Software to join video clips & add fade in/out

[Human]

I am looking for a simple program to join video clips and add a fade in/out. It also must support multiple formats.

Avidemux can join clips, but for some reason I cannot get the fade in/out in the filters to work. Avidemux also doesn't play nice with .wmv It gives a codec error and then crashes anytime I add a .wmv clip.

Does anyone have a suggestion? It looks like Sony Vegas or Adobe Premiere may be the only option... That seems a bit ridiculous considering what I want to do is very simple.

[PuzZLeR]

It's simple yes, but not in that way.

Sure many editors can edit multiple formats, but not each well. You want to look for an editor more dedicated to a certain format, where it will not insist on re-encoding unnecessarily on parts not associated with the cuts/joins/fades.

Having said that, you will find different editors optimized for, say, DV, H.264, lossless, MPEG-2, etc., including WMV. And this would include Vegas and Premier with certain formats too. I'm sure they can edit WMV, but they will likely insist on re-encoding it, not render it losslessly. I, and several others here, too use different editors for different formats.

That's a reality with editing unfortunately. I personally would avoid a jack-of-all-trades, and look for a Master-of-the-One-format-at-a-time you're working with.

But I personally don't work with WMV so wouldn't know which is best. I'd try Windows Movie Maker - but not sure which O/S it's available free on. But keep in mind, WMV is likely one of the hardest formats to edit - on purpose - to discourage you from doing it, and it was Microsoft's way of better securing DRM.

Hopefully someone knows better about WMV, but, if there's another format, I can probably help you better.

Oh, and welcome to the Forum.

[racer-x]

If you want complex yet very powerful, try Aviutl. If you want simple yet limited editing/composing abilities, try Shotcut. Both are free and can do what you seek...

[DarrellS]

mkvmerge to join video clips and Virtualdub with Fill filter in Blend mode with Curve Editor to do all your fade ins and fade outs. The External Encoder feature to save as whatever format you desire.

[Human]

Hi and thanks for the welcome.

The clips I have are from various sources, that is why the formats are not the same; Some are .wmv some are .flv, etc. That is why I would like a program to combine. The reason I want the fade in is while some of the clips may be related, they are not from the same scene. So it looks very strange if I join them all with Avidemux and then play them and they sort of 'skip' into an unrelated part.

I have never heard of Avitul or Shortcut. The less complex the better. I would also prefer not re-encode since the clips are low quality already. Avidemux is nice because I can append them with re-encoding. I heard Virtualdub was not supported anymore?

[manono]

I would also prefer not re-encode since the clips are low quality already.

You can forget that preference as all not in the final format will have to be reencoded to that final format. And, most likely the ones already in that final format will have to be reencoded if you add any fades or other filtering to them.

Avidemux is nice because I can append them with re-encoding.

Maybe it can append but try and export them without reencoding, if at least one is in a different format from the others

I heard Virtualdub was not supported anymore?

You heard wrong.

[PuzZLeR]

Re-encoding is the last option, and I would seriously stress NOT doing this if the clips are in one format, and spec, etc, which was the spirit of my first post in your search for an editor. This is what I thought was your case.

But, yes, if the clips are in different formats, you must re-encode. There's no way around it.

Having said that, in your case, the best solution I can recommend is AviSynth. Have you heard about it? A bit of a learning curve to get the hand of it, but honestly so worth it. This should be your first option.

But, if you insist on an editor, you can indeed look into Vegas and Premier since you HAVE to re-encode. Another nice consumer editor is VideoStudio. Each should do what you want. None of these apps are free though.

I honestly have never used a free NLE (non-linear editor), so wouldn't be able to recommend one. But suggestions have been made.

I heard Virtualdub was not supported anymore?

Blasphemy! Shame on you for even thinking of a Legend in this way!

[Human]

Forgive me for bumping this old topic but I have come back to some video clips and still cannot figure out the fade in/out with Avidemux.

I realized my version of Avidemux was over 4 years old and the newer versions have improved a lot. That said, I still cannot get the fade in and out to work!

I appended my clips and exported to Mpeg4 AVC (x264) with output format .avi muxer. Then I tried dragging my clip into VirtualDub, but I get this error... "Couldn't locate decompressor for format 'H264' (unknown)"

I don't understand what I could be doing wrong in Avidemux. This should just be so simple.

Fade Out - @ 5 seconds
Fade In - @ 10 seconds

Nothing changes in the preview window.

I check "Played Filter" but nothing changes when I play the clip.

What am I doing wrong? Do I really need 2 programs to do something so simple?

[Baldrick]

Have you just tried the preview play in avidemux? Did you try convert/save and see if you get any fade.

But avidemux fade in/out seems very buggy. I got it to work some months ago but I don't remember what version I used though.

[jagabo]

I tried dragging my clip into VirtualDub, but I get this error... "Couldn't locate decompressor for format 'H264' (unknown)"

You need a VFW h.264 decoder. Like ffdshow.

[Human]

I got some help from the Avidemux forum and my problem seems to be the way the filter is worded. I thought s, was seconds, but it's not; m: is actually seconds. I was able to fade in and out my appended clips, but the transitions are not smooth.

As for Virtualdub, I was not able to open anything but .avi until I found and installed this from google - http://codecpack.co/download/FFInputDriver.html I tried the curve method listed above but it's similar to Avidemux; The transition of my appended clips are not smooth.

Maybe what I should have been asking all a long is a way to cross fade clips, not fade in/out. Is there free software other than the awful Windows Movie Maker to do this?

[Baldrick]

Maybe what I should have been asking all a long is a way to cross fade clips, not fade in/out. Is there free software other than the awful Windows Movie Maker to do this?

AviUtl, Shotcut as mentioned earlier or maybe Videopad Video editor (I have never tried it and the installer may contain adware).