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FFMPEG remove multiple segments simultaneously

Remove multiple segments from any video with just one command.

FFMPEG command easily supports keeping a section of a video using the -ss and -to tags. But to do the reverse, i.e. removing certain portions of your video is a bit trickier.

Let's say you want to remove the first 34 seconds, then from 0:55-1:51, then from 2:35-4:38, and then finally the last 44 minutes, i.e. 5:16-6:00. You first need to convert these to the segments you want to keep. Then follow either of these two approaches:

Approach 1- First convert the segments to be kept into seconds. You then need to first create a text file of the format:

file video.mp4
inpoint 34.5
outpoint 55.1
file video.mp4
inpoint 111.0
outpoint 155.3
file video.mp4
inpoint 278
outpoint 316.4

Then, you need to run the command ffmpeg -f concat -i list.txt combined.mp4. Source.

Approach 2

ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -filter_complex \ "[0]trim=start=00:00:34.5:end=00:00:55.1,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[v1]; \ [0]trim=start=00:01:51.0:end=00:02:35.3,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[v2]; \ [0]trim=start=00:04:38:end=00:05:16.4,setpts=PTS-STARTPTS[v3]; \ [v1][v2][v3]concat=n=3:v=1:a=0[outv]" \ -map "[outv]" combined.mp4

My solution

With my tool, you could do this in one command, without converting "to be removed segments" into "segments to preserve" and without even needing to convert HH:MM:SS into seconds like in the first approach. This simplified command would be:

python ffmpeg_batch_cut.py -i video.mp4 -ss 0-34 55-111 155-278 316-360 combined.mp4

OR (same timestamps in MM:SS)

python ffmpeg_batch_cut.py -i video.mp4 -s 0:00-0:34 0:55-1:51 2:35-4:38 5:16-6:00 combined.mp4

(These -s and -ss flags are not to be confused with those of the FFMPEG command)

This usage will be explained in detail in the subsequent sections.

Setup

  1. Install FFMPEG
  2. pip install -r requirements.txt

Usage- GUI

python ffmpeg_batch_cut_gui.py

Observe the demo video to see the usage:

demo.mp4

Usage- CLI

python ffmpeg_batch_cut.py -i <input_file> -ss 10-45 100-125 (remove these segments)

OR

python ffmpeg_batch_cut.py -i <input_file> -s 00:10-00:45 01:40-02:05 (remove these segments)

Above usage (-s) supports MM:SS as well as HH:MM:SS

Command Flags

Required Arguments

  • -i, --input_file: Input video file path (required)

Optional Arguments

  • -s, --segments: Segments to remove in the format "0:10-1:05" (HH:MM-SS), space-separated (optional)
  • -ss, --segments_seconds: Segments to remove in the format "10-65" (seconds) space-separated (optional)
  • -o, --output_file: Output video file location (optional)

By default, the output video will be saved as final_output.mp4 in the current working directory, i.e. from where this script was run. This can be changed by using the -o flag.

python ffmpeg_batch_cut.py -i <input_file> -s 00:10-00:45 01:40-02:05 (remove these segments) -f path/to/output.mp4

Note

This program is very fast, and can operate on a 10 minute video within 30 seconds, depending on your system. This is because there is no re-encoding with this technique. However, due to this very reason, you may experience a loss in keyframes and/or choppy videos, depending on the encoding and format of your original file. You could try re-encoding the output to make it smooth, while saving time on re-encoding undesired segments removed by this tool. Do not use this tool if you need to trim in a precise manner, i.e. down to the last millisecond. I would recommend you to check the final output before deleting the original.

The StackOverflow answers and comments on this link provide an interesting technical insight into this. This SO post provides an alternative, more complex way to cut multiple parts of a video for such cases.