How can I merge AVI movies at 16:10 aspect ratio and maintain the aspect ratio in the output?

I recorded a bunch of 1680 x 1050 (16:10 aspect ratio) videos, and I want to merge them into a single video.

I've been using Windows Live Movie Maker, but this only supports two aspect ratios: 16:9 and 4:3. Neither of these are what I want. They both result in black bars appearing (either left/right or top/bottom). Is there a way to output video at 16:10 aspect ratio using Windows Live Movie Maker?

If the answer is "No", then how can I accomplish this task using some other software that runs on Windows?

I've tried VideoPad Video Editor and Avidemux, but both of these seemed to have crashing problems, and I'm not sure they satisfy my requirements.

devuxer

Posted 2012-08-07T16:49:47.573

Reputation: 3 331

1I'm going to attempt to edit your question to improve it and make it more on-topic for SU. – allquixotic – 2012-08-07T17:08:16.373

@allquixotic, I'm definitely on board with people editing my content, but could you please explain why you removed the last paragraph? The paragraph mentions that I was having crashing issues with Avidemux, so the answer I received, recommending that app, is not as helpful as it could have been. (Admittedly, yawhatever apparently didn't see that sentence anyway, but it would be nice to point out that I already tried that app.) – devuxer – 2012-08-08T00:26:12.223

@allquixotic, Also, I'm not trying to create a "which app is best" war here. I just need one app that works. – devuxer – 2012-08-08T00:30:09.927

I added parts of the last paragraph again, it's important to the question. And it seems specific enough not to go down the route of "recommend me a software" question, so I guess it's fine. – slhck – 2012-08-08T11:30:58.430

Answers

If you simply want to join videos together then you should know that it has very little to do with aspect ratios. What you have is what you have.

Now, if you are trying to re-encode or "transcode" videos into a different format - even if it's to adjust/change the aspect ratio - then you probably do need to worry about ratios as well as codecs, sampling rates, file containers and so on.

But you asked for suggestions on joining videos (and possibly a better editor). And for that I would suggest trying Avidemux. I've not had a lot of luck with Avidemux joining videos but it does do it. And once you get used to using Avidemux you may wonder why you ever wanted to use Movie Maker. After all, free products like Avidemux may be the very reason Microsoft no longer supports Movie Maker.

But if that's not good enough then you may want to try Handbrake instead/too. Handbrake is not so much an editor as it is a transcoder. But you can change aspect ratios as well as video and audio streams. I believe it too can join videos, but I really can't say.

Another really handy video tool to have/use may be the one I use a lot called Format Factory. I use this for transcoding .flv video to .MP4 and even for getting info about various video files (like if it's using H.264 or something else for a video stream). Format Factory also joins (as well as can split) video too. If you get nothing else, then Format Factory may be exactly what you are looking for (minus an editor).

Here are the URL's...

Avidemux: http://www.avidemux.org

Handbrake: http://handbrake.fr

Format Factory is provided by Softonic who you should have no problem finding with DuckDuckGo (or Google). Sorry I can't post the URL since SU only allows 2.

P.S. All 3 of those will work with Windows. Avidemux and Handbrake should also have Mac and Linux versions too.

yawhatever

Posted 2012-08-07T16:49:47.573

Reputation: 46

Handbrake can't join videos, you can only encode one at a time. I believe the same goes for Format Factory. – slhck – 2012-08-07T18:24:36.400

yawhatever, thank you for your answer. I actually tried Avidemux already, but I couldn't get it to work. It kept crashing on me (maybe because my Windows machine is 64 bit?). And if Handbrake doesn't support merging (as slhck mentions), than it doesn't solve my problem either. – devuxer – 2012-08-08T00:28:12.737

Avidemux can crash due to broken DirectShow filters installed on your system. If you've installed third party "DivX" or "ffmpeg" codecs, these are likely incompatible with Avidemux. Not a lot that Avidemux can do about that. – allquixotic – 2012-08-08T15:10:12.483

I'm going to mark this as the answer for now, even though it's not what I ended up going with because I think Avidemux is likely the best free/inexpensive solution once you get past any issues with incompatible codecs (as pointed out by allquixotic). (See my answer for a different, more expensive solution.) – devuxer – 2012-08-08T19:26:25.973

It turns out, the solution to all my problems--Expression Encoder--was already on my machine. Encoder has tons of settings, including the ability to manually set the width/height of the output video. Unfortunately, at $200, it can't really be considered inexpensive.

(So, my problem is solved, but I don't really consider this a good answer to my question for those who need an inexpensive or free solution to this seemingly simple problem.)

devuxer

Posted 2012-08-07T16:49:47.573

Reputation: 3 331