Changing where my video files start at

[nowak93]

Is it possible to change where the video file(avi.) starts and end at?
For example: change the start from 00:00:00 to 00:02:12 and the end from 00:23:25 to 00:20:59 without using software to cut it out?
Need to do this on my playlist (400 episodes) so i can watch non-stop without minutes long intros and outros..
thank you

[Baldrick]

Moving you to our software playing section.

I guess you are using your computer to play? And not any standalone media player?

[nowak93]

That's ok. I don't fully understand your question, though.

I am trying to change where the avi. file starts. Let's say at 02:23 rather then 00:00

[guns1inger]

You can't change where the avi starts without cutting it. You might be able to find a software player that can use some form of playlist to play back only specified segments of an avi file, but I can't name one off the top of my head. Some formats, such as mkv or mp4 do support chapters, and some hardware and software players will use these chapters. Not all will. On a standalone player (e.g. a DVD player that supports avi files, you have very little control. If it is Divx Ultra certified or better then you might be able to author something to give you more control, but it would only work on a very small number of players.

[nowak93]

Any recommended cutting software that is simple and does not change the quality? I don't have much experience on this matter.

[guns1inger]

Depends on the clip. Virtualdub or AVI Demux are simple. Both support smart encoding so you don't re-encode an entire clip when making edits.

[nowak93]

Thanx for the help guns1inger!

[Gavino]

A simple way to do this sort of thing is to use Avisynth.
An example script might look like this:
AviSource("myvid.avi")
Trim(2500, 7500)

This plays frames 2500 to 7500 inclusive of the file "myvid.avi".
For a 25fps video, this would correspond to starting at 01:40 (100 secs) and ending at 05:00 (300 secs).

The script can be played directly by any player that accepts Avisynth scripts (MPC, WMP, ...).
There is no need to re-encode and you still have the original video.
Changing the start and end times is as simple as editing the script in a text editor.

You can even extend this to play sections of different videos in a single script, combining them how you choose and keeping the original quality without ever touching the original files.