Questions about .MOV files please.

[XyBeRz]

Hi, I have a couple of .MOV file format movies that I want to cut and join, with some of my own music but I'm not as sure as how to go about it.
The files are all in 1080P and I would like to keep it as high as format as possible while keeping the file as small as possible.
I've seen some .M2V format videos and they are amazing and small in size for such high quality videos. I'm not sure if it's because the original was in HD or not or if it's because of the encoder.
I'm hoping that someone could please help me out as I've searched the guides and haven't found any info on how to do what I want.

Thanks for any suggestions and help ahead of time.

[GMaq]

Hi,
You could try using Quicktime Alternative with MPEG Streamclip find them in the "Tools" section in the left hand margin of the home page, This will enable you to import your existing .mov files and encode them to H.264 which is the codec used in m2V files.

[XyBeRz]

Hi,
You could try using Quicktime Alternative with MPEG Streamclip find them in the "Tools" section in the left hand margin of the home page, This will enable you to import your existing .mov files and encode them to H.264 which is the codec used in m2V files.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have a couple of questions though.

1. Can you import your own audio file and totally remove the audio from the original .MOV files?
2. Can you cut/join from more than 1 video source? They are all the same quality and format.

[GMaq]

I was referring to basic converting and simple cutting and joining, It sounds like you need something a little higher up the food chain, like Adobe Premiere or Vegas, I really can't tell you a program that will handle the HD movs you're asking about in the Windows platform.

[XyBeRz]

Okay then. I'll try to use the programs you first suggested and then Adobe Premiere.

I'll post my results afterwards.

Thanks once again.

[Scorpion King]

Here's an idea.

If you don't want to reencode those files then this might work.... In Quick Time Pro you can open the first file, then select what you want, then edit - copy. Open the second file, select point of insertion, then edit - and paste in the copy. File - Save as and you will have the files combined. I don't think QTP will reencode, I think it will stream copy your 2 mov files in this suitation.

I don't think you can add the different audio in QTP???. I suppose if you prepare the audio elsewhere then mux it with the new combined video.... you could get by without needing to reencode.

I don't know of a program that can mux (multiplex) a .mov file. If you could find one this would probably work ok.

Good luck.

[XyBeRz]

Okay I have Quicktime Pro and your method works great for putting bits of video together to get what I want. Now all I need left is to just get some program that will take out the original audio on the video and lay over my own music that I want on it.

Or

Any suggestions for a program that can open a new video file to as long as I want and maybe drag and drop in the clips I want on it and use the audio I want?
Doesn't matter what program it is. I want something good that will do the job.

Edit:

Okay this kinda sux. One of the videos is encoded in a lower bitrate than the others so I'm having problems with the cut and join method using Quicktime Pro. When I paste in the lower bitrate part, it's encoded as a smaller size screen so it goes from my big size in my first part and then when the small part starts, it shrinks down. Crap I think I'm gonna have to use some program that will allow drag and drop and also resize all the video clips to the same size if possible.

[Scorpion King]

Ok this changes things a little. You said they were all the same, but that happens. QTP can do the resize of that one file then you can use it for the cut/merge routine you wanted, but this still leaves adding the new soundtrack. Again you will need a mux (multiplex) program that supports .MOV files. I know of none myself. Maybe someone else can help.

What would I do?....... I would probably load each of those clips into Ulead VideoStudio 10. Create the layout I wanted. Add the new audio track I wanted, mute the original audio track (if I wanted), then export that out of Ulead as x264 Video Codec (H264) and MP3 audio AVI. I'd forget about keeping the .mov format myself.

If you wanted the .mov format then I would export the composition from Ulead as uncompressed AVI then load that into QTP, then export as a .mov file. Ulead has the option to create .mov but it is harder for me to figure out. QTP is easier to use (did I just say that?)

Good luck.

[XyBeRz]

Thanks Scorpion. That sounds like a good plan. I'll try it and post the results afterword.

[BJ_M]

M2V is an MPEG-2 Packetized Elementary Stream. It contains only video related data. --- they are not h264 files, unless mislabelled

[XyBeRz]

Okay, I'm trying to use Ulead and I'm running into problems. I've imported the first video clip that I want on the whole movie and also the audio track that I wanted. When I go to preview, it doesn't play either the clip or the audio. It instantly jumps to the end of the whole entire thing.

I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or if it's because of the video clip. It happens when I preview the Project only and if I play each individual clip, they're fine.

Anyone know why please?

:Edit:

Nevermind, I found out that if you import .MOV into Ulead, they play no problem when in Clip preview but in order for it to play fine all together as a Project, it has to be AVI format or something that it can work with.

It seems that the best way to achieve what I want is to convert the .MOV files to AVI first and then unto Ulead. It's more user friednly to Ulead than .MOV files are.

Does anyone know the best converter that will keep the highest resolution from .MOV to AVI

[XyBeRz]

No one know of the best program that will keep the highest resolution for .MOV to AVI

[BJ_M]

use vegas instead - or premiere

[XyBeRz]

Finally got Sony Vegas 7.0a today. I'm wondering though is there any way I could use an M2V codec on this program to convert to?

[BJ_M]

m2v is mpeg2, which supported in vegas... it must be a transport or program stream.

if you mean encoding to m2v - it is built in