Damaged MPEG

[mats.hogberg]

I've got this VCD compliant MPEG, that makes any encoder/editing app choke (but plays nicely on my computer). VirtualDub refuses to load it, TMPGEnc stops half way trying to demux it or trying to join it.
Is there any good tool to repair a damaged stream?

/Mats

[KingJohn]

Sounds like a Mpeg 2 then ? Not a VCD but a SVCD, as Vdub will load Mpeg 1, make sure you have all the codec's though. The Nimo codec pack provides them all.

You could also use the source range in TMPGEnc (Merge&cut), and set it a few frames past the bad section to see if will stream the rest

[mats.hogberg]

Nope, it's a mpeg1 - VirtualDub reads to about 75%, then stops (I don't have the error message here and now...)
I'll try to cut out the bad spot with TMPGEnc...
Thanks!
/Mats

[KingJohn]

Then when you load it in Vdub, check the box that says "popup extended open options" and select re-derive key frame flags

[mats.hogberg]

Ahh! That was a new one for me. I'll give it a go when I get home from work!
/Mats

[mats.hogberg]

Tried the "extended options" trick, but with the same disappointing result. Error message is something like "Frame syncronization error in stream". If I check "load partial MPEG", VDub loads the file without errors, but stops near the end, leaving the last coupla minutes out.
So, I'd probably better cut the bad part out with TMPGEnc, and rejoin what's left if I can persuade TMPGEnc (or any other cutter) to load all of the MPEG...
/Mats

[banjazzer]

Is there any good tool to repair a damaged stream?

You could try running it through VCDGear with the mpeg>mpeg option and *fix mpeg errors* ticked.

[KingJohn]

Tried the "extended options" trick, but with the same disappointing result. Error message is something like "Frame syncronization error in stream". If I check "load partial MPEG", VDub loads the file without errors, but stops near the end, leaving the last coupla minutes out.
So, I'd probably better cut the bad part out with TMPGEnc, and rejoin what's left if I can persuade TMPGEnc (or any other cutter) to load all of the MPEG...
/Mats

Sometimes, you can fix small problems with TMPGEnc "Merge&cut" you don't specified a range, and let it stream another copy. However if it ends early, you can play the movie and see where it ends, then use merge and cut again starting with a few frames passed the bad spot.

Sometimes re-encoding the whole thing may also get passed the bad spot. However, if all those frames at the end are junk, there is nothing you can do to fix them.