do you hav quality loss when splitting video

[Fking]

Does the process of splitting large video file in smaller clips involves decompression of the file to raw format, cutting, and then compressing again

Or it just cuts the file and ads header and footer to the files without any recompressions?


im asking about wmv format but if its different for any other format i would like to know as well

thanks

[redwudz]

If you use a editor that cuts properly on the keyframes, you shouldn't have to re-encode anything. Most editors will do that automatically.

In the case of some highly compressed formats like Xvid, the keyframes are about 300 frames apart by default, so frame accurate cutting is difficult. WMV may be similar. If you choose not to cut on a keyframe, then you will likely have to re-encode. And yes, there will be some quality loss.

One of the best formats for editing is DV. Every frame is a keyframe, so you can cut wherever you want.