Overview
Kates Video Cutter 7 is a useful little tool that lets you extract a specific segment of a video and save it to a new file in a variety of formats. Although the software is extremely simplistic in comparison to other video editing applications, it serves its purpose well by providing reliable functionality and offering a user-friendly way to splice videos into multiple files.
Installation
Installing this program is about as simple as using it, and as you can imagine the file size is extremely small at only 10 MB. The system requirements for installation and setup are also nominal, as youll only need Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, Visa, 7, or NT.
Interface
The user interface is extremely simple, with three menus located at the top – File, Settings, and Help. The input file form lets you browse to the video file you would like to use as your source, and below that are a few check bubbles that let you select your desired output format. Once you know the starting and ending point you would like to use for your cut, you can use the convenient slider bars at the bottom of the main window to complete the operation.
Pros
Supports a plethora of video formats, including but not limited to AVI, MOV, WMV, ASF, MP4, 3GP, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, SVCD-PAL, DIVX, DVD-NTSC, DVD-PAL, and SVCD-NTSC.
You can extract pieces of a video from any of the aforementioned formats, or export into those formats as well.
Lets you cut a portion of a video file from any point in the playback and save to the format of your choice
Cut a movie or video clip in two or more parts at the beginning or end of the scene of your choice
Delete certain parts of a movie or video clip, while leaving the scenes that you like
Cons
Although the software is efficient at cutting and saving small parts of video clips, is not very useful for any other purposes
Alternatives
There arent many compact utilities like this that are specifically designed to cut segments of video files and export them to other formats/files. However, there are a number of software that include this functionality within a larger overall feature set. For example, Windows Movie Maker and Sony Vegas are two ideal video production suites that include this feature and much more. Considering the fact that Windows Movie Maker is included within the Windows operating system, the only advantage that Kates Video Cutter 7 as if that it is capable of exporting to a plethora of formats, and because it focuses solely on cutting, it simplifies the process of extracting specific parts of a video. Another basic video editor to consider is VirtualDub.
Conclusion
If youre not interested in advanced video production and would simply like to cut out a certain part of a movie or video clip, downloading Kates Video Cutter 7 would be recommended. However, if you think youll have a need for more advanced features in the future it would be best to simply opt for a more powerful software or learn to use Windows Movie Maker.