can it be done??? mpg to avi

[pete7769]

hi, i know this sounds a bit odd but i was wondering if there was a way to convert mpg back to avi, i am wondering if if possible to take the film of a vcd, modify the film and then re-encode as mpg2 to put onto a svcd, i know how to take the film off, but will there be any benifits of doing this, i.e better picture quality???, i have tried this today, but im not sure if i have got all the correct settings, and the best programs, i'm using tmpge and vcdeasy, there was a very slight improvment in picture quality, but not that much, or is there a better program out there to do this?? or am i just barking mad and there is no point to this whole exercise???, ill let you the experts decide!!!

thanks pete

[bugster]

Yes you can convert mpeg video to avi but the only point in doing this (from a VCD source) would be to reduce the file size (divx mpeg-4 is smaller than VCD for the same (ish) quality) but then it would only be watchable on your PC. But mpeg-1 to avi to mpeg-2 (SVCD) would NOT increase quality. Improvement of video quality over source quality is almost impossible, requires huge amounts of effort and is rareley worth it for the hobbyist. Pros do it with lots and lots of VERY expensive equipment and loads of time, but then they expect to sell moveis in large quantities, so it is worth the investment.

[DJRumpy]

Any time to extact an MPG to avi, and then re-encode, you lose quality. To answer your question, no, you would gain nothing by doing this. If you increase your resolution, your just exagerating the flaws in your source.

[offline]

pete7769,

I had a vcd I really loved so did what you are trying to do
pretty much and there was about a 5% improvement in picture and
suprisingly a much better improvement in sound.

Was it worth it?? I don't know, I'm raving mad myself

I used Virtual Dub to convert the mpeg to avi
I used Premier to edit/modify
Finally I frame served to CCE. Half a weekend gone almost.. hehe

[pete7769]

thanks to everyone for the advice, i think i will give it a miss, it sound like its going to be a lot of work for a slight improvement.

cheers all pete