Editing changes to DVD - No source files

[John Knight]

Hi guys,

I've got a client from hell wanting to replace a couple of scenes at the end of a DVD. Source files do not exist anymore.

What is the best way to rip/clip and reproduce the MPEG without re-encoding? (There are a number of tools around claiming to do this but my experience in the past with these download solutions has never been good - EasyMPEG Pro, ClickMPEG, WombleMPEG etc etc)

I'm on PC with Adobe CS3.

Cheers and thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[Adam Gold]

I don't know if CS3 does this, but I just had to do the exact same thing yesterday and CS5 will directly import the VOB files from the DVD, allowing for smooth editing right on the timeline. The new files looked every bit as good as the originals, given the source. They suggest you use the Media Browser, which I'm not sure exists in CS3.

[John Knight]

Cheers. I have access to CS5 so will give that a try.

I'm also trying to use MPEG Streamclip which is freeware. All I'm trying to do is really clip and replace the last 2 mins without having to recompress... will report back to let others know if Streamclip will suffice.

[Christopher Lefchik]

A few years back when I wanted to edit a couple MPEG-2 files losslessly I used the freeware program Cuttermaran. You can get it here: Cuttermaran 1.70 - VideoHelp.com Downloads

Learn more about it here: Cuttermaran Wiki

Working in the program's standard (no recompression) mode, you are limited to beginning a cut on an I frame and ending on an I or P frame. Also, the program only works with demultiplexed audio and video streams.

A couple commercial options that would probably be decent (although I can't guarantee it as I have never used them myself) would be TMPGEnc Plus and TMPGEnc MPEG Editor.

[Jay West]

As I recall, what I used to do with CS3 was to copy the VOB files to hard disk and then replace the extension with m2t or mp2. (Sorry, can't remember which.) Sometimes mpg worked, too. If you've got access to CS5, don't worry about this trick.

[Christopher Lefchik]

By the way, if the section you are replacing is the tail end of the video, a possible solution would be to load the original MPEG-2 file onto an Encore timeline, trim back the Out point of the clip to remove the scenes, then add the video file containing the new scenes at the end of the original file (Encore timelines can contain multiple audio/video/still image files).

[Mike McCarthy]

That may work in Encore, but if you aren't careful, Encore may re-encode the entire clip anyway if you make timeline changes to it. I am not sure if trimming the end and adding a new segment will trigger an encode, but definitely check on that if you are that concerned about the image quality loss from a re-encode.

[Christopher Lefchik]

I may have changed the In/Out points on MPEG-2 files on Encore's timeline from time to time, and I never remember it re-encoding the clip (I would never use that feature if it did). I just tried changing an Out point in Encore CS5; the program only allows one to edit the point to the nearest I frame.

[Jeff Pulera]

My vote goes to MPEG-StreamClip, will allow you to "rip" the .m2v and audio off the DVD, so you can simply re-author without re-encoding the video again. You can set In/Out points when ripping so you should be able to trim end of clip that way

Jeff Pulera

[Mike McCarthy]

Originally Posted by Christopher Lefchik

I may have changed the In/Out points on MPEG-2 files on Encore's timeline from time to time, and I never remember it re-encoding the clip (I would never use that feature if it did). I just tried changing an Out point in Encore CS5; the program only allows one to edit the point to the nearest I frame.

Trimming should be fine obviously, but adding a different clip to the end might trigger the re-encode. If so, linking to the end clip on a different timeline should prevent that, but my introduce a delay as it jumps between the two on certain players.