MPEG-2 file editing in Goldberg?

[mhar4]

hey, I just realized you can edit MPEG-1 video files easy as you like using a small program called Goldberg (http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/5234) Here's my question: will it work with MPEG-2 files if the Quicktime MPEG-2 codec is installed? Maybe someone could try it out.

Anyhow, even if it only works with MPEG-1s it will be a real time saver.

[AntnyMD]

MPEG2 files do open and play, but how you're getting it to edit anything is beyond me.

[thoughton]

Hrm well I'm kinda gobsmacked. This actually works (sort of).

AntnyMD you can select a chunck of the mpeg2 movie by using shift drag or shift click in the slider. You can then copy and paste into a new document (this is working on cinematize output i was previous converting in order to cut out stuff). When you save the new file the size doesn't drop very much though, for example I was copying about 10% of the footage in a 300MB mpeg2 mov, re-saving that 10% as a new file results in a 180MB file.

[mhar4]

Thanks for these responses. Actually, I had meant to post a follow-up saying that with MPEG-1 editing, Goldberg seemed to just create something like a "reference" movie that was exactly the same size as the orginal. But if with MPEG-2 the files come out smaller (even by a disproportionate amount) then perhaps something more complex is going on.

[AntnyMD]

AntnyMD you can select a chunck of the mpeg2 movie by using shift drag or shift click in the slider. You can then copy and paste into a new document

I'll give this another shot ... I recall trying to do just as you said but it not behaving as I expected. I was thinking it should act more like the QuickTime style of editing.

[thoughton]

Yeah it's kinda obscure since they dont give you the bookend thingies (nice technical term there) that quicktime player has. The only reason I tried this was cos it was also how you selected parts of a movie back in Movieplayer 2.5.1. How's that for some useless trivia :P

[AntnyMD]

I finally got a minute to try this ... and it works just as you said. I was mostly impressed that it kept the audio and video in sync! However I selected about 10 minutes of video to clip out, and it should have made a file that was roughly 200mb .. but the file it made was 686mb! Anyone else experience that?

[thoughton]

Yeah I defintely notice the file size thing. Sometimes a 30% clip will be the same size as the original and somtimes a 10% clip will be about half the size of the original. Weird. I am guessing it doesn't actually 'cut' the mpeg in the places we specify, but keeps a lot of the unwanted data in order to build up the image in the part you do want. But then again I'm probably talking out of my arse :P because it seems like if it did work this way then cutting from the beginning of a clip should preserve all the required info to build up the later image. We need someone who's brainier about mpegs to explain!