Putting fade ins/outs on mpeg2

[hakeemshabazz]

Am I going to have to re-encode (i.e. lose quality) to put a fade in & fade out on a mpeg2 (vob actually) file? If so, does it have to be converted to avi?

If not, then what program is best for adding fades to mpeg2 files?

Thank you.

[lacywest]

I've used Vegas Video to do fade out ... fade in effects.

Vegas Video 4e works nicely. Works with Sonic Foundry DVD Architect 1.0d. But never used them together.

I've only used Vegas Video 4e for creating fancy DVD menus.

"only used" ... not true ... Vegas Video comes in handy for other things too.

Output formats can be DVD Compliant Mpg-2 files.

Yes ... it will re-encode.

[hakeemshabazz]

and you're losing quality with those encodes?

If you have a mpeg2 file, put fade ins/outs, and then re-encode to mpeg2 files, do you lose quality ? I'm confused.

[lacywest]

the fade out ... fade in ... was used on the Smallville Season 3 ... episodes 1 and 2.

In episode 1 ... it ended ... showing Clark and his dad falling down below from Lionel Luthor's office window ... fade out.

Episode 2 ... I faded in ... showing the two of them continue their fall ... and smashing into the room below ... they fell through a skylite in the roof.

That was the scene I created for the menu.

That was the scene I made. Kind of a extended version of "Previously on Smallville" ... or ... "Previously On ER" ... etc ... etc.

I did a video capture with my Canopus ADVC 50.

Decent capture ... but my Panasonic DMR E50S DVD Recorder does a better capture.

So ... supposely ... some detail was lost. Because I took the video and re-encoded it again ... to make the fade out ... fade in effect.

But ... my standards are different from yours ... as everybody else has different standards.

[rhegedus]

I suppose you could just cut the bits you want to fade in and out, fade them, encode and then splice them back together with the original provided they're the same resolution and bitrate.

I've not noticed any loss in quality when re-encoding with vegas.

[dcsos]

Of course there will be a loss in quality..Its only when directly copying that we can get away with making what amounts to a "clone"

The loss however is minimal..and the previos poster indicted how to splice it back at the ends and beginnings..

this is how they used to do film dissolves, by the way..they would only
do the transitions..leading to a noticability of the cut in low budget films (just before a dissolve, you would see a cut to the effected segment which didn't match..a bad match cut)

[hakeemshabazz]

thanks for the replies. I think I'm going to try that technique.

Just another thought...if I splice the ends off the mpeg2 clip to do fades...do I have to convert them to avi or can I apply fades to mpeg2 clips & just re-encode them as mpeg2?

Also, do I have to worry about different quality mpeg2 encoders? If so, which one should I use?

Thanks a bunch guys!

[lacywest]

Hey there ... hakeemshabazz

I hope your Email inbox is empty ... I've sent you some screenshots of Vegas Video 4e ... 3 screenshots.

And a small ... windows media video ... showing the two movies merged and how it looks as one fades out and the other video fades in. And the video is in Stereo ... too ... LOL.

The quality is only funky looking because I used a low bitrate for email purposes.

Vegas Video 4e ... has alot of features and mostly done by using your mouse ... alot of dragging ... not hard to use at all.

Sincerely ... Lacywest ...... aka Mach10

[Cornucopia]

I'd recommend this also:

Say your video is frames 0...200.

1. Make a 200frame audio file of complete digital silence (all 0's).
2. Encode to mpg audio.
3. Demux your 200frame program.
Now you have 200frame vid + 200frame aud.
4. Remux your 200frame vid with the 200frame silence.
5. Split off the 1st 20 frames (example) and last 20 frames.
Now you have FadeIn segment, Middle segment, and FadeOut segment.
6. Apply Fades on each end segment and re-encode.
Now you have FadeIn2, Middle, and FadeOut2
7. Join these segments.
Now you have FadedProgram(with silent audio).
8. Demux again.
9. Remux with original audio. DONE!

This preserves the lengths and sync, but also avoids the common audio "glitch" that occurs with cuts & joins.

Of course, you might want to also do a similar fade with your audio...

HTH,
Scott

[hakeemshabazz]

Lacywest: thanks for that email! it was helpful. very kind of you

Cornucopia: couldn't I just demux the VOB and edit the mpeg2 then put the streams back together? Does doing this simply method cause audio sync problems? I wasn't sure about it...but figured if I didn't mess with the length of any of the streams that I would be ok...

[lacywest]

Lacywest: thanks for that email! it was helpful. very kind of you

Your Welcome ...

I hope the pix made sense.

Did you notice how smooth the two segments were shown. No audio glitch as mentioned in the before mentioned posts.

A four minute commercial was between those two scenes.

If you look closely at the pix ... you will notice a lot of folders ... Intervideo WinDVD Creator 2 [in the explorer section of Vegas Video] ... is the video capture program I use ... but since I've got a DVD Recorder now ... my video capture days are becoming less.

Oh yeah ... now you know why ... I have a Superman emblem for my avatar ... LOL.

[Cornucopia]

Lacywest: thanks for that email! it was helpful. very kind of you

Cornucopia: couldn't I just demux the VOB and edit the mpeg2 then put the streams back together? Does doing this simply method cause audio sync problems? I wasn't sure about it...but figured if I didn't mess with the length of any of the streams that I would be ok...

You could, except some encoders (such as TMPGEnc) don't like it when you try to cut & join and elementary stream--they want a muxed program stream.

Scott