How can I convert BUP files

I have two sorts of files that I want to load on my mac and Ipad , they are BUP and VOB. I cannot open with quicktime. I have tried converting through Burn with no luck. They work fine on a PC with windows. Its a DVD made by a teacher for us.

First of all, if you want to play your content on an iPad, your goal here is to convert the VOB (Video Object which normally contains the actual "muxed" MPEG-2/AC3, MPEG-2/PCM, or MPEG-2/DTS content) file(s) to an iPad compatible compression format. Normally, this would be an H.264/AAC (iPad playback) or H.264/AAC/AC3 (iPad playback through TV) file. (I.e., the iPad "Video" app does not support VOB file content.)

Basically, a standard DVD consists of three file types—IFO (which contains the information about the organization of tracks, menus, chapters, subtitles, etc., on the DVD) BUP (essentually a Back-Up of the IFO in case the IFO file becomes damaged), and the VOB file as explained above in the VIDEO_TS folder. For the purpose of file conversions, only the VOB file is really required unless you also plan to include chapters, alternative audio, and/or subtitle data.

Since you say your teacher created this DVD, I assume it is, therefore, not encrypted and can be converted directly on a Mac by an application like HandBrake (free) or MPEG Streamclip (free) plus the QT MPEG-2 Playback component ($19.99). Both applications have iPad conversion presets and batch processing of VIDEO_TS content which has been copied to a local hard drive. Your work flow will vary depending on the conversion software used and the specific desired target output.

I have the same problem whereas I cannot open VOB files and when I tried to open them via Handbrake I'd get a message 'No valid source found' although the program does actually 'see' these files.. Please help!

Are you trying to open just the VOB files here? If so, that is your problem. HandBrake is looking for the IFO file to open the VOB file(s) as structured DVD content and not as a simple, unstructured video file. If the content you want to access consists of multiple VOB files, then you must let HandBrake access the entire VIDEO_TS forlder contents to include both the IFO/BUP and the VOB files. If all you want to do is access a single VOB using HandBrake, then change the VOB extension to read MPEG (or possibly MPG or TS) at the Finder level and then try loading it to HandBrake as a simple, single "muxed" MPEG-2/AC3 media file source for conversion.

If you have MPEG Streamclip plus a QT 7 MPEG-2 codec component installed on your system, then you can "drag 'n drop" multiple VOB files (with their original file extensions) to the main work window and they open as a single continuuous movie consisting of multiple file segments which may or may not have to have timecodebreaks fixed (which MPEG Streamclip can do internally) if present. (MPEG Streamclip normally detects timecode breaks during the loading of files and asks the user if he or she wishes to fix them, but even if no timecode breaks are detected, you can still force the app to run the "fix" reoutine if you desire.)

Hi!

I have the same problem whereas I cannot open VOB files and when I tried to open them via Handbrake I'd get a message 'No valid source found' although the program does actually 'see' these files.. Please help!

Such files are the constituent components of a standard mpeg2 DVD. Try DVD Player or VLC to play them.

Otherwise ask your teacher how he created them!