Video format question

[Mika Saigo]

I'm ok with the mechanics of premiere, but the technical stuff kills me. I've made several videos using .mpeg and .avi files for source material, but a friend of mine told me you'll get better quality if you rip straight from the dvd (I use SmartRipper) and simply change the file extension to .mp4. I tried this and lo and behold, the quality is much better, however, I cannot for the life of me get the videos to then import into premiere. I'm using 6.0, but do I lack a proper codec? Am I just completely off my rocker and totally doing this wrong? Please assist this technical noob oh great and wise amv creators~!

[Purge]

did you just rip the vob file and change the extension to .mp4?

maybe some of your questions are answered if you Read <a href=http://www.a-m-v.org/guides/avtech31/>ErMaC & AbsoluteDestiny's Friendly AMV Guides</a>

[Gepetto]

a friend of mine told me you'll get better quality if you rip straight from the dvd (I use SmartRipper) and simply change the file extension to .mp4.

Your friend has no idea what he's talking about. Changing the .VOB's extension is just a way to bypass Premiere's lack of will to import .VOB files, but the file is still a .VOB and Premiere still won't seek through it properly, even if you could import. Read through the guide Purge linked you to, it explains in detail what you need to do.

[Mika Saigo]

Thanks for your time guys, I appreciate the quick replies.