How to split .avi and .mpeg files?

I converted .avi files to .mpeg (mp4) for editing purposes, now its all choppy?

• My question deals with edit purposes only-NOT upload.. In my experience it is essential for me to convert video files *before* I can edit, ANY/ALL edit software Ive tried wont work with .avi files. Thats not my problem right now but I thought it worth mentioning. Your experience may differ from mine as far as .avi is concerned thats fine but Im done with .avi- all my vid files get converted. I used to convert to .wmv files and that worked well in edit, however I read 'mp4' files render better/sharper on 'utube'. So I started converting to .mp4 instead of .wmv and now playback in the preview pane on my edit software is all choppy and stuttering and Im afraid thats how the video will render on youtube. Question: what is the best file type to work with as far as editing/upload?And what settings are best as far as bit rate,frame rate, 720x480, etc..

• Answer:

  I'm surprised you're having trouble with avi, it's usually one of the preferred formats for editing, but like you said, everybody has different experiences. Youtube has very specific formats it uses so they'll pretty much re-encode anything you give them. I mean, if you upload a wmv, they'll convert it to .flv (lower quality) and mp4 (higher quality) and if you upload an mp4, they will still re-encode it to their own flv and mp4. So you don't need (and probably shouldn't since there will be quality loss) to convert things before you upload as long as youtube accepts the format. For bitrate, generally, the higher the better (youtube does have size limits on what you can upload though - 1 GB last time I checked). Framerate and resolution should be whatever your source video is. There's no point in making it larger unless you want it upscaled (eg. from sd to hd) and your software is really good at upscaling and you expect it'll do better than youtube's player/converter. All I can really say about the choppiness and what will look best is make a few test clips, upload them and see. Sometimes the playback looks a lot better when it's done and in a player than it does in the editor - especially if you have an older computer (like me).