This is a medium-difficulty task. I know of several ways to do this, and there's probably several ways that I don't know.
Avisynth is free and "easy" -- with "easy" being a relative term. I've been using this method to create the before/after comparison videos for our video restoration archive that's coming to digitalFAQ.com this spring. (Side note: We've already started to do it with still images, for comparisons
on the site and
in the forum.)
Attached are two videos I did to show ghost removal methods. These used top/bottom splitting with two videos.
This is the Avisynth script:
Code:
clip1=AVISource("D:\Original.avi")
clip2=AVISource("D:\DeGhosted.avi")
# StackHorizontal(clip1.crop(0, 0, -320, -0), clip2.crop(315, 0, -5, -0))
# StackVertical(clip1.crop(0, 0, -320, -0), clip2.crop(315, 0, -5, -0))
StackVertical(clip1.crop(0, 0, 0, -0), clip2.crop(315, 0, -5, -0))
The horizontal merger, similar to your Youtube example, is commented out.
On the vertical, I forget which vertical is which; one is top, one is bottom. I need to get better with my script notations.
You'd just modify this for a third clip, and the numbers would reflect your resolution (like "widescreen" 16:9 instead of "fullscreen" 4:3).
For the other editing, which it switches between split-screen images and the full-screen image, as well as laying in an outside track, you'd want an NLE or an NLE-like editor. (NLE = non-linear editor, a term generally used in conjunction with professional software like
Adobe Premiere Pro,
Sony Vegas Video, or Apple Final Cut Pro).
Adobe Premiere Elements is low-cost, well under $100, and works nicely.
- Buy boxed version from
Amazon.com for $68:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B005MMMT3W
- Buy downloadable version from
Adobe.com directly for $99:
http://www.adobe.com/
I've never understood why the boxed version is ~30% cheaper. Go figure. (Savings granted by patience?)
If nothing else, you can download a demo from
Adobe.com, and then buy the boxed version.
I use
Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 and CS4. This would be an easy video to create, between pre-processing the split screen effects in Avisynth, and then doing the final editing pass in Premiere. In fact, that's how most of the demo videos are being created. Most early filter work is done in a mix of Avisynth, VirtualDub, Premiere Pro,
TMPGEnc Plus, and vReveal, output to lossless. Then the lossless file is encoded to the split screen master using Avisynth and VirtualDub. Then it's pulled into Premiere for watermarking, optional cut editing, and final distribution encoding.
What you want to do is, again, a medium level task. It's not click-click easy, but it's quite doable without needing a Ph.D in video. Note that while Avisynth looks hard, because it's scripted, it's actually easier than trying to manhandle the video in Premiere. It's faster via Avisynth, too.
Note that long answers like this are what you get as a premium member.
