Windows Media Encoder , better than VirtualDub and TMPgnc?

Recently I have found thatI have Windows Media Encoder installed on my desktop. I believe it was included when I upgraded to Windows SP2. The ? I have is that some AVI's I have found are not recognized by VirtualDub (which I use to save the audio from an AVI file as a Wav file to use with TMPgnc MPEG-2 converting) Anyway, this Windows Media Encoder recognizes files that the media player plays and it gives you the option of saving a High Definition signal as High definition. The downfall is that it saves the project as a WMA file, which VirtualDub still doesn't recognize, so I then have to use Movie maker to convert that into an AVI. Is there a way to use the media encoder and save as an AVI file, or better yet, an MPEG file. If this is the case, it seems like it could be a good (not great) tool. It takes a long time to encode, but I suspect that's because I have been converting with a VBR as opposed to a CBR. Any input on this software or any guides would be appreciated. I know that Dub and TMPgnc have been favorites for years, but have the years caught up to these programs?

 

There is absolutly no reason to use Windows Media encoder because it doesn"t convert to the Correct format for DVD and converting your Files to WMA/WMV first and then to AVI will only serve to degrade the Quality as anytime you Compress a Video you Loose quality so you should keep the ammount of Times you compress a Video file to a Minimum ,actually you shouldn"t have to convert it Once which is to the Format you want in the end....

So no there is No way to use WME to save as AVI or Mpeg only to Windows Media Format.....

I think you should Stick to useing Tmpgenc & V-Dub and if you have Problems getting these programs to read some Files there are ways to make them read them useing Methods Like Frameserveing....