Editing as .mpg, or not

[dprozzo]

I've read elsewhere that .mpgs aren't really the best format for editing, i.e. adjusting color, contrast etc. Should one then convert the .mpg to an .avi first? If so, what is the advantage? If so, should one convert back to an .mpg before making a DVD?

Thanks!!!!!

[sjj1805]

Please view the 6th post down at this link:
http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic.php?t=11923

Thank you
Steve J

[dprozzo]

Thanks. I checked out the post, and checked additional links there. I should say that I've not had any AV synch issues, which appears to be the main focus. What I was getting at, was, does converting an .mpg to an .avi before editing produce a better video in the end.

BTW, I can only capture as an .avi.

[sjj1805]

I saw a recent link where someone tried this and the end result was that it made little or no difference. If you converted it to an AVI at some point you would have to convert it back to an MPEG again anyway.

If you can capture to AVI then obviously that is the best format to work with. If you're stuck with MPEG then you just need to be aware of the possible pitfalls. Again I must stress (as I may have given out a wrong message) that editing an MPEG does not automatically mean you will end up with an out of synch video, only that you stand a much more chance of doing so.

Regards
Steve J

[Ken Veal]

Hi
one of the pitfalls editing mpeg will be that transitions will most likely
not be smooth
regards
Ken

[jchunter]

If you have a slow computer (under ~2.5 GHz), editing Mpeg2 is difficult because the CPU has to go through a lot of gyrations to compute the intermediate frames during playback. The playback display will stall and stutter. OTOH, if you edit AVI(DV) format, every frame is "complete" - playback requires far less CPU power.

As for quality, I have captured and compared videos of ISO resolution charts in Mpeg2 and AVI(DV) and can not see any difference. I have edited and reedited these clips and can not see any loss of resolution. My transitions are smooth in the final video file.

If you find yourself needing to continually tweak color, contrast, etc. it would be better to work on your camera technique.

To answer your specific question, it is better to minimize transcoding from one format to another. If you captured Mpeg2, stick with it because it is in the right format for burning your DVD. If you captured AVI(DV), stick with it, through editing, until you make your final video file, where you will have to transcode it to Mpeg2 in order to burn the DVD.