Womble or TMPGEnc MPEG Editor?

[Mike99]

I want to edit out commercials from DVDs I made with a stand alone DVD recorder. I just installed a DVD burner in my PC and now am looking for the necessary software.

I’ve been reading a lot about editing software. It appears there are some freeware products but they might not be the easiest to use. And that Womble or TMPGEnc software would be worth buying. I just want to cut out some commercials & burn a new DVD-R without any unnecessary re-encoding.

I was thinking Womble MPEG-VCR is all I need, and it is only $35. Or would I really be disappointed in its features compared to one of the other Womble products?

Is there any feature or function that makes Womble a better/worse choice than TMPGEnc MPEG Editor?

[redwudz]

I don't think you would be disappointed with MPEG-VCR for simple editing. Another highly recommended editor for that purpose is VideoReDo. Both should have trial versions, so easy to see which one you prefer.

[Alex_ander]

Is there any feature or function that makes Womble a better/worse choice than TMPGEnc MPEG Editor?

Womble has more complete timeline functionality. You can use it for building a soundtrack from pieces of any length and move those pieces for local synching with video, etc. TMPG's timeline is common for audio+video, you can only cut both simultaneously.
VideoRedo is good for cut/join, but it can't e.g. import elementary video streams unlike both Womble and TMPG.

[jman98]

I own both MPEGVCR and VideoReDo. MPEGVCR is a very good product and it would be the only editor I use, but it is really subpar for HD video work. I sometimes capture HD TV shows to my PC and MPEGVCR is just poor at editing them. I have had all kinds of problems with it. I use VideoReDo to edit HD captures, but if it's standard def video, I use MPEGVCR.

I am a little afraid of TMPGenc MPEG Editor. Never used it, but I can tell you that TMPGenc's "Cut/Merge" option never worked correctly for me. I always got horrible audio sync problems, which is what led me to find and buy MPEGVCR in the first place. If you just want to edit out commercials, MPEGVCR is a good choice.

Do note that for best results with MPEGVCR, what you need to do when editing commercials is to mark the beginning and ending points of the video segments you want to save, copy those to a clipboard, and then join the segments together into a new file. If instead you take your video clip and mark the segments to throw out and tell MPEGVCR to save the rest, you may end up with audio sync issues.

[tonyaldr]

I'm using MPEG-VCR to edit some small MPEG2 files, but I notice that the resulting files are larger than the originals. Has anyone else run into this? I sent Womble support an email questioning this, but am still awaiting their answer. Thanx!

[jman98]

tonyaldr - If that's happening to you, then MPEGVCR is re-encoding your files. It does not do this by default. Something in your process is wrong or you have changed a setting you should not have changed. Read my post from May 14 again and be sure that you are doing what I say in paragraph 3. Also, when you join the cuts and save them to a new file, do NOT touch any of the settings on bitrates or you will cause MPEGVCR to re-encode your files. The only thing you should be doing is specifying where to save the file to and that is all. If your edits take more than a few minutes then it's definitely re-encoding.

[TBoneit]

For what the OP wants to do, Edit out commercials I find VideoReDo to be very easy to use.

[tonyaldr]

tonyaldr - If that's happening to you, then MPEGVCR is re-encoding your files. It does not do this by default. Something in your process is wrong or you have changed a setting you should not have changed. Read my post from May 14 again and be sure that you are doing what I say in paragraph 3. Also, when you join the cuts and save them to a new file, do NOT touch any of the settings on bitrates or you will cause MPEGVCR to re-encode your files. The only thing you should be doing is specifying where to save the file to and that is all. If your edits take more than a few minutes then it's definitely re-encoding.

I actually didn't change anything. I opened the MPG file, made my edits and went to save. It's odd, but I pulled up a file and didn't do any edits and went to save and in the size preview window it shows it as larger. I can't believe it's re-encoding because it saves pretty quickly. I'm going to go through this with their tech support. Thanx.

[olyteddy]

I just used the latest AVIDemux to cut 55 minutes of commercials from a 3 hour TV show. If you don't mind cutting on GOP boundaries (in my case 15 frames or .5 seconds) it's a good easy to use free solution.

[Cole]

I just wanted to add another vote for VideoReDo. Very simple and frame accurate.

[tonyaldr]

Thanx, guys. I'll try a few of these and let you know if Womble has an answer.

[yahoobuckaroo]

TMPGEnc is the best mpg encoder I've ever come across; however, as an mpg editor it probably leaves a bit to be desired.

[yoda313]

mpg2cut2 is a good editor I've used for simple cuts. Reads vobs too and it is free.

[SmokieStover]

Try TMPG DVD Author. It includes a frame accurate mpg cut-editor and will import DVD video, VR video and DVD RAM.

I give very high marks to VideoReDo Plus, but I only use it for video with commercials that is recorded directly to the PC.

If you buy a mpg editor, you will need to: 1) Extract the VOBs to one MPG with say VOB2MPG; 2) Edit the video; 3) and run that thru a DVD authoring program before burning back to DVD.

With TMPG DVD Author, all the manual work is done in sequence....the DVD video is imported to hard drive, you mark the cuts (can instantly preview them as they are made) and make the menu, and the program kicks out the new DVD files for burning........ALL IN ONE STEP. About 11 minutes processing time for a full single layer DVD on my budget PC. Hell, it can even be set to burn the DVD after the DVD folders are written, and it uses a very good burning engine to boot.

[TBoneit]

Try TMPG DVD Author. It includes a frame accurate mpg cut-editor and will import DVD video, VR video and DVD RAM.

I give very high marks to VideoReDo Plus, but I only use it for video with commercials that is recorded directly to the PC.

If you buy a mpg editor, you will need to: 1) Extract the VOBs to one MPG with say VOB2MPG; 2) Edit the video; 3) and run that thru a DVD authoring program before burning back to DVD.

With TMPG DVD Author, all the manual work is done in sequence....the DVD video is imported to hard drive, you mark the cuts (can instantly preview them as they are made) and make the menu, and the program kicks out the new DVD files for burning........ALL IN ONE STEP. About 11 minutes processing time for a full single layer DVD on my budget PC. Hell, it can even be set to burn the DVD after the DVD folders are written, and it uses a very good burning engine to boot.

VideoReDo can work with VOBs as a input. Since the only place I'm using it is for captures from a DVD recorder that also need the AR reflagged as 16:9 the fact that it outputs mpg is good. I can edit in the DVD recorders or burn the disc and bring it to the PC to reflag to the proper AR and reauthor. So VideoReDo is the easiest editor for that and I like that I can get down to the frame level for cuts and use the scroll bars for gross positioning and then use the arrow keys to fine edit.

However depending on what it is. If it is a movie type of video such as a movie or PBS where all I need to do is trim the start and end then I agree TDA can edit adequately.