AVS › AVS Forum › Video Components › Home Theater Computers › Movie Editor decoding and file formats question
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Movie Editor decoding and file formats question

post #1 of 7
9/11/11 at 8:00pm
Thread Starter 
Hello, I noticed that when editing video, and I tried both Windows movie maker and iMovie, the produced movie has less quality than the original source. I would like to know technically why this happens. My objective is to be able to use a HTPC to record TV shows and edit out unwanted content withoug losing image quality

In order to specify exactly my goals, lets take the following scenario: I have a 720p 10min movie of a dance performance, and I want to cut out the first 2 min and the last 3 for whatever reason.

Its seems at first glance that all the software has to do is to "erase" the amount of data from the file, these extra megabytes. And in my head, that would be loseless in terms of quality. After all, its loselles to crop a picture using Microsfot Picture Manager or Preview. But it doesnt happen, when comparing the original movie and the finished version, the original will show superior quality.

Again, why does this happnes? Is it because of coding, decoding? Whats that exactly?

Is it because of compressing and decompressing...whats that exactly??? If so, why cant I record something uncompressed in order to be edited without loss of quality?

I recently acuired a USB Tuner that Records in H.264 or MPEG, wich one should be better?

Is the problem in the software? Should Final Cut or Cyberlink Power Director be able to do what I want?

Any comments and toughts are welcome
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 7
9/11/11 at 9:42pm
I had the same problem using WMM, it converted the video to another file type and lost quality. The best solution I've found is to record TV as mpeg2, and edit in Corel video studio pro. Corel can edit mpeg2 and write the new file as the same type. It just writes a copy of the original, except for the edits. The edited copy looks just like the original. Womble mpeg editor does this too.

In Corel, the option to save as the same type is only available for mpeg and avi, anything else must be converted to something else.

After editing, I use Handbrake to convert to mkv in a smaller size while keeping good quality.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 7
9/12/11 at 2:02pm
You lose quality due to compression. Most such editor asume that you want to save space. I don't know whether you can re-configure tham or not. I wouldn't bother. Try VideoRedo: frame-accurate, no picture degradation, choice of output file types (even recompress, if you want), handles MPEG and H.264, has free trial. Been using it for years.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 7
9/12/11 at 5:45pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lsarver View Post

You lose quality due to compression. Most such editor asume that you want to save space. I don't know whether you can re-configure tham or not. I wouldn't bother. Try VideoRedo: frame-accurate, no picture degradation, choice of output file types (even recompress, if you want), handles MPEG and H.264, has free trial. Been using it for years.

Thanks, Ill give it a try, is that Windows 7 only? Works with Vista? what about Mac OS or Linux?
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 7
9/12/11 at 7:42pm
I think Corel video studio pro is great in movie editor.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 7
9/13/11 at 10:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by LeandrodaFL View Post

Thanks, Ill give it a try, is that Windows 7 only? Works with Vista? what about Mac OS or Linux?

It's not 7-specific. Any version of Windows (at least back to 2000).
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 7
9/13/11 at 10:45am
I think any editor that recodes the entire video is going to result in some loss of quality. It doesn't really matter if you are compressing it or changing formats. The act of recoding itself reduces the quality by some degree.

There are programs called trimmers or cutters that you can use to cut off the beggining or end of a video that don't recode. But they have their own problems.

BTW, if someone has found a cutter that works well, especially with .m2ts files, pleeeeeeease let me know.

I think Video Redo is probably one of the better editors for trimming video. I don't know if it recodes or not.

By the way, for a lot of things Corel Video Studio Pro X3 may be just as good for you as the current X4 version. If it is, you can buy the old X3 for only $12 on Amazon. Personally, I find the Corel program fairly limited (particularly in the formats it will handle). As an overall editor, I think Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 Suite is a lot better and more powerful. Nero is powerful but really clutzy, disjointed, and hard to use.

First thing you need to check is that the software you choose will handle both the input and output formats you need.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Home Theater Computers

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › Video Components › Home Theater Computers › Movie Editor decoding and file formats question