MPEG-2: Cropping short clips from large files

[SilentRob]

I was wondering if any of you guys knew of software capable of cropping a short clip

out of an SVCD-ready MPEG-2 movie. VirtualDub will allow me to open the file and crop

out the scene, but not do a 'Direct Stream Copy' when trying to save the film. Therefore,

I'm required to convert the file into MPEG-4 or some other VD-capable format... which is

a very loooooong waste of time.

Cropping works great on DivX/Xvid/MPEG-4 vids, as VirtualDub is made for them, but it

won't have anything to do with my SVCDs and MPEG-2's... even though I've tried the so-

called MPEG-2/AC3 version of VirtualDub.

Obviously, I'm using the wrong software, or my codecs only DEcompress MPEG-2 files.

So, where does one get the right software, or a proper codec compatible with

VirtualDub?

Thanks,

SilentRob

[MSNwar]

Virtual Dub Guide starts here:

http://www.doom9.org

Virtual Dub procedures starts here:

http://www.doom9.org/virtualdub_procedures.htm

Direct stream copy is explained in the procedures.

[SilentRob]

Grrr... Doom9 offers solutions that work excellently with my AVIs (MPEG4v2, DivX, XviD, whatnot), but still, they are of no avail with my MPEG-2 files... either I'm just drunk at 2AM, or VirtualDub isn't the right program for the job... I'm guessing both right now... get back to you sometime tomorrow on that one.

Basically, the solutions provided for Direct Stream Copy work for AVI formats, since the codecs are natively recognized by VirtualDub. No MPEG-2 encoders are found by VD, and so I'm forced to save the AVI in Full Processing Mode (meaning hours upon hours of not being able to use the computer at all for anything else... love my Athlon 1.2!).

So I guess I'm now wondering, are there any other programs that will do this kind of task for me, or am I stuck with converting the video outright?

Thanks,

SilentRob

[MSNwar]

DVD Echo did an excellent job, however it is no longer sold.

Have you tried the new TMPGEnc v2.520.54.163 ?

... TMPGEnc Plus also comes with useful inbuilt MPEG editing tools.

Multiplex & De-Multiplex tools to combine or separate MPEG files into audio & video component streams.

Facilities to combine multiple streams simultaneously.

Merge & Cut enables you to easily divide one MPEG file into multiple files or merge separate files into one new file.

http://www.puresoft.co.uk/tsunami/

[SilentRob]

Capital idea! TMPEG works great, quickly and easily!

Thanks,

SilentRob