How do I convert VIDEO_TS data into a playable Video?

Question

  I am very new to video but have a short-ish fused problem and am looking up a hill.
  Very recently I obtained 11 DVDs from YESVIDEO via Walmart.  A relative had taken my mother's many 8 and super 8 film strips and gotten the film converted into digital .  Problem is now mine when we found that those DVD's are not in any readily useable format.  We want to play these old "movies" --- or parts of them --- for my father (95 years old) at the Thanksgiving reunion.  Since I am known in the family for being a Photoshop guy (since the 1980's) I now have the YES DVDs and Premier Elements 12.  Plus Elements 12.  And no experience in this type of photography.
I have gotten a converter off the web and it works alright.  And I can play the DVDs in Premier from the DVD without a converter.
Next step seems to elude me.  What files should I copy onto the hard drive from the Walmart DVDs to support editing and outputting in a video format?  Exactly which of the files should I aim Premiere at --- right now it is VIDEO_TS.  What about AUDIO_TS?  And the other files?
A second quesion is what abilities does Premiere have to improve B&W footage?  All help appreciated!

Answer 1

LinusF
For tomorrow....
If you are saying that you get as far as the Add Media/DVD camera or computer drive"/Video Importer and you have the Video Importer's Source field set to your DVD's drive, the specific video files in the VIDEO_TS Folder that you want will be named:
VTS_01_1.VOB
VTS_02_1.VOB
and onward depending on the duration of the DVD video content.
Remove the check marks that you see in front of anything else. Set the Save In: field for a separate folder on the hard drive for each of the individual DVD disc that you process this way, giving each folder a different name. Otherwise, you will be blocked by messages that say that you have already imported the media which you have not. Also, if you want the files saved to the hard drive save location as well as put on the Timeline of the present project, put a check mark next to Add to Timeline. Then hit the Get Media button of the Video Importer.
From what you wrote there is a lot of extra material on that DVD disc besides the VIDEO_TS and this could be creating problems for your player. But that is for another time.
As for Black and White improvement in your footage, I am not sure how much success you will gain, but you could look at
fxEffects
Advanced Adjustments
Image Control: Brightness, Contrast, Hue, Saturation
Shadows/Highlights
with adjusts under Applied Effects Tab/Applied Effects Palette/expanded panel for the effect applied.
We all will be watching for your progress.
Thanks.
ATR