Stream copy mode (-codec copy in FFmpeg) transfers compressed video and audio data directly to the new file without any decoding or re-encoding. This means:
- Cutting a 60-minute video completes in 1β3 seconds.
- Zero quality loss β the data is bit-for-bit identical to the source.
- No CPU-intensive work β your computer barely does anything.
The only limitation: cuts snap to the nearest keyframe, so you may get a cut 0.5β2 seconds from your exact target.