Good free video editing software

01AKUser10

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Sep 18, 2010
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Need software suggestions for ameteur video editing, preferably without malware or bloatware. Thanks.
 

SamKook

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There's 2 different categories for this, easy to use with limited control over the result or harder to use with full control over everything.

In the easy to use category, you have Megui and handbrake which are the 2 I see most often mentioned and they are pretty good at what they do from what I know of them.

In the harder to use, you have avisynth combined with other software(which is what I personally use), depending on what you want. You have to write a simple script to load your video and/or audio and do the processing you need. There's a ton of plugin to do pretty much anything you want and the quality of most is on par with professional tools, but since it's scripting and you then have to use an encoder which is most likely to be command line only, it's not always the easiest thing to begin with.
My usual work flow is as follow: create a basic avisynth script to load the video, open the script(like if it's were a video file) with virtualdub so I can watch the result and to know which filters I need to apply, encode the video using x264 by using the script as source, then encode the audio to aac by using the same script as source(so it's cut in the right places if I cut some part of the original video) and finally mux the video and audio files(and sometimes also a chapter file that I manually create using a text editor) inside an mkv using mkvtoolnix(or you could use mp4box if you prefer an mp4).

You also have MeguIVit which is a bit in the middle. It's a modified version of Megui(which makes use of avisynth internally) but with presets made specifically for IV and JAV so it's pretty easy to make a very high quality rip using it. You may run into a problem or two to get it started, but once it's set up properly, you're golden.
Here's a recent post with an up-to-date link for the files: https://www.akiba-online.com/thread...d-encoder-v1-0-1-1.73866/page-50#post-2718024

You'll also want to read the following posts to update the x264 version in it since it's quite dated now and also the first post to learn the basics, the pictorial guide is for an ameliorated version so if something is different between the two, the pictorial guide takes precedence.
 

01AKUser10

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Sep 18, 2010
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Thanks @SamKook! Gonna try the easy soft first, just wanna cut out scenes I don't want to reduce file sizes. Is there a particular soft that does only that?
 

SamKook

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Yes, but it depends on the container of the video(mkv, wmv, mp4, avi, etc.), I don't know of one that can handle everything without having to re-encode the video(which you want to avoid if possible and all my suggestion from my previous reply do that).

For mkv, mkvtoolnix can do that using the split mode in the output tab(keep the one you want and discard the others).
For mp4 you can use mymp4boxGUI which has a split tab.
For wmv you can use asfbinwin.
For avi you can use avidemux or virtualdub(but that one is a bit harder to use than the other).

If it's something else, search for a muxer/demuxer for that type, they usually include a way to split that specific format.

You'll likely have to cut out all the scenes you want to keep and then merge them together using the same software.
 

axeon73

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Jun 24, 2015
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I found and have been using an app called Video to Video. It lets you split video (cut out segments you want to keep), and then join them together. It lets you do a direct stream copy so the video is untouched. It's worked on more than 95% of the videos I find here (avi, mpg, mkv). Quick and simple.

Code:
http://www.videotovideo.org/
 

SamKook

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Interesting software, it's not often you see a does-it-all soft that uses good tools internally. Apparently, ffmpeg(which it uses for the task) can remux most formats.

It did change a constant framerate mp4 to a variable one somehow, but that's a minor detail, it probably only affects the metadata.