Tools and other software Free software to cut video files? (1 Viewer)

Firemogle

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August 14, 2010
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So my TV recording uses comskip and MCEbuddy to cut out most of the commercials and compress the files then transfers them to my file server. Is there free video editing software where I can finish processing them by hand?

I have not been able to find anything that seemed suitable for the task.

Thanks,
 

Lehmden

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  • December 17, 2010
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    Hi.
    It's depending on various things which software may fit your needs the most. First is the question if you want to cut SDTV only or HDTV too. For SDTV (aka Mpeg2) there are free solutions for cutting frame accurate without recoding the whole video (what is done already by MCE Buddy). But for HDTV (aka h264) there is not a single free solution that is working frame accurate and without recoding the whole video. Normally a Mpeg (no matter if 1,2 or 4 or any other stepping) video only can be cut on keyframes as those keyframes are the only "full" pictures that are saved in the Video. All other frames have stored only the differences between the single pictures. This is done to compress the video and save (an enormous amount of) space. Those keyframes can have some seconds between them, so any accurate cutting on keyframes is not possible. You always will see the edited parts and/or "jumps" in the movie. If you are fine with this you can choose from a lot of solutions.

    Or you don't use MCEBuddy and do the cutting and recoding at the same time with a program like Avidemux (it can handle more than AVI files, also the name suggests something different) or XMediaRecode or Handbrake or similar. With those you will get an accurate editing and the needed recoding in one step.

    Personally I'm using VideoReDo (not free but worth it's money) for editing as it is the only program that can cut HDTV recordings frame accurate without recoding the whole video and in a short period of time (did not take longer than a copy of this video will last). After I've edited all videos I'm recoding them with my own tool MKV-Buddy that also renames the movies or series episodes properly, adds fanart and metadata and removes unwanted tracks (foreign audio tracks, subtitle tracks I don't need,...) on a whole bunch of videos with a single mouse click. MKV-Buddy is working in the background without me needing to interact with it. So this can be done also I'm not at home or while I'm sleeping or similar...
     

    mpsam

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    June 16, 2009
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    @Lehmden
    Thanks suggesting VideoReDo. I have downloaded and have been trying it. So far I really like it. Easy to use. I think I will purchase a license.

    I also use mkv-Buddy for re-coding (from disc) and some remuxing. Haven't used with DVR (1080p mpg2) because I usually recode those to 720p. Is there a setting in mkv-Buddy which will automatically change the video from 1080p to 720p.

    Cheers,
    mpsam
     

    Lehmden

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    Is there a setting in mkv-Buddy which will automatically change the video from 1080p to 720p.
    No there isn't as this is not very wise. If you want to safe space you can lower the bitrates/quality but downscaling to 720p with followed upscaling to 1080p in the TV is not that good... And a 720P video with the same bitrate as an 1080p Video is of the same size, but most of the time it has a slightly lower quality due to the lost of details while downscaling.
    MKV-Buddy does proper deinterlacing if you get 1080i or DVD- SD Material without any user interaction, but some sort of scaling isn't available. The resolution always stays untouched..
     

    mpsam

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    June 16, 2009
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    I see. So, your suggestion would be to lower the bit rate to obtain a smaller file size. In mkv-Buddy, the default for 720p short is 4000, 720p long, 5000, 1080p short 6000 and 1080p long 8000. So 1080 at 5000, 6000 should be fine, right?
    btw I am assuming 60-90 mins is considered long.

    mpsam
     

    Lehmden

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    60-90 mins is considered long.
    Yes, all below one hour is short and all above is long... It is selected by the "h" in the time read by MediaInfo. Below 1 hour it's xx min yy sec, above it's xx h yy min, so the Program is looking for that "h" to determine if it is short or long... I've added this as I prefer series episodes to be a bit smaller (as I have lots and lots of them, more than 20.000) and movies a bit better in quality...

    So 1080 at 5000, 6000 should be fine, right?
    Yes, it will be. You can try even lower rates, if you like. Maybe they are still good enough for your needs. In the end it's only you who decides if the quality is good enough...
     

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