Decent Video Editing Software

[Deluge]

I have had success with editing my videos in the past, but not without a lot of work. Each software that I use seems to develop some kind of issue or error that just causes frustration for me. Here are the things that I would like to do:

1: Capture video to mpeg2 format, preferrably (if possible) progressively as opposed to interlaced.

2: Edit mpeg2 files (because after capture the ends always need to be trimmed), and save to mpeg2, preferrably without having to re-encode.

3: Author Mpeg2 into DVD format. (This one is not as import, I do have some software that does this provided some unreasonable conditions are met)

Here is a list of software that I have been using, How much I have paid for it, and what problems I am having with it:


Vegas Movie Studio, $90
Capture:
Pretty much doesn't work at all, and if I remember right, only captures to AVI
Edit:
Very nice layout, I like the way this sotware works but it has a lot of problems. Always produces interlace artifacts even when encoding from interlaced to interlaced, eg. tff to tff, bff to bff. It cannot de-interlace even though it claims to be able to do so, the video always ends up interlaced and with artifacts. The Mpeg2 output is not customizable. I cannot choose my own bitrate and resolution, I have to use the pre-defined settings.
DVD Authoring:
Comes with DVD Architect Studio, which is pretty good software except for two small problems I have with it. It is picky about audio formats and it overcompensates disk space (I hope that's right. What I mean to say is that I take an mpeg that is 3.7 gigs and DVD Architect says that the project will take up 6.1 gigs of space. This is not a big problem though since I don't use it for burning.)

Pinnacle Studio 9, $0, came with hardware
Capture:
Sometimes captures fine, sometimes captures with artifacts. Other than that, I like it for capturing.
Editing:
Has a good format for editing, but is picky about audio formats. Encodes well sometimes, but often produces artifacts and screen pauses where two mpeg files are joined.
DVD Authoring:
Non-existent in OEM version.

Intervideo WinDVD Creator 2, $0, came with hardware
Capture:
Sometimes works, sometimes crashes.
Editing
Pretty good layout, but only encodes progressively and does not offer a deinterlace method, so artifacts are inevitable.
DVD Authoring:
DVD authoring worked well for a while, but never successfully completes anymore, even after re-install. Another weird thing was that my dvd files were only usable if I encoded using DVD-DL format.

VirtualDubMod, $0, freeware
Capture:
Worked once, but video turned out very choppy. Only captures to AVI.
Editing:
Sometimes offsets audio. Has worked very well to deinterlace some of my videos, but only outputs to AVI format

AVIDemux, $0, freeware
Capture:
No options to capture video, at least none that I can find.
Editing:
Almost always offsets audio and is too much work to get it set right again. I really like this software, and if it weren't for the audio problem I could use it to fix any errors that the other programs cause. It's got a great deinterlacer and has the option to copy video/audio streams without re-encoding them.

DVDAuthorGUI, $0, freeware
DVD Authoring:
I think this is the best freeware (don't know if it's open source) software available. It encodes very quickly and gives plenty of options for menus. The problem that I have with it, is that it is very picky about mpeg files. For example: It will not accept mpegs produced by Pinnacle Studio 9.

Nero Vision Express 3, $0, came with hardware
Capture:
Does a pretty good job of capturing, but does not let me set custom bitrate, resolution, etc., for mpeg2 files.
Editing:
It is very annoying to edit with this software. It takes a long time for it to "examine" an imported mpeg. I don't want to go any more into this software, I never want to use it for editing.
DVD Authoring:
Haven't used it's DVD authoring mode a whole lot, I did find it's menu set up annoying though, but menus aren't important to me anymore.

MPEG Streamclip, $0, freeware
Editing:
This software doesn't actually have options for editing. It's only used for encoding and demuxing. It doesn't have a lot of options for Mpeg2 output. It is very fast.

Burning my DVD projects is no problem. I've got some great software for that: DVD Shrink and IMGBurn. I've also tried a giant handfull of other freeware/claims to be freeware software. Does anybody know of some software or solutions to my software that will help me with my problems?

Thanks

Edit: I forgot to mention Windows Movie Maker 2, but this software is very limited. It hardly does anything in regards to mpeg2 format.

[videopoo]

Your post doesn't make a whole lot of sense:

1. Editing software doesn't capture MPEG2. thats what MPEG2 encoders are for

2. MPEG2 is not really an editable format. Thats why you do all your work in an editor THEN encode to MPEG 2

3. Editing and authoring are 2 different things.


Futhermore, the reason your not happy with the tool is probably you haven't paid for any. Not that cheap or freeware tool suck its just you get what you pay for.

[Deluge]

Anybody with a helpful post?

[guns1inger]

That was a helpful post - it just wasn't what you wanted to hear.

Again, your editor is not the best place to capture your video. If you want dedicated mpeg-2 capture, get a hardware encoding capture card. The quality of captured mpeg is often lower than properly converted mpeg because of the limitations of single pass capturing. Even if you capture at a high enough bitrate to get good quality, you later sacrifice it when you re-encode down to something usable.

If you do want a relatively cheap option, look at Ulead VideoStudio, which I believe will capture directly to mpeg-2.

You may also find that your system simply isn't fast enough to do high quality captures without putting in a hardware encoder card.

Good, smart mpeg editing is limited. Your choices are simple editors such as videoredo or Womble Mpeg Video Wizard, or the very expensive - Premiere Pro CS3 with the Mainconcept Mpeg Editing Plugin. Many other editors will load and edit mpeg files, but they will then re-encode the entire file, costing you quality.

Progressive capture will depend on the source material. Not all source is suitable for progressive capture.

I suggest strongly that for your third post here you don't act like such an arse, but take on board the advice from experienced members of the forum who are actually being far more helpful than you realise.

[filmboss80]

Just to add to the other posts (which are quite accurate and correct), you need to realize that MPEG-2 is designed as a final playback format (highly compressed to fit on a small, flat disc) -- not an editing format. Some editing software, as mentioned, can import MPEG-2, and reencode portions, but if you want frame-accurate editing, you really need to begin with a format like DV-AVI. Then once your project is edited, you can encode to MPEG-2, preparing it for DVD Authoring. You listed a number of useful tools, especially the Vegas/DVD Architect combo. You just need to learn more about how to use the software to optimize performance and output quality.

[Deluge]

Okay, what I'm going to try to do then is capture my video to avi using Pinnacle, then I will use AVIDemux to put my files together and convert to mpeg2 for final DVD authoring. I'll let you know if this solves my problem.

Edit: I have avoided using avis because it just takes more time converting them to mpeg.

[filmboss80]

AVIDemux is a barebones, cuts only editor. I thought you had Vegas. Since DV camcorder footage is DV-AVI, you should edit in Vegas, bottom field first. Don't worry about deinterlacing -- just tell the MPEG-2 encoder that the edited footage is bottom field first, and it will handle it. (Of course, I'm more familiar with the Pro version of Vegas than that $90 job you have.) No one advised AVIDemux for the editing task you want to do. One other thing -- camcorder DV can be captured to PC with no reencoding whatsoever if you use a firewire port and capture to DV-AVI. If Pinnacle (crapware) and Vegas give you a hard time capturing, use WinDV (not to be confused with WinDVD).

[Nelson37]

I'll start with 2 and 3, cause they're easy.

MPG2CUT2 and GuiForDVDAuthor. Works every time, no issues other than user error.

#1 is a whole nother kettle of fish.

Capture direct to MPG2 is extremely dependent on source, capture card, PC speed, and hard drive. Capturing progressive is Dictated by source and card. It can certainly be done, and with good quality, but with no idea of your hardware and source, no rational advice is possible.

Also, while MPG2 is not ideal for editing, simple commercial cuts and trimming can easily be done without re-encoding and no real problems. The main issue is not the editing, it is whether or not you have the requirements to make this procedure reasonable.

A guess from your included software would be a probable NO. Suggestion would be to re-try a Vdub AVI capture, using Huffy or Lagarith compression to avoid dropped frames. Edit and frameserve to a decent encoder, then author.

[dfisher052]

This may or may not be of some help:

I record video to Mini DV tape with a Canon GL2. I then capture the footage to my computer in MPEG2 format using Roxio8. Then edit the footage with Mpeg Video Wizard DVD. After editing I render the completed edited version into both a DVD format & an MPEG2 format. I supply one TV station a DVD & another TV station an MPEG2 DVD. I have been doing this for over a year now, on a weekly basis, with excellent results.

[mel2000]

The recommendation of Mpeg Video Wizard DVD is the best for both editing/cropping and DVD authoring without reencoding. For mpeg2 capture I suggest either of the two freeware apps below:

WinAVI Video Capture
Features: Burns to DVD
Output: AVI, MPEG1, MPEG2, RM, VOB, WMV/ASF
OS: Win NT/95/98/ME/2000/XP/2003

VideoPad Video Editor
Features: Filters/effects, captures to mpeg etc., burns to DVD, multiple audio tracks, frame advance, transitions, text overlays
Complaints: No DVD menus support, exports 3GP, FLV, MOV, MP4 only to CD
Input: 3GP(Mobile), AVI, FLV, H.264(PSP), MKV, MOV, MP4(IPOD,PSP,ZUNE), MPEG1, MPEG2, OGM, RM, VOB, WMV/ASF
Output: 3GP(Mobile/CD), AVI, DVD, FLV(CD), ISO, MOV(CD), MP4(IPOD,PSP,ZUNE/CD), MPEG1, MPEG2, VOB, WMV/ASF
OS: Win ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista