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Author Topic: Good Freeware Video Editor?  (Read 13086 times)

holt

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Good Freeware Video Editor?
« on: November 25, 2019, 09:08 PM »
I would like to find a free video editor to reset the volume more evenly on about a dozen youtube music vids which vary widely in volume and are all under five minutes in length. I have a one year old dual-core laptop with Windows 10 and 8GB of ram but no disk player.

The post title of this thread is the same as an earlier one which was started by siouxdax in 2006 and had its last post in 2007, so I thought I might as well make this a completely new thread.

sphere

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Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?
« Reply #1 on: November 25, 2019, 09:30 PM »
I have not looked at the old thread, but I think you are looking to normalize the audio levels. 
Davinci Resolve can likely do this.


4wd

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Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?
« Reply #2 on: November 25, 2019, 10:40 PM »
I would like to find a free video editor to reset the volume more evenly on about a dozen youtube music vids which vary widely in volume and are all under five minutes in length.

You could try AVIDemux, set it to Copy the video component and encode the Audio using the Automatic Gain Mode.
Choose whichever Audio Output format you prefer and the Output Format suitable for the chosen Video/Audio format, (eg. MP4 Muxer or MKV Muxer would be the most likely candidates).

2019-11-26 15_16_44-Andain - You Once Told Me (Unofficial video).mp4 - Avidemux.pngGood Freeware Video Editor?

holt

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Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?
« Reply #3 on: December 03, 2019, 05:03 AM »
I would like to find a free video editor to reset the volume more evenly on about a dozen youtube music vids which vary widely in volume and are all under five minutes in length.

You could try AVIDemux, set it to Copy the video component and encode the Audio using the Automatic Gain Mode.
Choose whichever Audio Output format you prefer and the Output Format suitable for the chosen Video/Audio format, (eg. MP4 Muxer or MKV Muxer would be the most likely candidates).

[ Invalid Attachment ]
Thank you very much! I found a tutorial on YT and I'm making progress.  :Thmbsup:

holt

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Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?
« Reply #4 on: December 03, 2019, 01:04 PM »
How would I use AVIDemux to process a musical track with Automatic Level Control, or ALC, that is too quiet and then too loud, to even it up?

KodeZwerg

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Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?
« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2019, 01:46 AM »
For Windows and Mac:
I really dont know if it support the wanted feature, but in general it is a sweet tool and for a few days even for free.
www.videoproc.com <- Original Link
german Chip.de <- Free Giveaway Version

Howto:
Open 2nd link
click "Download Vollversion"
another window open
click "Download Server xyz"

When all went good, you have received a .zip file.
Inside .zip archive is a .pdf and a .exe
Install product by executing .exe
Open .pdf and type inside VideoProc "Register" screen the number from .pdf.

Have fun and enjoy :)

Be aware, the license key is meant for the .exe inside .zip only and cant be used with later versions...!
So do not update VideoProc unless you buy it.

BTW: VideoProc uses Hardware accelerated GPU encoding/decoding, thats why i use it :-]

rjbull

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Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?
« Reply #6 on: December 06, 2019, 04:55 PM »
In its latest issue (dated 4-17 December 2019) UK magazine Computeractive published its list of "Best Free Software for 2020."  They recommend:

  • VSDC Free Video Editor as having plenty of features but easy to master, with excellent tutorials.
  • DaVinci Resolve 16 (as noted by sphere earlier).  More advanced than VSDC, but also harder to master.
Both of those are cut-down versions of payware programs.  The full version of DaVinci Resolve is very expensive.  VSDC Pro is more approachable, and appears to currently be on offer at $19.99

They DON'T recommend HitFilm Express because while it's a decent if complex program, they don't like the way it requires you to sign up for an account before you can even download it.  It also needs a powerful computer, including a graphics card with a minimum of 1 GB of memory.

Shades

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Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?
« Reply #7 on: December 06, 2019, 08:32 PM »
If it is good, I don't know, but ShotCut is open source and could be considered a GUI for the excellent ffMpeg software. For my purposes at the time it did the job well. A conversion of video camera feed from a pool bar to help out a friend identifying the thief who took his phone. The original feed file was about 600 MByte in size, but could not be read in any player, except the (very) propriety one from the camera system, which only worked in the camera system itself.

Still, Shotcut was able to take the original file and convert it into a file that works in any standard player in any OS. Albeit 19 GByte in size.... As there was no further use for me with this software (till date), I really can't say how good it is.

But it is free to use, not too heavy a download (extracted about 575 MByte), gets regular updates and can be used as a portable app. The last part is why it hasn't been removed from my system yet.

 

4wd

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Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?
« Reply #8 on: December 07, 2019, 06:11 AM »
How would I use AVIDemux to process a musical track with Automatic Level Control, or ALC, that is too quiet and then too loud, to even it up?

In that case you need to normalize the audio track, AVIDemux doesn't have a filter for that.

You can, however, by adding a couple of steps do it outside AVIDemux and then mux it back in:
  • Open the file in AVIDemux
  • Save the audio track, Audio->Save Audio

Then use ffmpeg to normalize:

Code: Text [Select]
  1. ffmpeg -i input.aac -filter:a loudnorm -c:a aac -b:a 128k -vn -sn -dn output.aac

Then add the audio track into AVIDemux, Audio->Select Track, then choose ... Add audio track from the dropdown to select the the output from the ffmpeg operation.

2019-12-07 23_08_24-2018-03-10-113124-69.mp4 - Avidemux.pngGood Freeware Video Editor?

Then it's just the same as my post above with regards to saving the remuxed output - if you set ffmpeg to output in the final desired audio codec then you don't need to encode it in AVIDemux, just set Audio Output to Copy, (same as it is for Video Output).

sphere

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Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?
« Reply #9 on: January 05, 2020, 08:27 PM »
So I am looking to batch convert many AMR files to MP3 (while also adjusting the Sampling rate so it is at least 16) and it occurred to me I would also like to normalize the volume on these files and possibly make other tweaks.   Additionally, I have a number of movies I would like to do the same. A Finally, I sometimes like extracting the audio from videos so I can listen on the go.  Any suggestions?  I realize this post was originally about video editing, but I guess I am wondering if there is a standalone application that can help with all of these media related tasks?
« Last Edit: January 05, 2020, 08:37 PM by sphere »

4wd

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Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?
« Reply #10 on: January 06, 2020, 04:18 AM »
So I am looking to batch convert many AMR files to MP3 (while also adjusting the Sampling rate so it is at least 16) and it occurred to me I would also like to normalize the volume on these files and possibly make other tweaks.

Code: Text [Select]
  1. ffmpeg.exe -i input.amr -ar 44100 -filter:a loudnorm -c:a libmp3lame -q:a 3 output.mp3

-ar 44100 = Audio sample rate 44100, (ie. same as CD)
-filter:a loudnorm = Apply a single pass normalisation algorithm, (you can also do 2 pass)
-c:a libmp3lame = Encode using the MP3 codec
-q:a 3 = Average bitrate of 175kb/s

Additionally, I have a number of movies I would like to do the same.

Code: Text [Select]
  1. ffmpeg.exe -i input.mp4 -v:c copy -filter:a loudnorm -c:a aac -b:a 160k -c:s copy output.mp4

-v:c copy = Copy the video stream
-c:a aac = Encode audio stream using AAC codec
-b:a 160k = Constant bitrate of 160kb/s
-c:s copy = Copy the subtitle stream

A Finally, I sometimes like extracting the audio from videos so I can listen on the go.

Code: Text [Select]
  1. ffmpeg.exe -i input.mp4 -vn -sn -dn -c:a libmp3lame -q:a 3 output.mp3

-vn = Don't process video streams
-sn = Don't process subtitle streams
-dn = Don't process data streams

To do all the files in a directory, for example for the first case:

Code: Text [Select]
  1. FOR /F "tokens=*" %G IN ('dir /b *.amr') DO ffmpeg.exe -i "%G" -ar 44100 -filter:a loudnorm -c:a libmp3lame -q:a 3 "%~nG.mp3"

All the above assume ffmpeg.exe is in your path somewhere otherwise you'll have to input the full path to it.

ffmpeg.exe has more options than there are words in the dictionary, (almost), so you can tweak until you're giddy.

For maximum stability you want the Static 32bit release:
2020-01-06 21_20_15-Builds - Zeranoe FFmpeg - Slimjet.png

sphere

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Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?
« Reply #11 on: January 10, 2020, 02:20 PM »
Thank you. This has worked well. But I am still learning

holt

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Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?
« Reply #12 on: February 01, 2020, 08:54 PM »
In MPC-BE Media Player Classic, is there any option to mirror-flop left and right sides? Not Windows 10, just within MPC-BE? Or VLC?

Deozaan

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Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?
« Reply #13 on: February 02, 2020, 08:38 PM »
Another alternative to consider is OpenShot, which as its name implies is free and open source.

It may not be the best tool for the original request, but I figured it ought to be mentioned in this thread which has had many other video editing software suggestions. :Thmbsup:

4wd

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Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?
« Reply #14 on: February 02, 2020, 11:53 PM »
In MPC-BE Media Player Classic, is there any option to mirror-flop left and right sides? Not Windows 10, just within MPC-BE? Or VLC?

MPC-BE (assign a hotkey):
2020-02-03 16_50_58-Options.pngGood Freeware Video Editor?

VLC:
2020-02-03 16_52_51-Adjustments and Effects.pngGood Freeware Video Editor?

holt

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Re: Good Freeware Video Editor?
« Reply #15 on: February 03, 2020, 01:40 PM »
In MPC-BE Media Player Classic, is there any option to mirror-flop left and right sides? Not Windows 10, just within MPC-BE? Or VLC?

MPC-BE (assign a hotkey):
[ Invalid Attachment ]

VLC:
[ Invalid Attachment ]
4wd: Thank you! That's -really- cool.  :Thmbsup: Is there any way to do it with videos in either Brave or any other browser?

With the actual Windows 10 OS, I'm just afraid that if I ever managed to do it in Windows 10, the effect might be so disorienting that I might not be able to figure out how to switch it back to normal after watching a video on a particular web browser.

The reason for mirror switching left & right; after one has seen a 'favorite' movie too many times, the subjective 'newness' effect wears off; mirror flipping horizontally (left & right) is just 'disorienting' enough to trick the subconscious into feeling like one is watching the movie for the first time all over again.

I realized this from finding a few old favorites on YouTube, which the posting user horizontally flipped out of some misbegotten notion that it was somehow not infringing; I don't know so much about that, but the feeling of 'newness' to tired old movies was both unshakable and unmistakable.

Edit: If I could open a web browser movie in VLC (speaking of anything but YouTube), using VLC basically as a UI -User Interface- 'front end', then perhaps VLC could horizontally flip right and left during playback.
« Last Edit: February 04, 2020, 08:22 AM by holt »