best freeware MPG to AVI converter...

I have transferred quite a lot of old VHS-tapes to digital, using a media box. The files are in MPG-format, and play well on both Windows and iMac, using QuickTime, Flip Player etc. These all appear to use the proper audio codec.

However, if I import it in Adobe Premiere Elements, the video is ok, but there is no sound. I assume that Premiere is missing the particular audio codec.

With HandBrake I can convert and get the sound, but the MKV format it yields does not run/edit well in the APE editor. So I want to convert the MPG to AVI, with minimal loss of quality.

Does anyone know of a good freeware MPG to AVI converter? I searched and tried a few I found on the Internet, but although they seem to be freeware, they are not. There must be some around...

Or, failing that.... anyone knowing what to do to get more audio codecs for APE?

Thymen

There are several layers here.

Firstly, the 'media box' you've used seems to be using a non standard mpeg format. mpeg1 and mpeg2 are an industry standard and Premiere is more than capable of dealing with these.

However, as your video is now in this, particular take on the, mpg format you need to be converting it to a lossless (or near lossless) format. Converting to one of the codecs that can be packaged into and AVI will degrade the quality further so I wouldn't advise this.
I'd suggest using ffmpegx to convert to DV, but ideally I'd capture from the original source in a lossless format prior to editing then export to mp4 etc

The media box I used does not allow for setting of the recording format. So unless I invest in other hardware, the mpg it delivers is what I have to deal with.

I downloaded ffmpegX, and the relevant tools, and it works fine. Converting the mpg to AVI yields a file that Premiere loads, including sound, and that is what I wanted. However, ffmpegX is offering many options, and I need to play with it a bit more, to get a feel of what is best format/setting. I need not the very best quality, the source is over 20 years old VHS, and whatever is on it is 99% sentimental value. If I show my wife the recording of our (now adult) sons when they were just born, her eyes are brimming with tears anyway, so that's a de-noising filter I need not have available in the software..

But so far, so good.

Thanks for your reply,

Thymen

I don't remember if ffmpegX has this option, but the command line version of ffmpeg I've used on Linux has a 2-pass option that ensures that the video is pretty good on the other side. If you have that option on ffmpegX, you should enable it..