Raspberry Pi Forums

Is it possible to edit the .h264 videos from the Raspberry Pi, using Apple's Final Cut Pro editor?

It doesn't recognize the file.

I can convert the file to another format, but that will reduce quality.

You have to use a muxer like MP4Box after you've finished
recording to create "proper" .mp4 files from raw .h264.
Muxing will not decrease quality, it is a distinct process from encoding video.

ghans

Thank you - I have passed this on to the people doing the programming.

I'm not sure how it was done, but the Raspberry Pi video I saw four months ago, looking at MP4 files, did not have the same quality as looking at the .h264 files, both in VLC video player.


Is there an editor, or a codec, which would allow the .h264 video to be edited directly?

mikemyers wrote: ↑

Fri May 25, 2018 7:01 am

Is there an editor, or a codec, which would allow the .h264 video to be edited directly?

It depends what you mean by "edit".

Video encoding relies on the concept of I (intra) frames and P (predicted) frames. I frames stand alone, while P frames use the I frames to reduce the amount of data necessary to reconstruct the P frame. I frames occur roughly once a second, but this can vary hugely according to video content ("busy" video needs more frequent I frames). There may also be B frames (bidirectional prediction), but I won't go into those.

If all you want to do is cut and splice, as long as your cut points are exactly at an I frame, the encoded video can be spliced without decoding it (and therefore without loss of quality due to decoding and re-encoding).

If you want to alter the picture in any way (eg zoom or pan), you will need to work on the fully decoded video data. If you want to cut at a point between I frames (or cannot control the cut point), the local GOP (group of pictures - ie the I frame and successive P frames until the next I frame) will need to be decoded and re-encoded to create a new I frame at the cut point.

VideoReDo is an editor which can make intelligent decisions about the need to decode and re-encode.

The quality of the output after re-encoding is highly dependent on the time spent processing it. Higher quality settings require much more intensive processing with a longer processing time. Depending on the power of your PC (and any hardware video encoding acceleration), you may have encoder settings which are a compromise between quality and processing time. You could look for the settings and set for higher quality encoding, but be prepared to wait.

Hmm, you bring up more new questions, than answering the original question, which is much appreciated.

First - format - I used to like to capture video in AVI non-compressed format, so I could cut and splice anywhere without causing problems. I had no idea which "frame" I was at, just a moment in time. Based on what you wrote, how does one know the appropriate frame at which to cut the video, if the video is in a compressed format? What is the modern day equivalent of "uncompressed AVI"?

Second - editing - it makes perfect sense that when the editor is manipulating the data from the video, it takes more time to do the best job. What's new to me, is I didn't realize I had any control over this. One more thing I need to search out on the internet.

I use Final Cut Pro, Movavi, and used to use Pinnacle. I also work with Camtasia. Do all of these have settings for quality vs time ?

Thanks!!

No idea. I'm just pointing you in the right direction.