Free Video Cutter – Split MKV and MP4 with Avidemux on Mac Windows and Linux

Free Video Cutter – Split MKV and MP4 with Avidemux on Mac Windows and Linux

If you have ever read one of my articles on compressing video in Handbrake you will have seen me rant about cutting off a section of your source file, and encoding a 2-3 minute chunk too see how your settings look as opposed to waiting all night for the whole video to encode. I was asked recently how this can be done for free, as pretty much everything out there ultimately ends up asking you for money. Avidemux is a free open source tool that allows you to split and cut your MKV and MP4 video files, including 4K UHD. They have versions for Mac, Windows and Linux, and it works really well!

The latest stable releases can be downloaded on Github HERE. If you are looking for the latest version you can try the nightly builds from the Avidemux site HERE.

Once you have it downloaded your copy, open it up and you will see the main user interface window.

Drop your source file in and you will notice all of the buttons in the bottom left will come to life. If your source file is a 50+ Gig 4K file it may take a minute or so to fully load in.

Now drag the slider to where you want your slice to begin. If you are using the slice for testing encodes, try to find a scene that is poorly lit or a fast action scene as these are usually where you will see artefacts first. Once you have found your “In Point” with the slider press the “A” button. You can see at what time in your original file the slice will begin on the right.

Now, drag the slider to the “Out Point” (where you want your slice to finish) and press the “B” button.

And now select the “File” menu from the top left, and then “Save”

Make sure you choose to save your slice in a location that is easy to find. And now press “Save” in the bottom right.

Avidemux will now copy out your selection to a new file, so you can play with a small chunk of your movie encode to get things looking right before you process the whole thing.