What are you guys using to edit/cut/paste Xvid & .WMV files?

[myocardia]

I'm wanting to make some videos shorter, and combine others, but don't want to have to download and try out all 12,000 "video editors" out there, some of which don't seem to do much. So, what are you guys (and gals) using to work with Xvid and .WMV files, specifically cutting out portions, and pasting them back together. I tried the Windoze Movie Maker for the .WMV files, and while it did everything I needed, it also has horrendous output quality. Thanks in advance.

 

[themisfit610]

This isn't as easy as you might think - particularly if you want to join files of different types - like cutting an MPEG-4 (Xvid) and a WMV file together.

It's all because these are two fundamentally different formats - PLUS at heart they're both delivery formats, as opposed to an intermediate format - which means they're not designed for easy editing.

Here's my suggestion:

Re-encode any videos you might want to edit into a lossless codec like Lagarith. Then you're in an editable format that can go into any NLE (non linear editor), like Adobe Premiere, Ulead, or whatever. You can cut easily in a lossless format, and then encode the result to whatever you want.

Cutting MPEG-4 / WMV natively is going to be a total nightmare. Sidestep the issue...

~MiSfit

 

[myocardia]

Thing is, I'm not wanting to do anything besides, for instance, remove N amount of minutes from some portion of a video, then rejoin the two/three portions that are left. I'm not trying to to join a Divx, an Xvid, and a .WMV.

Re-encode any videos you might want to edit into a lossless codec like Lagarith.

How would you go about this? I've downloaded and installed Lagarith, but since it's only a codec, and not an app, I still have no software to use for video editing. That was actually my only purpose for making this thread. What would you recommend? Wait, just so you know, I'd sooner give away all 5 of my computers, before I'd pay Adobe $500 for any piece of software. Seriously.

 

[wwswimming]

Sony Vegas Studio. no need to read instructions, but has a lot of functionality
if you do feel like reading the instructions.

 

[imported_Scoop]

VirtualDub is what I use. It's awesome for editing out what is not needed and encoding the remaining clip either as a completely new encode in any format you currently have codecs for, or just direct source copy. Easy to use and just works.

http://www.virtualdub.org/

 

[Blain]

Why post this in the "General Hardware" forum? :roll:

 

[themisfit610]

VirtualDub is fantastic for anything in an AVI container (DivX/ Xvid). I highly recommend it, since you can both do simple editing (as you requested), and re-encoding to lagarith which might be necessary in some situations.

WMV might be trickier. I've never tried editing it. You'll probably have to use AviSynth and VirtualDub together to do the cutting, and re-encode the result

Also, keep in mind that (without re-encoding) you can't simply cut on any frame you want - you can only cut on "intraframes" (or keyframes), which in the best case happen every ~10-20 frames, but in the worst case can happen every 240 frames or so. Usually there will be a keyframe somewhere in a scene change (i.e. at the start or end of commercials), but not always

"Smart re-encoding" can get around this, but most software doesn't support it, and most that do only support it for MPEG-2.

Lagarith and other lossless codecs are "intra only" which means every frame is a keyframe, simplifying the editing process - hence my recommendation.

~MiSfit

 

[myocardia]

Thanks guys. I'll try out VirtualDub. It looks like it may very well be all that I need, besides Lagarith. I appreciate it.