Editing mpeg2

[jkipp]

Hello,
I have a sony DCR SR 300 HARD DRIVE CAMERA
I have a question

Iknow editing mpeg2 is not ideal
But i want to know if there is a difference to the HUMAN EYE between these two workflows

1.record to camera hardrive at highest quality least compressed mpeg2....convert mpeg2 to dv avi(edit
the heck out of video with premiere pro 1.5 on computer).....burn dvd at highest quality lowest compressed mpeg2

2. capture to computer off of mini dv camera....edit the heck out of it.......burn as mpeg2 to dvd

again i know I will lose a bit of quality due to a little more compression but I used to burn all my footage
off of my minidv camera onto dvds(mpeg2) anyway

the key is does the human eye notice the difference

any response greatly appreciated
thanks

[jman98]

There is nothing wrong with editing MPEG-2 video. Some of those who complain about it remember the bad old days MANY years ago when frame accurate editors for MPEG-2 weren't available.

Both MPEGVCR and VideoReDo are fine MPEG-2 editors and they won't re-encode your video. However, do note that what you need to do is mark the beginning and ending points of what you want to SAVE (NOT what you want to throw away! Very important distinction.) and put it in a clipboard and then join all the clips together into a new file. Don't try to remove what you want to throw away instead as you may have audio sync issues that way. Joining clips together is much better than removing video and saving the result. Both programs allow you to try before you buy.

I don't have access to DV video but I understand it is extremely high quality. However, if you're going to convert it to DVD anyway, I would argue that it doesn't really matter whether you edit in AVI and then convert to MPEG-2 as opposed to converting first and then editing with one of the editors I suggested.

[jkipp]

thank you for the response
I am kind of stuck though i spent alot of money on the premiere pro software
and don't want to upgrade and i bought this new hardrive camera
premire pro 1.5 struggles with mpeg2 editing because of multiple saves
with adding titles transitions etc and even without these it seems to not
like mpeg2 if i convert the mpeg2 to dv avi first it edits like a charm
i just want to make sure the quality loss with my method described before
mpeg2 ----dv avi-----mpeg2 doesnt result in noticeable quality loss

thank you for any response

[redwudz]

DV was 'made' for editing and I would not convert it to MPEG first to edit.

For MPEG editors, I like MPEG-VCR for cheap or MPEG Video Wizard for more. Converting MPEG to DV-AVI will result in some quality loss, then the conversion back to MPEG will result in more loss. I wouldn't do it normally, especially if your MPEG files are already DVD compliant. It's really best to edit any video in it's native format and avoid any re-encoding whenever possible.

You can use trial versions of most software editors to see how the results compare with your present methods.

And welcome to our forums.

[jman98]

MPEG2 -> DV AVI - no loss
DV AVI -> MPEG2 - some loss
Can you tell? It depends. If your bit rate is high enough, probably not, but redwudz is right that doing
MPEG2 -> DV AVI -> MPEG2
is not a good idea. Just keep the original MPEG-2 files and edit with MPEGVCR or VideoReDo. If you must convert as you suggest, we can only give vague suggestions. If the bit is really high on the MPEG-2 file, say 8000 Kbps, then such conversion will probably appear to be lossless to the eye. However if your bit rate is lower, say 5000, and you convert to DV AVI and then back to 5000 Kbps MPEG-2, there's a much higher chance you'll see artifacts on the final conversion.

[Michael33]

I shoot a lot of Mini DV (family vacations and the like) and I don't really have the time to edit it before archiving it and burning it to DVD. What I do know is that if I encoded it to the highest quality my software is capable of then in the future (using tools like MPEG Video Wizard DVD) it will definitely be easier for me to just losslessly edit the material on the DVD, should I choose to do so. While most home video editing is just cuts anyway, there is absolutely no worry about quality loss in areas of dissolves or other effects where the video would have to be re-rendered. With close scrutiny it is not possible to reliably differentiate the original Mini DV material from the DVD.

With all this said, it sound like you want to add effects. In that case, and this is not suggested lightly, you may want to invest in something that can handle mpeg2 editing with a bit more aplomb, like Sony Vegas Movie Studio. Probably the best and most affordable editing software for what it does.