What software should I use

[damcz]

Hi.

I didn't know if this thread should be in this section or in a newbie section. If in newbie, then you can move it to

I have a 2 hours long video file and what I need is to create a video from it. I want to delete some fragments of it, I need to move another fragments into another place in the video. In other words I need to do the montage or editing of the video.

What software is the best for this purpose.

Windows Movie Maker has enough feature for this but when I want to import my 2 hours long video, this program shows that it needs 90 minutes to import that video and during importing it requires using almost 100% of processor so that can't be.

I also tried lightworks but software can't run on my computer due to my graphic card.

Thanks in advance.

[Baldrick]

What is your video source?
Do you need to any more complex editing? Adding transitions?

[damcz]

I don't know exactly what you mean by video source. But this is a video in AVI format which was recorded by pocket video camera.

More complex editing like transitions is not necessary but useful.

[Baldrick]

WMM should handle avi pretty good. But it might depend on the video and audio codec in your avi. Identify the video details with mediainfoxp, open the avi and copy all details.

You could also try other free editors like videopad and VSDC.

Or else is videostudio pro one of the best editors. Not free though.

[damcz]

Thank you.

WMM should handle avi pretty good. But it might depend on the video and audio codec in your avi. Identify the video details with mediainfoxp, open the avi and copy all details.

Yes, I've found that other avi files (with the same length) are loaded much faster with Windows Movie Maker than the file that I need to work on.

The details from mediainfoxp:

General
Complete name : D:\...\VID00265.AVI
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 3.60 GiB
Duration : 1h 0mn
Overall bit rate : 8 449 Kbps

Video
ID : 0
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame
Format settings, GOP : M=1, N=5
Codec ID : H264
Duration : 1h 0mn
Bit rate : 8 262 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 30.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.299
Stream size : 3.52 GiB (98%)

Audio
ID : 1
Format : ADPCM
Codec ID : 2
Duration : 1h 0mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 176.4 Kbps
Channel(s) : 1 channel
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Bit depth : 4 bits
Stream size : 77.4 MiB (2%)
Interleave, duration : 46 ms (1.39 video frame)

Do you know how to make it loading faster in WMM?

[Cornucopia]

Your cam uses AVC (aka h.264) video, along with ADPCM (aka ~compressed WAV) audio stuffed in an AVI container. While this isn't "standard", it should be workable, especially if it's already clear that WMM can open it.

Unless your PC is a powerhouse, it probably SHOULDN'T load faster, in WMM or any other editor. AVC material is difficult for editing apps to work with natively (which is what you are trying to do), unless they are specifically designed to accommodate lossless, GOP-based edits.

Don't use "other files of the same length" as a comparison. Length has very little to do with the app's difficulty here. COMPLEXITY does. AVC video is fairly complex (unlike DV or even MPEG2). Try a similar clip, from the same camera, of 1 min, 5 min, & 10 minute lengths. Measure how long it takes each one to import. Then, see if, once loaded, it plays smoothly. I'm betting that it will take almost realtime to load (and will use almost full CPU %), but then will play fairly smoothly (with some slight choppiness). If that's true, that's probably the best you can do with that material and that PC.
Unless your edits are such that you can afford not to edit on the exact frame you want. Then, you could use a lossless, GOP-based editing app like I mentioned.

Scott