Splitting a file, and dropping what you do not want

There is no split tool. AVPrep2 has no razor blade, and splitting exists only for caption cues. The program's model is in and out points on a source, not clips on a timeline. That is a real limitation and this article teaches the method that works rather than pretending otherwise. If you want a razor, that is AVPrep3.

Getting two pieces out of one file

Clip it twice.

  1. Load the file and choose Clip.
  2. Set In at 0 and Set Out at the point you want to divide, then export. That is your first piece.
  3. Set In at the same divide point and Set Out at the source end with Set Out to Source End, then export. That is your second piece.

Use the same number for the out of the first and the in of the second and the two pieces join back together exactly. Type the value rather than clicking it twice, so it is identical.

For more pieces, repeat. Four sections is four passes.

Removing a section from the middle

Same method, then join. Export the part before the section you want gone, export the part after it, then use Combine to join the two.

Put a short crossfade at the join if the cut is audible. See Combining pieces into one file.

Dropping the sound from a video

Three different places do this, and which one you use depends on what you are building.

In the Composite builder, each visual segment carries a Keep Segment control. Clearing it drops that segment's sound and keeps its picture. This is per segment, not global. There is no single mute switch for a whole video in Clip view.

In Convert, exporting to a format with no audio stream leaves the sound behind.

By clipping the audio separately, when what you actually want is the sound on its own. Switch to Audio mode, clip the same file, and export just the audio.

A freeze frame is always silent

A segment marked to freeze at its in point is encoded with no audio at all, whatever the keep audio setting says. That is how the program works and it will catch you out on a photograph and music piece if you do not know it.

The fix is to put the sound that has to continue on its own segment or on the composite's audio, rather than expecting it to come from the frozen picture.

Keeping the sound and dropping the picture

Switch to Audio mode, load the video file, clip what you want and export to an audio format. The program reads the sound out of the video without you having to extract it first.