Smart Media Cutter

[Kcalb]

I have found it.

[Jack75]

I have downloaded SmartMediaCutter 2.3.4 for windows 64 bits but got a zipfile and no extracting file to my computer so i don't know how to install this device.
i clicked on a file called smart-media-cutter.exe and it failed because a python 312 dll is missing...

Can someone help me ?

I'm a new member aged 75 frpm France

Many thanks

[noemi7]

I have downloaded SmartMediaCutter 2.3.4 for windows 64 bits but got a zipfile and no extracting file to my computer so i don't know how to install this device.
i clicked on a file called smart-media-cutter.exe and it failed because a python 312 dll is missing...

You need to unpack / copy from the archive all files into a chosen folder (anywhere), and preserve structure of the package. All needed files are in the zip'ed package hence no any dll will be missing.

[Jack75]

OK noemi but how can i run the product ?

[noemi7]

Find & click on smart-media-cutter.exe When you open the program, click on a rosette icon which is in the upper right side of it. It's setting where under "General" you can change language to French.

[Bridgy]

OK noemi but how can i run the product ?

Have you got 7Zip or WinRAR installed on your computer, you need a zip tool to unpack the Zipped SMC Folder.

[Alwyn]

Have you got 7Zip or WinRAR installed on your computer, you need a zip tool to unpack the Zipped SMC Folder.

Windows 11 (and IIRC Win 10) have an in-built right-click option "Extract All..." which will open ZIP files (the "Extract All" only appears when you RC on a ZIP file). AFAIK You don't need a dedicated unzipper.

[Alwyn]

Feedback:

1. On first start, the program takes a while to load; suggest a splash screen so we can see that something is happening.

2. Undesirable frame seeking when using the keyboard left arrow key: When you hold the left arrow key down to quickly move through the file, the video display freezes at multiples of 250 eg 1250, 1750 (the playhead keeps going). Then, when you let the arrow key go, the video jumps to where the playhead actually is. In other words, you can't easily speed through the video using the left arrow key. The problem doesn't occur if you slowly single-tap the arrow key (fast tapping makes the video freeze). It's a minor annoyance because the mouse wheel only scrolls in 250-frame increments. I can use the mouse pointer to drag the playhead but it is fiddlier.
Sample file to play with attached.

Otherwise, great job on the smart-cutting. Works well.

[noemi7]

OK noemi but how can i run the product ?

One more option: there is an installation (exe) version available from Microsoft Store.

[Secoast]

Feedback:
2. It's a minor annoyance because the mouse wheel only scrolls in 250-frame increments.

You can set the mouse wheel to single frame scrolling in Settings.

[Secoast]

I’ve also been playing around with SMC for a couple of months now. It’s truly impressive how consistently accurate it is at outputting exactly what you create in the UI. The only issue I have is that I’m not a fan of some aspects of that UI.

Firstly, there are too many buttons. Eleven if you include the three functions oddly placed at the top of the Tools menu. I believe some buttons could be reassigned.

The Mark Out (inc) button should be an option in settings. I can’t see a situation where you would choose to switch between the default Mark Out and the inclusive option. One button that could be optionally set to default, or inclusive would suffice.

Keep Only Selection can be achieved with Invert Cuts, but I would replace both of these with an option to either Cut or Keep Segments in the Export dialogue (see image 1 as an example). I’m editing camcorder footage and keep all my segments. Whilst testing and editing, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve forgotten to Invert Cuts before exporting. This is partly due to preferring to hide the Tools menu whilst editing. I now reluctantly keep it open during editing to avoid this.... I still forget occasionally .

If we went a step further we could Ctrl click the Cut Selection button for Uncut Selection and shift click it to Clear All Cuts. This is how the shortcut keys work. And if you just used the Esc key for clearing selections you could reduce the number of buttons to five. These could then be placed on the Playback controls menu (image 2 shows an example).

I’m currently implementing much of the above approach by using SMC’s shortcut keys. However, I would prefer to work with buttons.

One UI function that is already implemented is the ability to collapse the timeline audio graph. This creates a cleaner timeline for those not editing with audio as a guide. Unfortunately, this currently only functions when more than one audio track exists. Would this be possible to implement for files with single audio tracks?

Of course, I appreciate that much of this is subjective. I would be interested to hear other opinions.

I do think this will eventually be the first program I open to get my clips into a single coherent stream before additional editing, so a big thanks to skeskinen for all his efforts. I look forward to its further development.


[Attachment 92260 - Click to enlarge]

[Attachment 92261 - Click to enlarge]

[Bridgy]

Firstly, when it comes to the functionality and layout of the GUI, this is a very subjective thing, and everyone will have their own preferences how and what is placed on the GUI by default, so i don't envy any developer having to come up with the ideal GUI to please everyone.

I hated the GUI and some of the internal settings when i started playing with SMC about 6 months ago, a few things have now been changed to my liking, a few things i believe are still in the pipeline, as well as additional features such as implementing a similar Intelligent Recode option similar to VRD (Quality Factor Calculation) where by you don't need to manually set your export Video Quality Bitrate, as well as adding a Titles feature, and an export to other resolutions option as well.

So far i am loving what SMC offers so far, i just hate having to use the manual Encode Settings for doing Full Encodes.

Windows 11 (and IIRC Win 10) have an in-built right-click option "Extract All..." which will open ZIP files (the "Extract All" only appears when you RC on a ZIP file). AFAIK You don't need a dedicated unzipper.

AFAIK not everyone wants to use the crapware loaded in Windows, some prefer a dedicated Zip tool like i do.

I use a stripped down version of Windows 11 Pro, it does not have that so called built in extraxtion tool, and if it did i would not use it anyway, i prefer 7Zip.

[Alwyn]

You can set the mouse wheel to single frame scrolling in Settings.

Thanks. I'm sure I clicked that cog but it didn't look like it does now! Lots of nifty settings in there. Be good to have a mouse wheel+SHIFT and +CTRL to give us three scrolling speeds then transfer to the arrows when you get really close to the cut point you want.

AFAIK not everyone wants to use the crapware loaded in Windows, some prefer a dedicated Zip tool like i do.

I use a stripped down version of Windows 11 Pro, it does not have that so called built in extraxtion tool, and if it did i would not use it anyway, i prefer 7Zip.

I was simply offering a suggestion for somebody who looks like they're having problems. Why do you feel the need to blast anybody who proposes a different way of doing things than you, especially when the different way it involves less work?

as well as additional features such as implementing a similar Intelligent Recode option similar to VRD (Quality Factor Calculation) where by you don't need to manually set your export Video Quality Bitrate

The whole point of a smart cutter is that NOTHING is changed (except for the recoded parts on each side of the cuts). Any adjustment of any export parameter means the whole file will be recoded. If you want to start changing QRF or Bitrate do a full encode.

[Bridgy]

I was simply offering a suggestion for somebody who looks like they're having problems. Why do you feel the need to blast anybody who proposes a different way of doing things than you, especially when the different way it involves less work?

Haha, too funny, i was not blasting anyone, you offered an alternative and so did i, it's simple m8.

The whole point of a smart cutter is that NOTHING is changed (except for the recoded parts on each side of the cuts). Any adjustment of any export parameter means the whole file will be recoded. If you want to start changing QRF or Bitrate do a full encode.

In my previous post i was referring to the Encode Settings for the SMC Full Recode feature, not the Smart Cut mode, i already know how that works m8 (see below)

So far i am loving what SMC offers so far, i just hate having to use the manual Encode Settings for doing Full Encodes.

SMC does not use any kind of Quality Factor Calculation like VRD does, that feature was invented by Dan Rosen, others tried to copy it, mostly with no success, and this is one of the feature that made VRD unique in it's day.

One more option: there is an installation (exe) version available from Microsoft Store.

You flog the Microsoft store, what a joke that place is.

Microsoft have screwed their windows 11 users and held them for ransom after screwing them over by not offering any more updates for windows 10, all this when 10 was the best OS ever made (outside of 7)

[skeskinen]

Thank you all for your feedback. I've been quite busy recently so my responses are a bit slow over here.

Alwyn: Thanks for the sample. Looks like decoding/rendering are getting out of sync during repeated left-arrow seeks. I will look into this issue.
And I'll also look into adding option for the mouse wheel + ctrl/shift, seeking. It's a good suggestion.
A startup splash/loading indicator also makes sense. I have to measure how much of the slowness comes from the operating system. Because I have noticed that e.g. MacOS does some very slow checks on the first bootup, which I cannot do anything about.

Secoast: good UI feedback. Thank you. I'll have to revisit some of these ideas later. But for now I added these two UI options:

[Attachment 92271 - Click to enlarge]
[Attachment 92272 - Click to enlarge]
[Attachment 92273 - Click to enlarge]


Re: Zip vs. Microsoft store:
Indeed the zip version needs to be fully extracted before the .exe can be launched. Also, the zip version and the ms store version have separate settings, mostly for accidental reasons, so I might change that in the future and unify the 2.

I don't like the MS store, or Microsoft as a company. But unfortunately they have made it very difficult for indie developers to distribute software without scary "this might harm your computer" warnings.
So, really, distributing through MS store is the only real way to make sure the installation experience is smooth.
This is just how Windows is now, I guess.

---

In other news: Version 2.4 is now out. It comes with a lot of bugfixes and some more UI features.

The biggest new thing is is that long videos now open much faster.
The analysis of the video is deferred so you can edit the beginning of a long video almost immediately.


Thanks all, and I hope you find SMC useful

[Secoast]

skeskinen... You truly are inpirational. I hope SMC becomes the success it deserves to be. I will certainly not hesitate to promote it at every opportunity.

Keep up the good work.

[Alwyn]

Version 2.4.3:For TS (MPEG 2) files, the quality setting for a Full Encode is inoperative: for "normal" quality, the bitrate is exactly the same as for "high" quality.

On an SD H264 MP4, no issues, Normal was 1777kbps, High was 3000kbps, and also no probs with UHD H264 (60mbps and 104mbps).

Transcoding (MPEG 2>H264) also works OK.

[Alwyn]

SMC does not use any kind of Quality Factor Calculation like VRD does, that feature was invented by Dan Rosen, others tried to copy it, mostly with no success, and this is one of the feature that made VRD unique in it's day.

QRF has been around since the cows came home, and is an integral part of exporting from FFMpeg itself, as well as Handbrake, VDub (x264), Hybrid, and probably most decent video editors. Let's not get carried away; VD was nothing special in this regard.

That said, it would be good to have more control over export bitrate via bitrate and/or QRF settings. Mind you, transcoding is a peripheral task for a SMART cutter (as is titling, IMO).

[Mike99]

Thought I'd give this program a try & downloaded Windows version 2.3.4 from this VideoHelp site and unzipped it.
https://www.videohelp.com/software/Smart-Media-Cutter

I went to run "smart-media-cutter.exe" and got this message.
Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk.

I don't want to presume that the program is safe & that Microsoft just does not recognize it. Was I supposed to download the program from a different site?

[skeskinen]

skeskinen... You truly are inpirational. I hope SMC becomes the success it deserves to be. I will certainly not hesitate to promote it at every opportunity.

Keep up the good work.

Thank you for your kind words! I hope the releases stay good quality, and if there are any issues I'll try to fix them quickly.
I think it's gonna get more popular over time as I implement more useful features, and do more promotion.

I did release 2.4.4 today, to fix some issues that slipped through the cracks.

You can set the mouse wheel to single frame scrolling in Settings.

Thanks. I'm sure I clicked that cog but it didn't look like it does now! Lots of nifty settings in there. Be good to have a mouse wheel+SHIFT and +CTRL to give us three scrolling speeds then transfer to the arrows when you get really close to the cut point you want.

In the new 2.4.4, I implemented this feature as well.

[Attachment 92278 - Click to enlarge]

And also fixed the MPEG 2 quality setting.

Thank you for reporting the bugs!

Thought I'd give this program a try & downloaded Windows version 2.3.4 from this VideoHelp site and unzipped it.
https://www.videohelp.com/software/Smart-Media-Cutter

I went to run "smart-media-cutter.exe" and got this message.
Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk.

I don't want to presume that the program is safe & that Microsoft just does not recognize it. Was I supposed to download the program from a different site?

Only way to get rid of this message is to install through Microsoft store: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9p0tcz2f87nq

Removing the SmartScreen warning is very complicated topic. But basically, Microsoft changed the SmartScreen rules sometime in 2024/2025 in such way that small developers have no way to remove this warning anymore, except by using Microsoft store.

[Mike99]

I can bypass the warning & "Run anyway". But is this a legitimate program?

I did see the program at the Microsoft store but that looked like you had to first download & run an installer. I presume the program gets installed vs. the download from the VideoHelp site is a portable version. Is that correct?

[Bridgy]

Leave the stupid Microsoft store option alone in the SMC website, just click on the Download Portable Zip version from the SMC website (it is under the Microsoft store button) OR download from this VideoHelp forum.

https://smartmediacutter.com/downloads/

Microsoft are almost as bad as Zuckerburg and his stupid facebook.Facebook

[Alwyn]

I can bypass the warning & "Run anyway". But is this a legitimate program?

I've used a couple of the Portable versions now and it is fine/legit as far as I can tell.

Otherwise, just use the MS store version, but be aware the version currently there is 2.4.3, whereas the latest version is 2.4.4.

[Alwyn]

In the new 2.4.4, I implemented this feature as well. [mouse wheel scrolling CTRL SHIFT]

And also fixed the MPEG 2 quality setting.

Good job! Thanks.

[Bridgy]

QRF has been around since the cows came home, and is an integral part of exporting from FFMpeg itself, as well as Handbrake, VDub (x264), Hybrid, and probably most decent video editors. Let's not get carried away; VD was nothing special in this regard.

I only just saw this post of yours from last night, and i do have a reply for this, but i am finding it difficult to convey precisely what i want to say so that you might understand the difference between the way in which other software uses QRF (RF in Handbrake) and the way that VRD uses it's Quality Factor Calculation when exporting to other Formats (codecs/resolutions etc) using it's Intelligent Recode option.

I personally prefer the Intelligent Recode option in VRD as there is nothing the user needs to do or select after setting up their export profile, the Intelligent Recode option is already set by default in your export profile, in Handbrake you need to select Average Bitrate or Quality Factor using the RF Slider and either leave it on the default for your export settings, or you can raise it or lower it to change the quality (bitrate) for your exported file.

VRD also has a Force Recode option where you need to select your own custom export quality settings after you have created your export profile, but i only use that if or when i really need to.

Handbrake claims to have a set of default RF settings for exporting to various Resolutions, however i think that these are fairly broad and not always that accurate from my own testing compared to the results for the same export that i get from VRD, and i often find that i need to use a lower RF setting for a given export than what their default RF setting is.

Anyway, all of this might be very subjective as to what bitrate the export file really should be, and it comes down to personal choice, but it still doesn't take away the fact that when using Handbrake you need to choose between 2 export modes, and decide if the default RF setting is going to be the right one for your export file.

I have not seen any other software that has an Intelligent Recode feature like the way Dan set his up in VRD.

I also prefer VRD because it does a lot more than just recode video files.

[Alwyn]

"Intelligent Recode" was always an oxymoron for me. Either you're smart-recoding a file, that is, full recodes only around the broken GOPs, and no other changes to the video parameters at all, or you're doing a full recode on the whole file. As I say, any change to bitrate/QRF/codec/whatever will result in a full recode, nothing "intelligent" about it at all.

When I was doing a "smart-cut" in VRD, I never touched any video parameter. If you changed any, then saved as a new profile, then you're going to modify the parameters of the original video which will result in a full recode.

All this is, IMO, moot. We needed a program that smart-cuts. That's what Smart Media Cutter does.

[Alwyn]

Re Exporting...


[Attachment 92295 - Click to enlarge]

I think the caption for "Speed" should be "Slower speeds improve quality around cut points but increase export time" (if that's actually correct ).

[Bridgy]

"Intelligent Recode" was always an oxymoron for me. Either you're smart-recoding a file, that is, full recodes only around the broken GOPs, and no other changes to the video parameters at all, or you're doing a full recode on the whole file. As I say, any change to bitrate/QRF/codec/whatever will result in a full recode, nothing "intelligent" about it at all.

When I was doing a "smart-cut" in VRD, I never touched any video parameter. If you changed any, then saved as a new profile, then you're going to modify the parameters of the original video which will result in a full recode.

I think that you and i both have a very different view about all of this, it doesn't matter if it is called Intelligent Recode or something else, it is the finer details in the way that Dan Rosen implemented his version or method for Recoding files.

So although the methodology and results might be similar, the execution of the VRD intelligent recode is better in my opinion than it is in any other recoding tool.

So we agree to disagree and focus on SMC.

[Bridgy]

I think the caption for "Speed" should be "Slower speeds improve quality around cut points but increase export time" (if that's actually correct ).

Personally i don't think that there is any need to add around cut points to the Speed setting in the Smart Cut Mode because everyone knows that only the few frames either side of a cut is recoded anyway, but that is just my own opinion.

I also don't get why there is a Speed and Quality setting for the Smart Cut mode anyway, why can't this be set internally so when we click on the Smart Cut button, those 2 settings are not even visible, or have them disabled, it should be easy for the developer to determine the right quality for the few frames either side of the cuts based on the source file itself, the way it works in VRD where we don't need to set anything for a Smart Cut.

If you choose the Full Recode option then leave those 2 settings there so users can select their own export quality based on your chosen Speed and quality setting.

On another note, the Smart Cut and Full Recode modes both have the Quality and Speed settings set to Low and Slow, so i am assuming these are set by default, and if so, then why is the Quality set to Low, and not something higher, which i know is required based on my own testing.


[Attachment 92296 - Click to enlarge]

I have done a lot of testing with all of these settings (in Full Recode mode) and in total there are 45 different combinations that can be applied, and each one will give a different quality/size export file, so in the end it is up to the user to guess which Speed and Quality settings to use for their given export.

[Mike99]

Leave the stupid Microsoft store option alone in the SMC website, just click on the Download Portable Zip version from the SMC website (it is under the Microsoft store button) OR download from this VideoHelp forum.

https://smartmediacutter.com/downloads/

Microsoft are almost as bad as Zuckerburg and his stupid facebook.Facebook

Thanks -
I downloaded the Zip version from the SMC website but it was really slow, 1.2-1.8 MB/sec. I tried several times but it was always slow. Is that typical for that website?