Adding Chapter markers without handbrake

[elmimmo]

Hi,

seeing how the Handbrake team found a way to add those chapter markers, do you know of an alternative tool (GUI or command-line) that can be used to accomplish the same, so that I can add or modify them later on?

MetaX is not an option: it only allows modifying chapter entries for clips that have some already, and it does not seem to allow modifying files processed by itself.

[refulgentis]

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread. ... t=chapters

[elmimmo]

Unless I did not understand, that forum link describes how to add chapter markers to a movie in QuickTime format (mov), not to an mp4, which is what Handbrake does.

Is not there a way to replicate what Handbrake does to add markers to an mp4, with external tools?

[jbrjake]

SimpleMovieX

[refulgentis]

SimpleMovieX

doesn't work, actually.

http://www.aeroquartet.com/SimpleMovieX ... iting.html

MPEG-4

No restriction as long as the movies involved have the same pixel size. Movie is saved as it is in the editor window, but chapters are lost.

[refulgentis]

Unless I did not understand, that forum link describes how to add chapter markers to a movie in QuickTime format (mov), not to an mp4, which is what Handbrake does.

Is not there a way to replicate what Handbrake does to add markers to an mp4, with external tools?

hmm, I'll have to check this out later. if it doesn't, I missed something during my initial testing. i'll try this later, and if not there was a patched version of mp4box on doom9 that claimed to be able to, using a version of the handbrake code.

EDIT: yeah, that's a no go for MP4.

[elmimmo]

there was a patched version of mp4box on doom9 that claimed to be able to, using a version of the handbrake code.

No search results for "mp4box handbrake". You probably refer to this other thread about a custom build of mp4creator. A bit around the edges, though, and does not seem to exist a Mac version downloable/easy to build.

[jbrjake]

SimpleMovieX

doesn't work, actually.

Um, did you *try* it, actually? Because I'm quite sure it works. I've had many people tell me it works in the past. For god's sake, it was added at the request of a HandBrake user!

Why on earth are you linking to the page about SimpleMovieX's video editing capabilities instead of the page about its chapter marking ability? You said you wanted to modify chapter markers, not cut/trim the video.

[refulgentis]

SimpleMovieX

doesn't work, actually.

Um, did you *try* it, actually? Because I'm quite sure it works. I've had many people tell me it works in the past. For god's sake, it was added at the request of a HandBrake user!

Why on earth are you linking to the page about SimpleMovieX's video editing capabilities instead of the page about its chapter marking ability? You said you wanted to modify chapter markers, not cut/trim the video.

I apologize if my first post came off as flippant, I had been up all night sick and it was 6:20 AM at that point.

I did try it. I downloaded the latest version (3.7), opened a clean MP4, added a blank chapter, went to file -> save. It then says "Cannot save in current format. This document no longer meets the format requirements...Use 'Save As...' to choose a new format." If I try save as, all options are grayed except MOV. I retried with a .M4V extension, which didn't work either.

After I tried it, I wandered around their website looking for the menu, and found the page I linked. The page explains "native editing" vs. exporting, which the second half of the page I understand to be just the difference between being able the save over the original movie and having to reconvert it, not the cutting/trimming capabilities. It shows the restrictions for all formats, and notes for mpeg-4 that "No restriction as long as the movies involved have the same pixel size. Movie is saved as it is in the editor window, but chapters are lost."

From what was said in the original thread you linked, it appears that it can edit chapters from Handbrake in an MP4, but doesn't seem able to add them?

EDIT: Maybe they never released the final version of the patch they wrote?

[refulgentis]

there was a patched version of mp4box on doom9 that claimed to be able to, using a version of the handbrake code.

No search results for "mp4box handbrake". You probably refer to this other thread about a custom build of mp4creator. A bit around the edges, though, and does not seem to exist a Mac version downloable/easy to build.

Ah yes, that's what I meant. Sorry, it seems like I always write mp4box when I mean mp4creator, or vice versa.

[refulgentis]

anyone get this working yet? saw a few people at doom9 messing around with it

[entropic]

Should be trivial to add this to muxo - if there is any interrest...

[Cavalicious]

You can modify with MetaX...don't know about add.

[refulgentis]

entropic - that would be ideal, nothing else except old hacked muxer builds can do it, and the only ones I can find are patched against old copies and are compiled for windows only

cav - right now you can only edit, someone asked the creator of the program (rodney?) on a message board if he could add the ability to add/remove them, and I don't think he replied

[sfatula]

Use mkvtoolnix, most any OS. Yes, you can add chapter markers to existing files, not just change existing ones.

[elmimmo]

Use mkvtoolnix, most any OS.

To add chapters to an MP4 container?

[ssj2_goha]

Should be trivial to add this to muxo - if there is any interrest...

Lots of interest here, I lost alot of my chapter makers b4 I found out metax strips the chapters from the files with the new way the chapters are stored..

[ccjensen]

could you explain in what way metax strips the markers? Ie, does it recreate the chapters, or does it actually remove something?

[realityking]

HandBrake changed the way chapters are added to mp4 files (associated to the video track not the audio track) and metax hasn't been updated to support this.

[sfatula]

mkvtoolnix adds chapters markers to any existing mkv file, even if it has none. It can also modify them.

[elmimmo]

mkvtoolnix adds chapters markers to any existing mkv file

You missed the topic then. The question is how to add them to mp4 files, not mkv or any other container. Thanks, still, for the intention.