# Free software to cut large video files into smaller scenes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 26, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197 "2012-11-26T20:54:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/1 "2012-11-26T20:54:20Z")
Is there good free software out there to cut up a large video into smaller portions, and cut where the user specifies? Ideally, you might drop a large file into it, and then it shows screen grabs for like every minute, and you could specify where to make the cuts. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/2 "2012-11-26T21:00:06Z")
Windows Movie Maker will do that, it’s pretty basic functionality. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/3 "2012-11-26T21:01:25Z")
VirtualDub is good at this ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/4 "2012-11-26T21:21:05Z")
Depends on the type of video. Virtualdub is great for avi. I’ve been searching and searching for a decent program to edit mkv. I wasted 50 plus hours struggling with AviDemux. It does easily cut up mkv’s. But screws up the sound sync. :rolleyes: Looks like a bad martial arts movie with English dubbing. I wasted hours editing on “key frames” and it still screwed up the sound sync. There’s a new mkv editor called MKV Video Editor that I want to try next. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/5 "2012-11-26T21:21:08Z")
RealPlayer trimmer lets you trim video & audio files. Unlike Windows Movie Maker, it does so by actually deleting parts of the file rather than placing markers in the file to begin and end at a given spot. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2012, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/6 "2012-11-26T23:18:06Z")
Another recommendation for VirtualDub/VirtualDubMod (forget why I switched to the 'Mod version). I found it worked best with .mpg(s). Avi’s, especially larger ones, tended to jump frames when moving the slider to where you wanted to cut. I convert everything to .mpg before using VDM. ---
**Author:** ![yohan\_go](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yohan_go/32/3620_2.png) [@yohan\_go](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yohan_go)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/7 "2012-11-27T10:24:49Z")
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison\_of\_video\_editing\_software](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_video_editing_software) Here you go my friend. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/8 "2012-11-27T14:05:04Z")
Thanks everyone! ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/9 "2012-12-02T00:25:04Z")
VirtualDub saves the parts WAY too big. I have 700mb source file. I mark maybe 20 percent of it, crop the rest out and save. The saved file is 15GB! VirtualDubMod does not open on my machine for some reason. No error message, simply doesn’t come up. Windows Movie Maker only shows the very first frame duplicated over and over. I’ll try RealPlayer trimmer next. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/10 "2012-12-02T00:52:56Z")
RealPlayer trimmer frequently crashes, and when it doesn’t, the resulting clip is messed up. It’s about 80 percent video artifacts. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/11 "2012-12-02T02:15:16Z")
AviDemux has a new version out. I installed it after posting here last week. So far its working better than the version I tried a year ago. [http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/](http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/12 "2012-12-02T05:56:53Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > VirtualDub saves the parts WAY too big. I have 700mb source file. I mark maybe 20 percent of it, crop the rest out and save. The saved file is 15GB! When you have VirtualDub open, go to the Video menu drop down (5th one). If “Full Processing Mode” is checked (half way down), you have to choose “Compression” (4th in list). I use xvid or divx (both free downloads), or you can use one of the other compression modes listed, this will make the processed file much smaller. It’s only when you use “Full Processing Mode” with a video compression option of “Uncompressed” that you get the huge files. Or, if you are copying .avi to .avi, you can choose “Direct Stream Copy” (6th in the list). That will keep it the same size. They stopped supporting VDubMod, so you may have an old version. The latest I have is 1.5.10.2. I can send the zip if you PM me. The date is 2008, so no guarantees it will work with Win7 (although it works for me, but no idea if I’ve had to tweak it over the years). It doesn’t appear Vdub can handle .mpgs, but VDM will (that is probably why I switched way back when). Also when you go to save a file, those video options are in the save box so you don’t forget. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/13 "2012-12-02T06:56:45Z")
If you only need to do it once then you could use the 30 day free trial of premiere pro ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/14 "2012-12-02T17:37:51Z")
MPEG Streamclip is very easy to use for cutting files into smaller pieces. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/15 "2012-12-02T17:46:19Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > RealPlayer trimmer frequently crashes, and when it doesn’t, the resulting clip is messed up. It’s about 80 percent video artifacts. What’s the antecedent of that last _it_? That is, do you mean the reason RealPlayer Trimmer crashes is because of video artificacts, or that the result of a nominally successful RPT trim is 80% video artificacts, or something else? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/16 "2012-12-02T23:06:48Z")
> [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](#): > > When you have VirtualDub open, go to the Video menu drop down (5th one). If “Full Processing Mode” is checked (half way down), you have to choose “Compression” (4th in list). I use xvid or divx (both free downloads), or you can use one of the other compression modes listed, this will make the processed file much smaller. It’s only when you use “Full Processing Mode” with a video compression option of “Uncompressed” that you get the huge files. That did the trick! Thanks. And thanks to everybody else too for your suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/17 "2012-12-02T23:07:48Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > What’s the antecedent of that last _it_? That is, do you mean the reason RealPlayer Trimmer crashes is because of video artificacts, or that the result of a nominally successful RPT trim is 80% video artificacts, or something else? I meant the latter; even when it doesn’t crash, the resulting clip is unwatchable. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-software-to-cut-large-video-files-into-smaller-scenes/642197/18 "2012-12-02T23:10:58Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > AviDemux has a new version out. I installed it after posting here last week. So far its working better than the version I tried a year ago. > > [http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/](http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/) This seems to work well too, it’s the first I’ve tried that does a direct copy (so it’s very quick) and the final product looks fine. Thanks!