Combining 4Gb clips

Hi,
My Canon is making two 4GB clips (related to Fat32). It's not a problem.
Would the best way to join two clips would be putting them inside a compound clip?
I will have one audio file for the full duration but 2 clips I have to stitch.

Thanks.

Just butt them up against each other on the timeline. No need to compound clip them unless you plan on making adjustments to the clips like color grading, then compound clipping them would be helpful. You could also include the separate audio file in that compound clip. I hope the camera is frame-accurate when splitting the file... some are not.

Great.
I have heard that I might need to tweek the second clip by one or two frame but it shouldn't happen.

Some cameras can be configured to not create segmented files. Check the documentation.

For cameras which do create those, there is sometimes an associated folder tree or other metadata which enables NLEs to automatically assemble those as a single clip. Verify if the original camera files are in such a structure or if other metadata files exist which you might have discarded.

Yet other camera manufacturers have a plugin or other software which assembles the files. E.g, each clip from a RED camera exists as a series of segmented files inside a folder named after the clip. The RED Apple Workflow plugin after installation on your Mac will enable FCP to present those segmented files as a single clip.

So the lesson is first examine the specifics of the camera, available recording modes and whether Canon makes any utility or plugin to assemble the file segments.

Perfect. Found the Canon utility the merges the files.
I will try it out tomorrow.

UPDATE: Canon software is unusable on Monterey or Catalina.
I will be merging in Final Cut and see how that goes.

Note: I am using a Canon 7D Mark II so not a RED or anything similar.

If you've got the camera card structure intact, it's likely that EditReady would also stitch those segments together.

hedge.video/editready

I have seen a 1 frame drop when butting up against each other

Thanks.
I will try with FC and if I have problems I will try your suggestion.

You can also merge your clips with Apple's own app called "Quicktime". Since it's Apple, it's very easy and extremely straightforward:

1 - Open clip #1 in Quicktime.

2 - In the Quicktime Menu choose EDIT > Add Clip to End

3 - Choose the second 4GB clip from the import menu that pops up and click the "Choose Media" button.

4 - Do not press DONE on the Quicktime window yet.

5 - If you have more clips to add, choose EDIT > Add Clip to End, and repeat the process with as many clips as you need to merge into one file. Otherwise skip to step 6.

6 - Press the DONE button on the Quicktime player. You now have the option to export the video as a single clip under FILE > Export, but these will re-compress the video which is unacceptable.

7 - To keep the codec of the original files, you want to choose FILE > SHARE > Add to Photos. It will then write the file to the Photos app. It may take a while.

8 - Open the app from Apple called "Photos".

9 - In the Recents section, your video should be the most recent thing, right at the top. You can also filter by videos if you wish.

10 - Click on the video once to select it.

11 - In Photos choose FILE > EXPORT > EXPORT UNMODIFIED ORIGINAL FOR 1 VIDEO

12 - Click the EXPORT button

13 - Click the EXPORT ORIGINALS button and choose a location.

14 - Go to said location and make sure it's there and all is fine.

15 - Rename the exported file from "Untitled" to whatever you'd like it to be called.

16 - Unless you want a backup on this same drive taking up a lot of storage space, I recommend that you delete the file in Photos. In the Photos app, right click on the video file and select "Delete 1 Video".

17 - Press the Delete button.

18 - YOU'RE NOT DONE YET! The items still exists in Photo's Deleted folder. So from the contextual menu at the top of the screen choose PHOTOS > ERASE DELETED ITEMS.

19 - Press DELETE.

20 - Quit Photos. Also Quit Quicktime. Press the DELETE button when Quicktime prompts you.

21 - Import your file and make backups on other drives, if desired.

DONE! It simply could not be easier.

That's a nice detailed run through !
It's curious to use the photo app for video. I didn't know photo supported videos.
Cheers.

First off I'm stunned that any modern camera still records / mandates Fat32 4gb file limits. Insanity having to deal with a new file created every 4 minutes (ProRes). Now on to a simpler approach to ganging files.

Quicktime Player. Open video file. Park playhead at end. Grab a group of files and drag into window. Save as...




Quicktime Player 7. Open video file. Park playhead at end. Grab a group of files and drag into window. Now here's where QT7 shines over QT Player... You can save as a 212mb REFERENCE file instead of a 7gb file. (QT7 doesn't recognize my Sony mp4 files unless I change extension to m4v.)

Simpler indeed.

I am also bewildered on the Fat32 limit.
I'm downloading QT7. Hope it works on M1.

Thank you.

Albo wrote:

I'm downloading QT7. Hope it works on M1.

Not certain if it works on modern OSes. QT7 Still works on Mojave, which is the reason I have previous OS in play here. You'll likely have to use QT10 and export a time consuming & enormous file instead of an immediate and tiny reference file.

Confirmed...It doesn't work.

All this being said.
Can I format my 32 GB memory card to EXFAT without causing
any problems during capture?

What model Canon is it?  Current on firmware?

EDIT: Found the first answer upon re-reading the thread.

Canon7D mark II
And yes firmware is latest 1.1.3

Eventually I will use 128GB cards as I am sure they canb be formated to EXFAT.

Found this blurb at the bottom of page 68 of the camera's manual:
"This device incorporates exFAT technology licensed from Microsoft."

Which makes me wonder why the camera didn't do exFAT as default. Have you low-level formatted the card with the camera?

No. Formatted normally.
I personally never format low level.

Ok.
So I will simply try Canon tech for the info.
Format the card and see what happens in the test shot.

Thanks for your time !