:Jerry: wrote:

"Mortimer" wrote
Is there any software that can perform simple edits on an mpeg file,
such as top- and tailing it and removing commercial breaks, without
having to re-encode the whole file.

Yes there is but can't remember what it's called, (possibly "Womble"),

"Womble MPEG Video Wizard" and its sister product, "Womble MPEG Video
Wizard DVD", if you want a built-in DVD authoring capability. When
exporting the final, edited video, these programs can display a diagram
showing exactly which parts of the timeline will be re-encoded and which
will be copied straight away from the original files.

30-day fully functional demos are available he

http://www.womble.com/download/

--
znark