VirtualDub - File Invalid after editing

[jwhitlow]

I captured a 30 minute show last night in 352x240 AVI. It created a 9GB file. I loaded it into VirtualDub and edited out the commercials. The resulting file will start up in Windows Media Player, but if I skip about a third the way into the file, WMP gives me an error telling me the file is invalid. In addition, when I encode the file into the final VCD, I get audio dropout at about a third the way through. Interestingly, the video is still there. If I play the original 9GB file in WMP, it plays just fine all the way through.

[skywize]

My guess would be that Vdub has problems editting a 9 gig file. You aren't gonna leave it at 9 gig are ya? (It'll be
years before someone comes up with CDs that can hold files
that big )
You could encode it and edit the commercials out afterwards.

[jwhitlow]

No, I am going to delete the 9GB AVI. What I want to do is capture to AVI in VCD resolution, edit in VirtualDub, compress to VCD with TMPGEnc.

I could compress and then edit, but that puts me back in the same situation I was in when capturing to high bit-rate MPEG, editing & then compressing, which is that none of the MPEG editors that I have tried are frame accurate (or they are either overly complex or very slow). The most accurate that I have found is TMPGEnc. Most of the time, it is close enough not to matter. However, sometimes I will cut at a commercial fade and get 1-3 seconds of the commercial.
The worst that I have found is VCDCutter.

[skywize]

I found editing mpegs to be a nightmare.
You could use Vdub to compress your 9 gig avi to divx, edit that (DivX edits very well), and then use TMPGenc to convert it to mpeg-1.

Off course the extra step (DivX) will cause you to loose some quality, but if you play the endresult (VCD) on a TV it might not matter since VCDs often look better on TV than PC.

In any case if you experiment with compressing your avi it would be a good idea to cut out a small segment (1 min or so) out of the original so you don't have to wait half a day just to find out your settings didnt give you the result you desired

[jwhitlow]

What would you suggest as the best compression codec for AVI files that gives good compression without too much loss in quality?