V-Dub one last time....

[schematic2]

Hi
I know its been asked 1000 times (but technology changes) is there any way to edit mpg2 in VDub and not re-encode?
Is there a fix to allow "direct stream copy" to handle mpg2 ?

It would be sooo sweet!!

Thanks

[poisondeathray]

nope

you can use avidemux to do that, which offers similar functionality to vdub

[hech54]

You are looking for MPEG-PS too I believe in AviDemux.

[dylz]

if you set copy audio/video in avidemux for mpeg you have to start on I frames or re-encode.

[schematic2]

Thanks alot Gents! Avidemux is perfect for what I need!

[jagabo]

If you only need cuts (like cutting out commercials) you can also use Mpg2Cut2. If you need frame accurate cuts with only cut GOPs reencoded you can use Womble MPEG VCR or their other tools.

[freebird73717]

mpeg vcr is great for simple cuts and at $19 it's very affordable

[schematic2]

What would the advantage be of mpeg-vcr over avidemux? Does one do a better job than the other (smart render etc.)?

Thanks

[jagabo]

AviDemux doesn't have frame accurate editing of MPG files unless you reencode the whole video (unless it was added recently, I haven't upgraded in a while). Ie, it's not a smart editor for MPG. Womble MPEG VCR is a smart editor. It is frame accurate and will only reencode cut GOPs.

MPEG 2 GOPs are usually about 15 frames. At 30 fps that means you have about 1/2 second accuracy on your cuts with AviDemux.

[hech54]

When I'm cutting a small clip out of a DVD or giant captured MPEG2 file...nothing opens it faster than MPEG-VCR too. Many, many times I cut with MPEG-VCR then open that in VDub or AviDemux to add borders or remove logos or add some chroma smoothing, then output to Xvid or H264 for YouTube.

[schematic2]

Thanks gentlemen. Is it just me, or is the timeline cursor in Avidemux inconsistent? It seems it almost never reaches the same start frame twice when scrubbing back and forth. Same with scrubbing to the end frame.

Is it just me??

[poisondeathray]

Do you mean like "losing your place"? or getting frames out of order?

I haven't seen that with MPEG2 input, but I have seen it occasionally with Xvid/AVI . But it indexes the file when you open it if it's MPEG2 - or at least if you say "yes" it will - that should keep your place. If you said "no" then I can see that happening

If it's still "buggy" then try mpg2cut2 as suggested above. It's very stable

[schematic2]

If you slide the cursor from start to finish, then back to start, the actual start frame will not be displayed. It may display the 135th frame as the start as an example.

Its sad because the rest of the GUI seems nice.

[poisondeathray]

just to double check , you said "yes" when it asked you to index the file?

what version of avidemux ? you could give another version a shot or one of the other programs a try

is it possible something peculiar about your file ?

[jagabo]

Just use the arrow keys on the keyboard or the UI.

[schematic2]

I'm using the newest version 2.5.4. I have tried several different files.....same.

Using the arrow keys does work, but it takes a long time.

Should I try an older version? Any stable ones you know of?

Thanks

[jagabo]

The second set of arrow keys (to the right) move to the next and previous keyframe. Usually about 15 frames with an MPG file. Note that when AviDemux in in Copy mode you can only cut on keyframes.

[schematic2]

Well, after hours of testing and trying several versions of AVIDEMUX, and several other free programs, I think $19 for MPG-VCR is well worth it....

Thanks to all who helped!!