simple visual split and merge for MP4 files

[videopixy]

Newbie here. Very frustrating but problem I have, which I'm surprised IS a problem. I currently have Roxio Videowave (2011, part of Roxio Creator), and recently downladed and installed a free version VideoPad (which I think now is Adobe). I also have the Haupauge Collosus PVR (which is PCI slot video capture card), and a little Sony camera, both of which capture in MP4 format. Of course I have a recent copy of FFmpeg too.

Anyway,All I want to be able to do is load in MP4 files, such as a screen capture of a TV program made with the Haupauge, carefully split and remove where commercials are in the video, and splice them back together. Alternately, when using my video capture card, I can stop/start recording during comercials, (there is no PAUSE apparently) and later splice together all the pieces.

My problem is, all the video editing software I have that will let me do these operations, will NOT let me simply save the result, without re-processing the whole project. Re-processing always results in more degradation. I suppose anything like that is basically re-sampling. So even if I set an output quality higher than the original, I'll just end up with a bigger file, and lower quality. If I were building a video with bits and pieces from many sources, all with different frame rates or bit rates, I'd expect to have to re-process the output. For just splitting and splicing identically formatted pieces, I'd really want something that can do it without re-processing.

Now I understand that for splicing pieces together, I probably can just make some batch files and just use Ffmpeg. But its usually much more accurate to be able to narrow down commercial pauses, frame by frame, split where I want, delete the commercial, and move on. I know FFMPEG will let me do that too, but it would be a super PITA!!! I'd have to know the exact time of each commercial start and stop, and do all my splitting and editing blindly.

So all this to ask, is there a free or at least inexpensive video editing tool that will let me do these basic split/merge edits visually, and then simply save the result without re-processing or re-sampling?

Thanks for any tips!

[sneaker]

SolveigMM Video Splitter, VideoReDo ... (this question gets asked 3 times every week. try forum search)

[sambat]

If the .mp4 file has avc video and aac audio, use MKVToolnix to change it to .mkv, then use MKV Cutter to save the bits you want.

[videopixy]

If the .mp4 file has avc video and aac audio, use MKVToolnix to change it to .mkv, then use MKV Cutter to save the bits you want.

Thanks, but first, my experience with video software is that anytime you "change" any video format to another, you lose quality and waste a lot of time. I want to save my result without changing any formats, or having to stop to analyze and google whether my MP4 file has avc video or acc audio. There has to be something available that doen't require me to become an enxpert on video analysis.

Second. The process sounds like the free version (1.4.13) of "Free Video Editor", which I'm trying now. Nice that it lets me cut all the parts I want to save out of a a video, without commercials. But I can't believe it leaves me with all the pieces in separate files. Really? How much trouble would it have been to include the capability of simply cutting out my deleted parts and saving as one file, instead of making it into two projects!

[videopixy]

SolveigMM Video Splitter, VideoReDo ... (this question gets asked 3 times every week. try forum search)

You know, I really hate answers like this.... Try a search... try google. You know, its possible guys like me have tried several things, and in the end are joining a forum to TRY A HUMAN search. As I mentioned in my post, I've already bought and archived a bit of software, devices, and utilities, and have been surprised that what I thought was a simple operations is not available in a lot of software.

And as a matter of fact, I did search before posting, and found and downloaded the still free version of "Free Video Editor" (v1.4.13), after reading a few reviews which gave me the impression it would do what I was asking. Turns out it only does a half job! Id does let me visually find and separate (select) all the parts I want to delete. Does it let me delete them after all that fuss? NO! It just lets me save all the pieces, leaving me to have to find or use another process to string them together.

So I've already searched and tried for a long time. If you think I'm a dummy for not finding a solution, I say the only "dumb question" is the one you don't ask. But I'll add this... one "DUMB ANSWER" is usually one like you gave me.

[smrpix]

SolveigMM Video Splitter, VideoReDo ... (this question gets asked 3 times every week. try forum search)

You know, I really hate answers like this.... Try a search... try google. You know, its possible guys like me have tried several things, and in the end are joining a forum to TRY A HUMAN search. As I mentioned in my post, I've already bought and archived a bit of software, devices, and utilities, and have been surprised that what I thought was a simple operations is not available in a lot of software.

And as a matter of fact, I did search before posting, and found and downloaded the still free version of "Free Video Editor" (v1.4.13), after reading a few reviews which gave me the impression it would do what I was asking. Turns out it only does a half job! Id does let me visually find and separate (select) all the parts I want to delete. Does it let me delete them after all that fuss? NO! It just lets me save all the pieces, leaving me to have to find or use another process to string them together.

So I've already searched and tried for a long time. If you think I'm a dummy for not finding a solution, I say the only "dumb question" is the one you don't ask. But I'll add this... one "DUMB ANSWER" is usually one like you gave me.

It's a lot less typing to just say "thanks."

[Cornucopia]

As you are a self-proclaimed newbie, don't you think it would be smarter to also be openminded about responses...perhaps even responses that you consider unwarranted/unnecessary. Possible they know something about the process that you don't, and so those responses might be more spot-on for what you are really needing.

My takes on this: your bit about converting to another format losing quality is mostly right. Converting to a lossy-compressed format. Not true with lossless. Equivalent quality as the decompressed input. Just much higher bitrate.
Sounds like you are trying to record tv channels and edit them. If those are not encrypted/copy-protected AND you edit on keyframes, it is very easy with multiple apps to save the edited files with no conversion,and thus NO possibility of further loss.
But you say you are screen recording some titles. And that sounds to me like that is your workaround for those encrypted/cp files. But your choice of screen recording format may be engendering further loss. And even with a lossless format, you have already baked in the previous generation, and cannot IMPROVE the quality.
Plus, you would still need to edit those, and in doing so, you are back to issues of which source format vs. target format and whether you are editing on keyframes.
If you aren't, even if you are outputing to the identical format, you must be re-encoding. At least for some of those frames. And unless you are using the appropriate smart-rendering editor which supports your chosen format, you are encoding the whole clip.
And of course, with re-encoding to lossy formats, there is loss.

So you can see now, sneaker's suggestions, as well as avidemux, are good ones.

Scott

[videopixy]

As you are a self-proclaimed newbie, don't you think it would be smarter to also be openminded about responses...perhaps even responses that you consider unwarranted/unnecessary. Possible they know something about the process that you don't, and so those responses might be more spot-on for what you are really needing.

My takes on this: your bit about converting to another format losing quality is mostly right. Converting to a lossy-compressed format. Not true with lossless. Equivalent quality as the decompressed input. Just much higher bitrate.
Sounds like you are trying to record tv channels and edit them. If those are not encrypted/copy-protected AND you edit on keyframes, it is very easy with multiple apps to save the edited files with no conversion,and thus NO possibility of further loss.
But you say you are screen recording some titles. And that sounds to me like that is your workaround for those encrypted/cp files. But your choice of screen recording format may be engendering further loss. And even with a lossless format, you have already baked in the previous generation, and cannot IMPROVE the quality.
Plus, you would still need to edit those, and in doing so, you are back to issues of which source format vs. target format and whether you are editing on keyframes.
If you aren't, even if you are outputing to the identical format, you must be re-encoding. At least for some of those frames. And unless you are using the appropriate smart-rendering editor which supports your chosen format, you are encoding the whole clip.
And of course, with re-encoding to lossy formats, there is loss.

So you can see now, sneaker's suggestions, as well as avidemux, are good ones.

Scott

I may have over reacted. But I just see this too often... on electronics websites, various coding sites, and all manner of DIY sites. I can understand that its warranted at times. But if someone joins who has actually already invested time and money on some tools, tried a number of things, and they re still having a problem with something that should be simple, it ought to be obvious that the person has already tried some Google and forum searches.

But anyway, I think I'm out of the woods, and since I said "if I was a dummy", well in fact I was. It turned out that Free Video Editor (the truly free one, v. 1.4.13) I'd been messing with is the perfect tool for what I wanted to do here. But as is often the case, the the online "Help", which amounted to a single "how to" web page did not explain the saving options well. Turns out, once the two special save options are UNCHECKED, the program naturally saves your edit with all the sections you mark removed. I expected it would just work to the nearest key frame, and that's fine. Especially for removing commercials where there's always at least a black (or fade to black) transition anyway. And at least this particular software's claim to fame is that if you select "Same as input file" for the output format, it will NOT re-encode. It will just splice the pieces together. And it does it fast enough to lead me to believe it can't possibly be re--processing the video that fast.

By the way, that Haupauge Colossus PVR does an admirable job! Even when just capturing from a "component video" source, with judicious setting of the bitrate it's capture is a pretty impressive MP4. Yeas, just as with old analog audio, a recording of a recording is always degraded, and the eye seems less forgiving than the ear. But it does a better job than I ever expected. In fact if you throuw its bitrate settings to maximum, you'll get a perfect "looking" copy, though at that point you will have turned a two hour movie into a 20+ GB file! (LOL). It also has an HDMI input, and as many users have discovered, most HDMI splitters will do the HDCP handshake, and let you at least start with raw digital content. Sadly, it still re-processes and re-encodes, but it does a good job.

I understand that when I've gathered bits and pieces of video gathered from different sources, recorded with different frame rates, screen res, and bit rates, that's a case where you have to expect to re-process everything, to turn out a coherent video. But it seemed crazy to me that after so many years of futzing with things like this, I never found a tool that would let me either paste identical format clips together, or cut out unwanted parts, without re-sampling. Today I've finally found the right tool! Perhaps I can help someone else with what I've learned.