Why I needed to do this
In this last year, I have been involved with delivering the first 'distance mode' Diploma of Interpreting for English/Auslan in Australia.
Distance education isn't that special but education in such a visual language certainly presented some fascinating issues.
As a result of the course, we have ended up with a whole host of DivX files with examples of interpreting and dialogues. Through some short sightedness and a rearrangement of the curriculum and delivery methods, a lot of the DivX files are titled incorrectly. For example, one of our videos may say 'Week 16' at the start when, in fact, this year it will be delivered and reviewed in 'Week 21'.
Although we have kept all of the DV Tapes from all the filming sessions, recapturing, rediting and then recompressing to DivX would be an unfortunate way to have to go about cutting incorrect titles out of the video.
So the logical conclusion is to simply split the DivX and discard the incorrect title. Bear in mind, Im not interested in replacing the titles so none of this information covers this.
What didnt really work
I tried a few things that kinda worked but werent really that useful. Adobe Premiere (Pro) CS3 could cut the DivX's (as long as I renamed the files to .avi) but I would have to export and recompress the files all over again.
I thought maybe DivX's commercially available DivX Author may be the best tool to cut and edit DivXs but the program was able to accurately slice the footage.
Virtual Dub is touted in all the forums as the way to go. I have used VDub before and thought its simplicity and power are fantasitic. VDub was able to split my DivX's (in Direct Stream mode), but only at a keyframe which was inevitabely in the middle of a title that I wanted removed. The result was I ended up with 20 or 30 frames of a fading out title I didnt want.
Then I tried using VDub's Smart Rendering option which is supposed to solve this very issue, but that kept shooting errors at me about the source not being acceptable.
I figured this must have been something to do with an incorrect codec. But I was using the same codec I had used to make the DivXs. Whats going on?
What did work
Here are the tools you will need:
- VirtualDub
- Xvid Codec
- Cut Assistant
Cut Assistant takes the process one step further. Although mostly is German from what I can tell, Cut Assistant allows you to cut at time markers and then sends the instructions back to VirtualDub to do the work using the codec you specify in the settings.
Step by Step...
Is on its way as soon as I crack an effective method for screen capturing images from VirtualDub. When I hit the PrtScn button and paste, I get a black sqaure. As soon as I sort this I'll get a step by step up here.
Maybe the next post will be: Screen Capping VirtualDub.