Super eight film to DVD mpeg 2

[jaysto]

Hello.
I have a professionally copied 8mm film to DVD mpeg2, this runs for 20 minutes and has afile size of one gbt. It struggles to load in studio 9 and editing is just as bad. Is it possible to reduce the file size in order to get it to open up quicker and to edit more smoothly without I dare say losing quality of an allready poor copy?
any help would be appreciated
Thank you
jaysto

[skier-hughes]

In a word...... NO.

It might be the way the mpeg2 file was created that is causing trouble, I've known some firms to use household dvd recorders to produce the file and this can be an odd type.

I'd convert the mpeg2 to a dv.avi, it'll be bigger in size, about 4gb, but should be much easier to edit. An app like suqared 5's mpeg streamclip will convert it well for free
http://www.myvideoproblems.com/WebPages ... rammes.htm

[DVDDoug]

Some MPEG-2 files work and others "cause trouble", and I don't know why... But, I can suggest a few possible work-arounds. (It's not just MPEG-2... Many formats are more trouble-prone than MPEG-2, and some are more reliable.)

There is nothing wrong with the file size. 20 minutes at 1GB should not be an issue. Making the file smaller means more (lossy) compression, which means (theoretically) lower quality. It works-out* to n average combined audio/video bitrate of about 7000kbps which is indeed in the "DVD compatible" range. (Although we can't calculate the peak bitrate, I'm confident that it's OK.)

What are you trying to do? Edit the video? Make a DVD? Both?

A few sugestions...

1. Re-encode the video. As skier-hughes suggested, DV/AVI is almost always trouble-free. Whenever I have a "problem file" I re-encode or transcode it with SUPER. This almost always works, but since MPEG-2 is lossy compression there is a theoretical loss of quality. (But, it's better than a "corrupt" file that doesn't work at all!) If you go to the SUPER website, don't be fooled by all the AVS ads... follow the links to download SUPER.

3. Use different software. There are many alternatives to Video Studio. Womble ($100 USD) was originally designed as a special-purpose MPEG editor. I own it, and I've had good luck with it. It doesn't have all the features of Video Studio, but it can usually open and edit MPEGs that Video Studio chokes on. For DVD authoring I use DVD-Lab ($100-$250 USD).

3. Try to "repair" the file. Both VideoReDo and Womble include tools that are supposed to repair some MPEG problems, and both offer free trials. (I've never had much luck with this.)

* (Approximate bitrate)
Bitrate = (140 x File Size in MB) / Playing time in minutes

[jaysto]

Thank you all for your interesting replies, First i shall try the DV.AVI conversion then work through the list to see which gives me the best result. An interesting point, the film length projected is 300ft and runs for 15mins, the disc played on the computer using Windows Media player runs for just over 20mins, fortunately there is no sound to contend with but the action is that much slower will I beable to correct this with Studio 9?
Once again thank you all for your help
jaysto

[Ron P.]

You can adjust this by using the Playback Speed, found on the Video Tab. As you will see it is defined in percentage, 10-1000%. You can also hold down the [Shift] key grab the yellow handle on the right side of the clip, and drag it. Dragging it to the Left increases the speed. You will also notice that increasing the speed shortens the duration of the clip, while decreasing the speed lengthens it.