3 minute read

Our video camera records as MPEG-2 Program Stream files, which are a little bulky and are capped at just under 2GB (about 49mins long) - longer recordings are therefore split into multiple files. Fortunately, according to the ffmpeg faq, MPEG-2 PS files can just be concatenated together using the humble copy command!..

On the other hand, the DSLR records as QuickTime .mov files, which are capped at 30mins (about 2.5GB) - longer recordings again get split into multiple files, but I don’t think the files can just be concatenated together - however ffmpeg can do it for us with the concat filter…

Download ffmpeg

First, if not yet done, download ffmpeg from one of the sites listed on the ffmpeg downloads page:

  • zeranoe.com - I went for the latest Release Build (3.4.1), Windows 64-bit, Static.
  • gyan.dev - I downloaded the ...essentials_build.zip version
  • BtbN

Once the zip files has downloaded, extract the contents somewhere (Downloads folder works) - note the zip folder contains a directory, which contains everything else, so it’s less confusing if you extract directly into Downloads, rather than the subdirectory that the extractor will suggest!..

Format Check

If you want to, confirm the format that a file is with:

C:\Users\Dave>cd Downloads\ffmpeg-*\bin
C:\....\bin>ffprobe -hide_banner -show_format "C:\Users\Dave\Desktop\Birdsong\1st Dress\M2U00032.MPG"

In the [FORMAT] section, look for format_long_name - MPEG-PS files can be concatenated with copy, QuickTime / MOV (and other format) files can be concatenated with the concat filter.

Note: complete filenames can be easily inserted into the Command Prompt by dragging the file from a Directory window and dropping on the Command window!..

Concatenate Files

If necessary, concatenate files with (file paths abbreviated for clarity!):

C:\Users\Dave>copy /b "....\M2U00032.MPG" + "....\M2U00033.MPG" "....\First Half.MPG"

Note the + between the files that should be concatenated together - more that two files is possible at once - the last parameter is the output file name. And note the /b at the beginning - this tells copy that its copying binary files, and therefore shouldn’t stop when it finds a CTRL-Z character (which copy considers an end-of-file character in an ASCII file - see here)

Note: complete filenames can be easily inserted into the Command Prompt by dragging the file from a Directory window and dropping on the Command window!..

Basic Conversion

Finally, convert MPG files to mp4 files with:

C:\Users\Dave>cd Downloads\ffmpeg-*\bin
C:\....\bin>ffmpeg.exe -hide_banner -i "....\First Half.MPG" "....\First Half.mp4"

Note: ffmpeg will guess file types from the extensions, and the default settings for outputting mp4 are: video stream as h264 (High), audio stream as AAC - which generally works well! Video conversion seems to run at about 3x speed on my work desktop.

De-Interlacing

If it looks like the videos might need de-interlacing (our camera does!), try this instead (found in the ffmpeg FAQ, here) - note the additional flags between the input and output file names:

C:\Users\Dave>cd Downloads\ffmpeg-*\bin
C:\....\bin>ffmpeg.exe -hide_banner -i "....\First Half.MPG" -flags +ilme+ildct "....\First Half.mp4"

Trimming

You can set a start time and a duration with the -ss and -t flags, before the -i input file, like so:

C:\Users\Dave>cd Downloads\ffmpeg-*\bin
C:\....\bin>ffmpeg.exe -hide_banner -ss 0:01:00 -t 1:06:00 -i "....\First Half.MPG" -flags +ilme+ildct "....\First Night - First Half.mp4"

Concat Filter

If the files arean’t MPEG-PS, you can use a filter in ffmpeg to concanenate the video streams together - might cause a slight jump if the files don’t link up perfectly.

C:\Users\Dave>cd Downloads\ffmpeg-*\bin
C:\....\bin>ffmpeg -hide_banner -i "....\DSC_0001.MOV" -i "....\DSC_0002.MOV" -filter_complex concat=n=2:v=1:a=1 "....\First Half.mp4"

Only runs at about 0.7x speed on my work desktop. The above works for two input files into one output file - I think if you want three inputs you just add another -i "....\xxxxx.MOV" input, and change the filter settings to concat=n=3:v=1:a=1…

Multiple Conversions

The command prompt will let you run multiple commands on one line using & to link them together (or && if you only want to do the second command if the first one exits sucessfully) - see here - like this:

C:\Users\Dave>cd Downloads\ffmpeg-*\bin
C:\....\bin>ffmpeg.exe -hide_banner -ss 0:01:00 -t 1:06:00 -i "...\First Half.MPG" -flags +ilme+ildct "....\First Night - First Half.mp4" & ffmpeg.exe -hide_banner -ss 1:27:00 -t 0:48:00 -i "....\Second Half.MPG" -flags +ilme+ildct "....\First Night - Second Half.mp4"

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