I have some mp4 videos that I would like to be able to edit. Nothing fancy, just be able to cut/crop the beginning or end of a video. Be able to increase/decrease the volume. Free without added unwanted programs would be nice, but I'm willing to pay for one that is fairly simple to use (intuitive).
Some of them will give you a headache, but you have to learn them and have those oh wow moments. Many have a learning curve!
In my opinion a commerical/paid-for one isn't even necessary for regular end-users/home-users. The commercial variety will often use the exact same GNU GPL free backend programs found on SourceForge.net that the freeware and open source variety use. In other words you could end up spending money on a really buggy p.o.s.!
If you have an MP4 video file that video editing software will have nothing to do with there's a trick I learned which was to convert it into DVD Video format using DVD Flick. After that I could use a video encoder to convert it into what I want - note/warning doing this turns HD video into SD video.
I'd recommend bookmarking these sites (they helped me so much for learning video editing a few years ago when DennisD introduced it to me), for me they're both indespensible with guides, downloads, etc.:
I already have Audacity for working with audio files, but it won't natively deal with the audio track of an mp4 video file to either increase or decrease the volume level.
I'll check out Avidemux.
I've briefly tried to work with Windows Movie Maker, but it's not very intuitive. It deals with "project" files (.wlmp). I've been able to drag an mp4 file to it, but then I'm lost. I don't see where I can then save the file in mp4 format, even if I could figure out how to do the edits I want.
I remember that it will work to convert from some formats to others, and to delete the first or last part of a video file.
Sorry, can not give more detail, don't remember. I do remember that it caused mild headaches.
CAREFUL:
Wait until Andavari rings in about it (or others who used it more extensively).
Did not cause problems here, but . . .
I would never have installed it without Powershadow or a backup image available to undo any changes.
Powershadow on win xp assures that any unwanted changes are easy to discard.
my notes:
from the eula:
“The installation package contains Baidu.com(Only Chinese User)and Ask.com Toolbar, If you uncheck installation options. They will not affect your computer.”
tries to install ASK toolbar, can be unticked.
phones out upon installation, not an issue if you have the 'net connection unhooked.
I remember that it will work to convert from some formats to others, and to delete the first or last part of a video file.
Sorry, can not give more detail, don't remember. I do remember that it caused mild headaches.
CAREFUL:
Wait until Andavari rings in about it (or others who used it more extensively).
Did not cause problems here, but . . .
I'm not the one to ring in on it unfortunately, I haven't used it for several years because of the mild headaches it induced and I've since moved on to other video editing programs.
Here's another freeware all-in-one video tool I've used within the last year, can't remember why I removed it though:
nikki, if you haven't sorted this yet, I can show you how to edit MP4 files with AviDemux, which includes being able to cut parts out, change the volume etc..
It's really very easy and quick as no transcoding is needed. Just a couple of settings and then save off the new copy as MP4.
Thanks Dennis, I may take you up on that. I just need some time to download it and start playing with it. (life gets in the way sometimes)
I had some time a couple days ago to play with Movie Maker and I managed to figure a few thing out like trimming the beginning & end and saving in mp4 format. The volume function either doesn't increase it very much or I'm doing it wrong. I ran out of time at that point.
If you do try AviDemux it may play the MP4 file you load into it rather badly (sound wise) but ignore that as the saved off copy of any file you edit should play fine with good audio and in sync with the video.
This issue may only be with my XP system but I thought it worth a mention.
Anyways, don't struggle to work out how to do what as I can make it really easy for you. Or maybe you like a challenge.
Through some freaky coincidence, I have spent most of yesterday editing my son's Chemistry video assignment.
I can now. more confidently say, Movie Maker is for the most basic functions only but very easy to use.
Almost no control of the audio tracks and minimal control of the video track. But basic cropping, add background sound, splitting and editing - not too bad. But we couldn't insert a picture and have the audio track not get split up.
So we looked for something else and found LightWorks which was free and at 75meg, a small download.
This was in all aspects the complete opposite of Movie Maker; did whatever we wanted but had the steepest learning curve I have ever seen.
We ended up with exactly what we wanted but Man!, there were some expletives shouted during the process.
Almost no control of the audio tracks and minimal control of the video track. But basic cropping, add background sound, splitting and editing - not too bad. But we couldn't insert a picture and have the audio track not get split up.
That could also be a problem if the audio+video track get out-of-sync. Basic tools without enough options I've found when video editing usually equal hitting a brickwall when needing to do something else. One of the most annoying things I've ran into in too many to count video editing tools are those that have absolutely no visualization of the cropping.