Avidemux: Perfectly Cut Out Commercials, Clips, Etc.

[BTJustice]

http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/

I have never had really good luck with Comskip. I recently started to use Avidemux to cut commercials out of .TS recordings. This is s simple guide to get you in the right path to doing the same.

First you will need to download Avidemux and install it. There are 32-bit and 64-bit versions so install the one that matches your Windows installation.

What I like to do is right-click on a .TS recording then go to OPEN WITH. Uncheck the box to make it the default program then browse to C:\Program Files\Avidemux and select avidemux.exe. Now you can right-click on .TS recordings and open them directly with Avidemux.

Avidemux will need to index the .TS recording it is opening. It will create an .IDX2 file using the name of the recording in the same folder as the recording. Don't delete these!

Now don't use the left or right arrow keys but instead use the UP and DOWN arrows. UP and DOWN goes through key frames which you have to use to make your cuts. Using left and right will not do this and you will error out when you are ready to re-save the .TS recording.

First you will probably want to cut out the stuff before the start of the show you recorded. Use the UP key to forward to the start of the show. Press the B button in Avidemux which will select the end of the cut. Don't worry about the start as that will already be set to 0:00:00.

Also do the reverse for the end of the show. At the end of the show, just click on A then press DELETE as the the B time will already be set.

So using UP to go forward and DOWN to go back, go to where the commercials start then click the A button. This sets the start. Hold down the UP arrow and go to where the commercials end. Click the B button which sets the end. Now press the DELETE key on your keyboard. The commercials are now cut out.

After I do a deletion, I will hit the down arrow a few times then click PLAY to make sure the cut was good.

If you mess up and cut out too much, all you have to do is close Avidemux and re-open the .TS recording you want to edit.

When you are done with your cuts (or even before), look at the left side of the Avidemux window. VIDEO OUTPUT and AUDIO OUTPUT will be on COPY. Do not change these! OUTPUT FORMAT needs to be changed every time you open Avidemux from AVI MUXER to MPEG TS MUXER. This will preserve the .TS format and information within the .TS file.

Now it is time to save the new .TS file. You CANNOT over-write the existing .TS recording as it is open in Avidemux. What I do is browse to the folder containing the .TS recording I am editing. Left-click on it once so the name gets inputted as the name of the new file. You can easily tell which one it is as it will be followed by the .IDX2 file. Now go up one directory which is usually NPVR's main recording directory (parent directory) then hit SAVE. It will take a few seconds to save the edited .TS recording. Close Avidemux.

Lastly, go to the parent folder you saved the edited .TS recording and drag it to the folder containing the original .TS recording. Over-write the original.

PRO TIP: When you are done working on a folder of recordings, delete ALL BUT THE LAST .IDX2 file listed. Use it as a marker so any new recordings listed after that file let you know they need to be edited

As you get more accustomed to Avidemux, you can re-open edited .TS recording and either save them using a different OUTPUT FORMAT such as .AVI or .MP4. You can also use MCEBuddy and my kick ass guide for it to save your edited .TS files as .MP4 files

[jksmurf]

Nice writeup, but the whole point of comskip for me is it is an automatic process.
Heuristics and all the other methods used might not be perfect, but are very good, and certainly good enough for me, and if you take the time to tweak, it works.

Erik is also very helpful.

k.

[BTJustice]

I know, but there is a huge difference between an automatic, good enough process and a perfect manual process. To do a one hour show takes me about 5 minutes to cut out stuff before the show starts, the commercials, and stuff that follows the end of the show I recorded along with re-saving the edited .TS recording.

[OTAjunkie]

I agree with jksmurf.
Just about any video editor will achieve precise edit points. Heck, with AVS Video Converter you can even get the frame as it begins to go dark.
But comskip is running fine for me and if I do miss something well that's what "skip back" is for.
As it is, at least 97% of all my recordings are deleted after watching because just about that much programing will run in repeats.
If I did want a library of a show then I'd simply download that show already catalogued by season & episode .
On any given night I record 3-6 hours and to manually process it when I have a Postprocessing.bat capable of automatically running Comskip and transcoding to AVI yielding one AVI with commercials and one AVI commercial free would be wrong headed.

[BTJustice]

By using Avidemux and achieving perfect cuts in relatively little time, I catalog a bunch of recordings without paying for them such as Boardwalk Empire, Dexter, Ghost Adventures, and numerous military shows that are not available for purchase.

[OTAjunkie]

http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/25868...ab=summary
Just about anything is available.

[BTJustice]

http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/25868...ab=summary
Just about anything is available.

True but hardly ever legally.

[Lao Pan]

Here in the UK Comskip (& any other automated process) is just about useless - the Broadcasters appear to deliberately try to make the Ad breaks seamless - fading in and out of the breaks, Channel id's stopping before the ads or continuing through them. After getting H264 HD channels I finally bought VideoRedo for that very reason.

[OTAjunkie]

Yes, if VideoRedo had command line capabilities I'd go for it but as far as I know it doesn't.

@BTJ, "any recording in whole or in part,,,,,,,blah blah is a violation of US copyright laws" per Monday Night Foolball. By that definition you are breaking the law with your PVR. In my country while there is no legislation that condones the download of TV shows there is also none that classifies it as illegal.

[TomH]

@BTJ, "any recording in whole or in part,,,,,,,blah blah is a violation of US copyright laws" per Monday Night Foolball. By that definition you are breaking the law with your PVR.

Keep in mind that just because the NFL says it does not mean it is 100% accurate. The "Fair Use" doctrine applies whether the NFL mentions it or not.