Splitting a file with no loss of quality

[lennox]

I have several clips which under 'Properties' show as Movie Clip or Video Clip. I want to cut them - keep one bit and junk the rest.
TMPG Editor won't accept them.
Is there a tool that will do what I want with no loss in quality either through encoding before or afterwards?

And am I right in thinking that TMPG Editor only processes the areas that were cut and leaves the rest untouched?

[anonymez]

tmpgenc mpeg editor only accepts mpeg video as input. i'd wager your files are avi. see here to cut them up losslessly

http://www.doom9.org/virtualdub_procedures.htm#vdubway

[tigerman8u]

If they are avi files I would use Virtualdub or one of it's variants (free). If they are mpeg 1/2 I use mpeg video wizard.

[drfsupercenter]

Ulead Video Studio. The BEST program for video editing. VirtualDub is great for encoding - but not good for editing. Give Ulead a try at www.ulead.com. I even made 2 music videos with Ulead!

[paglamon]

If it is only a matter of cutting the clips & not much editing then go for Virtualdub(for .avi) & TMPGEncPlus(mpeg1&2). You might also try Ultra Video Splitter.

[LT. Columbo]

everyone seems to have a system which works for them, i prefer virtualdub for avi, tmpgenc/tmpgenc DVD author for MPEG.

[mo24]

A program that I think is often overlooked by people is Windows Movie Maker, which is bundled with any version of Windows XP.

It's not that great in the grand scheme of things, but you can cut out or trim portions of a movie easily and do some real basic editing, without having to download a third party program. It apparently supports wmv, avi, mpeg, and a few other video formats. I've only used it for mpegs so far.

[jeo]

I want to cut them - keep one bit and junk the rest.
Is there a tool that will do what I want with no loss in quality either through encoding before or afterwards?

i know cuttermaran but You will need Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1(link inside download page) to install an use Cuttermaran.

hope it help!

[anonymez]

i believe cuttermaran is limited to mpeg-2, but its still a great program, i use it all the time for dvb

i agree with the LT, go for this simplest, easiest free solution: vdub for avi, tmpgenc/cuttermaran for mpeg

[lennox]

Golly - what a response!
What I wanted here was no-loss cutting, to keep one bit and junk the other, with no editing.
Virtualdub: looked scary at first (especially when they say "this way is more complicated") but it's a breeze. And as anonymez suspected, the files TMPGenc rejected are avi.
TMPGenc Editor: excellent for mpegs.
Ulead: tried various programs of theirs for various reasons: great final result IF you have the patience and like fiddly interfaces.
MovieMaker: as mo24 says it's a fine program and I used it a lot, but certainly not lossless. The "Best for my computer" save option is stupidly misleading and should be removed as the default option.
So, I'm set to go cutting.

And for editing? So far I've been totally happy with Womble Mpeg Movie Wizard. There seem to be a lot of people (on the Womble forum) who say it's rubbish and that the transitions "don't work", but so far it's been fine.

Thank you all.

[LT. Columbo]

Thank you all.

glad we could help you lennox

one more thing...tmpgenc should happly accept virtually any avi provided you have the proper codecs on your system and the directshow multimedia file reader's priority raised.

To change the priority of DirectShow, this is done simply by clicking option - environmental setting. Click the VFAPI plug-in tab. You will see DirectShow in the list usually with a priority of -1. Right click on the NAME (not the priority) and click higher priority until the priority is 2 and it is at the top of the list.