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Combining MPEG Files

d wade

d wade

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
1,046
2
Boca Raton, FL
Is there a way i can combine separate mpeg files using imovie or any other program that may come with the macbook pro?

is there any freeware programs that will do this? or should i just buy one?

any help and advice is appreciated
 
Visual Hub (and perhaps iSquint) can stitch together files it encodes. An example is converting multiple VOBs to a single MPEG-4 file for the iPod.
 
gr8tfly said:
Visual Hub (and perhaps iSquint) can stitch together files it encodes. An example is converting multiple VOBs to a single MPEG-4 file for the iPod.
Click to expand...

but will it combine multiple mpeg files into 1 mpeg file? that is what i am looking to do
 
iMovie can, AFAIK iSquint can't and I don't know about the other that was mentioned. In iMovie just drag the files into the clips in the order you want them in and then select all of the clips on the right hand side of the app (or apple-A) then go to file>export and choose you settings, then be prepared to wait a while depending on the size of the clips.

EDIT: to speed up the importing process here is a trick
 
You have it alredy on your computer if you are running OS X and don't mind a bit of command line work :) .

1. Open terminal
2. Change to the directory that contains the movies you want to join
3 type the following
cat "filename1".mpeg "filename2".mpeg < newfile.mpeg​

After a bit of processing, the file will be complete.

The words in "" would be the name of the file you are trying to join to the other. You don't have to name the new file "newfile.mpeg" it was just an example :D
 
840quadra said:
You have it alredy on your computer if you are running OS X and don't mind a bit of command line work :) .

1. Open terminal
2. Change to the directory that contains the movies you want to join
3 type the following
cat "filename1".mpeg "filename2".mpeg < newfile.mpeg​

After a bit of processing, the file will be complete.

The words in "" would be the name of the file you are trying to join to the other. You don't have to name the new file "newfile.mpeg" it was just an example :D
Click to expand...

gotcha! thanks alot. that is the type of answer i was hoping for.

i will try those other apps also recommended. thanks for the help.
 
840quadra said:
OOPS!

Make sure you use the > not the < sign.

Sorry about that ! :eek:
Click to expand...

i tried exactly what you said. and it gave me "no such file or directory"

there are a couple reasons why i feel it may not have worked:

-the number 1 reason is b/c i tried it with a .avi file (not like a mpeg like i originally posted) will it work with .avi's as well or just mpeg?

-the files are not on the desktop, they are in sub folders

-i didnt put the filename in parenthesis. you wrote "filename".mpg -- however i didnt put the " " around the filename before the .avi/.mpg

any or all of these reasons why i got an error? if not, how can i fix it correctly?
 
d wade said:
any or all of these reasons why i got an error? if not, how can i fix it correctly?
Click to expand...

It's unlikely to work, as there are headers and footers in files of this type that get very confused when concatenated (that's what "cat" means).

The easiest way for you to try it is, open Terminal.app, type cat followed by a space, and then drag into the Terminal window (from the Finder) the first movie part you want to concatenate (make sure there's a space after the file name, but only 1 space), then then second file, and then > ~/Desktop/test.avi

So it will look something like this:

cat /Users/dwade/notporn/definitelynotporn1.avi /Users/dwade/notporn/definitelynotporn2.avi > ~/Desktop/test.avi
 
yellow said:
It's unlikely to work, as there are headers and footers in files of this type that get very confused when concatenated (that's what "cat" means).

The easiest way for you to try it is, open Terminal.app, type cat followed by a space, and then drag into the Terminal window (from the Finder) the first movie part you want to concatenate (make sure there's a space after the file name, but only 1 space), then then second file, and then > ~/Desktop/test.avi

So it will look something like this:

cat /Users/dwade/notporn/definitelynotporn1.avi /Users/dwade/notporn/definitelynotporn2.avi > ~/Desktop/test.avi
Click to expand...

thanks alot!

LOL and actually this movie surprisingly is not porn. its an older movie i downloaded and trying to make it easier for my gf to watch on her computer.

however, do not be tricked into thinking that i will not be using this new skill for porn, because i certainly will be, LOL.
 
ok, well i tried it, and it looked like it worked. it sent the test.avi file to the desktop, however it was only the 1st half still.

do i need to wait longer? is there a way to tell when it is done or when i should open the file?
 
mkrishnan said:
That's a relief. Although I personally like to keep my porn separated so that I can decide which snippet I want to watch at that particular moment. :eek: ;) :D
Click to expand...

without the risk of getting off-topic.. i usually do too. thats why i have never asked a question like this until its an actual movie we wanna watch w/o being interrupted. long pornos take too long to scroll through. plus, my porn watching has gone way down since i have been with my gf.

ANYWAY.... back on topic....

help please :D read my post a few above this about the most recent problem i had.
 
d wade said:
ok, well i tried it, and it looked like it worked. it sent the test.avi file to the desktop, however it was only the 1st half still.

do i need to wait longer? is there a way to tell when it is done or when i should open the file?
Click to expand...

Well, when the prompt comes back in Terminal.app, then it's done.

And it's only as long as the amount of clips you concatinate. You can,

cat file1 file2 file3 file4 file5 file6 > whatever
 
yellow said:
Well, when the prompt comes back in Terminal.app, then it's done.

And it's only as long as the amount of clips you concatinate. You can,

cat file1 file2 file3 file4 file5 file6 > whatever
Click to expand...

hmmm.. the prompt did come back and then i tried to view the file. it was only the 1st half.

and i tried that SVS app, it worked in the 'preview' part, but when i tried to save it, it would not open.
 
Well, iMovie can definitely do it. Open iMovie,
1 - create and name a project
2 - drag clip one in
3 - drag clip two in behind it
4 - export
 
yellow said:
It's unlikely to work, as there are headers and footers in files of this type that get very confused when concatenated (that's what "cat" means).

The easiest way for you to try it is, open Terminal.app, type cat followed by a space, and then drag into the Terminal window (from the Finder) the first movie part you want to concatenate (make sure there's a space after the file name, but only 1 space), then then second file, and then > ~/Desktop/test.avi

So it will look something like this:

cat /Users/dwade/notporn/definitelynotporn1.avi /Users/dwade/notporn/definitelynotporn2.avi > ~/Desktop/test.avi
Click to expand...

Hi, sorry to dig this up. But, I do not think it will join the two files properly. I tried it just now.

This one actually worked perfectly when joining..
http://ffmpegx.com/download.html

HTH
 
Also MPEG Streamclip (surprised noone has mentioned it).

Keep the files in one folder, then when opening, select all the files by holding in the shift-key (or cmd-key, don't remember). Then fix timecode breaks and export to new MPEG.
 
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