Is there a program like Virtual Dub for x264/MP4 files?

[syc0pathic]

I use Virtual Dub a lot to process/edit .avi files. But MP4 files are becoming increasingly common, and V-Dub doesn't handle them. I've found a few programs that can convert MP4s to another format (like avi), but I don't want to do that becuz it takes a lot longer and loses quality. And by MP4, I primarily mean x264 codecs in an MP4 container.

What I'm really looking for is a program that can accept MP4 input files, allow me to delete or save sections of a video clip, adjust audio timing, etc, and then output the file as an MP4 -- basically the same kinda stuff that VDub can do w/ avi's. Suggestions?

[paradoxical]

Avidemux.

[sneaker_ger]

SolveigMM Video Splitter (http://www.solveigmm.com/en/products/video-splitter/)

[Darksoul71]

As stated before:
Avidemux !
Rules of thumb:
- Stick to I-frame editing. This will save you from re-encoding (navigate with cursor up and down only)
- Use AviDemux 2.6 for editing h264 stuff since older versions (e.g. 2.5.X) are a hit and miss here

HTH,
D$

[syc0pathic]

As stated before:
Avidemux !
Rules of thumb:
- Stick to I-frame editing. This will save you from re-encoding (navigate with cursor up and down only)
- Use AviDemux 2.6 for editing h264 stuff since older versions (e.g. 2.5.X) are a hit and miss here

HTH,
D$Well I've been playing around w/ Avidemux, but I'm not having much luck. I have version 2.6.1. I've been using I-frames for edit points (just like I would use key frames in V-Dub).

I have the video and audio outputs both set to "Copy", and the Output Format set to "MP4v2 Muxer".

The problem is that the output files either don't play or aren't complete. I tried to extract a clip that was 1:24 and the resulting file was only :19 long. I've tried this with several files and the results are all similar. Here is the file info from Avidemux for 1 of the files I'm trying to extract a clip from:

Video
Codec 4CC: H264
Image Size: 720 x 404
Aspect Ratio: 1:1 (1:1)
Frame Rate: 23.985 fps
Total Duration: 00:49:56.753

Extra Video Properties are all "no"

Audio
Codec: AAC
Channels: Stereo
Bitrate: 16000 Bps/ 128kbps
Variable Bitrate:
Frequency: 48000 Hz
Total Duration: 00:01:24.458

Note that the audio length is much shorter than the video length (the video length is correct). So I thought maybe there was a flaw in the audio codec that was causing the truncated files. I tried disabling the audio, but that didn't work. I also tried selecting an I-frame (at about 1:19) that would be shorter than the audio duration, but the resulting file was only :58.

I also tried using other output formats and even reprocessing the file, but none of that work either.

[Poutnik]

As stated before:
Avidemux !
Rules of thumb:
- Stick to I-frame editing. This will save you from re-encoding (navigate with cursor up and down only)
- Use AviDemux 2.6 for editing h264 stuff since older versions (e.g. 2.5.X) are a hit and miss here

HTH,
D$
I am just occasional ADM user, using MeGUI.

I cannot help myself, I may be just unlucky exception, but...

ADM 2.6 acts for me always like being somewhere between alpha and beta state
( at least until several weeks or just few months ago.)

Missing features and lot of crashes.
If I did any serious work in ADM, it was always 2.5.
When I succeded in ADM 2.6, I was always feeling myself lucky.

[Darksoul71]

Well, I am an avid user of AVIDemux 2.5 and 2.6 on various platforms and never run into many issues. I mainly do I-frame based editing of HDTV streams ( h264 720p@50 FPS) and SDTV streams (MPEG2 576p@25FPS) from my satellite receiver or my HTPC with SD DVB-S card. Sometimes, when sat streams have to much stream errors, it makes sense to merge the TS / M2TS segments via TSMuxer and save them to a big M2TS file prior editing them in AVIDemux. I usually only save the video stream plus one AC3 audio track. Transcoding (if required) is usually done in Handbrake or some self-written ffmpeg scripts.

From time to time Avidemux fails to save a H264 stream in streamcopy. It stops somewhere in the beginning or middle of the movie. Then I simply re-encode the edited source video in CRF mode with a value of 20 or 21. This takes some time and means some loss in quality but in the end I always have an edited movie with perfect in-sync audio.

In the end 2.6 is final and much more stable for me than previous nightly build versions were.

YMMV,
D$

[syc0pathic]

ADM 2.6 acts for me always like being somewhere between alpha and beta state
( at least until several weeks or just few months ago.)

Missing features and lot of crashes.
If I did any serious work in ADM, it was always 2.5.
When I succeded in ADM 2.6, I was always feeling myself lucky.That was my experience as well. ADM 2.5 worked much better than 2.6, and 2.6 is missing some features that 2.5 has. Obviously ADM still needs to be developed, but I was able to do what I needed to do. Hopefully the next release will solve a lot of these issues.

[asaleo]

I opens mp4 files in VirtualDub with the help of the tateau quicktime plugin and use Deshaker for stabilisation in VirtualDub.
I then save the result in mp4-format by exporting it to an external encoder, creating a mp4 file.
You need VirtualDub 1.10.1 or newer
It works without problems. Great function.
Regards

[Darksoul71]

@Poutnik & syc0pathic:
How "fresh" are your experiences with an unstable behaviour of AD 2.6.X ?

AVIDemux 2.6 was released as stable some month ago. Also they release continously new version and have a bug tracker. If you experience unstable behaviour or lack of features then open up a bug report. This is how open-source development works.

As already indicated I have used AviDemux 2.6 in various pre-compiled versions (even as Windows exe under Linux with WINE) and the biggest instabilities I experienced were most likely related to errors within the DVB-S / -S2 streams.

AviDemux 2.5 is quite an unstable when editing h264 stuff, what I can not say for AviDemux 2.6.

Anyway I am not here to convice anyone to use AVIDemux. I am just talking about my experiences.

@asaleo: Opening all various source videos in Virtual Dub is already possible via AVISynth. I think Virtual Dub lacks important features like outputting to newer container formats (MP4 / MKV).

[sneaker_ger]

asaleo seems to be talking about the relatively recent feature of VirtualDub to pipe to and control external cli encoders, so it's now possible to combine for example x264cli, qaac and mp4box directly through VirtualDub instead of using VfW encoders and the avi muxer. Biggest disadvantages are the need for a full re-encode and the complicated installation for people not experienced with the cli encoders.

[Darksoul71]

Yeah, true..I did not pay too much attention to the part of sentence where he mentioned the external encoder.

Of course you can use VirtualDub and it's frameserver as a tool inside a whole tool chain but as you indicated re-encoding is required. I think VirtualDub is still used by some folks for specific scenarios but the world of video processing has changed with all those HD-cabable devices around (smartphone, HD cams, DVB-S2 boxes).

Most people I know (if they edit stuff at all rather than downloading videos / buying them), do hard I-frame editing.

[syc0pathic]

I started watching the clips I edited w/ ADM 2.6, and unfortunately, every one of them loses audio sync. And the audio sync gets worse the longer the video plays.

The conclusion I've come to is that it is POSSIBLE to edit MP4s, but we don't yet have a simple, reliable way to do it. The work-arounds that have been discussed in this thread are a lot more difficult than simply leaving the video intact and then skipping thru the sections I don't wanna watch.

In other words, there isn't a program that can do w/ MP4s what VDub does with Xvid. ADM has the potential to be that program, but it needs more development.

[sneaker_ger]

AVIDemux wasn't the only program mentioned here.

[Darksoul71]

@syc0pathic: I still suspect your source file being the source of your problems. If the files are correct (like HDTV satellite streams in M2TS format) then ADM 2.6 does not really fail very often. Sometimes it "dies" when I scroll through the video too fast when editing out some commercial but this only happens in 1 out off 20 movies I process.

[syc0pathic]

AVIDemux wasn't the only program mentioned here.Well I'm certainly not spending $50 to avoid skipping over sections I don't wanna watch:rolleyes:

I still suspect your source file being the source of your problems. I've tried it on about 20 files from 4 different sources, and none of them have worked correctly.