Editing/capturing .avi files to build a compilation

[Sceaduo]

I've researched this, but couldn't find the answer.

There are tutorials of how to capture DVD files and edit them and what not, but not for .AVI files.

This is what I want to accomplish, and preferably for free.

Hypothetical situations here:

I want to capture a hand full of scenes from separate .avi movies I have on my Harddrive and blend them together into one single movie.

e.i.

Movie #1 I want/like scene #3
Movie #2 I want/like scene #6
Movie #3 I want/like scene #1

Now, I want to take those 3 scenes and make one single movie compilation with somesort of transition between the scenes themselves.

Is this possible with .avi files?
Is there a way to do this for free?

regards,
Sceaduo

[redwudz]

VirtualDub can do that. But all the movies must have the same format, framesize, audio, etc. AVIDemux can also do it. If you name your files sequentially, VD can also append them together automatically.

There are lots of guides for VD at the bottom of it's tool page.

The transition part may be a bit harder, but there may be a filter for that: http://www.thedeemon.com/VirtualDubFilters/

[Sceaduo]

Thank you, I will read-up on VD

[Sceaduo]

OK, I tried the virtualdub and got it to cut the scenes I wanted it to.

Putting them together is now the problem. It's probably the "same framesize, format" stuff you mentioned above. All these .avi movies are from different sources, so I'm guessing that's my problem.

Is there a software I can run all the .avi file through to make them the same then use VD?

Is there a software that will accept the different files and do what I'm asking?

tia

[redwudz]

If depends on what format and quality you want. You can use VD to re-encode them so they are all the same, then append them together. Or AVIDemux may be able to combine them if just the framerates, framesize, or audio is not too different. But re-encoding, resizing will result in some quality loss. How much depends on the settings your are using and the quality of the original video.

If I just plan to play back the video on the computer, I pick the most common framesize, framerate, audio, etc., and just make the rest of the videos the same. If you need a specific format and setting, then you will have to re-encode them all to match.

Usually increasing the bitrate 20 - 100% more than the original bitrate will keep most of the quality, but the filesize will increase. No 'hard and fast' rules here, you will just have to experiment and settle for a size/quality combination that you can live with.