Video-editing options
Sometimes you need to be selective, as some of these programs can be.
All of the programs featured in this month’s Roundup will convert a video from one format to another, either to save disk space or for compatibility with a playback device, but sometimes we need to do more. Two particularly common tasks are resizing the video resolution and removing parts of the video. The latter could be because you just want to transcode a portion of the video or to remove parts such as commercial breaks from recorded shows. You may also want to transcode a short clip to test your settings before spending hours on the whole video.
For removing parts from within the video, such as breaks, only Avidemux does this, and it makes the job very quick and easy. If Avidemux doesn’t serve your needs in other areas, don’t despair. It can save out the edited video without transcoding, a fast process, ready to further process in different software.
Handbrake is able to transcode specific chapters of a video, assuming the video has chapter markers – such as you get with a video pulled from a DVD. You can also set start and end points, but these must be entered as times, whereas Shutter Encoder has a handy window where you can visually set start and end points of the video.
VLC also requires you to enter cut points manually, but at least you can use the player function of VLC to see where you want to put them.
Curlew is the only one of these programs that doesn’t enable you to select start or end times. Its only concession to any form of editing is its ability to crop (not scale) videos, which can be used to remove black bars from letterboxing.