Cutting h.264 TS files without re-encoding?

[THERAIDERSDEN]

Hi! I'm going through my collection of unsurfaced shows, and I have numerous TV captures from a decade ago I'd like to work on cutting and sharing.

They were all capped with a Hauppauge HD PVR 1212, and vary in resolution depending on the channel, 480i/720p/1080i. They are .TS files, with h.264 encoding.

I'd like to know what is now considered the best frame-accurate cutting-tool software currently available, and any other tips on preparing an upload. I know re-encoding is an issue, that I'd obviously like to avoid.

I know in recent years many are moving to the .MKV container, since apparently that adds functionality options (like chapters). So, any advice on whether or not to do this (and how to), would also be welcome.

[xavier242]

VideoRedo was the first decent frame accurate lossless (mostly) editor for broadcast streams. It's still the the best IMO. It only re-encodes near the edit points to make a valid stream. The re-encoding is not visible to my eyes. The rest of the video is a lossless remux. Most sites allow it for mostly lossless remuxes.

I bought it in 2006 after getting a HDTV card. I have 2 versions installed (the one from 2010 handles DVD VOB files). The newer one handles H264 also.

A chapter file can be muxed into a MKV with MKVMerge (part of mkvtoolnix). Do some searching. There's probably tools on various sites for making the chapter file. Most home users don't bother creating them. I think I've seen maybe one video on Dime out of several hundred that had chapters.

[Orangeboy]

Seems like I used VirtualDub with success in the past.

[joujoujou]

Avidemux will do.

[co9ol]

losslesscut is as easy to use as it gets. It's also free

[LZJoker]

Originally Posted by co9ol

losslesscut is as easy to use as it gets. It's also free

Thanks for the tip, didn't know about this one