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Does anyone know of software for OS X that can quickly split a 2 hour H.264 video file into two 1 hour files? iMovie estimates 2 hours just to import the file. I was hoping for something that could do it quicker.

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  • Not really an answer for the question you asked, but I've found it's quicker to add clips to iMovie by opening the iMovie project bundle and dragging the clip into the Media folder. When next opened, the clip is in the library and can be used, no waiting.
    – Cajunluke
    Dec 20, 2010 at 20:59

5 Answers 5

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You might also be able to do this using Quicktime X. Open the movie, then choose Edit -> Trim... Trim away the second part of the movie file and do a save as to get the first part in a separate file. Re-open the original file and trim away the first part, save as to get the second part in a separate file.

I've only been able to try it with a 5 minute long movie, which was quick enough, but I'm unsure of how quickly it'll work with a 2 hour movie.

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  • Beautiful solution, Lizzan. Fast, free, readily available. Thanks.
    – jlpp
    Dec 21, 2010 at 13:27
  • @jlpp: Glad I could help! =)
    – Lizzan
    Dec 22, 2010 at 6:24
  • This is working fine. And for 2 hour movie it takes only 3 minute.
    – sugunan
    Aug 8, 2015 at 4:21
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    Even in at the end of 2016, in Sierra, this is still the best solution. Thanks!
    – Matt Sephton
    Oct 27, 2016 at 13:00
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    Edit > Split Clip is even better. Scrub to position, split clip, delete one of the clips, save. Undo and delete the other clip, save.
    – pkamb
    Sep 17, 2019 at 7:52
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The easiest tool would probably be Quicktime 7 Pro. I believe it is available on Apple's store for $30.

If you prefer a CLI method, take a look at mp4box. It has a -split option that does what you're describing.

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Movie Splitter

Split MPEG-4 movies with ease and speed.

Movie Splitter can split your H.264 (.mp4) movie into two halves. A multi-gigabyte split typically takes a minute or two. The bulk of the time is spent reading and writing the file.

If an application takes longer than a few minutes, it is likely re-encoding your movie. You do not want this because it risks reducing the quality of your split movie files.

Please note I wrote Movie Splitter and am likely bias.

Miln Movie Splitter for Mac OS X

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  • Why don't you note that your Movie Splitter works ONLY with Canon Hybrid format video?
    – mkll
    Sep 24, 2015 at 11:09
  • Movie Splitter works with mp4 format, as recognised by AVFoundation Framework/QuickTime on OS X. A well formed MPEG4 movie with chapter markers should work. Complete details about the product, its capabilities, and focus is on: miln.eu/moviesplitter
    – Graham Miln
    Sep 24, 2015 at 16:46
  • Movie Splitter v1.4.0 now works with any AVFoundation supported movie format, including mov, qt, and mp4.
    – Graham Miln
    Jun 26, 2018 at 12:23
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Some other options are:

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  • You know, I never think the answer is going to be buried by top votes, but this is EXACTLY what I needed. It does passthrough of audio and video formats. Can queue up multiple splits. I've been wanting to chop up gigs of video for years and struggled with this. Paying and supporting Splitfuse, Thanks!
    – Realn0whereman
    Nov 25, 2018 at 23:05
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http://www.hjsplit.org/

Completely free, completely awesome.

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  • This splits the file into chunks, but you have to recombine them to be able to watch them. The OP needs to split a video file into two video files.
    – djjeck
    Apr 17, 2016 at 16:48

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