Joining 1 abme Faqs

Joining & Converting
version html 2.03

for "Joinless" Joining	Permanant Joining
Players and Playlists	Joining of Clips
in Windoze Media Player	MPG files
Playlist asx	For AVI Files
ASX Maker	For ASF Files
Mov playlist	For RM Files
the Mpg Zip trick	For WMV Files
Joinless Rm Joins

Notes for Xp users	Full List of Tools for - Playlists / Joining / Coverting

Just remember, if you didn't cap it, and you join or alter it, DON'T POST IT. As a preamble, please note that there are more tools located in Editing than are listed here, and many of them can perform the same function as the tools shown here. Those desiring more complexity should look there, as the tools here were selected for their straight forward approach to a single task and are FREE to use. If you wished to have only as few tools as possible, we'll cut the chase and suggest VDub for avi and Tmpeg for mpg.

Some video players like Waldo's Video Player and some of the new Divx Players have a multiple play feature and will allow you to line up a group of files that will play almost seamlessly.

WMP (Windows Media Player)
for ASF, AVI, MPG, MP3, WMV, WMA - you can create a xxxx.asx file, which causes WMP to play the parts together without having to "load" each one.
1. In Windows notepad enter:

ASF Path (note: leave this statement as is)
filename.wmv ( or .asf, or .mpg - whatever is the correct extension for the clips you're assembling ).
filename2.wmv
filename3.wnv
etc.

( For other formats, use the "ASF Path" statement but use the appropriate extension on the filenames ).
2. save this as filename.asx in the same directory as the clips
3. open the asx file in windows media player and enjoy.

For Windows XP users - the above does not work. If you want to use a similar method; exchange the extension to M3U, and DO NOT show the ASF Path statement. Be aware the you may have to change the associations in windows to allow this. I know most people do not have XP yet but it's a pain to have old asf files not working. & you do not have to have mp3's associated with WMP either (thanks to fisherboy). So far Asx Maker 2.x seems to make Xp compatible files. Umhhhh.....

For *Rm, *.mpg, *.avi, *.asf, and even *.mp3 files played on Windows Media Player6.4, the FAQs highly recommends either of the two below:
Play List Editor last written in 1999 but quite good. You can create and maintain playlists of video and sound clips for Real Player, Windows Media Player, and Winamp/Xing MP3 players. Does not play well with Xp.
Summary of it's Features -
    ) Handles 'RM','ASF','MPG','AVI', 'MP3 ...etc clips
    ) Drag 'n Drop from Explorer/File Find
    ) Powerful Search 'n Add Feature
    ) Preview individual clips
    ) Preview Complete Playlist
If you move the files to another location, you'll either need to recreate the asx file, or edit the file with Notepad (the file uses HTML like tags) and remove the path name just leaving the file name. When your done just put the CD in and it will autoplay with media player.

ASX Maker A newer, much smarter tool than Playlist, seems to work well with Xp systems. Features -
    ) Handles 'ASF','MPG','AVI', and 'Wmv" clips
    ) Drag 'n Drop from Explorer/File Find
    ) uses the newer asx3 format more compatable with windows media player 7+.
    ) Allows you to choose between "Current Directory" or "Absolute Directory"
    ) Allows adding "Title, credit, and copyright info to the file - and a little editing will allow you to change the "author" to something other than ASX maker.

Can't get much better than this, and a help file that should get you through anything you can't figure out.

MOV JOINER:
This works only with the paid verson of Quicktime - the Pro Only.
    1. With the current Quicktime Pro viewer (not the free one) installed, run the first section of the movie.
    2. From the saved section files, drag and drop each section in order into the picture on the player.
    3. After the last section is dropped into the picture, hit save as and type in what you want to call it.

MPG JOINER:
A very good alternative way to join MPEG's is to load them into an UNCOMPRESSED Zip archive (using Winzip, Winrar etc.), and don't save extra directory information. Place them into the archive one at a time to keep them in order. Then save them with the name "name.zip.mpg". You don't need to put zip in the name, but it makes it easier to remember which ones you have joined using this method, and also easier to change the extension back to .zip to extract them later.
MPG files split this way can be joined and viewed even if some of the parts are missing, as long as you have the first one or two segments. Occasionally a file will be split by another method. Sometimes you can change the extensions to a recognized one and join them by the above methods, or you can get the software needed for that particular extension. For instance a Split-it-95 file with the extension .1, .2, etc. may be able to be changed to .001, .002, etc. and joined. Check the 00 file, a friendly poster will provide the specific instructions there.

RM JOINER:
a way to get all the parts to play together without having to "load" each one.

1. Create a text file called xxxx.RAM. Enter into it the full path location to all of the parts.
FILE C:\movies\part1.RM
FILE C:\movies\part2.RM
FILE C:\Movies\part2.RM etc.
For RealPlayer 8 you have to add a bit more:
FILE:// C:\movies\part1.RM
FILE:// C:\movies\part2.RM
FILE:// C:\Movies\part2.RM etc.
2. save the play list with a ".ram" extension.
3. then you just play the *.Ram file with the Real Media Player.

Permanant Joining of Clips
NOTE: If you do join, edit, or even convert another's posted clip, the FAQ's maintain that you MUST obtain the cappers consent prior to posting your non-effort! For MPG files
The DOS copy command. Here is an example

1. Open a DOS window
2. Type
copy /B FLICK2a.mpg /B + FLICK2b.mpg /B + FLICK2c.mpg temp1.mpg
copy /B FLICK2d.mpg /B + FLICK2e.mpg /B + FLICK2f.mpg temp2.mpg
copy /B FLICK2g.mpg /B + FLICK2h.mpg temp3.mpg
copy /B temp1.mpg /B + temp2.mpg /B + temp3.mpg FLICK2.mpg
3. Then erase the temp and the *a, b, c, etc. files

Camel's MPG Joiner One of the longest lasting "free" tools around, and stored here on the Faqs. Good for mpg1, some problems with non standard encoding.

Tmpeg The sercerts out - Tmpeg has a smart, fast joiner built in to it's FILE / TMPEG TOOLS / MERGE & CUT section. The best part of using Tmpeg is that if you do have a file set that uses different encoding between the sets, you can use the main screen of Tmpeg to repack the offending file - Quick and Good! Soon a "how-to" for this will be added.

For AVI Files
Pecks Power Join Another great tool by the maker of Peck's Power Post. Some of the newer codecs ( audio included ) won't work.

AviJoin Now this is the tool that Peck would have made, if Templeton was still doing these things. Quite fairly refered to as a cross between PPJ and Virtual Dub. If you've been using Pecks, but have more and more problems, check this one out.

VirtualDub While there's been a lot of back and forth about wether VDub can join asf and wmv, the bottom line seems to be that versions up to 1.4c can, but latter versions can only join wmv2 type files. There's a better tool for this anyway, look for Asf Tools below. There's an easy to follow "How To" here that takes you step by step through it, and it's one of the quickest, cleanest tools for joining Avi files. Output only avi at this time, mpg coming.

FOR ASF
Pecks ASF Join Not for the faint of Heart, this is a pre-alpha release of a command line joiner. And if that sentence is jive to you, skip it. Peck came back to the group and asked if anyone wanted one, started to work one up, and stopped when the battle over posting joined files flamed brightly.

MyAsfTools - currently version 2.3. Can join, edit, split, and repair ASF and WMV files. Still a long way to go, but this is way ahead of the others. Join, split, minor edits allowed. I've dropped most of the other tools I've used with asf and wmv1, and replaced them with this one. Output as an uncompressed AVI.

FOR RM
MetaEditor Smooth little program that allows for clean editing of RM files. This is a Free command line tool ( read DOS based, so if you use it spend some time at the site learning from their very helpful faq. More input on it is requested.

Easy Joiner thanks to jon for this one. Very slick but not free windoz Rm joiner / editor as well as most avi, and mpg. $20us with a 7 day un-crippled trial.

FOR WMV(A)
MyAsfTools - currently version 2.3. Can join, edit, split, and repair ASF and WMV files. Still a long way to go, but this is way ahead of the others. Join, split, minor edits allowed. I've dropped most of the other tools I've used with asf and wmv1, and replaced them with this one. Output as an uncompressed AVI.

STOIK Video Convertor - free ware converter for AVI and wmv-1 and 2 files to AVI (meaning larger files). Can alter frame size, fps, and compression codec. Can funcuntion as a spliter on scence changes.

Playlists - Convertors - Joiners

Ok, once again,this must be said - IF YOU ALTER THE CLIP FROM THE WAY THE CAPPER POSTED IT, THEN NEVER NEVER REPOST IT!

Whichever tool you use, you should know that the conversion process is often lousy. That is, taking an existing, heavily compressed video clip and decompressing and then recompressing it to save in a different format WILL result in some loss of quality. Before you start converting clips from one codec to another, please have read Join-less Joining above. Check out the Full Editing Page for the full blown cap / editing tools like VDub.

Tool	Formats in	Formats Out	Details - All the following tools are FREE - if their status changes - let us know!
TINRA -	from Ra, Rm, Ram	to avi, mpg	That Is Not Real Anymore is it's name - and they mean it. Version 0.03 by The ZT! with a GUI (Windows interface) by My GUI Guy. Funsoul found this, and despite it's disclaimer, it works great. Unzip into any dir, and read the txt files.
MyAsfTools	Asf, Wmv	Asf, Wmv, and Avi	Version 2.3 does a great job of joining, provides the ability to repair and reset the audio, and converts either asf or wmv to Avi
STOIK Video Convertor	Avi, Wmv	Avi, Wmv	free ware converter for AVI and wmv-1 and 2 files to AVI (meaning larger files). Can alter frame size, fps, and compression codec. Can funcuntion as a spliter on scence changes.
Play List Editor	avi, mpg, asf, rm, ra, mp3	ASX file	Create and maintain playlists for Real Player, Windows Media Player, and Winamp/Xing MP3.
AVIJOIN	Avi	Avi	AviJoin that provides all the functions of Peck's Power Join and some of VirtualDub. It'll accept only AVI files that already have an audio stream.
Easy Video Splitter	avi, mpg	avi, mpg	can split AVI/DivX or MPEG(MPG) file into smaller clips. Works fast and without apparant quality loss
Easy Video Joiner	avi, mpg	avi, mpg	can help you join multiple AVI, MPEG (MPG), RM (Real Media) or WMV/ASF (Windows Media) files into one large movie file.
Camel's MPG Joiner	mpg	mpg	One of the longest lasting "free" tools around, and stored here on the Faqs. Good for mpg1, some problems with non standard encoding. Xp users seehere
Pecks Power Join	avi	avi	Win9x and NT for just joining AVIs. No recompression, no loss, lightning fast. Also does simple frame cuts, some problems with non standard encoding
TMpgEnc	avi, asf, Wmv, Mpg	mpg	Reads almost all avi based formats(asf, avi, wmv) and encodes to VCD(mpg1) or SuperVCD(mpg2). Provides masterful encoding to custumize the data rate, stream, and IBP frame control. Stored on the faqs site. Unzip the file and install, then run the English version install. By Hori
Pecks ASF Join	asf	asf	A pre-alpha release of a command line joiner
MetaEditor	rm, ra	Ra, Rm	Create, edit, and manipulate .RAM metafiles based on segments of any version of RealAudio® and RealVideo® clips. Use the RealNetworks RMEditor application to edit clips via a graphical front-end. Since the G2 system supports various additional formats via plugins. MetaEditor can also be used to index .WAV, .AVI and .MPG files. MetaEditor is programmed in Visual Basic 5 and runs under Windows 9x.
AVI2MPG	avi	mpg	Avi to Mpg converter (duh!)
TRMOOV	avi	mov	Win9x for converting between QuickTime for Windows (mov) and Video for Windows (AVI) without recompression. Neither Video for Windows nor QuickTime for Windows need to be installed to convert, but playback does require installation of the appropriate software (either VfW or QTW).
Movie2Mpg	Qt, avi	mpg1	(Macs) converts QT Movie or AVI file to MPEG1 system stream. It was based on mpeg2enc music in mpeg system encoder.
Avi2Vcd	avi	vcd	AVI to VCD mpeg encoder (VideoCD 2.0) compliant
Intel Smartvid	Mov	avi	basic avi / mov conversion tool. Now stored on the faqs site.
Avi2Vcd	avi	mpg vcd	Avi to Vcd CD2.0 compliant. It can create all 3 valid VideoCD streams. Horizontal resolution must be between 176 and 720 pixels, the vertical between 144 and 576 pixels. Audio can be stereo or mono, 8 or 16 bit, and any of the following sample rates (as long as the audio is NOT compressed): 8, 11.025, 12, 16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, or 48 KHz.
VCDGear	.dat, bin, vcd,	mpg1	simple convertion tool to convert and correct VCD type DAT files. Don't fail to pick up the Gui interface - makes this a painless conversion

Notes for Xp users

As we gather information we are certain of regarding the Xp Os, we'll gather it here. Please check this area for known problems / fixes / updates.