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Welcome to the video editing guide
provided by DivXLand.org. The programs used to edit AVI video files are either
VirtualDub or VirtualDubMod, both available at the
software section, they provide all the needed
features for basic video edition and conversion. This section is organized with the
most typical tasks than can be done with VirtualDub.
Remember that codec packs install decoders only, this means they are unable
to encode or recompress
media. Please install the required
codecs separately for audio and video edition.
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VirtualDub Controls
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A
B C
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1
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Playback control, used for playback
and stopping of the original input file or the processed video output.
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2
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Start / End, used to move the slider
to the first or last frame of the video.
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3
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Backward / Forward, used to rewind
or advance by one frame.
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4
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Previous / Next keyframe, skips
to the previous or next key frame.
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5
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Scene Backward / Forward, moves
the slider to the previous or next scene change of the video.
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6
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Selection Start / End, used to select
a specific portion of the video so you will be able to work with it.
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Current position, shows the time
and frames position where the slider is.
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Slider, indicates the current position
in the video. To seek faster, hold down SHIFT while moving it to snap
to keyframes.
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Incomplete video files: VirtualDub can fix the index of an incomplete
or corrupted video file. To do this, in the Open Video File dialog,
check Popup extended open options and in the next dialog that
appears, check Re-derive key frame flags. This process can take
long time with large videos.
File extensions: all DivX / XviD videos are
Audio-Video Interleaving files
and the AVI extension is used for them. The DIVX
extension is not used because it's unknown for most players.
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Audio menu in VirtualDubMod; OGM
and MKV Files
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Since the Ogg Media (OGM) and Matroska
Video (MKV) files are container formats, they are only supported by
VirtualDubMod and not by
VirtualDub.
This is why VirtualDubMod differs from
VirtualDub in certain aspects, like the absence of the Audio menu.
The audio streams from an OGM/MKV file are managed independently,
and they are accessed from the Streams > Stream
List menu. In this window you will see the video streams,
followed by the audio streams, and last, the optional subtitle files.
To access the Audio menu, right-click on the target audio stream
from the list. This streams system allows you to edit each
stream separately, and add or remove streams as well.
To open these OGM and MKV formats in
most players, you should install the DivX Total Pack,
which adds support for the most popular formats.
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Solving the VBR Audio Issue
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When opening media files in VirtualDub
you eventually may find this warning:
This message appears when opening video
files with variable bitrate (VBR) audio streams. The
AVI file format specification
does not support VBR audio streams natively, therefore, despite of
being able to playback such files properly, the big problem arises
when trying to edit these files.
To properly edit such files without
problems you must convert the audio stream into a constant bitrate
(CBR) format such as MP3. This procedure is explained
here.
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Video Edition Tasks
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procedure |
explanation |
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1. Split a video file
in several parts
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2.
Join 2 or more video files
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3.
Cut / delete a specific portion of a video
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4.
Change the file size of a video / video
bitrate / keyframe interval
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5.
Convert any AVI file using DivX or XviD
compression
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6. Convert the audio format to MPEG Layer
3
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7.
Change the video size (resolution)
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8.
Change the audio volume level
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9. Move the entire audio stream to play earlier
/ later
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10. Replace the audio stream with a WAV file
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11. Change the brightness / contrast of a video
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12. Crop the borders of a video
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13.
Change the frame rate of a video
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14. Capture a video frame
and save it as JPG or other format
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15. Change
the AVI file FourCC code
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16. Extract the audio
stream to a WAV file (uncompressed) |
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17. Extract an AC3 audio
stream to an AC3 audio file
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18. Extract audio or video
streams from an MKV file |
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If you have a question not answered here,
please ask at the
forum. |
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1.
Split a video file in several parts
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After opening
the movie in VirtualDub, in both Audio and Video menus
select Direct Stream Copy. Press the End button (button
2B). At the Current position field below you will see the
total frames number. Divide this number by the total number of
segments desired.
Move the slider to the beginning of the video, and mark
the selection start with button 6A.
Position the slider in the end of the first segment (this is, the
number of frames per segment) and
advance to next key frame pressing button 4B
to avoid problems. Mark the selection end with button 6B.
Now that you have selected the first
segment, go to File > Save segmented
AVI and save it with name like "Part 1"
for example.
Repeat the above process of moving the
slider and marking the start and end positions to save the rest of
the rest of the video segments in separate AVI files.
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2.
Join 2 or more video files
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Open the first
part of the movie. Select Append AVI Segment from the file menu.
Make sure to have selected Direct stream copy under both Video
and Audio menus. You can only append files with the same video
format, frame rate, resolution, audio format and quality.
Go to the
File menu and select Save as AVI to save the entire file.
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3.
Cut / delete a specific portion of a video
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Open the movie
and move the slider to the beginning of the portion to delete. Snap
to the next key frame by pressing button 4B.
Mark the selection start (6A). Advance
to the end of the portion desired, and again snap to next or previous
key frame by pressing button 4A
or 4B. Mark the selection end (6B)
and select Delete selection from the Edit menu. Make sure
you have selected Direct stream copy under both Audio
and Video menus.
Go to File > Save as AVI to save
the resulting file.
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4.
Change the file size of a video / video bitrate / keyframe interval
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You can re-encode
the video and audio of a file to make it match a specific file size,
and change the video quality, keyframe interval, audio format and bitrate,
and even fix the file if it has corrupted frames or similar problems.
To calculate the video bitrate for compressing the video, use DivXLand Bitrate Calculator
or the Web BitCalc.
Open either of those, and under Movie Length
enter the exact length of the movie. Under the Desired File Size
section, enter the destination file size, and at Desired Audio Bitrate,
select the audio bitrate you want. Take note of the calculated video
bitrate.
Open the movie in VirtualDub and at both
Video and Audio menus be sure to select Full Processing
Mode. Find out the audio sampling rate of the movie at the File
Information dialog under the File menu (for example, 44100
Hz). At Audio > Compression click any working MPEG Layer 3
codec. At the right field, pick a mode that matches your audio bitrate
(the one used to calculate video bitrate in DivXLand Bitrate Calculator)
and sampling rate.
Finally go to Video
> Compression and select the desired video codec.
Configure it as explained
here. Accept all and go to File > Save as AVI
to begin the conversion process.
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5.
Convert any AVI video to DivX or XviD format
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To convert a certain format AVI video file
into the DivX or XviD format you have three options:
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Recompress only the video stream,
ignoring the output file size: If you don't consider the audio
bitrate when you reencode the video, your output file size will be unpredictable.
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Recompress only the video stream,
considering the output file size: This way you will have to find
out the current audio bitrate of the file in order to make the converted
movie match a specific size.
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Recompress both video and audio streams: This mode you can make the output video match a specific file size,
and it is the more secure and reliable. Recommended.
Option 1:
Open the movie in VirtualDub. At the Video
menu select Full processing mode, and at the Audio menu
select Direct stream copy. Go to Video
> Compression and select the desired video codec.
Configure it as explained
here. Under File menu click Save as AVI.
Option 2:
Open the movie in VDub. At the Video
menu select Full processing mode and under Audio select
Direct stream copy. Find out the current audio bitrate and sampling
rate as explained here. Now, when you go to calculate
the video bitrate with DivXLand Bitrate Calculator
or the Web BitCalc,
use the current audio bitrate of the movie. Go to Video
> Compression and select the desired video codec.
Configure it as explained
here.
Save the file by selecting File > Save
as AVI.
Option 3:
Open the movie in VDub. At both Video
and Audio menus select Full processing mode. Go to Video
> Compression and select the desired video codec.
Configure it as explained
here. Find out the audio sampling rate
of the movie at the File Information dialog under the File
menu (for example, 44100 Hz). At Audio > Compression click the
MPEG Layer 3 codec. At the right field, pick a mode that matches
your audio bitrate (the one used to calculate video bitrate in DivXLand
Bitrate Calculator) and sampling rate.
Save the file by selecting File > Save
as AVI. If you get an error when trying to save the file, you may
have to select a different audio sampling rate (for example 44100 Hz)
at the Audio Compression dialog.
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6. Convert the
audio format to MP3
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Open the movie
in VirtualDub. At the Video menu select Direct stream copy,
and at the Audio menu select Full processing mode. Find
out the audio sampling rate of the movie at the File Information
dialog under the File menu (for example, 44100 Hz). At Audio
> Compression select the MPEG Layer 3
codec. At the right field, chose the desired audio bitrate and mode,
matching the sampling rate from the original audio stream (44 Khz or
whatever). Recommended audio quality values for small file sizes are
between 96 and 128 Kbps.
Save the file
by selecting File > Save as AVI. If you get an error when trying
to save the file, you probably have to select a different audio sampling
rate (for example 44100 Hz) at the Audio Compression dialog,
or an invalid audio codec or setting.
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7. Enlarge / shrink the video size
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Open the movie in VirtualDub, and at the
Video menu select Full processing mode, and at the
Audio menu select Direct stream copy. Go to Video
> Compression and select the desired video codec.
Configure it as explained
here. Now go to Video > Filters and click
the Add... button. Double click the Resize filter and
configure it with a new resolution.
Note:
The DivX 5 codec requires a width number multiplier of 4, and a height multiple of 2. The recommended mode
to have a good quality is Bicubic, but you can check out the
Preview window to see the result of each mode instantly.
If you are enlarging the video, you may
also want to add the Sharpen filter with a value of 20~30 to
avoid excessive smoothing.
Go to the File menu and select
Save as AVI to save the converted file.
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8. Change the audio
volume
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To increase or decrease the volume
level, when
the file is opened in VirtualDub go to Audio and select Full processing
mode, and under Video select Direct stream copy. Now
select Volume from the Audio menu and increase it at least
300%. If the audio volume is very low, change it to 600-700%.
Find out the sampling rate at the File Information dialog under
the File menu. Select Compression from the Audio
menu, and select the MPEG Layer 3 codec. Make sure to match
the sampling rate (e.g. 44100 Hz) and don't use a bitrate lower than
64 kbps.
Accept all and go to File > Save as AVI and wait a couple
of minutes while the audio is recompressed, depending on the length of the video.
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9.
Move the entire audio stream to play earlier / later
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Open the movie in VDub. At the Video
menu select Direct stream copy, and at the Audio menu
select Full processing mode. Find out the audio sampling rate
of the movie at the File Information dialog under the File
menu (for example, 44100 Hz). At Audio > Compression click the
MPEG Layer 3 codec. At the right field, pick a mode that matches
the current audio sampling rate of the file. Now go to Audio > Interleaving.
At the Audio Skew Correction field enter the amount of milliseconds
you want to move the sound (1000 ms = 1 sec). Negative values will play
the audio earlier, and positive ones will make the audio play later.
You can preview the result pressing the Preview Output button (button
1C).
Save the file by selecting File > Save
as AVI. If you get an error when trying to save the file, you may
have to select a different audio sampling rate (for example 44100 Hz)
at the Audio Compression dialog.
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10.
Replace the audio stream with a WAV file
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After opening
the movie in VirtualDub, in both Audio and Video menus select
Direct Stream Copy. Go to Audio > WAV Audio and chose
the wave file you want to use as audio stream. Save the file by selecting
File > Save as AVI.
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11. Change the brightness / contrast of a video
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Note: This will make the new settings
permanent. To change the image settings and quality temporarily during
playback, configure the DivX control panel from the Start menu shortcuts.
Open the movie in VDub. At the Video menu select Full processing mode, and at the
Audio menu select Direct stream copy. Go to Video
> Compression and select the desired video codec.
Configure it as explained
here Now go to Video > Filters and click
the Add button. Double click the brightness/contrast
filter and configure it as you like most.
Accept all and go to File
> Save as AVI.
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12.
Crop the borders of a video
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Open the movie in VDub. At both Audio
and Video menu select Direct Stream Copy. Go to Video
> Compression to select the desired video codec,
and configure it as explained
here.
Now, to be able crop the video we must
apply some filter to the video, so go to Video > Filters and
click the Add... button. Double click the brightness/contrast
filter and leave both values at 100 % (or change them if you want).
Click OK and now at the Filters dialog you will be able
to click the Cropping button. Click it and use the values at
the corners to crop the video. Note:
The DivX 5 codec requires a width number multiple of 4, and a height
multiple of 2. If you select improper crop values, you won't be able
to encode the video.
Save the file by selecting File > Save
as AVI.
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13. Change the
frame rate of a video
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After opening the movie in VD, in both
Audio and Video menus select Direct Stream Copy.
Go to Video > Frame Rate and at the Source Rate adjustment
field enter the new frame rate. Common values are 15, 24 and
30. Decimal values are also permitted, but some rounding may occur.
Click OK and go to File > Save as AVI.
If this process causes
A/V desynchronization, read this
answer to avoid the problem.
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14. Capture a
video frame and save it as an image
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After opening the movie in VirtualDub, in both
Audio and Video menus select Direct Stream Copy.
Move the slider to the position where is the image you want to capture.
Hold down Shift to snap to keyframes while moving the slider
to seek faster.
When you have found your frame, go to the
Video menu and there select Copy source frame to clipboard.
Now you can paste the image at your preferred image editing program,
and edit and save it in the desired format.
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15.
Change the AVI file FourCC code
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To do so, you will need a small utility called
WinX2D. After runing the program, click
Browse and select your movie. Then select the
desired codec in the
drop-down selection box and click Apply.
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16. Audio extraction
to an uncompressed WAV file
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The most secure method to do this is
using VirtualDubMod. Open
your movie and if a warning message regarding VBR audio appears,
answer No.
Go to the Streams > Streams list
menu and right click the audio stream to extract. In the popup menu
select Full processing mode, and then again right click the
stream and select Conversion. Configure the conversion dialog
to match the following settings:
If you plan
to create a DVD-Video with this audio, chose a sampling rate
of 48000 Hz.
The shown settings are compatible with the
audio format required for VCD discs.
Click OK and then click Save
WAV to extract the selected stream to an uncompressed WAV file. Notice this
process will probably require a codec such as the
Frahunhofer MP3 codec or the
AC3 ACM Decompressor codec.
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17. AC3 audio
extraction
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Open your source AVI in VirtualDubMod,
then go to Streams > Stream List. Select the audio stream you
wish to extract and click Demux to save it as an AC3 file.
This can take a few minutes accordingly to the video length.
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18. Extract streams
from a Matroska (MKV) file
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Audio, video and subtitle streams can
be extracted from any MKV file using the command line application
mkvextract.exe, included in the
MKVToolNix package. Also,
there's a GUI for making its usage easier, and it's called
MKVExtractGUI. To use the
GUI, simply extract the files into the same folder where MKVToolNix
is located and run mkextractgui.exe.
To extract the streams from the MKV
file, load it in MKVExtractGUI and select the streams to extract,
then press the Extract button.
You can later mux the extracted streams
and create a AVI file using the MKVMerge application.
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A. Check if my system is ready to work with Virtual
Dub
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In order to use all features from
this guide successfully,
you need:
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Have installed the
latest VirtualDub version (or
VirtualDubMod, better)
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Have the proper audio
codecs installed, such as MP3 and AC3 Decompressor.
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Have the DivX or XviD codecs
installed with the original installer programs.
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If you have movies that require other
audio or video codec, of course you must install it.
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Recommended players: Media Player
Classic, RadLight
All this software and more is available
at the Software selection provided by DivXLand.org.
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Questions? Comments?
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If you have any questions or need
support regarding this guide or article, don't hesitate to ask at the
DivXLand.org forum personally. |
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