VCD/Mpeg1 to DVD/Mpeg2 - tools?

[shira]

I have some data from VCD/mpeg1 format which I want to take excerpts from and use in a DVD project. The DVD will also have some clips that are regular 720x480 mpeg2. Here are my questions:

1. Can a DVD project contain mixed formats? Ie, some originals in mpeg1, others in mpeg2? (I wouldn't try to use both video sizes within the same clip, I'd just have some menu choices lead to the mpeg1 material, others lead to the mpeg2 material.)

2. I want to use only pieces of the mpeg1 original, not the whole thing. Which tools will let me edit the native 352x288 without sticking a nasty frame around them? (I have Adobe Premier CS5, and it wants to put a big black frame around the clip. I don't want to modify the clip to add that frame, I want to let the clip remain in its 352x288 dimensions, and just pick out the segments I need.) It appears that Premier CS5 won't let me write mpeg1 output, either - or am I missing something? What tool can I use that will let me edit this native mpeg1 footage? Or, should I use some tool to convert the 352x288 to 720x480 instead?

[Case]

Can a DVD project contain mixed formats? Ie, some originals in mpeg1, others in mpeg2?

Yes you can, as long as they are in different video title sets (i.e. a separate feature). Any good DVD authoring app should accept VCD compliant MPEG-1 video as-is, without upscaling to 720x480, or boxing it in. The audio should be upsampled from 44.1 to 48 kHz.
352x288 pixels MPEG-1 is PAL format, though; not NTSC.

[shira]

Yes you can, as long as they are in different video title sets (i.e. a separate feature). Any good DVD authoring app should accept VCD compliant MPEG-1 video as-is, without upscaling to 720x480, or boxing it in. The audio should be upsampled from 44.1 to 48 kHz.
352x288 pixels MPEG-1 is PAL format, though; not NTSC.

Case, thanks for your reply - good point, I knew my original clip was PAL, I just mis-typed.

Thanks for making me aware of the need to up-sample the audio, I hadn't realized that would be needed.

I do have a remaining question: what video editing applications will edit mpeg1 files? Ie, allow me to pick a 5-minute sequence within an hourlong clip to use in my project? It appears that Adobe Premier CS5 does not support that - Premier seems to insist on working in 768x576.

[AlanHK]

what video editing applications will edit mpeg1 files?

TMPGEnc, handles MPEG1 even in the free version.
You can also use it to resample the audio to DVD spec.

I've made quite a few DVDs from VCD sources.
Some authoring apps will insist on converting the video to MPEG2, which takes a long time and reduces quality. So abort it if it starts doing that. I use GfD which will just use the MPEG1 without complaining.

[Cornucopia]

Premiere accepts MPEG1 (and exports it - has since old v4.2, IIRC). It also accepts that low of a resolution. Most likely it's just a mismatch between it and your timeline/working/project resolution. AKA, it'll need to be stretched (just like low-rez wallpaper backgrounds on your desktop), or you need to change the working/project settings.

Note: If you are going to be doing Non-I_Frame edits or doing stretching, you're going to have to do a conversion at some point. Then, it makes more sense to put everything as MPEG2 std rez on the DVD.

Scott

[manono]

For cutting MPEG-1/VCD I use MPEG2Cut2