Edit mpeg-2 > quality loss ??

[Surfdude1982]

I used a combo VHS/DVD recorder (a Philips DVDR3320V) to capture 50 VHS-C family videos on DVD. I understand they are already encoded in mpeg-2.
Will I loose quality during editing? I only want to cut out the bad parts.

Thank you!

[smrpix]

If you use a "smart rendering" editor like TMPGenc MPEG smart Renderer or VIdeoReDo you will only have minor (basically unnoticeable) loss within up to a half-second of each edit. The rest will be passed through untouched.

Other tools like AviDemux can do it as well, but you are restricted to editing on keyframes.

[Surfdude1982]

Do you know if Adobe premiere CS6 is able to do this?

[hech54]

Doesn't Adobe decompress MPEG2 material as soon as you import it?

[smrpix]

Do you know if Adobe premiere CS6 is able to do this?

Not for DVD mpeg -- only XDCam mpeg, DV and DVCPro.

http://blogs.adobe.com/kevinmonahan/2012/10/11/smart-rendering-in-premiere-pro-cs6-6-0-1-and-later/

[smrpix]

Doesn't Adobe decompress MPEG2 material as soon as you import it?

I don't believe so, at least not on PC. That sounds like an FCP/Apple trick.

[Surfdude1982]

I used VideoReDo to cut out some fragments. I'm really happy with the result. I seems like (almost) no quality is lost during the process.
However, I don 't know in which format I should save to benefit from the smart rendering (cfr list below).



I tried MPEG-2 program stream (*.mpeg) and H.264 MP4 (*.MP4). Apparently both give the same output quality.
Which is the best "future proof" format?

I burned both files on a DVD but was not able to play them on my DVD player that supports Divx.

Thx for your advice!

[hech54]

I don 't know in which format I should save to benefit from the smart rendering (cfr list below).
I burned both files on a DVD but was not able to play them on my DVD player that supports Divx.

MPEG PS - Program Stream....the one highlighted.
Almost everything else outside of the MPEG(2) family will be re-encoded thus losing your entire reasoning....editing with no quality loss.
DVD is MPEG2. It can be nothing else(OK maybe MPEG1). If you want your end result to be DVD....DVD/MPEG2 is the only output you need to worry about.

[Cornucopia]

Also, the concept of smart-rendering is based on the intention of not re-encoding (or minimal, with those few exceptions being of the same format as the source).

Scott