Split an AVI

Posted by: Dignan

Split an AVI - 13/12/2010 20:52

I have Hi8 tapes all over the place, and I'm slowly capturing them so I have a digital copy (that I can backup).

Naturally, the easiest thing to do when capturing these is to let the tape play and go do other things. This results, however, in large files with multiple events and even just scenes that I might want as separate files.

I've been over and searched on videohelp.com, but I haven't found much help there. It doesn't seem to be frequently discussed topic.

I've also found that Adobe Premiere can do scene detection, but for whatever reason it will only do it at the point of capture. That's fine for future captures, but I have a number of videos already done, including my wedding video that was shot on a tape type that my camera doesn't use.

Is there a good application out there that will split up my files for me? If I have to, I'll do it manually. Scene detection is just a bonus. And if you know how to get Premiere to do this to already captured video, that would be even better. I'm currently trying out Premiere to see if I can manage to put together a video of my wedding for my wife for Christmas (I always start these things too late...). Any other suggestions for video editing applications on Windows that won't cost more than $100? Perhaps one that will do scene detection or easy splitting of AVI files?

Thanks for the help.
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: Split an AVI - 13/12/2010 21:12

I don't know that it does, but how about looking at Lightworks?
Posted by: Dignan

Re: Split an AVI - 14/12/2010 01:20

Originally Posted By: wfaulk
I don't know that it does, but how about looking at Lightworks?

OOOOoooo!

I've been waiting for someone to create an open source video editor. I've often thought that there was a decent free alternative to almost every type of application, but video editing was the last big one left. I can't wait to try it, regardless of whether it will do the splitting efficiently.

I do still want to find a decent program for splitting the files, but once they're split, I'll try this one out. Thanks, Bitt.
Posted by: BartDG

Re: Split an AVI - 14/12/2010 08:02

I've used VideoReDo Plus for this very task in the past with very good results. It's not free software though. I ended up paying the licence ($50 I believe), but the software is very well worth it.
Posted by: Dignan

Re: Split an AVI - 14/12/2010 10:28

Originally Posted By: Archeon
I've used VideoReDo Plus for this very task in the past with very good results. It's not free software though. I ended up paying the licence ($50 I believe), but the software is very well worth it.

Excellent idea! I can't believe I didn't even think about that. I've used it in the past for commercial detection in Tivo files! I'll give that a shot tonight.
Posted by: Dignan

Re: Split an AVI - 15/12/2010 01:10

Damn, VideoReDo doesn't handle AVI files. But it was good to reinstall it in case I want it for Tivo recordings.

I guess I'll have to do this the long way, but cutting it up in Premiere... Ugh...
Posted by: Dignan

Re: Split an AVI - 15/12/2010 02:55

Okay...I think I'm laying down the cash for Premiere Elements immediately.

I've been looking for a tool to do what I want, when all along apparently Premiere had already done what I want. I apologize to you all for wasting your time (once again smile ).

I'm currently looking at my four files from my wedding video as they were imported into Premiere. What I didn't see before was that next to each video there's a little icon that looks like a sideways eject icon. When I click on that, I'm presented with all the scenes that Adobe has detected in the video (optically, presumably). They aren't separate files, just clips that Premiere created, but it's effectively the same smile This is great. Kudos, Adobe.

Now I just need to figure out how to do this in the next 9-10 days wink

*edit*
I've attached what the scene detection looks like. All but those first four videos are just scenes from the fourth.