[Libav-user] MPEG-2 bitstream & huffman coding

[Vojtěch Král]

Hello,
   for my current project I need to learn about MPEG-2 video bitstream 
format
as well as how huffman/vlc coding is applied for MPEG-2.
Using ffmpeg I can extract raw stream, using libav I'm able to extract 
raw frames.

Would it be possible to extract raw data after vlc decoding but before 
video decoding?
This would be very useful because I could study the bitstream structure 
on real data.
I am willing to modify libav code if need be. I have already identified 
the parts of libav
code which implement vlc decoding. (It seems it's also used by other 
codecs.)
I'd be glad if you could point me in general direction as to how this 
could be done.

Also, is there any information source describing MPEG-2 bistream format 
besides the standard?
The standard itself is very large, very verbose and it's quite a 
challenge to find and extract
relevant information.

Thanks for any advice.
Best Regards,
Vojtěch Král