Trimming mp4 files

WISAZ13 wrote on 8/30/2012, 1:17 PM
Hello,

I have quite a few mp4 files that are taking up a ton of room on my hard drive. They are from a GoPro camera and there's really only about 2 minutes of each 10-15 minutes video I want. I know how to trim them in the MovieStudio software to use in a project, but my question is: Can I use this software to trim the original mp4 down? Or will it only save files in the Sony Vegas Movie Studio project? Thanks in advance!

PS- If not, can you recommend a free or cheap software that will do this?

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 8/30/2012, 1:35 PM
A project is not a video file. It is a signpost that points to one or more media files. This is the most important thing to understand. When you open a project, you open the original media.

The only way to "trim" a file in VMS is to select a portion and render to a new file. Then you can delete the original file if you are absolutely certain you will never use it again. Unfornately, VMS does not smart-render files from your camera. That means there will be collateral losses in quality from the second generation rendering process.

There are utilities made that will trim your files without any losses, and reindex the GOP along the way. Two of them are VideoRedo h264 edition, and TS Doctor. I suggest you use the trial versions before you decide to purchase one of them.

Hope this helps.