virtualdub problems/newbie

[drummerduck]

i have tryed to piece together two files in virtualdub.

But they are of different formats...... e.g MPEG1 and MPEG layer 3?

Is there anyone program that can put these together THEN convert to MPEG2?

If not what is the way round this in VirtualDub. I'm trying to get around tieing up my computer for hours on end converting files!!

Many thanks in advance.....

D

[snowmoon]

Unfortunatly for VirtualDub the files must be identical..

Here are a few ideas though..

1) Convert both video files to huffyuv ( lossless ) and then peice them together for conversion to mpeg-2

2) Find some way to use AVIsynth since it can load multiple videos as long as they are the same reoslution and frame rate. AVIsynth is not for the faint of heart as it's a scripting language.

Good luck

[drummerduck]

so can i convert at a low quaility only to piece these two together then re encode at a higher bit rate for burning........

or does it need to be kept the same all the way through?

[Craig Tucker]

If you convert them at a much lower bitrate for joining so as to considerably deteriorate the quality then the quality is lost for ever no matter how high a bitrate you encode them at later for burning.

[drummerduck]

so its the same idea when i'm editing with DV or Beta SP at work? what you put in is what you get out!

Cool....

so can you control the quality in Virtualdub? i couldn't see anything to alter it. I guess it just takes your file at whatever quality you have it and pieces them together?

So if this is the case with what you put in is what you get out? then when you use TMPGEnc and you set the bitrate this is pointless if you cannot control the quality?

I'm being stupid ain't i? i have the feeling creeping up on me!!

Sorry for the stupid questions.......

If the bitratesetting affects the quality and size of the file then the quality must be controlable, hence what you put in is what you get out is wrong.....? no?

I'm sure someone can put me straight.........

Sorry again......

P.S all complaints can be sent to 0800 stupid Knob



D

[Craig Tucker]

so its the same idea when i'm editing with DV or Beta SP at work? what you put in is what you get out!

There is a saying, garbage in = garbage out. You want to maintain the best possible source file you can for encoding.

so can you control the quality in Virtualdub? i couldn't see anything to alter it.

This will depend on the codec you are using. Most of them have a configure button, if you are using uncompressed or huffy, then there is no bitrate to specify.

So if this is the case with what you put in is what you get out? then when you use TMPGEnc and you set the bitrate this is pointless if you cannot control the quality?

The bitrate you choose is a compromise between quality and filesize. You want to choose the highest bitrate to maintain as much of the original quality as possible, without having redundant bitrate and huge filesizes. Too low a bitrate and you will notice a deterioration in quality.

If the bitratesetting affects the quality and size of the file then the quality must be controlable, hence what you put in is what you get out is wrong.....? no?

The quality is controllable, it can be almost as good as the original source file, all the way down to total crap. But no matter how high a bitrate you use it will not be better than the original source file.

[drummerduck]

cheers dude!!!!!!!

nice one.

[Gazorgan]

Maybe I'm missing the point: Encode each clip seperately then author (burn) as two clips? Or join them with TMPG after you have encoded them to MPEG2.