Converting MPEG-2 to something editable?

[Texas]

I am having many problems editing MPEG-2 video in Adobe Premiere Pro 7.0 (I've been informed this version is outdated).

So I got to the point where I just want to convert all of my original video into something more compatible. I've used this program before with video from my previous camcorder using MiniDV and from video of other formats and have had no problems.

The MPEG-2 files import into Premiere but almost always have a few random frames missing throughout the clip. I've recently stumbled onto this statement from Adobe's website:

Although Premiere can import and export MPEG files, Adobe recommends that you don't use MPEG files as source files in a Premiere project. Instead, use MPEG as the final output format of your project. MPEG files don't lend themselves to editing because the video frames in an MPEG file aren't self-contained. That is, any given video frame contains only the information that has changed from the previous frame. During editing, a previous frame required to fully decompress a given frame may not be present, resulting in poor quality of the final rendered frame.

So, unless someone has any better suggestions I am looking to convert all my source video. I just need no know a few things such as:

• What is the best format to convert to
• Is there anyway I can preserve the video quality of my original (which is already not so great)
• What programs are recommended to do such a conversion
• What settings do I need to adjust to maintain my original video attributes

My source video properties according to a video player on my computer are:

Video: MPEG2 Video 720x480 (16:9) 29.97fps 9100Kbps

Audio: Dolby AC3 48000Hz stereo 256Kbps

The camcorder used is a Sony Handycam DCR SR45.

P.S.
I recently downloaded a program called Any Video Converter wich allows for converting MPEG-2 files. It offers a plethora of settings and formats and I don't know which (if any) would work. I tried it a few times just playing around and so far evey time I have converted a file, it changed the video up. For instance, it is a differnt size when played in windows media player, or it is much more pixelated, or jerky, or choppy, etc...

So, in a nutshell, I would like to convert my MPEG-2 into something that maintains the same video quality and aspect ratio as my original source video.

Thanks

[Baldrick]

Please stop cross post. One similar thread is enough. Just reply to add new information. https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/319489-Problems-Capturing-Importing-Video-into-Adob...02#post1978102