I've tried a few products for MPEG editing video streams I've captured from TV recordings so far but wasn't happy with any one of them, because neither performed the tasks in the way I'd like it to be. I'd therefore like to ask the community if you know of a product with the features mentioned below (I'm only talking about MPEG-2 streams in PAL format):

1.) Easy cutting out sequences only at the beginning and the end of an MPEG-2 stream. Possibility of positioning on a single frame and exact cutting on that frame. No re-rendering of the result (quick & easy).

2.) Cutting out multiple sequences in an MPEG-2 stream and putting the scenes together again (e.g. cutting out commercials). Exact cutting on the frames, no re-rendering of the stream except at that points where two scenes have been put together. Handling should be quick & easy, output file generation should also be quick.

3.) It would be nice if the exact frame positioning could be done in the following way: a slider is provided for easy navigation within the complete MPEG-2 stream. When you have found the approximate position where you want to cut, you should be able to fine-position with a kind of fast-forward/fast-backward function combined with a slow-forward/slow-backward function and a single frame forward/backward function so you can find the exact frame where you want to cut.

4.) A nice option for removing commercials would be if the program could detect 2 matching frames (or 2 matching short sequences). With this option it would be possible to mark the overlapping sequences before and after a commercial and the program could determine automatically the best position where to cut and put the 2 sequences together automatically.

I guess a product that could do all 4 things isn't available, although it would be nice to have. I'm not looking for a fancy product with millions of features, the above mentioned ones are the only ones I'd like to have. My goal is only to archive MPEG-2's I've recorded from TV on DVD. I don't want to waste much time for the editing process, it should only take a couple of minutes to obtain a nice result where you can't detect that editing has been done. The resulting MPEG-2 should also be of good quality so I don't have problems in burning this to DVD. My experience is that this isn't an obvious feature at all.

Any help would be greatly appreciated !

Would be helpful to tell us what you have tried. Did it include Ulead Video Studio or Vegas Video ? If not, give them a go.

I've tried the following:

1) Nanocosmos nanopeg Editor 2.2
Nice tool, especially for cutting the beginning and the end of the MPEG-2 stream, no re-rendering, therefore quick results. Disadvantages: no exact frame positioning, resulting MPEG-2 stream sometimes faulty so it can't be read by DVD burning software.

2) Cyberlink PowerDirector Pro 2.55
Frame Positioning not very comfortable (no fast forward/backward or other features available, you have to find the approximate position and then either move frame by frame or enter the time where you want to position). Re-rendering is always done, even when only cutting at the beginning and end of the MPEG-2 stream, although the "Smart Video Rendering Technology" makes it faster than a complete re-rendering in real time.

3) ArcSoft ShowBiz 1.3.2.22
This came with Sonic MyDVD V.4 which was included with my DVD burner. Nice postitioning features, but always complete re-rendering in realtime.

4) MyDVD V.4.04
Has a cutting feature, but frame positioning is very tedious. However, you cannot generate an MPEG-2 stream from the result, you can only burn it to DVD. This version also consumes lots of space for the audio track on DVD so I have dumped this program completely.

I hope this gives you an overview of what I've tried so far and why I haven't liked these programs.

Try VirtualDubMod
http://virtualdubmod.sourceforge.net/

My bad, it works fine most of the time except that it cannot same files as MPEG-1/-2 and sometimes introduces lag on audio.
//Danne

Try womble mpg-vcr. Works great.

bandeng,

thanks a lot for your recommendation. I've tried womble mpg-vcr and it's a near 100% match of what I was looking for (expect for the automatic search of matching sequences before and after commercials - but I guess that's probably a little too much I've been asking for - or a feature that might be a future product enhancement). The product has some nice features I haven't even been thinking of, e.g. the idea of cutting something out of the entire stream and not just cutting out individual sequences that have to be put together again. Also the zooming in on the exact frame you want to make the cut is quite efficient and it really does cut exactly on the frame.

Only thing I found the program does is to produce occasional sound glitches, especially within the first few seconds of the output stream, but that's something I can live with.

Once again, thank you very much for pointing me to that great product !