How much I lost by converting AVI -> MPEG2 ->AVI

[tlian]

Hi,
Since AVI is better for editing and MPEG2 is better for archieving,
How much information/resolution will I sacrifice, If I have to
do AVI <-> MPEG2 conversion frequently, for many editing and
many archieving?

Thanks
tlian

[rcb]

don't know of any of numbers one could apply, but you will lose quality with each successive conversion.

Might be just as easy if you take a small sample clip of your typical avi files and then run a series of conversions to get an idea of what your particular setup will produce..

[johns0]

Wouldnt it be easier to save your avi as a backup in case you want to make other changes?

[mats.hogberg]

As AVI is not necessarily compressed, you only lose quality when doing the AVI -> MPEG2 encoding. With enough high bit rate, this will be quite small. If you use DivX or something like that for your AVI, then you'll lose some in the mpeg -> AVI too, how much depending on what bit rate you use.

/Mats

[daamon]

Hi tlian,

If you've got mpeg and don't have the source AVI and want to do editing, I've read quite a few posts saying that Womble MPEG VCR is capable of editing MPEG without problems (like audio sync).

I've not used it myself, so can't comment. I thought I'd mention it in case it's of use...

[tlian]

Thanks for all responses

johns0
AVI file just to huge to save in DVD+RW disk.

I think I will try to do mpeg <-> AVI conversion many times, see how is
the result. I plan to use CBR and 8000kbits using tmpgenc to convert to mpeg. Don't know what to use to convert back to AVI yet.

tlian

[johns0]

avi can be re-encoded to 4 gigs and used as a backup and gives you far better editing results than constant mpg converting and loss of quality.