Combine mp4 files by order based on number from filenames in Python

Question

I try to merge lots of mp4 files from a directory test into one output.mp4 using ffmpeg in Python.

import os

path = '/Users/x/Documents/test'

for filename in os.listdir(path):
    if filename.endswith(".mp4"):
        print(filename)

Output:

4. 04-unix,minix,Linux.mp4
6. 05-Linux.mp4
7. 06-ls.mp4
5. 04-unix.mp4
9. 08-command.mp4
1. 01-intro.mp4
3. 03-os.mp4
8. 07-minux.mp4
2. 02-os.mp4
10. 09-help.mp4

I have tried with the solution below from the reference here: ffmpy concatenate multiple files with a file list

import os
import subprocess
import time


base_dir = "/path/to/the/files"
video_files = "video_list.txt"
output_file = "output.avi"

# where to seek the files
file_list = open(video_files, "w")

# remove prior output
try:
    os.remove(output_file)
except OSError:
    pass

# scan for the video files
start = time.time()
for root, dirs, files in os.walk(base_dir):
    for video in files:
        if video.endswith(".avi"):
            file_list.write("file './%s'\n" % video)
file_list.close()

# merge the video files
cmd = ["ffmpeg",
       "-f",
       "concat",
       "-safe",
       "0",
       "-loglevel",
       "quiet",
       "-i",
       "%s" % video_files,
       "-c",
       "copy",
       "%s" % output_file
       ]

p = subprocess.Popen(cmd, stdin=subprocess.PIPE)

fout = p.stdin
fout.close()
p.wait()

print(p.returncode)
if p.returncode != 0:
    raise subprocess.CalledProcessError(p.returncode, cmd)

end = time.time()
print("Merging the files took", end - start, "seconds.")

I have merged them and get an output.mp4 but the files are not merged in order with the first number split by point (1, 2, 3, ...): which I can get by filename.split(".")[0]:

1. 01-intro.mp4
2. 02-os.mp4
3. 03-os.mp4
4. 04-unix,minix,Linux.mp4
5. 04-unix.mp4
6. 05-Linux.mp4
7. 06-ls.mp4
8. 07-minux.mp4
9. 08-command.mp4
10. 09-help.mp4

How can I merge them correctly and concisely in Python? Thanks.

OK what order are the merged files in? Is it random? Oh and how are expecting your process to handle the two files numbered '04'? — Paula Thomas, Jul 07 '19 at 08:41
I hope to merge files based on order only by the number in front of the first period from filenames (at this case, it's from 1 to 10) and they are unique. — ah bon, Jul 07 '19 at 08:48
Yeah you have answered the second part of my question, the more important part is the first part concerning the order you are getting now. — Paula Thomas, Jul 07 '19 at 08:50
Am I missing something or are you literally asking how to sort a list? — Aran-Fey, Jul 07 '19 at 08:52
@Paula Thomas, it's not random, it's order same as output from `for filename in os.listdir(path): if filename.endswith(".mp4"): print(filename)` — ah bon, Jul 07 '19 at 08:55
@Aran-Fey Yes, kind of. I want merge files into one file and its content is in order `1. 01-intro.mp4 2. 02-os.mp4 3. 03-os.mp4 4. 04-unix,minix,Linux.mp4 5. 04-unix.mp4 6. 05-Linux.mp4 7. 06-ls.mp4 8. 07-minux.mp4 9. 08-command.mp4 10. 09-help.mp4` — ah bon, Jul 07 '19 at 08:58
OK so the problem with that is? Sorry cut that! Me being daft! — Paula Thomas, Jul 07 '19 at 09:58
The actual file's content order is: `4. 04-unix,minix,Linux.mp4 6. 05-Linux.mp4 7. 06-ls.mp4 5. 04-unix.mp4 9. 08-command.mp4 1. 01-intro.mp4 3. 03-os.mp4 8. 07-minux.mp4 2. 02-os.mp4 10. 09-help.mp4` — ah bon, Jul 07 '19 at 09:59
OK this is me not being daft. Where do you think you've sorted the list of files? I can't see it! — Paula Thomas, Jul 07 '19 at 10:01
I haven't add it. Maybe integrate at here is appropriate: `start = time.time() for root, dirs, files in os.walk(base_dir): for video in files: if video.endswith(".avi"): file_list.write("file './%s'\n" % video) file_list.close()` — ah bon, Jul 07 '19 at 10:03
Let us [continue this discussion in chat](https://chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/196098/discussion-between-ahbon-and-paula-thomas). — ah bon, Jul 07 '19 at 10:09

ah bon · Accepted Answer · 2022-07-14T02:44:18.397

This solution works:

from moviepy.editor import *
import os
from natsort import natsorted

L = []

for root, dirs, files in os.walk("/path/to/the/files"):

    #files.sort()
    files = natsorted(files)
    for file in files:
        if os.path.splitext(file)[1] == '.mp4':
            filePath = os.path.join(root, file)
            video = VideoFileClip(filePath)
            L.append(video)

final_clip = concatenate_videoclips(L)
final_clip.to_videofile("output.mp4", fps=24, remove_temp=False)

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 04 '21 at 11:33

import glob
import os
 
def concatenate():
  global stringa
  stringa = "ffmpeg -i \"concat:"
  elenco_video = glob.glob("*.mp4")
  elenco_file_temp = []
  for f in elenco_video:
    file = "temp" + str(elenco_video.index(f) + 1) + ".ts"
    os.system("ffmpeg -i " + f + " -c copy -bsf:v h264_mp4toannexb -f mpegts " + file)
    elenco_file_temp.append(file)
  print(elenco_file_temp)
  for f in elenco_file_temp:
    stringa += f
    if elenco_file_temp.index(f) != len(elenco_file_temp)-1:
      stringa += "|"
    else:
      stringa += "\" -c copy  -bsf:a aac_adtstoasc output.mp4"
  print(stringa)
  os.system(stringa)

this will create a concatenated video file named output.mp4 in the working directory,, code source

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited Jul 17 '22 at 08:43

My videos got crossed up and blurred due to different frame sizes.. to avoid that you can use this. It was only a change to this line:

final_clip = concatenate_videoclips(L,method='compose')

which adds all the clips together despite the different frame sizes. Heres the full code:

from moviepy.editor import *
import os
from natsort import natsorted

def combine_videos_folder_to_one(folder_path):
    L =[]
    for root, dirs, files in os.walk(folder_path):
        #files.sort()
        files = natsorted(files)
        for file in files:
            if os.path.splitext(file)[1] == '.mp4':
                filePath = os.path.join(root, file)
                video = VideoFileClip(filePath)
                L.append(video)

    final_clip = concatenate_videoclips(L,method='compose')
    final_clip.to_videofile("compilation_output.mp4", fps=60, remove_temp=False)
    

combine_videos_folder_to_one(folder_videos)

Combine mp4 files by order based on number from filenames in Python

3 Answers3

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