Installing and first run
AVPrep2 does not install. There is no setup program, no registry entry, and no account. You unzip a folder and run the program inside it.
Unblock the zip before you extract it
Windows marks files that came from the internet, and the mark spreads to everything you extract. Right click the downloaded zip, choose Properties, tick Unblock at the bottom of the General tab, then extract.
In that order. Extract first and you have several hundred files to unblock instead of one.
Where to put the folder
Anywhere you can write to. Your desktop, a second drive, a memory stick. Not Program Files, because the program keeps its settings beside itself and Windows does not let ordinary programs write there.
Run AVPrep2.exe. SmartScreen will show a blue box because the program is not code
signed. Choose More info, then Run anyway. The checksum on the
download page lets you confirm the file first if you want to.
The data folder
On first run a data folder appears next to the executable. Your settings, saved
presets, panel layout and output folder choice all live there. Nothing is written anywhere else on
your machine.
Copy the whole folder to another machine and your presets and layout come with it. Delete the folder and the program is gone.
What AVPrep2 is for
Getting a pile of files into shape. Clip a section out. Join several together. Convert between formats. Composite photographs, clips and music into one piece. Burn captions. Strip metadata. Run the same operation across fifty files without sitting there clicking.
Everything runs offline on your own machine. Nothing is uploaded and there is nothing to sign in to.
What it is not
It is not a timeline editor. There are no tracks and there is no razor blade. Work is done one file at a time through in and out points, and pieces are assembled through the Combine list and the Composite builder rather than by dragging clips around a timeline.
If what you want is a timeline with layers, that is AVPrep3. The two are separate programs and they do not compete for the same job.
It is also not a colour grading suite and not a multitrack audio workstation.
Help inside the program
Help → Keyboard Shortcuts and Help opens a short reference. The full offline copy of
these articles is at docs\AV-Reference.html in the program folder.
What it needs
- Windows 10 or 11, 64 bit.
- Room for the program, plus room for whatever you export.
- No internet connection.