Split, then join, a movie

[JimmyC]

I've saved my movie as an M2t file on my HDD. I want to copy it to a flash drive so I can play it through my WD media player.

Trouble is, the movie file is over 8Gigs, and the flash drive will only accept a maximum of a 4Gig file because it is formatted FAT32.

Is there any way I can split the movie into two movies and copy them to the flash drive, then rejoin them as one file? I'm thinking, no way...

Alternatively, how can I reformat the flash to a format that will accept files larger than 4Gigs?

I'm using a PC, by the way.

[Steve Grisetti]

Yes, you can certainly break your video into two files -- but I don't know that the player has the ability to edit them back together.

Can this device play other formats, Jimmy? The M2T format may not be the most efficient way to deliver it.

For instance, according to this web page, it plays WMV files, which are much more compact. It can also play MP4s.
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/det ... T1RKcGs%3D

Also, on the web site the product is shown with a USB connector. Can't you just port directly from the computer to it?

[JimmyC]

Steve, I want to preserve the original resolution and not compress the camera's output at all. The HV40 records in mpeg2, so what I want to do is to just edit that file and then copy it to a flash drive, so I can exhibit it at its absolute pristine best.

The media player, HDMI lead, and USB flash drive are no big deal to carry around. If the "client", (in this case my family members), want a DVD, I'll do that. But first I'd like them to see their film as good it can look.

The only other option would be to capture the footage, edit it and then copy it back to tape, and screen the film to TV via my camera. I don't know whether that procedure compresses the file in the process. But in any event, I don't want to cause any more wear and tear on the camera.

[Chuck Engels]

I use a small external hard drive for this purpose, Seagate makes some nice ones and they are getting very reasonable. The Seagate Freeagent Goflex is a very nice drive and I highly recommend it

[JimmyC]

I use a small external hard drive for this purpose, Seagate makes some nice ones and they are getting very reasonable. The Seagate Freeagent Goflex is a very nice drive and I highly recommend it

How does that work, Chuck? If I have a mpeg2 file on the drive, and I want to play it on a HD TV?

EDIT: Wait, I guess you mean I should copy the m2t file to the external HDD, then play that through the media player.

That sounds like a good idea. Means carting around two devices, but they're not that big, I guess.

[George Tyndall]

How does that work, Chuck? If I have a mpeg2 file on the drive, and I want to play it on a HD TV?

EDIT: Wait, I guess you mean I should copy the m2t file to the external HDD, then play that through the media player.

That sounds like a good idea. Means carting around two devices, but they're not that big, I guess.

Chuck, what about the $100 camcorder that you posted earlier, which has USB In and HDMI Out and which uses a Flash memory card?

Couldn't Jimmy output his HD movie to the camcorder and then carry just that small device for use in playing on any HDTV with HDMI?

[Chuck Engels]

I would think so George but I haven't even checked it out yet. Will pick it up tomorrow along with a 32GB SDHC memory card
This camcorder records AVCHD H.264 MP4 files, don't know if it would even play M2T files at all.

[RJ Johnston]

One day I went searching all over for a utility to split files and then put them back together. I finally settled on Accusplit for $15.

http://members.cox.net/accusplit_support/index.htm

[JimmyC]

One day I went searching all over for a utility to split files.

Thanks for the link, but I've bought the Seagate external hard drive that Chuck recommended. Didn't know they were so conveniently small now!

[Steve Grisetti]

One final note.

iPods and other MP3 players as well as cell phones with storage can also be used to move files from one computer to another. They are, after all, just portable hard drives!

Just thought you might like to know.

[Chuck Engels]

Some iPods have plenty of storage space, like my iPod Classic with a 80gb hard drive.
But most phones and MP3 players have very limited SD card storage of 4GB or less, that was Jimmy's problem to start with.

[JimmyC]

Interesting, Steve.

[JimmyC]

Some iPods have plenty of storage space, like my iPod Classic with a 80gb hard drive.

But most phones and MP3 players have very limited SD card storage of 4GB or less, that was Jimmy's problem to start with.

That's right, Chuck.