. I selected for conversion all of the files in VIDEO_TS that I
> mentioned before not including a .pls file that I did not mention before.
> Now, it's been running for more than 5 hours and shows 37 Hours and 18
> minutes to go, and the time to go keep getting longer. Go figure. Any
> suggestions on really good conversion utilities?
> --
> With kindest regards,
>
> Dick Smith
> "bxf" <bill@topman.net> wrote in message
> news:1133190601.209789.20240@g44g2000cwa.googlegro ups.com...
> >I haven't done this myself, so I can't speak from experience. However,
> > the VOB files are your MPEG2 files containing multiplexed video and
> > audio. I don't know which product you are using for the conversion, but
> > It may be possible to "simply" concatenate all the VOBs to produce a
> > single MPEG2 file that wil play properly (probably without subtitles -
> > not sure).
> >
> > AA Smith wrote:
> >> Thanks for your feedback, bxf!
> >>
> >> I'm concerned with converting a DVD to a non-DVD video format. I just
> >> want
> >> a video without the menus; preferably one that will play on WMP 10.
> >>
> >> And, when running the conversion I'm more than a bit confused as to which
> >> files I need to identify as input to the conversion software. Do I need
> >> to
> >> highlight (select for conversion) the VIDEO_TS.BUP file and the
> >> VIDEO_TS.IFO
> >> file and the VTS_01_0.IFO file in addition to all the .VOB files or not?
> >> Obviously, I don't know exactly what the VIDEO_TS.BUP file and the
> >> VIDEO_TS.IFO file, and the VTS_01_0.IFO are.
> >> --
> >> With kindest regards,
> >>
> >> Dick Smith
> >>
> >> "bxf" <bill@topman.net> wrote in message
> >> news:1133181904.138800.290950@g43g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
> >> >
> >> > AA Smith wrote:
> >> >> I don't know a lot about video files/formats, so I'd appreciate
> >> >> suggestions.
> >> >>
> >> >> When converting a DVD to another video format, several options are
> >> >> available. I wonder which would prove to be the most compact and
> >> >> which
> >> >> would be the easiest to manage, edit and if possible resize.
> >> >>
> >> >> The options available include .AVI, .MPEG2, WMV, .RM (real player,)
> >> >> .MOV,
> >> >> .3GP, and MP4.
> >> >> --
> >> >> With kindest regards,
> >> >>
> >> >> Dick Smith
> >> >
> >> > It may be useful to know why you want to convert. For example,
> >> > commercial DVDs are encoded in MPEG2, so if your intention is merely to
> >> > copy the DVD (watch out for copyright) to your HDD, then why not keep
> >> > it as it is and avoid losses caused by recompression? On the other had,
> >> > if your intent is to copy and make a significantly smaller file, then
> >> > you can consider any MPEG4 (e.g. DivX) avi with an appropriately low
> >> > bitrate.
> >> >
> >