Non-destructive editing

Video_flaneur wrote on 1/25/2020, 6:05 PM

I have large numbers of of video and audio files in a variety of formats where I would like to crop and discard the unusable sections before using the files in Vegas. Can any of you Vegas gurus recommend one (or more) utility programs which allow me to do this easily in a non-destructive fashion?

Laptop: Surface Pro 6: Windows 11 Pro Version 23H2, Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8650U CPU @ 1.90GHz   2.11 GHzIntel(R) Core(TM) i7-8650U CPU @ 1.90GHz   2.11 GHz; 16GB RAM, 1TB internal SSD
2 external monitors, 5TB external drive, wireless keyboard and mouse

(planning to upgrade to a more powerful graphics laptop when cashflows allow)

Vegas Pro 22 (Build 250); Vegasaur Toolkit 4.0.1; ProDad Mercall v.4; HitFilm Pro Version 2021.1; Acid Pro 11; Sound Forge Pro 18;

Comments

adis-a3097 wrote on 1/25/2020, 7:19 PM

I have large numbers of of video and audio files in a variety of formats where I would like to crop and discard the unusable sections before using the files in Vegas. Can any of you Vegas gurus recommend one (or more) utility programs which allow me to do this easily in a non-destructive fashion?

If you don't mind me asking: why the detour?

Video_flaneur wrote on 1/25/2020, 7:44 PM

If you don't mind me asking: why the detour?

Let me give a couple of examples. I have numbers of audio files taken in the field capturing birdsong. The birds may only have co-operated for 6 seconds of the 20 minute wav file so I want to crop off and discard the unusable parts, save the usable part in the original format and later use it in a number of Vegas projects.

Similarly I have lengthy takes where at some stage someone has planted themselves in front of the camera but there is a good 6 seconds I want to use and reuse in Vegas projects. Rather than clog up my disc space with content that will never be used I would like to crop it down to the usable bits but without loss of quality.

I could crop them in Vegas but then (I believe) I could only save or export them in a veg format whereas I may want to do other things with them as well. Also I don't want to lose the metadata from the original file.

I know there are various programs that will crop particular file formats in a non-lossy manner. I was wondering if anyone had advice on a one-size-fits-all solution.

Last changed by Video_flaneur on 1/25/2020, 7:50 PM, changed a total of 1 times.

Laptop: Surface Pro 6: Windows 11 Pro Version 23H2, Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8650U CPU @ 1.90GHz   2.11 GHzIntel(R) Core(TM) i7-8650U CPU @ 1.90GHz   2.11 GHz; 16GB RAM, 1TB internal SSD
2 external monitors, 5TB external drive, wireless keyboard and mouse

(planning to upgrade to a more powerful graphics laptop when cashflows allow)

Vegas Pro 22 (Build 250); Vegasaur Toolkit 4.0.1; ProDad Mercall v.4; HitFilm Pro Version 2021.1; Acid Pro 11; Sound Forge Pro 18;

Musicvid wrote on 1/25/2020, 8:09 PM

VideoRedo

Video_flaneur wrote on 1/25/2020, 8:14 PM

Musicvid - you consistently give such good advice I shall go away and try it immediately.

Laptop: Surface Pro 6: Windows 11 Pro Version 23H2, Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8650U CPU @ 1.90GHz   2.11 GHzIntel(R) Core(TM) i7-8650U CPU @ 1.90GHz   2.11 GHz; 16GB RAM, 1TB internal SSD
2 external monitors, 5TB external drive, wireless keyboard and mouse

(planning to upgrade to a more powerful graphics laptop when cashflows allow)

Vegas Pro 22 (Build 250); Vegasaur Toolkit 4.0.1; ProDad Mercall v.4; HitFilm Pro Version 2021.1; Acid Pro 11; Sound Forge Pro 18;

Musicvid wrote on 1/25/2020, 8:16 PM

Since the version 6 release, I use it more often than Handbrake. 4k x265? Heck yeah. I doubt if it will save all metadata.

You can trim and save the video, audio, or both without recompression, but not crop.

adis-a3097 wrote on 1/25/2020, 8:18 PM

Hmmm...in Vegas, audio is totally doable: just export as wave, aiff, flac, sony wave64, or even Windows Media Audio. Like this:

It's lossless.

Video - not so much. Not unless you're using mpeg 2 encoded video, which can be rendered without re-compressing it.

Edit:

Oh, what Musicvid said! :)

Video_flaneur wrote on 1/25/2020, 8:29 PM

Thank you both Musicvid and adis-a3097. I have already tested VideoRedo and it was just what I was after. Meanwhile the template suggested by adis-a3097 also opens up new avenues for me to explore.

This forum is a wonderful resource - thank you to all who contribute in a constructive manner.

Laptop: Surface Pro 6: Windows 11 Pro Version 23H2, Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8650U CPU @ 1.90GHz   2.11 GHzIntel(R) Core(TM) i7-8650U CPU @ 1.90GHz   2.11 GHz; 16GB RAM, 1TB internal SSD
2 external monitors, 5TB external drive, wireless keyboard and mouse

(planning to upgrade to a more powerful graphics laptop when cashflows allow)

Vegas Pro 22 (Build 250); Vegasaur Toolkit 4.0.1; ProDad Mercall v.4; HitFilm Pro Version 2021.1; Acid Pro 11; Sound Forge Pro 18;

adis-a3097 wrote on 1/25/2020, 8:35 PM

YW, Video_flaneur! :)

Musicvid wrote on 1/25/2020, 8:40 PM

We aim to please...