# Open Source Video Editor

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-source-video-editor/336558>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 21, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-source-video-editor/336558 "2005-12-21T01:48:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ice1000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a3d4f5/32.png) [@ice1000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ice1000)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-source-video-editor/336558/1 "2005-12-21T01:48:01Z")

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I have a few videos on my PC that I need to edit. The editing basically amounts to extracting a short segment and making that a separate video. Later I may want to combine several of these short segments in a different order.

Does anyone know of a software (preferably open source) that can do this easily?

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**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-source-video-editor/336558/2 "2005-12-21T07:29:56Z")

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Would [AviSplit](http://www.bobyte.com/AviSplit/index.asp) work? It’s freeware but not open-source.

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**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-source-video-editor/336558/3 "2005-12-21T07:37:20Z")

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In general, the first place to look for Open-Source projects is [Freshmeat](http://freshmeat.net). A [search](http://freshmeat.net/search/?q=video+edit&section=projects&Go.x=0&Go.y=0) brings up multiple projects that all seem relevant, you should be able to pick which one best suits your needs. (As an aside, picking projects with a Development Status of 5 (Production/Stable) is usually a good idea.)

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**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 21, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-source-video-editor/336558/4 "2005-12-21T15:53:19Z")

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I use Virtual Dub (found through [videohelp.com](http://videohelp.com) which should be your first stop) for the same task. Not sure about Open Source, but it is freeware.

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**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-source-video-editor/336558/5 "2005-12-21T15:58:41Z")

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Any freeware that allows you to take frames of video, edit certain frames and then save the new video?

For example, a video of a man walking is broken down into 250 frames (pics).

In 50 frames, you alter say his hair color, then you save the new video and watch the man walking while his hair color changes from black to blond and back to black…that sort of editing.

Anything out there?

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**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:** [December 21, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/open-source-video-editor/336558/6 "2005-12-21T16:04:45Z")

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Film Gimp/CinePaint will do something like that, but I think you need to use it in conjunction with other applications - in order to split the video into discrete frames, then recombine it afterwards.