[andru]

I have a holiday video from a panasonic dv camera on hard drive.It is in mpeg format.I want to cut about 15 secs of the end of the vid cos i cought my wife with her boobs out!(i dont think the neighbours would like to see that part of the video)Which would be the best bit of software just to delete those few secs of the film.
Would the file be mpg1 or mpg2 file format?

Thanks

If you are running Windows XP then you will have Windows MovieMaker - that should do it easily for you - you cannot burn a disc from moviemaker but you can export a file and use Nero (or similar) to create a disc.

Depends on how you transferred the video to your PC - if you used a firewire it could (in fact should) be .avi else it is likely to be mpeg2 but may be mpeg1 - check the properties of the video when you have it in moviemaker. To burn a DVD you will need a mpeg2 file.

[andru]

If i remember rightly it was tranfered in AVI format but i must have converted it somehow (I really cant remember) would i be better re-tranfering from the dv tape and trying it again to remove the last couple of seconds? or would i get the same quality from doing it with the mpeg file?


Cheers

[IAmATeaf]

I think we need to see the offending clip before we can advise

on a more serious note, transfer the clip in native DV-AVI format, then download the latest version of Windows MovieMaker and use that perform the snip.

If you've converted the clip into MPG format what software did you use to do that as that software may be capable of doing the required edit.

[felix2]

Hi, were you planning to put the video onto DVD (or CD)? If so, it'll need to be in MPEG2 format (for DVD or SVCD) or MPEG1 (for VCD). In which case, have you got some sort of DVD authoring & burning software? For example, Nero Vision, Ulead DVD Movie Factory, or Sonic MyDVD, etc, which may have come bundled with your DVD writer? I'm guessing you probably used something like that to convert the transferred AVI into MPEG originally? Any of these will 'trim' an MPEG clip (i.e. cut off any bits you don't want, to the nearest 1/2 second or so), without re-encoding it (i.e. without losing any picture quality), and will then author it ready to burn onto disc.

If all you're doing is trimming a few seconds, and not doing any other editing, I don't think Windows Movie Maker is going to add anything, because it can't save a video as MPEG anyway. So you'd still need to re-encode the video to MPEG afterwards, using the DVD authoring/burning programme, and you start to notice the loss of quality when you re-encode the same thing to MPEG for a second time...

See if you've got a programme that will keep it as MPEG and just do a simple trim, and select "Do NOT (re-)encode compatible MPEG files". Let us know how you get on!

[senu]

Im a bit puzzled as to how you got to mpeg from AVI without knowing how.
That process is usually not automatic! (it takes time and ties down the PC for a bit ).
Perhaps you "captured" from DV tape specifying mpeg capture "on the fly"
Its Ok if thats what you wanted , If not check the capture settings in the software.

Not knowing in which format you wish your video to end up the following are just general tips ( some of which have been hinted above ) I hope it doesnt seem repetitive ,If anything Im just reinforcing the advice

Ulead Moviefactory4 ( as mentioned above) will allow you import either mpeg or AVi and with it you can easily trim off bits before turning it to DVD (if that what you wish)

If you want to recapture as avi from tape, any video editing software can do the trim ( including WMM or nero vision) : you can output it however you wish or simply play it on the PC. WMM will not do DVDs .For that youll need Nero vision or a DVD authoring software.

If you get the bug to do a proper edit ( not just trimming a few "private " seconds off) , for mpeg, there are mpeg editors ( Womble ( im a recent convert) and for everything else (AVI ) there is ample choice of software editors beyond WMM.
Most of these will edit mpeg as well but theyll probably reencode.
The reencoding will mean you dont save time ( by starting as mpeg) and your video PQ may drop.

[csofm]

There is a bit of software called Womble MPEG Video Wizard, this will clip of the last 15 seconds and will not re encoded. heres the link http://www.womble.com/products/