Comparing Video Editors and Encoders for Fraps users Having been asked for advice more than a few times, I've put together a feature comparison of the most-mentioned video encoders, from simple utilities to full-on (albeit still consumer level) editing packages. What you need depends on what you want to do, and how hard you want to work at it, of course. A typical question: >What software should I use to merge and edit the clips? Depends on how fancy you want your final video to be. Do you need to... [ ] do basic editing - trim out the boring parts before & after? [ ] add titles & credits? [ ] throw some random music over it? YouTube's built in editing & annotation should be able to handle this, so you can use just about anything; the easiest way I can think of is with WinFF In addition to the above, do you also need to ... [ ] merge several clips? [ ] crop, resize, sharpen, etc? You have many choices. VirtualDub is a good one. In addition to the above, do you also need to ... [ ] add voice over commentary? [ ] add music in perfect sync? [ ] do slow or fast motion? [ ] add video overlay - your face in a corner, or your logo? [ ] add fancy effects? [ ] do color correction? etc etc? You need a video editor - WLMM or Vegas or Premiere [Elements] ...that's the short answer. Now, in more detail, The applications being compared: They run, more or less, from simple to complex. All are free, except TrakAx , Premiere Elements and Vegas. ffmpeg Command line utility; the power behind many video encoders. WinFF Graphical front end for ffmpeg. Pick a preset and go (see post #2) FFrapsJoin Very simple front end for ffmpeg. Drag a file on its icon to encode. Handbrake GUI application, high quality encoding; popular with DVD encoders. Avidemux Basic GUI editor with color correction filters, etc. StaxRip Basic GUI editor; the best feature is its AviSynth integration. VirtualDub Basic GUI editor with more video filters; the Swiss Army knife of AVI encoding. MS Expression Very minimal video editor. MS Live Movie Maker Minimal video editor with some added effects and features. TrakAx Pro Nearly complete video editor for around $25 US. Focusing on sound loops and beat matching, somewhat lacking in text and FX. The free version (after 30 day trial expires) still has a lot of useful features. Adobe Premiere Elements Complete video editor for around $150 US. Slightly stripped version of Premiere Pro. Sony Vegas Movie Studio Complete video editor for around $150 US. Slightly stripped version of Vegas Pro. Does sound looping like TrakAx. The features being compared: More advanced as you go down the list, more or less. read Fraps video files vital for a Fraps encoder - of course read AviSynth scripts a very good feature to have trim or delete frames eliminate junk footage at start and end encoding: H.264 and_encoding: WMV important that at least one is supported join multiple videos formerly very important, now less so fade in & out the most basic "effect" there is color correction and_blur, sharpen enhance problem footage crop important if trying to fit a video into a 16:9 aspect ratio resize important for adjusting non-standard resolution game footage external audio substitute another audio track; does not necessarily mix multiple sources audio level control basic audio level adjustment including normalization audio fade in & out the most basic "effect" there is mix audio sources ability to mix game, music and/or commentary audio speed change fit a music track to a given time, or fix an out-of-sync commentary track hear audio scrubbing important for cutting on the beat or on the word chromakey / greenscreen put yourself or your logo over the game footage cross dissolve the second most basic "effect" there is flips, spins, etc all the fancier effects picture-in-picture and_video overlay show a second camera angle, or superimpose a logo video speed change slo-mo effects titles & credits built in text editor for titles and credits titles & credits effects ability to make the text move, warp, change color, etc audio keyframes and_effects keyframes make your settings change precisely over time The Comparison Charts Green means a feature is supported; red means it isn't. Dark grey means I don't know. * corrections for ffmpeg : "read AviSynth scripts" should be "Y". Crop, trim, audio level etc are supported but are hard to use. * corrections for VirtualDub : "audio fade" should be "Y(1)" (plugin required) ; all Y(2) features require "ffdshow tryouts" plugin ; keyframes for VirtualDub control video filter "blend" (opacity) or audio level only. * correction for WLMM: pretty sure "external audio," "audio level control" and "audio fade" should be "Y", not "?" * Vegas & TrakAx both do audio looping for music mixes. * Vegas can read AviSynth and encode with H.264 ( "MainConcept AVC") Questions, corrections? I'm ready
Here's the easiest way to get a video encoded I can think of: [ edit moved: https://encodingtalk.com/threads/an-easy-way-to-get-a-video-encoded.2136/ ]
