A monagerie of movie media merging methods

How do I join two or more MPG files together?

First of all you need to download Camel's MPEG Join. Open up the program and click on the 'add' button. Now browse through your directories, locate the files you want to combine and select them. Press the 'join' button, tell the program where you would like to place the output file and then OK your decision. That's all there is to it!

Note that you can only use this program to join MPG or MPEG files - it won't co-operate if you ask it to combine any other file type.

Before getting started make sure the files you are attempting to merge possess exactly the same properties (check that they use the same screen resolution, video and audio systems for example). The program will not compare your files for similarities before combining them, so it may appear as though the process has gone according to plan even if errors have occurred. However, if the original movies were not identical, the composite file will not play correctly, if at all.

How do I join two or more AVI files together?

For this task you will need to get hold of the freeware tool, Peck's Power Join. Exactly the same principles apply to this process as in the previous entry, so instead of repeating myself I'll let you refer back to that if you're still struggling to get it working.

The bad news is that it appears that PPJ is no longer being supported by its creator and his former home page has now vanished without trace. If you want a copy, feel free to contact me and I'll send it to you (it's just over 2.0mb).

Alternatively, have a wander over to the AVI Join home page. This is a more advanced program, which was originally inspired by Peck's Power Join and therefore shares the same basic functions.