Joining 4 MPEG-2 files

[Marius III]

What free utility can I use to join 4 MPEG-2 files so that an authoring program (like DVD Architect) will see it as one long MPEG-2 file?

I dont want to re-render or re-encode the files and thus degrade their quality.

Thanks.

[ta2]

TMPGEnc will do it...

http://www.tmpgenc.net

Go->MPEG Tools->Merge and Cut

[Marius III]

Do I need "PLUS" for joining the MPEG-2 files?

[Tommyknocker]

If your trial version has not expired you do not need "Plus". If it has, you need the MPEG-2 plug in to load the MPEG-2, but will only encode to MPEG-1.

[bottle-necked]

Ulead VideoStudio V7.0 is a 30 day trial version that will do that. I'm used to using V6 and V7 is a little different but can be setup properly.
After starting the program just drag the first clip onto the timeline, Ulead will ask to set project properties to match the clip, choose 'yes'. Drag the other clips in. When finished click 'Share' then 'Create Video File' 'Custom' then Options and make sure the project properties are setup right. V7 isn't as good as V6, nor as easy to use, so you must keep your eyes on it during the process. If the program tries to 'reencode' your combined clips then either one of the project settings is incorrect or one of your clips is different from the rest. Right click each clip and view the properties box to establish each the same, then go back through all the project settings and triple check each one. When setup properly this is a nice program. It also has a DVD Authorizing function, but I suggest you write to hard drive to check. Again, V7 has a tendency to switch setting in the middle of a project without any warning.

Good luck.

[Marius III]

Thanks boys.

Do you know where I can download Ulead VideoStudio Version 6.0 ?

Or perhaps I should just go for TMPEGEnc since I only need a utility to merge the files.

[bottle-necked]

Far as I know it's not available. That's too bad too. Version 7 isn't all that bad, just watch the settings.

GL

[MOVIEGEEK]

VideoStudio 6 is no longer available,The free version of TMPGEnc will do.
www.tmpgenc.net