Open first video that you want to merge (File >
Open > Find file on lab drive).
Save the first video clip
Repeat steps 1 and 2, naming them numerically (clip2, clip3, etc.)
in the order you want the videos to be combined.
Click the “Convert.bat” file in the Video converter folder.
This will convert all clips to the same frame size and automatically
move them to the “Converted” folder.
Delete the video clips from the Toconvert folder.
Go to Avidemux and clear program workspace (File >
Close).
Open the desired clip as the first clip of the video (Clip1) from
the Converted folder.
Once the first video is open, go to “File”, click “Append”, then
select the next clip to be added. Continue this process until they have
all been added, in the order you want them to be in the finished
video.
Once a full compilation video is completed, go to “File”, click
“Save”
Name the video accordingly
Delete the video clips from the Converted folder
To clip videos:
Open the video you want to clip (File > Open
> Find file on lab drive).
On the bottom left-hand side of the window, drag the blue tab on the
video duration bar to the desired start time then press the A
button to set it.
Once the clip start time is selected, again drag the same blue tab
on the duration bar to the desired end time then press the B
button to set it.
Once the accurate clip time window is selected, go to “File”, click
“Save”
Name the clip accordingly
Go to Avidemux and clear program workspace (File >
Close).
Repeat steps 1-5 until you have created all the clips needed.
1.2 Combining Videos
LV1 videos should be a side-by-side combination of recordings from
Cameras 1 and 2 in the LV1 Experimenter Room. The Observation Room
computer has been set up to combine these recordings into one video file
when it saves. In the event that they save separately and result in two
separate video files of the full visit, they can be knit together as one
side-by-side video by following these steps:
Move the video files to be combined to the folder “Side by Side,”
found here:
\\lc-rs-store24.hpc.uiowa.edu\lss_itpetersen\Lab\Studies\School Readiness Study\Videos\01-Admin\Side by side\
Click the “Convert.bat” file in the same folder
Enter the name of the video file you want displayed on the left side
of the combined video (Camera 1 angle), then press the Enter key on the
keyboard
NOTE: You enter the entire file name, including the extension (e.g.,
1001video1.mp4)
Enter the name of the video file you want displayed on the right
side of the combined video (Camera 2 angle), then press the Enter key on
the keyboard
NOTE: You enter the entire file name, including the extension (e.g.,
1001video2.mp4)
If the file is large, the program may take over an hour to combine,
but do not close out of the window until it has finished running. When
it is done, there will be a saved video file named “Combined.mp4” in the
same folder.
Rename the “Combined.mp4” file with TCID_Wave_LV1 and
move it to the TC’s LV1 video folder on the drive
(\\lc-rs-store24.hpc.uiowa.edu\lss_itpetersen\Lab\Studies\School Readiness Study\Videos\Lab Visit 1\)
NOTE: This script will only work if you open the Lab Drive directly
from the Desktop to navigate to the Side by Side folder. You cannot
open it from the Quick Access menu in File Explorer.
In the event that an LV1 video recorded side-by-side but the video
was interrupted, resulting in two separate side-by-side video files that
stop and start in the middle of a visit (e.g., if the camera box is
accidentally kicked off during a visit, if the cameras crash and have to
be restarted during the visit, etc.), they can be combined into one
video file using Avidemux. See the “Cute Moments Videos” section of the
School Readiness Wiki for a description of how to use this program. To
combine two videos from a visit with interrupted recordings, follow
these steps:
Open the computer program Avidemux
Open the first visit video for a given TC (File → Open → Find files
on lab drive)
Open File Explorer and locate the video files
Drag the second video from the File Explorer Window straight into
the Avidemux window, dropping it over the first video—you should see the
video duration increase when it is added, indicating it is appending to
the end of the previous video
Save the new video in the TC’s folder as TCID_Wave_LV1
(\\lc-rs-store24.hpc.uiowa.edu\lss_itpetersen\Lab\Studies\School Readiness Study\Videos\Lab Visit 1\)
2 Handbrake
2.1 Cutting and Creating
Clips
When a video requires cutting and subsequent clips must be created,
the software, Handbrake, should be utilized. Handbrake allows for easy
creation of video clips in .mp4 format from a source video in the .mp4
format.
Note: Handbrake does not allow for it’s user to scrub
through the video within the software. Thus, the needed timestamps for
the start and end of the desired clip must be determined before
uploading the video into Handbrake. These timestamps will then be
entered into Handbrake to create the clip.
To create video clips in Handbrake, complete the following steps:
Open Handbrake
On the left side of the screen under the tab titled, “Source
Selection,” select File
Select the video which requires cutting from its location in the
lab drive. The video should now be present in the display and open to
editing
Within the main display, locate the “Range:”
tab. Change the selected option from Chapters to
Seconds from the drop-down menu
To the right of the “Range:” tab, enter your
desired start and end timestamps for the clip within the time input
boxes. The start and end timestamps for the desired clip should be
determined before uploading the video into Handbrake
In the middle of the Handbrake display, under the “Summary” tab,
ensure that the “Format:” is selected to
MP4. MP4 should automatically be selected,
however, if it is not, manually select MP4 from the
drop-down menu
At the bottom of the screen, next to the “Save
As:” title, click the Browse button in order to
select the desired folder from the lab drive in which to save the
created clip. Additionally, edit the name of the clip to be as needed by
altering the name after the final backslash of the selected filepath.
Also verify that the name ends in .mp4
After selecting the save location for the video, at the top of
the Handbrake display, select the large green play button titled,
Start Encode, in order to create the clip
Upon completion of encoding, view the created video in order to
ensure the clip was successfully made with desired start and end
times
2.1.1 Creating Multiple
Clips from the Same Video Simultaneously
Multiple clips can be made from the same source video and processed
simultaneously in Handbrake.
To create multiple clips from the same video simulatneously, complete
the following steps:
Open Handbrake
On the left side of the screen under the tab titled, “Source
Selection,” select File
Select the video which requires cutting from its location in the
lab drive. The video should now be present in the display and open to
editing
Within the main display, locate the “Range:”
tab. Change the selected option from Chapters to
Seconds from the drop-down menu
To the right of the “Range:” tab, enter your
desired start and end timestamps for the first clip to be made within
the time input boxes. The start and end timestamps for the desired clip
should be determined before uploading the video into Handbrake
In the middle of the Handbrake display, under the “Summary” tab,
ensure that the “Format:” is selected to
MP4. MP4 should automatically be selected,
however, if it is not, manually select MP4 from the
drop-down menu
At the bottom of the screen, next to the “Save
As:” title, click the Browse button in order to
select the desired folder from the lab drive in which to save the
created clip. Additionally, edit the name of the clip to be as needed by
altering the name after the final backslash of the selected filepath.
Also verify that the name ends in .mp4
After selecting the save location for the video, at the top of
the Handbrake display, select the Add to Queue button in
order to add the clip to the queue
Repeat steps 4-7 for each clip to be made from the source video.
Ensure the start and end times are changed appropriately for each clip
and the file name for each of the clips is changed and named
appropriately
Once all clips desired to be made have been added to the queue,
select the large green play button titled, Start Queue, in
order to create all the clips listed within the queue
Upon completion of encoding, view the created videos in order to
ensure the clips were saved to the correct file location(s) and each
clip was successfully made with desired start and end times
3 Converting Media Files
to .mp4
To convert video of alternate file type to .mp4, complete the
following steps:
Open VLC Media Player
In the top left corner, select “Media” and then navigate
downwards to select “Convert / Save…”
Under “File selection,” click the “+Add” button to add the files
needing conversion. Multiple files can be selected at a time
Click the drop-down arrow under “Convert / Save” at the bottom of
the window and select “Convert”
Under the “Settings” heading, for the “Profile” select
Video - MPEG-2 + MPGA(TS). Then, click on the wrench icon
to the right and under “Encapsulation” select the MP4/MOV
radio button. Select “Save”
Under “Destination File,” browse to map where the converted .mp4
file should be saved
Note: If multiple files are being converted, “Destination
File” cannot be altered, and the files will automatically be saved to
the same location from which they are being pulled
