cutting and joining avi (from one long file to a short one)

[ted demen]

hi, my question is probably as simple as it gets for many here:

i have a long avi file (over one hour) which i want to cut up and make a short version of.
in other words, cut out the best clips and then recombine those to make another (shorter) avi file.

what is the best and easiest program to do this with?

thanx

[steveryan]

Using Virtualdub - Find the start of the part you want to cut and hit the [mark in] key, go to the end of the part you want to cut and hit the [mark out] key, hit the delete key on your keyboard. Repeat until you have removed all the parts you don't want. Before you save the file make sure video is set to direct stream copy and audio is set to source audio. Btw, the mark in/out keys are the ones on the right of the buttons at the bottom of the Vdub screen.

[ted demen]

thanx steveryan

do i need any other software other than virtualdub to do this? (such as plugins or codecs)

and also, would this program be good for transfering video from my miniDV cam to my harddrive (via firewire; not analogue rca)?

[ted demen]

well virtualdub doesnt even let import the file

but i installed avidemux and that lets me import the file and everything works great.

how can i join various clips together with avidemux?