Free online VIV to VOB converter

What the VIV format is

VIV is a legacy VivoActive video format developed for compressed internet video in the 1990s. Vivo Software's VivoActive Encoder created these files, and the VivoActive Player or compatible older multimedia software played them. VIV files are uncommon today and may contain proprietary Vivo video and audio streams that modern editors do not recognize directly.

What the VOB format is

VOB is the container used by DVD-Video discs. It stores MPEG-2 video, DVD-compatible audio such as AC-3 or MPEG audio, subtitles, and navigation data in a program-stream structure. VOB is useful for DVD authoring and hardware DVD playback, but it is not a general-purpose replacement for MP4 or a quality upgrade over the source.

A standalone VOB can contain DVD-compatible audio and video, but a playable DVD normally also needs authored .IFO navigation files and .BUP backups. Converting a file to VOB alone does not create a complete DVD disc.

How to convert VIV to VOB

Using 101convert.com

1. Open 101convert.com and select the video conversion tool.
2. Upload the .viv file, choose VOB as the output format, and start the conversion.
3. Download the resulting .vob file and test it in a DVD player application or DVD authoring program.

This option runs without installing conversion software. If the service cannot read a particular VIV file, use a desktop FFmpeg build that includes the legacy Vivo demuxer.

Using FFmpeg

Check whether the installed FFmpeg build recognizes the input before converting:

ffprobe input.viv

For an NTSC DVD-compatible VOB, run:

ffmpeg -i input.viv -target ntsc-dvd output.vob

For a PAL DVD-compatible VOB, run:

ffmpeg -i input.viv -target pal-dvd output.vob

These presets encode MPEG-2 video and DVD-compatible audio while selecting the corresponding DVD frame size and frame rate. Choose NTSC or PAL according to the intended DVD system, not merely the computer's current display setting.

To inspect the source streams without converting, use:

ffprobe -v error -show_streams input.viv

If FFmpeg reports an unknown format or cannot decode the video, the file may require the original VivoActive Player or Encoder for playback and export. A damaged or incomplete VIV file cannot be made valid by changing its extension.

Quality, compatibility, and limitations

• The VIV stream is decoded and re-encoded to MPEG-2, so the conversion is lossy. Renaming .viv to .vob does not work.
• VOB normally uses DVD frame sizes such as 720×480 for NTSC or 720×576 for PAL. Enlarging a low-resolution VIV file fills the DVD frame but does not restore detail.
• Very old VIV files may have unusual frame rates, missing audio, or proprietary audio codecs. The resulting VOB may therefore contain video only or require manual audio settings.
• For a physical DVD, import the converted video into DVDStyler, DVD-author, or another DVD authoring application rather than copying the standalone VOB directly to a disc. The authoring step creates menus, navigation sectors, and the required disc structure.