How to get MPV

I like Cuttermaran, it looks great as a program. But it is not working well for me. I cut out a video clip and used the I frame cuts first. I get video that is broken into four pictures and the order is scrambled. Then I tried making the cuts at the P frame. Still the same four parts of a picture. The color seems too green and the four parts of the pictures are not in any logical order. Since I have to transcode which takes a long time, I would like to know what I'm doing wrong before I try it again.

There is no need to transcode for a long time... If you cut at the I-frames, it only needs a few seconds for saving. If you chose a P-frame or a B-frame, then the nearest I-frame will be used for cutting. Only if you have setup Cuttermaran for using an external encoder (I prefer CuttyEnc1201) and you have chosen an P-frame or B-frame for cutting, then it needs a few seconds more for encoding the broken GOPs, but needs not really much longer. Here is a short guide: 1. Load your video file into Cuttermaran. The audio file should have the same filename, so it loads automatically. 2. Set the in-mark at the beginning of the first clip you want to have. 3. Set the out-mark at the end of the first clip. 4. Add it to the cut list. 5. Do the same for all clips you want to have. 6. Now arrange the clips in the cut list with the arrow-up arrow-down buttons in a new order. 7. In the Actions menu chose "Cut video/audio" and save with a different filename. Note1: The out-mark of the first clip can be the in-mark of the next clip. Note2: If your material is already DVD compliant, then clear the check box "Create DVD compliant streams". Now your new arranged music video should be ready. Because there is no new encoding, the quality of the video and audio should be the same before and after cutting with Cuttermaran. goonix

I Did That 

I previously did each item in your to-do list. The only thing different is I am using QuEnc ver .70 as an encoder. I only did that because it was recommended. Are you saying that QuEnc might be causing my trouble? To eliminate my music video as a culprit, I recorded "Ghost" from cable on my video recorder. I then put "Ghost" in Cuttermaran. It was perfect. I then cut out the commercials. I then loaded the cut version into several different items. I used Windows Media Player, WCreator and vobedit preview. All show the 4 partial picture effect. Not all the movie was boxed. About half way through the movie, the picture turned normal. I have once tried making a DVD using DVDplanner to multiplex my M2V and audio but it would not play in any of my players. It kicks out with the Microsoft "Send Error' question. I am going to retry planner one more time just in case. I ran my .vobs that planner made through IfoEdit to see if renumbering the .vob would help. It didn't. I just turned off QuEnc and I am going to try that. I'll post the results.

Partial Success 

I cut from commercial one to commercial two with "No Encode". That made a heck of a big difference in time. Not only that, the output or "cut" M2V and audio played perfectly when put back in Cuttermaran. I then made a DVD in Planner of that short clip. No dice. I still kick out in Media Player and WinDVD. Any idea why? I doubt if there is any "no record" flags or Macrovision on an old movie like Ghost. Preview in Vobedit kicks out too. From either Cuttermaran or Planner I ended up with a .mpg file of the cut clip. It will run fine in Microsoft Video Player but the video made by Planner will not run in DVDPlayer.

It sounds like the VOB file is incorrect - which would only happen (possibly) if the video does not start with a GOP header. Can you send me a short piece of the video and audio, the first few MB will be fine. Send to dvdplanner at btinternet dot com