How do you split a large MPEG-4 video file into smaller files?

I have an hour of raw footage from a users group meeting that I want to split in to 10-minute chunks so I can upload them to YouTube. I did some searching and couldn't really find a good way to accomplish this. Do you know of a good method or tool for splitting video? I have access to Adobe software from work.

EDIT: A friend at work suggested I check out http://videohelp.com but it is blocked here at work, so I guess I'll have to check it out later.

Solution 1:

If you're not afraid of the command line ffmpeg is the tool to use.

It's a bit complicated, but most free tools are based on ffmpeg because it's the most powerful one out there. This is a sample of a command to split out 30 seconds of a video.

ffmpeg -i input.avi -vcodec copy -ss 00:00:10:15 -t 00:00:30:00 output.avi

If you're on windows, it's a little tough to get installed, but here are some good links to get it. http://ffmpeg.arrozcru.org/wiki/index.php?title=Links

Solution 2:

If you're willing to give it a shot, meGUI can handle splitting MP4 files by filesize. To do so, simply fire up the program, and go to Tools -> Muxer -> MP4 Muxer. Import the file, and then you can input a filesize to split it by.

If you're working with CBR content, then you can determine the filesize for a ten minute segment via the bitrate. If it's VBR, then this is less consistent depending on the content, so you should aim for a slightly lower time (e.g. the average size of a nine-minute segment), so you don't overshoot the 10-minute limit.

Solution 3:

ffmpeg -i input.avi -acodec copy -vcodec copy -ss 00:00:00:00 -t 00:10:00:00 output.avi

This will copy the audio as well...just uploaded a mute video to YouTube of a musical performance. -an is the culprit. Manpages FTW.