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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
 

gr8tfly

macrumors 603
Oct 29, 2006
5,333
99
~119W 34N
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.
 

d wade

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
1,046
2
Boca Raton, FL
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.

but will it combine multiple mpeg files into 1 mpeg file? that is what i am looking to do
 

Mernak

macrumors 6502
Apr 9, 2006
435
16
Kirkland, WA
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
 

840quadra

Moderator
Staff member
Feb 1, 2005
9,254
5,966
Twin Cities Minnesota
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
 

d wade

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
1,046
2
Boca Raton, FL
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

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.
 

d wade

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
1,046
2
Boca Raton, FL
OOPS!

Make sure you use the > not the < sign.

Sorry about that ! :eek:

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?
 

yellow

Moderator emeritus
Oct 21, 2003
16,018
6
Portland, OR
any or all of these reasons why i got an error? if not, how can i fix it correctly?

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
 

d wade

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
1,046
2
Boca Raton, FL
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

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.
 

d wade

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
1,046
2
Boca Raton, FL
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?
 

d wade

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
1,046
2
Boca Raton, FL
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

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.
 

yellow

Moderator emeritus
Oct 21, 2003
16,018
6
Portland, OR
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?

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
 

d wade

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
1,046
2
Boca Raton, FL
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

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.
 

gekko513

macrumors 603
Oct 16, 2003
6,301
1
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
 

lmiranda

macrumors newbie
Apr 19, 2009
1
0
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

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
 

jackerin

macrumors 6502a
Jun 29, 2008
868
35
Finland
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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