Free Video Joining Program ?

[steve-pressman]

Hi Guys can anybody recommend a free video joining program ? I am currently using this Free Video Joiner, AVI, WMV, MPEG Video Joiner Freeware but to be honest the quality from all the different formats leaves a lot to be desired when joining up some HD TV shows and kind of defeats the whole object of the HD part of it

Would welcome any suggestions

TIA

Steve

 

[mitchell65]

Hi Steve
You don't actually loose any quality when you join video clips together, it is when you save them to a new format that they get re-rendered using a lossy codec.
Could you be more specific and post the file extensions of the clips you are joining and then say what you want to do with the end product, ie burn a DVD, create a video file to play on your PC or what?

 

[kado897]

You could use the Windows Live Movie Maker which is part of the free Windows Live Essentials provided you don't mind the output being wmv.

You can get it from here. Windows Live Essentials 2011 - Download free Microsoft programs

You can download the entire package or just the one program.

 

[mitchell65]

You could use the Windows Live Movie Maker which is part of the free Windows Live Essentials provided you don't mind the output being wmv.

You can get it from here. Windows Live Essentials 2011 - Download free Microsoft programs

You can download the entire package or just the one program.

True but Steve was looking to produce a high def. file. Can't do that with WLMM!

 

[kado897]

You can do 1920x1080

 

[mitchell65]

You can do 1920x1080
View attachment 144505

I stand corrected - I do beg your pardon

 

[kado897]

You are welcome. It's a bit basic but it does work.

 

[mitchell65]

Just on thing strikes me in your screenshot. I guess that your Windows is set to UK but the detail window in your screen shot shows the NTSC setting of 29.97 fps whereas the PAL setting is 25fps!

 

[kado897]

That's interesting. I never noticed that before. I also checked the DVD burn option which is SD of course and its frame rate is the same. I have never used the burn option of this. I generally use Windows DVD Maker which has a PAL option and I guess uses the 25 FPS etc of the PAL standard. It seems to work OK anyway although my DVD player can play NTSC as well as PAL.

 

[mitchell65]

True but the problem would arise if you tried to play the DVD in a run of the mill DVD player attached to a TV. Also I would think problems would arise if you imported a video clip that was recorded on say a camcorder at 25fps and tried to edit it to 29.97 fps. Usually a 3rd party Video Editor will require you to select your TV area on installation. I assumed Windows applets would pick that up from the main OS system files! Obviously not. Never come across this before as I use 3rd party commercial software for video editing!

 

[kado897]

Ive just looked at the solution center How to burn a movie to a DVD in Windows Live Movie Maker. Apparently when you select the DVD option it launches Windows DVD Maker as the final stage and you can select your burning options there. Sounds like it may be doing a double conversion though.

 

[steve-pressman]

Thanks for all the replies Guys but I found this little gem courtesy of File Hippo

Free Video Converter - Convert Video Formats Free - MP4 MPEG AVI DVD HD FLV

Does exactly what I want and is quite excellent and of course free.


Steve

 

[kado897]

Glad your problem is solved.

 

[sordid]

I thought you wanted to join videos instead of converting them?

 

[steve-pressman]

This program does both

Steve

 

[sordid]

Oh! Cute! Need to check it out.

 

[whs]

Thanks for all the replies Guys but I found this little gem courtesy of File Hippo

Free Video Converter - Convert Video Formats Free - MP4 MPEG AVI DVD HD FLV

Does exactly what I want and is quite excellent and of course free.


Steve

Interesting program indeed (on paper). Have to try it out. Thanks Steve for finding it.

 

[whs]

I just tried it. Like the neat and clear interface. Have not checked all the options, but it seems to be a bit plain. I joined two 25MB WMV videos - output WMV too. It took 2 min 45 sec. About the same as WLMM.

I usually use this program which takes 3 seconds for the same operation - and it is completely lossless. My videos are usually several hundred MBs - so I lose patience with slower programs.

 

[sordid]

I absolutely agree.
I hate when files are being recoded unnecessarily. This always means another quality loss plus a lot of time wasted.

 

[whs]

I absolutely agree.
I hate when files are being recoded unnecessarily. This always means another quality loss plus a lot of time wasted.

Well, I guess it is for the "occasional user". But for serious editing it does not have enough function. I use lighten/darken video very often and also cropping. But if you want a plain format conversion and paste pieces together at the same time, it is an option.

I sometimes have to reformat my videos to make them smaller - because on my free vimeo account I only have 500MB upload allowance per week. For more (a lot more), it would cost $60 per year. And YouTube accepts only max. 15 minute clips - although those can be up to 2GB.