Trimming and fading DVD-compliant video

[Mr Chris]

I record to a standalone DVD recorder and rip to my PC. Can anyone recommend a free piece of software that can trim the resulting VOB/MPEG files and apply a short fade to or from black at the beginning and end, all without re-encoding the whole thing?

(I've developed a workaround method using TMPGEnc Authoring Works, but I'd have thought there's a simpler and more elegant solution out there.)

Many thanks.

[Baldrick]

I doubt you will find any free software that can add fade-in/out easily AND without reconverting the entire video.

But doesn't tmpgenc authoring works just reconvert at the cuts?

[Mr Chris]

But doesn't tmpgenc authoring works just reconvert at the cuts?

It does indeed, and it's the perfect tool for what I'm trying to achieve - provided the end goal is burning to DVD. Sometimes, though, I just want the MPEG file.

My workaround at the moment is to go through Authoring Works, build a DVD folder, find the relevant VOB file, and convert back into MPEG. It works, but surely there's a more streamlined way to do this, isn't there? I mean, I literally just want to top and tail an MPEG, applying fades in and out at the same time.

Is Womble my only hope, or is there a free alternative?