Free MPEG Splitter?

metmot · Post by **metmot** » Sat May 17, 2008 11:30 pm

I have about 12 hours of MPEG video I captured from old super 8 tapes as I finally borrowed a camera that would play these since mine has been broken and gone for years. I have a total of fifteen files now of material. There was no way to split by scene on these old tapes on capture.

I am looking for a utility that I can use to quickly split this into new files by scrubbing to the end of each scene. I have downloaded a couple trials and they do not do as advertised and am getting a bit frustrated. This shouldn't be that hard. I don't want to use videostudio because I don't want or need the render time to split them into seperate files.

Can anyone recommend some freeware or trial program I can use for this that is quick and easy? I only need to do this one time so really don't want to spend for it.

Thanks,

John

rguthrie · Post by **rguthrie** » Sun May 18, 2008 6:49 pm

metmot,

I know you don't want to use VS, but have you considered trying:

Inserting one of your files to the Timeline.

Select Split By Scene.

Select Scan, then OK when it's done.

Back on the Storyboard View press CTRL+A and drag the clips to the Library.

Now you don't have to render, plus you can preview and use any clips you want in a project.

metmot · Post by **metmot** » Sun May 18, 2008 9:11 pm

rguthrie wrote:metmot,

I know you don't want to use VS, but have you considered trying:

Inserting one of your files to the Timeline.

Select Split By Scene.

Select Scan, then OK when it's done.

Back on the Storyboard View press CTRL+A and drag the clips to the Library.

Now you don't have to render, plus you can preview and use any clips you want in a project.

Thanks for the input Ron,

Since this footage was originally shot on super 8 there is no markers for VS to find like it does on digital video. In short split by scene does not work on this type of file. It recognizes the entire one hour long clips as a single scene. Thus the need to identify the scene changes manually. The story is complicated but there is good reason I would like to have some of it available and organized and not have other of it hanging around on my PC. Let your imagination roam.

John

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Sun May 18, 2008 11:10 pm

There are two types of "Split" available in video editing.
1. Split on timecode.
This one is reliable because every time you turn your camcorder on/off the software detects the change in the time/date information.

2. Split on frame content.
This is the method you have been using to try and detect scene changed with your converted Super 8 content. You can alter the sensitivity by clicking the options button.

Personally I wouldn't trust ANY computer program to split my videos based upon frame content, there are too many variables involved to make this reliable.

rguthrie · Post by **rguthrie** » Mon May 19, 2008 1:22 am

metmot,

on super 8 there is no markers for VS to find like it does on digital video

Unless I'm completely wrong, you don't need DV timecode to be able to detect scene changes. I just did it with a .avi file from NASA and from an MPEG that I created from a TV program recorded in Media Center.

Also, once you have the file split into the scenes, delete the ones you don't want from the timeline and then one by one, select Clip, Save Trimmed Video. That way you only have the < NC-17 stuff on your computer.

metmot · Post by **metmot** » Mon May 19, 2008 6:32 pm

sjj1805 wrote:
Personally I wouldn't trust ANY computer program to split my videos based upon frame content, there are too many variables involved to make this reliable.

I agree

I tried the senstitivity levels for content detection in VS and as you say it is not reliable.

Which is why I was looking for a splitter that I could use manually by scrubbing the video with easy down to the frame accuracy for the cut points. Boilsoft makes one that works pretty well (I tried the demo) but I am too cheap to buy it since I can find no future use for it. The Demo will only save two minute clips max. I was hoping someone may know of a freeware utility to do the same thing easily.

Thanks,

John

rguthrie · Post by **rguthrie** » Mon May 19, 2008 7:34 pm

metmot,

You say that you're willing to scrub the video. I thought you were wanting something automatic. In that case don't use Split by Screen, use Multi-trim Video. Here, you can scrub your video and use F3 and F4 to mark-in and mark-out your desired sections. Once you have created all of your sections that you want to keep select OK. Now select Clip, Save Trimmed Video. Now that you have your saved clips, you can delete the huge clip that you originally captured.