Editing my MPEG-2 videos prior to importing to DVDWS

[Number9]

Hi All,

After some advice really - I like DVDWS2 a lot for authoring DVDs but of course it's not a video editor.

I have some basic tools which I'm using for editing (mostly TMPEnc Plus) but I'd like to find something that's a bit more flexible.

For example, TMPEnc Plus lets me crop blurred edges and edit out scenes that I don't want, but you can't actually preview the sound along with the video so it's slightly hit and miss as to whether you make your cuts in the right place.

I'd also like to be able to add captions onto the image, add fades to picture and sound, merge MPEG-2 files, and other tasks that I probably haven't thought of yet.

Was thinking maybe of getting VS9 as I've read some good reviews, but would that render DVDWS2 redundant? Or is there something that would do what I'm after for less (or even nothing?!)

Thanks a lot

James

[Devil]

VS9 would be a good entry-level choice, able to do everything you mention and all the files produced by it would be compatible with WS2. It contains a less advanced authorer than WS2, so you will probably wish to continue with the latter for its infinitely superior flexibility.

However, a word of warning, if you do more serious editing of mpg files, then re-rendering may become necessary and the quality will drop somewhat. You don't say how you obtain your mpg files, but, if you have the choice, it would be MUCH better to input AVI files in a lossless or semi-lossless format, and convert to mpg after you have finished your editing, titling etc.

[Number9]

Thanks Devil,

My MPEG-2 files are obtained from a standalone DVD recorder which I am using to transfer footage from VHS and Hi-8 tapes.

I then take the standalone disc, demux it with DVD Decrypter, and import the MPEGs into DVDWS (via TMPGEnc Plus if they need cropping or editing.)

I would ideally like to cut the DVD recorder out of the loop entirely as it's getting slightly old and unreliable, and I don't think I want to pay out for a new one just at the moment.

I'd welcome any advice on what I need to do to start transferring analogue sources direct to AVI on PC?

James

[DVDDoug]

...would that render DVDWS2 redundant?

Not at all! Video Studio has very limited DVD authoring capabilities.

In addition to Devil's MPEG warnings, I experienced the infamous "lip-sync" problem when I edited my MPEG files (adding video transitions) with VS8. So, now I use Womble MPEG Video Wizard ($120) for editing MPEGs.

I'd welcome any advice on what I need to do to start transferring analogue sources direct to AVI on PC?

I have a Hauppauge video capture card. It works great, but it is MPEG only.

The most popular capture cards are the various ATI TV-Wonder and All-In-Wonder cards.

Pinnacle also makes video capture cards and video capture devices.

Most video capture cards have a built-in TV tuner, so you can use your computer as a TiVo.

[Devil]

The most hassle-free, reliable, easy and high-quality way to import analogue video into a computer is with a Canopus ADVC device. This is a converter from analogue to a DV stream that is imported via an IEEE-1394 port. The 'puter looks at it as if it came from a DV Cam. There are several models: the ADVC-55 is analogue in only, the -110 is analogue-in and out (very useful for editing with MSP7, as you can scrub and preview to TV) and the -300 is like the -110 but has filters and time-base correction for improving poor-quality analogue. I've been using the ADVC-100 (replaced by the -110) for years and am still absolutely delighted with it.

[Number9]

Woo-hoo!

I now have a new 'most wanted' piece of kit - those Canopus ADV boxes look like just what I'm after. Actually I've seen all sorts of things that claim to do the same thing, ranging from £25 upwards, but I can't imagine the results would be as good as with this.

So, the ADV would output DV via my firewire port, which I could then capture using, say, even the Capture function on DVDWS?

And I would then end up with uncompressed AVI footage which I could then compress as much or as little as I want to? Sounds excellent. I particularly like the sound of the function that stops the sound going out of sync - that has to be my biggest bugbear with video editing.

Would there be any PC cards that would give just as good results as one of these Canopus boxes? I like the sound of the hardware converter which would be the main advantage to this I guess...

James

[Devil]

One error: DV IS compressed to about 13 Gb/h, but this is pretty light, compared with many of the other systems. What is important is that it is a lossless system (within reason); you can rerender it a few times with zero visible loss of quality (if you re-render 20 times, successively, then you will start seeing new artifacts)

Yes, there are plenty of video cards that will accept an analogue-in signal that you can convert to a digital signal. The quality is variable as they require a codec (usually software) and you must know how to juggle the settings to be compatible with your hardware and the quality of the input signal, which is not easy to start with, if you wish to avoid dropped frames, synch problems etc. With a DV stream, the codec is in the ADVC and is hardware (the Canopus one is particularly good, which is why I recommend it, even if it is not the cheapest) and you have no settings to bother about.