Trim & Copy
Trim & Copy lets you extract one or more segments from a video file and export them as a single merged output file. It is designed for quickly isolating match footage — such as individual halves, specific periods, or highlight sequences — without re-encoding the source video unless you specifically require a quality or resolution change.
Trim & Copy is available exclusively in the Tagger Desktop application. It is not available in the web version of Tagger.
Opening a Video File
Click Select Video File to open a file from your local file system. Tagger supports the following formats:
- MP4 (
.mp4,.m4v) - QuickTime (
.mov) - WebM (
.webm)
Once a file is loaded, Tagger displays a video information panel showing the filename, total duration, resolution, and frame rate. The video loads in the built-in preview player, ready for trimming.
Setting Trim Points
Trim & Copy works by marking a start point and an end point in the video, then adding that range as a cut section.
- Use the preview player to navigate to the point where you want the clip to begin.
- Click Set Trim Start to mark the current playback position as the start of the selection. The current timestamp is shown on the button.
- Scrub or play forward to the end of the desired clip.
- Click Set Trim End to mark the current playback position as the end of the selection.
Once both points are set, the Current Selection panel displays the start time, end time, and duration of the selected range.
Previewing a Selection
Click Play Preview to play back only the selected segment — from the trim start to the trim end — within the preview player. Use this to verify the selection is accurate before adding it as a cut section.
Adding Cut Sections
A single export can include multiple non-contiguous segments from the same source file. Each segment is added to a Cut Sections list and will be merged into a single output file in the order they appear.
To add the current selection to the list, click Add Cut Section. The section is added and the trim points reset, ready for you to define the next segment.
The Cut Sections panel shows each section with its start time, end time, and individual duration, along with a running Total duration for the merged output.
To remove a section from the list, click the × on its chip in the Cut Sections panel.
Export Settings
Configure the output quality and format before exporting.
Video Quality
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Copy (Fast, No Re-encode) | Copies the video stream directly without re-encoding. Fastest option with no quality loss. Recommended for most use cases. |
| High Quality (CRF 18) | Re-encodes the video at high quality. Slightly slower; useful when changing resolution. |
| Medium Quality (CRF 23) | Balanced quality and file size. |
| Low Quality (CRF 28) | Smaller file size at the expense of visual quality. |
When using Copy mode, the output video stream is not re-encoded. This is the fastest method and preserves the original quality, but resolution changes are not applied in this mode.
Video Resolution
Sets the output resolution of the exported file. Only resolutions equal to or smaller than the source video are available. Changing the resolution requires a quality setting other than Copy.
| Option | |
|---|---|
| Original | Preserves the source resolution |
| 1080p (1920×1080) | Full HD |
| 720p (1280×720) | — |
| 480p (854×480) | Reduced file size |
| 4K (3840×2160) | Only available if the source is 4K or higher |
Audio
Check Include Audio to retain the audio track in the output file. Uncheck it to produce a silent video, which can reduce file size when audio is not needed.
Exporting the Video
Once you have added all desired cut sections and configured the export settings, click Cut & Merge n sections to begin the export. Tagger will prompt you to choose a save location and filename for the output file.
During export, a progress bar and status message indicate how far along the process is. For multi-section exports, Tagger processes each segment in sequence and merges them into the final file automatically.
When the export completes, a confirmation message shows the full path of the saved file.
Workflow Example
The following example shows how to extract the two halves of a match from a single full-game recording:
- Open the full-game MP4 file.
- Navigate to the kick-off of the first half. Click Set Trim Start.
- Navigate to the half-time whistle. Click Set Trim End, then click Add Cut Section.
- Navigate to the kick-off of the second half. Click Set Trim Start.
- Navigate to the final whistle. Click Set Trim End, then click Add Cut Section.
- Confirm the two sections and the total duration in the Cut Sections panel.
- Set Video Quality to Copy for a fast, lossless export.
- Click Cut & Merge 2 Sections, choose a save location, and wait for the export to complete.
The output is a single MP4 containing both halves back-to-back, with the pre-match and half-time breaks removed.
Troubleshooting
Video Will Not Load
- Confirm the file format is supported (MP4, MOV, WebM).
- Ensure the file is not open in another application.
- If the file is on a network drive, copy it to a local folder first.
Trim Points Are Not Accurate
In Copy mode, FFmpeg snaps cut points to the nearest keyframe in the source video. This can result in the exported clip starting or ending a fraction of a second away from the exact position you set. To cut at frame-accurate positions, switch to High Quality or Medium Quality mode, which re-encodes the video at the trim boundaries.
Export Is Slow
- Switch to Copy mode if a quality change is not required — this is significantly faster than re-encoding.
- Lower the target resolution if re-encoding is necessary.
- Ensure the output folder is on a fast local drive rather than a network or external drive.
Output File Has No Audio
Check that Include Audio is ticked in the export settings before starting the export.
