Nothing seems to work. Cutting MP4 without re-encoding

[exbngr]

It's a gameplay recording using http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hdpvr2-gaming.html

An MP4 file.

I've tried Avidemux... I've tried about 10 programs, some mentioned on this site, but nothing seems to work.

Some programs close as soon as I load it in. Some will load it but won't allow me to cut. With Avidemux the screen stutters.

Is there anything out there?

[Baldrick]

Tried videoredo tvsuite h264? Or Solveigmm Video Splitter.

Or are you just looking for free software?

[exbngr]

I've been trying lots of trials. Want to try trials first

I'll try these two.

[exbngr]

Just tried videoredo, the audio goes way out of sync.

[Baldrick]

Doesn't hauppuage have some simple tool for lossless editing?

Can you capture in some other container than mp4? Like avchd/mts/m2ts.


But lossless editing has always caused problems and even worse now with more video features like variable framerate and other advanced features.

[exbngr]

Solveigmm Video Splitter crashes.

Will it be possible to do this at some point without having to re-encode?

I mean soon? Could someone make a program?

[Baldrick]

Probably not then.

[jman98]

We've talked about this before, but there are issues with MP4 recordings under Hauppauge. You'll get better results if you record to MKV format (works best) or TS format (better than MP4 but maybe a bit less reliable than MKV) and edit those. You can use something like VideoReDo to save the final result to MP4 if you wish. Recording directly to MP4 format just doesn't seem to work well on a variety of Hauppauge devices.

[jman98]

Oh - and to follow up on your MANY other threads, now closed, related to this...
Hauppauge isn't known for get tech support. Their official forums are just about worthless. But record to MKV or TS format, edit that, and save to MP4 or save to the same format you recorded to and then use that file to create an MP4 file. I'm sure there's probably some kind of program out there that could take MKV or TS input and remux everything to MP4 for you quickly.

[Stears555]

The so-called: " Video to video converter " is the only reliable product for cut/merge videos with direct stream copy without any audio-sync problems.

[TCmullet]

The so-called: " Video to video converter " is the only reliable product for cut/merge videos with direct stream copy without any audio-sync problems.

Stears555, have YOU used this program much? When I visit their site, I find it all so bland that I worry that there must be a ton of adware/spyware that will get installed. What happened when YOU installed it? And how much have you used it successfully (no added sync errors, no reencoding, etc.)

[Stears555]

The so-called: " Video to video converter " is the only reliable product for cut/merge videos with direct stream copy without any audio-sync problems.

Stears555, have YOU used this program much? When I visit their site, I find it all so bland that I worry that there must be a ton of adware/spyware that will get installed. What happened when YOU installed it? And how much have you used it successfully (no added sync errors, no reencoding, etc.)

Utmost all free softwares apply adwares (which are not dangerous). It's direct-stream-copy mode worked perfectly with Tranport streams and other containers, it can merge and cut videos without any sync problems.

[sanlyn]

TMPGenc Smart Renderer 4. Not free. Trial available. MPEG, mp4, mkv, BluRay, AVCHD . etc. + Dolby, PCM, AAC, mp2, mp3.

[Stears555]

TMPGenc Smart Renderer 4. Not free. Trial available. MPEG, mp4, mkv, BluRay, AVCHD . etc. + Dolby, PCM, AAC, mp2, mp3.

But , the well known "smart rendering" is not a real direct-stream-copy mode! It reencodes some parts of the video in editing (merge and cut) points. Since the second half of 2012, when FFmpeg made reality the frame-accurate perfect cut and merge of video files with direct-stream-copy (without any reencoding) , the other "smart rendering" methods became obsolete immediately.

[sanlyn]

Never had a problem with the TMPgenc mentioned. Unless the video itself is a "problem", in which case there's a lot of work to do. The O.P. sez he's in a hurry. I don't see how ffmpeg or its GUI's can be used in a hurry, but it's worth a try.

[Stears555]

Never had a problem with the TMPgenc mentioned. Unless the video itself is a "problem", in which case there's a lot of work to do. The O.P. sez he's in a hurry. I don't see how ffmpeg or its GUI's can be used in a hurry, but it's worth a try.

"smart rendering" technology (a lot of softwares use it) reencodes some parts of the video in editing (merge and cut) points." It means loss of quality in editing points, therefore it is obsolete in simple cut/merge operations.

[sanlyn]

No doubt you are correct, not questioning that. I've given ffmpeg a few trials myself. I venture it would take the O.P. a week of updates, ancillary support file installs, and whatnot, to get it going. The O.P. is in PAL country, gives no computer profile info, so no telling what the computer would need. But it will certainly work, once it's properly set up.

[hello_hello]

My understanding regarding the re-encoding of the area around a cut point, is that if you don't cut on a keyframe you'll be potentially removing frames which are required by other frames for decoding. Therefore when not cutting on a keyframe, some re-encoding is required. How does ffmpeg get around that?

[poisondeathray]

My understanding regarding the re-encoding of the area around a cut point, is that if you don't cut on a keyframe you'll be potentially removing frames which are required by other frames for decoding. Therefore when not cutting on a keyframe, some re-encoding is required. How does ffmpeg get around that?

It doesn't get around that. There is some misinformation being spread.

When using -vcodec copy -acodec copy, ffmpeg skips to nearest keyframe . It's GOP accurate, not frame accurate. (It's analgous to how mkvtoolnix or tsmuxer would "cut") . Yes , there is no re-encoding, but the cuts are not accurate with long GOP material.


The OP's problem is hdpvr2 streams are damaged or non standard. A firmware update should fix that if it already hasn't been released

[sanlyn]

My understanding regarding the re-encoding of the area around a cut point, is that if you don't cut on a keyframe you'll be potentially removing frames which are required by other frames for decoding. Therefore when not cutting on a keyframe, some re-encoding is required. How does ffmpeg get around that?

It doesn't get around that. There is some misinformation being spread.

When using -vcodec copy -acodec copy, ffmpeg skips to nearest keyframe . It's GOP accurate, not frame accurate.

That was my past experience, so it appears that this aspect of ffmpeg hasn't changed. I haven't used in for some time. There are cutters other than TMPGenc's, but it seems to do OK....source structural problems aside.