Mpg2Cut2 - Intro
Last Revised: 19 July 2010
Fault Tolerant, GOP level, binary editor
for basic cutting of Mpeg2 Program Stream files.
Handles very large files (64bit) captured from Digital Television broadcasts (DTV), including High Definiton (HDTV).
Enhancement to Symbiose / Dark Avenger's Mpeg2Cut
2 Based on DVD2AVI by Chia-chen Kuo.
This cutter is very suited to use with streams captured from
Digital Television broadcasts.
High
Fault Tolerance
The single biggest advantage of this utility is a high
tolerance of faults in the Mpeg stream. Some capture
cards deliver very faulty streams if you do not have good
reception. So many conventional utilities will not accept
them, and may crash. But MPG2CUT2 will accept a huge
amount of crud, without batting an eyelid, as long as our
display drivers don't mind being sent a bunch of crud..
Very
Fast Seeking
Quick skip forward or backward along the time line,
operating at the GOP level. GOP level cutters operate on
logical Groups Of Pictures, usually about half a second
long.
Fast
Binary Copy
Data is typically copied asis, with no re-compression
performed.
This here is a TEST version:
It
is still under development.
Mainly because....
Needs testing on a wider range of formats.
Some players don't like the joins.
(See note below regarding PVAStrumento and ProjectX).
The remaining known bugs are comparatively minor.
Discussion Forum:
Rocket Jetty hosted by GOOGLE.
Let me know what problems you are having, and I will see what I can do. Try very hard to include a detailed description of the problem, and what led up to it. If compatibilty issues arise, what product does it relate to ?
Vague complaints are unlikely to be solved.
I do not feed trolls.
BASIC USAGE
This is just a basic intro.
More detail can be found in the text file that accompanies Mpg2Cut2.
Note: MPG files are typically divided
into sections called "GOP"s,
which are typically about half a second long,
with the first frame of the GOP being a Key Frame ("I"
type frame).
Mpg2Cut2 cuts on GOP boundaries,
so you cannot position part-way through a GOP.
STEPS:-
1) Use Menu-File-Open or F3 to open an "mpg" file.
2) Navigate to the position where you want to mark as the start of a clip, by using the scroll buttons or scroll bar.
Keyboard arrows can also be used for navigation:-
LeftArrow = forward 1 gop (about half a second)
RightArrow = backward 1 gop
DownArrow = forward about 20 seconds
UpArrow = backward about 20 seconds
Holding SHIFT down at the same time magnifies the effect.
eg Shift-DownArrow = forward about 40 seconds.
Holding down the arrow acivates the keyboard auto-repeat,
allowing fast skimming through the video.
3) Mark the clip starting position using the button marked "[".
For compatibility I recommend marking the start of the clip
at least 3 GOPs BEFORE the start of the interesting material,
as some players and utilities may skip the start.
4) Navigate forward to find where the clip should END.
For compatibility I recommend ending the clip
at least 2 GOPs AFTER the end of the interesting material,
as some players may skip the end of the clip.
5) Mark the clip ending position using the buton marked "]".
6) Use Menu-File-Save or F4 to save the clip to a new mpg file.
Each button has a pop-up description.
Just hold your cursor over a button to see what it is for.
Note that most buttons also have keyboard equivalents.
EG: Hitting the asterisk key (*) on the numeric pad,
activates the CUE button [*] function.
P=Play, Escape(esc) = Stop.
F9=Slow play, Shift-F9 = Fast play
There are a lot of other options,
commands and short cuts available,
which are described in the TXT file that accompanies Mpg2Cut2.
If you are planning to put multiple clips onto a DVD,
it is usually best to save them indivivdually.
However if you want to save multiple clips to a single file,
you can, but you should also process the resulting file
using the clean-up utility PVAStrumento,
to ensure high compatibility with various players.
If you are planning on using the edited output on a DVD,
OR if you have problems in playback, such as bad audio sync:then I suggest that you ALSO use one of the format conversion utilities, which examine an Mpeg stream in detail, and adjust it to meet DVD or xVCD restrictions:
PVAStrumento http://www.offeryn.com/
ProjectX: (for advanced users only)
The recommended way to
create chapters,
is to save each clip SEPARATELY.
This way each clip becomes a separate chapter,
and fewer technical problems will arise.
USAGE NOTES FOR MS-Vista and Windows 7
In the later versions of
Windows,
you may not see anything in the preview window,
especially if you are using "AERO" mode on the desktop.
To overcome this, either turn off "AERO" mode in
Windows,
or set Mpg2Cut2 to avoid using the video overlay:-
Menu - View - Never Use Overlay
If you find the video performance is poor,
try zooming out, using the [Z] button,
so that a smaller picture is presented
in the preview window.
If you find this fixes performance,
make the setting permenant by ticking:-
Menu - View - Zoom - Retain Setting
Other performance issues are covered in the Support page.
USAGE NOTES FOR AUDIO LIMITER
If you have the Volume set
quite HIGH,
but the Limiter set quite LOW,
then they will be acting AGAINST each other.
Although this will give you the greatest levelling of volume,
you may end up hearing excessive background noise.
Eg Traffic noise, people breathing, camera whir, tape hiss.
Differences between original MpegCut and Mpg2Cut2:
Highlights
of the new features in this development version:
Improved compatibility options for output to other applications.
Fault tolerance improved for bad DVB-T DTV files.
Interface via command-line parameter
for Windows Explorer Context menu .
Multiple clip selection into a single output file.
Multi-File Input is now reinstated, but is very basic.
Display image in correct aspect ratio
with zoom and
point & click centering.
Notes:
RTFM - The
download includes a Text file - please read it. It is your
documentation.
This download is a TEST version, still in development,
so don't expect perfection.
The program does NOT handle "Transport Streams" well.
Input files should be Program Stream or Elementary Stream format.
If you have a transport stream, then convert it using
PVAStrumento.
Testing has been on DVB-T standard files, not ATSC.
Mpg2Cut2 can only edit Mpeg-2 or Mpeg-1 - NOT Mpeg-4.
Mpeg-1 is only partially supported.
Originally based
on DVD2AVI by Chia-chen Kuo,
and then modified by Symbiose and Dark Avenger.
This
software is covered by the GNU
public license of
the Free Software Foundation.
Meaning you can use it, change it,
but DON'T
CHARGE FOR IT.
DISCLAIMER: NO LIABILITY FOR ANY PROBLEMS ARISING FROM USE OF
THIS SOFTWARE
**
Use at YOUR OWN risk **
If
you have a problem...
Minimum Requirements for Mpg2Cut2
The basic editing function does not use much CPU,
so you could get away with using a very basic machine.
I use a P-III 800 Mhz. This is plenty fast enough for editing Standard Definition files, as long as no other high-CPU tasks are running in the background.
For cutting High Definition (HD) Mpeg files, 800 Mhz is OK, but a little sluggish.
Previewing:
The preview function chews up a LOT more CPU than editing does.
600Mhz P3 would probably be minimum for smooth preview of a Standard Definition file.
If your video card does not support YUY2 overlay,
zoom out to reduce overhead of video traffic.
If you are using a slowish machine,
try turning ON the frame dropping option.
High Definition:-Smooth preview would probably need at least 2 Ghz even for a moderate bit rate HD Mpeg file. For the seriously high bit rates that some countries have, you probably need more than 3Ghz, at a guess.
On slower machines, HD preview will be a bit jerky.
Turn on the option to drop frames when behind (View menu), which allows HD preview on a MUCH more humble machine.
Recommended
General Public License
does not permit incorporating this program into proprietary
programs.
This is free software;
you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the
GNU General Public License
as published by
the Free Software Foundation;
This is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY;
without even the implied
warranty of MERCHANTABILITY nor FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
See the GNU General Public License for more details.
Here's the Source
Pre-Alpha is very rough and ready.
Alpha or Beta - not quite so bad.
