Editing an MPEG 2 Video

As far as I know, no version of PPro does "smart rendering" so you are correct... creating a new file does render what you have, and that means quality loss, especially since you are starting with an already compressed file

I do not edit Mpeg files so don't know the capabilities of these programs, but it's free to read at the links to find out if any of them do smart rendering

$99 http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1175714228541#tabview=tab0

$99 http://www.womble.com/products/mvw.html

$90 http://www.magix.com/us/movie-edit-pro/ plus $5 Ship

$80 http://www.nchsoftware.com/prism/index.html

$75 http://www.videoredo.com/en/index.htm

$70 http://www.nchsoftware.com/prism/index.html Converter

$60 http://www.daniusoft.com/media-converter-ultimate.html

$40 http://www.deskshare.com/dmc.aspx Digital Media Converter

$40 http://www.any-dvd-ripper.com/any-dvd-ripper-windows.html

$40 http://www.deskshare.com/dvd-ripping-software.aspx

$39 http://www.dvdcopysoftware-reviews.com/dvd-cloner/

$20 http://www.topsoftwareol.com/product/Video/Video_Converter_Standard.html

$00 http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html Multi-Converter <-- supposed to be very good

$00 http://download.cnet.com/FreeStar-Free-Video-Converter/3000-2194_4-10854990.html

$00 http://www.dvddecrypter.org.uk/ or http://www.mrbass.org/dvdrip/

$00 http://www.flaskmpeg.net/download.php Mpeg to AVI Converter

$00 http://www.squared5.com/ MPEG Streamclip Converter

$00 http://www.virtualdub.org/ Mpeg to AVI Converter

$00 http://www.sothinkmedia.com/video-converter/

$00 http://www.videohelp.com/tools/XviD4PSP

If you are looking for smart rendering get yourself Mainconcept HD its a plugin for Pro.

http://www.mainconcept.com/products/apps-plug-ins/plug-ins-for-adobe/mpeg-pro-hd-cs-4.html

Michael,

As for the Exporting, what will be the desired delivery scheme? That will very likely dictate which format/CODEC you will choose.

Good luck,

Hunt