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I got a bunch of mp4 videos (different parts of a same film) downloaded from YouTube. Is there a way to join them to make a single video? I have a Macbook.

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7 Answers 7

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Since those youtube videos probably come in a codec Apple software understands, you could open iMovie (comes with every mac), drag the mp4 files to the program and then concatenate them, with the addition of being able to edit the clips, adjust their sounds, etc.

  1. Start with an empty project in iMovie.
  2. Drag one file into iMovie.
  3. Drag another one into iMovie.
  4. Now that both are imported, you can arrange them in the timeline of your project.

Check the iMovie manual for more information on how to do this.

The problem with iMovie is that during importation the files are recompressed into Apple's intermediate codec, exploding the required file size for the project (tends to go into the GB range).

Similar software to what has already been suggested is MPEG Streamclip, which allows you to open a video, select all, copy it to the clipboard, then open another one and paste it. It also allows minimal edition features withour requiring intermediate recompression of the source files, but the interface is not polished and easy to use as iMovie.

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  • I could not find a way to concatanate files in iMovie
    – Sridhar Ratnakumar
    Oct 13, 2009 at 3:24
  • 3
    1. Start with an empty project in iMovie. 2. Drag one file into iMovie. 3. Drag another one into iMovie. 4. Now that both are imported, you can arrange them in the timeline of your project. Check the iMovie manual for more information on how to do this.
    – Grzegorz Adam Hankiewicz
    Oct 14, 2009 at 11:44
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Quicktime 7 Pro is able to concatenate videos.

Alternatively, you can write a SMIL file describing a movie composed of a sequence of your videos:

<smil>
<head>

<layout>
    <root-layout width="640" height="480" background-color="gray" />
    <region id="main" width="100%" height="100%" fit="fill" />
</layout>

</head>
<body>

<seq>
<video region="main" src="myVideo001.mov" />
<video region="main" src="myVideo002.mov" />
<video region="main" src="myVideo003.mov" />
<video region="main" src="myVideo004.mov" />
</seq>

</body>
</smil>

SMIL is a format readable by Quicktime.

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  • In Quicktime, I get this error when opening SMIL files: The document “video.smil” could not be opened. QuickTime Player cannot open files in the “synchronized multimedia integration language” format.
    – Sridhar Ratnakumar
    Oct 13, 2009 at 6:21
  • Is it latest version of Quicktime player (shipped with Snow Leopard)? In this case, you can download Quicktime Player 7.6.4 from Apple.
    – mouviciel
    Oct 13, 2009 at 8:49
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I wanted to add how to do it with recent Quicktime Versions (i. e. the one shipped with Lion), so users who find this thread looking for a solution (like I was) find a current answer.

Just open the first clip and select from the menu: "EDIT" -> "Add clip at the end..." (or so, my menu is German). Select the movie you wanna add. Repeat for the other parts.

Then select "FILE" -> "Export". This might take a while and can change the encoding of your videos, but it works without installing anything and is pretty easy.

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You can try ffmpeg. There is a Mac GUI named ffmpegX that includes ffmpeg among other things.

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I use VisualHub, which is no longer produced, sold or maintained, but there are various methods of still getting hold of it.

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with Mplayer: http://www.mplayerhq.hu

you could do:

mencoder -oac copy -ovc copy -idx -o output.mp4 video1.mp4 video2.mp4 video3.mp4

"-oac copy" copies the audio codec "-ovc copy" copies the video codec "-idx" build the index for the resulting video

on linux is ok, i think also on mac!

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  • This is also my favorite approach. But for copy to work it is important they were encoded with completely same settings. Very often you got to reencode them. Though it's not much harder.
    – bdecaf
    Jan 14, 2012 at 20:44
  • I tested this using MEncoder 1.3.0-4.2.1 on Mac OS, and while it appeared to work in the terminal, the resulting MP4 file wouldn't play in Quicktime Player, and actually crashed VLC when it hit what should have been the join point between the two input videos. Both videos were produced on the same equipment (dashcam) and used the exact same codec, resolution, bitrate, etc. I am at a loss to explain why it doesn't work, but it doesn't.
    – James
    Jun 20, 2019 at 19:15
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VisualHub would be my #1 recommendation. VisualHub can still be found on several Mac software sites. Due to it's discontinued nature, it would be advisable to visit several mac "shares" sites in search of a usable serial number. Alternatively you could try to contact the developer, but I do not believe he is accepting payment for any new serials at this time.

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