Video Redo / Vegas 8

[John Callahan]

Hello,

I tried several times the suggestion MPEGStreamclip the free file converter fm http://www.square5.com following the instructions the the download site, For some reason with I import a Mpeg it shuts down, I reinstalled a couple of times with the same results. Any suggestions. Does the paid version work the same from Apple, reviews are not great.

Can anyone tell me where in VideoRedo is the choice for converting Mpeg files to DV-AVI? After I do editing inside PE4 should I export to Folder and burn through a program such as VideoRedo because its a mpeg file to start with?
If I have some .mov files what should I use.

Would Vegas 8 solve mpeg problems more automatic ? Or is anyting out there that works better?

I will be buying a new camcorder soon, I thinking Canon HV20. Any better suggestions ? Should Iget one with firewire?

Thanks
John

[Paul LS]

I use MPEG_Streamclip without issues. Did you install the Quicktime Alternative (note it has to be one of the older versions not the latest)? If not you need to purchase Quictime Pro.

VideoReDo does NOT export to DV-AVI.

For working with MPEGs you ideally need an editor that supports smart-rendering, such as ULEAD VideoStudio. I dont believe Vegas Studio has smart-rendering for MPEG.

HV20 is a good choice... it has a Firewire connection for capturing into an editor. It can capture as standard DV-AVI or HDV, and works with PE4.

[kodebuster]

My camcorder will only download video to a PC as Mpeg via a USB port.
It does not support firewire.

I've had great success converting Mpeg's to DV-AVI via Windows Movie Maker (WMM).

WMM comes free with XP and Vista, so it's a no-brainer, cost wise.

Once converted to DV-AVI, import into PE, and do your thing.

PE loves DV-AVI, and the video files don't need to be rendered for smooth viewing in the Monitor...

[Ken Jarstad]

Here is my experience with Mpeg_Streamclip: Version 1.1 crashes no matter what I load into it. The Beta versions will work fairly well for standard definition video. You have your choice of version 1.2 Beta 1 or 2 (1.2b1, 1.2b2) - good luck.

The currently recommended QuickTime Alternative version is 1.81. You can find it here:

http://oldapps.com/old_version_quicktime_alternative.php

[Andy_E]

I've never had any problems with MPEG StreamClip. Everything I edit is run through that first - I'm using the 1.2 Beta 2 version. Do you get any error messages appear with the crashes?

If you've already got Video Redo can't you use that for editing? It's a frame-level MPEG2 editor, isn't it? That would save you the need to convert to DV-AVI at all.

While you can drop MPEG2 files onto a Vegas timeline and edit them easily, it does seem to inist on re-encoding them for output. VideoStudio and MediaStudio Pro (both from Corel/Ulead) won't if your source settings match your project settings.