This was once a very useful app that, unfortunately, is no longer relevant due to developer neglect (plus arcane organization and utterly lame Help files). Apparently, it’s now abandonware.

A recent project at home has been to create a home network (LAN) interconnecting our computing and audiovisual equipment. An important component of this system is a Network Attached Storage Hard Drive able to DLNA-stream to the ethernet/internet-capable TV and BluRay player, the pictures, music and films stored within it. However, the codecs supported by the TV and the BluRay player are rather limited, and we decided to have our film collection (in disk image or VIDEO_TS format) as a .mpg (MPEG2) library.

Our limited knowledge on video conversion had to be complemented with a lot of research on the topic, exploration of several pieces of software, trial and error. Ultimately, for our purpose, MPEG2 Works 4 Advanced was the ideal application to successfully undertake the job.

As any feature-full application it is not easy to master, yet in our opinion the effort is worth it. There is also some excellent free software available to undertake the task (which we have used for other image processing purpose), but in our hands it seemed to be as difficult to learn and did not render the desired results in this case. The price for MPEG2 Works is also below the tag of other shareware competitors, which in our hands also failed to generate .mpg from our sources.

Even if it is not obvious for the low level user (like us) to learn the software, it is crucial the excellent customer support we have received from its developer. Besides explanations to help us to apply the software, he has offered to introduce additional functions to ease our conversions. Importantly, the software is currently ongoing further development and several key features (key to us) are on their way.

The developer has been very approachable and personable, replying swiftly to several inquiries.

A disclaimer: we do not have any personal or professional link to the MPEG2 Works developer beyond the e-mail exchanges resulting from customer support after our purchase of the software.

The word ADVANCED in the title of this program seems very appropriate. When I opened this application, I realized just what a beginner I was. I was attempting to convert an .avi file to mpeg. The original appears to be PAL. I couldn't even figure out how to load the .avi file in the program. The "easy" solution "One-Click DVD" is not available in the Demo so I have no idea if this would have worked for me. I had no success with MPEG Streamclip or Handbrake. I don't mind paying for programs that work for me, but I guess I will never know.

Bottom Line: If you're looking for a program with a simple interface, this might not be the one.

It seems very difficult to reach the developer -- there's no email or other link on his web site!

Is MPEG2 Works significantly better than Handbrake?

I purchased this program and it is not intuitive at all. The fact that you have to log in to some mythical server to get up dates is ablolutely stupid. I have tried for the last hour to get the most recent update with no success. The developers site offers no help either. I have transactions numbers and names as well as the eMail address but none have been accepted.
Stay from this dog.