MPG File Conversion/Editing

[TWG1572]

I'm working with about 250MB of MPG files that someone shot at work. I told them that I could edit them together with some basic transitions, etc. Nothing special, just put them into one movie and clean them up a bit. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems, and no good deed goes unpunished....

Learning moment #1 came when I discovered the Windows Movie Maker didn't support MPG files. No problem I said, I've used Handbrake before with great results - I'll just convert them over. I did the conversion, and the videos came out with jagged lines around the outlines of people/objects. The picture isn't good at all, and they started out as HD movies. I played with the settings in Handbrake - couldn't make anything work better.

So - is there a way to cleanly convert MPG files in Handbrake that I just missed? If not, is there a free MPG editing software people might recommend?

I also read somewhere that I might be able to install codecs to make Windows Movie Editor recognize these files, but I don't really know what that means and there weren't any clear instuctions on what I should do. I decided against downloading/installin random files from the internet until I had a better grasp of what they did.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: TWG1572
So - is there a way to cleanly convert MPG files in Handbrake that I just missed? If not, is there a free MPG editing software people might recommend?

I certainly have heard good things about Handbrake and have played with it a little bit. Another option that might be a little more user friendly less problematic would be FFMPEG with WinFF, open source. Basically, it will allow you to choose the type of output file and help you with settings (by using output presets; i.e. DVD widescreen, DVD 4:3, various WMV settings, and so forth). In fact, for Windows (and different Linux distros than I use), it probably gives way more output options. Mine is pretty humble, but effective.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: TWG1572
Learning moment #1 came when I discovered the Windows Movie Maker didn't support MPG files.

According to the description, Windows Movie Maker does support MPEG format; however, it's more complicated than that. Your machine may be missing the specific codec that was used to record the video, and that's why WMM may not be able to digest it.

Let's start at the beginning: where did these original MPEG files come from? Another words, what were they recorded with? Video camera? If so, your best bet would be to use the software that came with that camera to perform the edits and/or export it out to some other format that WMM could understand.

As for Handbrake and the jagged lines, there is a deinterlace option there (under Filters tab) that you can use to fix that, but it probably won't be ideal.

https://trac.handbrake.fr/wiki/DeinterlacingGuide

 

[TWG1572]

These files were recorded with a video camera, but it was borrowed so there isn't an installation disk handy. I did send an email to the person to see if they could tell me the brand and model of the camera - it's possible the mfg has the editing software online. I guess that's best case scenario.

I'm at work and the files are at home, but I'll try the deinterlace option on handbrake too. At least I know what's causing the jagged lines now - I'm not dealing with family heirloom type movies here. The final output doesn't need to be perfect, but I'd like it to look better than it does now.

 

[The_Jeff]

It sounds like MPEG with AVC like many modern cameras shoot... is it HD shooting onto a card?

As said, FFMPEG will fix it with the right settings. Handbrake is actually another FFMPEG front-end.

Did you try your intermediate files on several computers/ players? I would specifically try VLC if not already. Deinterlacing filters are all over the map in quality.

Although the preview in Windows Movie maker might be shabby, it could also output fine results. Maybe render a short clip and see.

 

[The_Jeff]

BTW the MPEG-2 codec didn't come standard on windows until IIRC Win 7. Before then you could only work them if you had PowerDVD or another software DVD player... which practically everyone did.

Without the codec WMM might have its hands tied.