Simple Software for Trimming Videos

Updraftjoe · Nov 21, 2015

Hi All,

I've been sing gopro studio for making my movies. Simple and has all the functionality I need. I import my phantom 3 videos and mix with the gopro shots

I just shot a bunch of fly overs for a friend making his hunting video. I need to save the clips for him and he'll send them to his editor. I could just give him the raw footage, but I'd prefer trim the ends and just give him shots without the start and stop and the few times where I forgot to stop the video when I finished the shot.

Looking for something that will just trim the ends and preferably keep mp4 format (is this important?) and without re-encoding (otherwise quality is degraded?) I don't mind paying for software if I'm getting extra, which like I said I don't really need right now.

Sure would be nice if the pilot app would allow to trim clips. I dnt think the "moment" feature really does this, correct?

Thanks.

tcope · Nov 21, 2015

Mentioning the OS that you use would be very helpful. Also, you may want to scroll to the bottom of this page and look at the prior questions and answers on this subject.

Updraftjoe · Nov 21, 2015

Sorry, Windows 7. I've browsed through all the threads on software preferences but my question from my research is just for video trimming without any degradation of video quality. My reading on the subject has led me to believe that if it is re-encoded there will be a loss of video quality. I just want to shorten a single clip, not join or make a movie.

Andy Boyd · Feb 1, 2016

I recommend SolveigMM Video Splitter (if you can avoid Googling Solveig Mørk Hansen) for simple video trimming without degradation.
It is a beautifully simple Windows app that respects the GOP boundaries (if you select that as an option). So it will trim clips very fast with zero re-encoding.
I guess a lot of us start recording before we need, and stop after we need. So this software is a great way of trimming out the unwanted edges, especially if you want to archive source files without wasting space.
It is also happy to trim sections from the centre of files, or even join files together.
One special benefit is that it automatically edits the associated .srt file/s at the same time, so you don't lose sync with them. It will display the srt titles on the clip if you want, to whatever size, position or font you want (it won't burn them in because that would be recompiling. It just displays them). It does work with 4k video.
The Demo version puts a watermark on the output video. Otherwise its fully functional.

Andy Boyd · Oct 18, 2016

Well Jenny, it is true that there are all kinds of free video trimmers out on the internet.
But how many can take Phantom mp4 videos and trim them WITHOUT RECOMPILING?
I don't think that any of the ones that you list can do that.

But I agree that SolveigMM Video Splitter does cost money.
So if anyone wants a free alternative, this one will also do the job:

In COPY mode it will trim video, even 4k resolution Phantom video, without adulterating it.
Small negatives are that it loses the GPS info in the header, changes the names of the codecs, and does not trim the associated SRT file to match.
But not many people will care about those points.