Empty AVI Header

[C1PH3R]

hi folks!

i got a big problem and i don't know what the reason is.
i don't even know where to put this thread, because the problem doesn't really fit into any of the categories of this forum.

the problem is:
when i'm creating AVI files from some programs like Cinema4D or "The RAD Video Tools" (the second to convert MOV to AVI) the programs do write all the frames compressed with the codec i've chosen. but after they finish saving they leave the AVI header of the file empty.

the whole header is filled with 0-bytes.

it doesn't matter which codec i choose.

this problem does not occur with VirtualDub. But unfortunatly VirtualDub doesn't support MOV files.

I remember a time when it worked.

i guess it has something to do with AVIFile DLL...or not?
I don't know.

can anyone help me with it?

thx,
cipher

[fellaw]

There's a software which is able to recover mpeg4 content(xvid, divx, DivX3, ...) from broken AVI files, called Avipreview. You'll find it on http://www.funkster.org .

I don't know a software for anything different than mpeg4, so you might have to figure out that yourself in that case.

[jggimi]

Hello C1PH3R, and welcome to Doom9's forum!

I moved your thread to the General Discussion forum. Your question doesn't have anything to do with analog capture ... but there doesn't seem to be a forum for your type of question. And threads that don't fit in any other forum ... are best served in General.

[Tuning]

what happened to this avi when opened with VirtualDub/VirtualDubMod ?
These tools some what can repair broken index etc.

[C1PH3R]

@jggimi:
thanks for moving.

thanks for the tip with avipreview. but this problem really only works with the mpeg4 codecs.

i've tested a bit more specifically and i can now say for sure that is has something to do with the avifil32.dll.
because this problems occurs only when i'm creating avi through this dll.
RAD Video Tools and Cinema4D seem to use this dll and many other products, too.
i tested it with my own application, which also uses the avifil32.dll to save an avi and even this program creates the same avi with empty headers.
all the images are in the avis but the header of it is completely missing. not even the RIFF and whatever data is written. only filled with 0-bytes as placeholders.

i don't know since when it appeared. so i don't know which installation could cause this behavior.

i'll try to compare the avifil32.dll with one from a working system, but i don't expect different versions/sizes of this dll.

so what could be the prob? any ideas?

btw: VirtualDub/-Mod is not capable of recognizing the files as avi.
media player classic says "Cannot render the file."
this is nothing surprising, but i wrote just to complete the post.

bye,
Cipher

[C1PH3R]

i checked my other computers and the problem appears on all of them.
i can't imagine what the reason for this could be.
maybe some of the adobe products or one of the many windows updates...
i got win xp pro with sp1 and all the hotfixes available.

does anyone have an actual win xp pro sp1 system with adobe's premiere pro, after effects 6 (or older) and photoshop installed?
i'd like to know if it has something to do with the configuration.

if so, then maybe someone could check it with the RAD Video Tools by converting i.e. an MOV file into an avi using any codec you want.

thx for people willing to help me out,
cipher

[fellaw]

My pc @home has installed all software you wrote. Unfortunately, I'm on holidays now with no access to the pc. I'll check that for you asap. I'll post the results during the next week, as I will be back home on sunday.

[C1PH3R]

@fellaw:
thanks in advance!

Cipher

[fellaw]

I've done a few conversions now: MPG-->AVI, BIK-->AVI, MOV-->AVI, ASF-->AVI, with a bunch of codecs and resolutions. Every file has the appropriate header.

I guess you're a few registry keys missing. Unfortunately it's hard to find out which ones. If you got a clean system available, you could check those:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI Extensions
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\MCI32

[C1PH3R]

thanks for the trouble.
i finally find out what the problem was.
i'm using the VirtualDub-Frameserver quite often, and when i enable the proxy with proxyon.reg from the vdub-package, the problem appears.
by doubleclicking on proxyoff.reg the problem dissappears.
it's so simple - but hard to find out if you don't know where to look for.

but i didn't find anything about this problem on the net. not even in this forum. only in the vdub docs there is a small hint that it could make some problems using the proxy. but it's been years ago that i read the docs... ;)

so, thanks for help again,
bye,
Cipher

[fellaw]

That's an interesting point.

Some months ago, I had also VDub the frameserver running, though I'm not using it anymore(AviSynth 2.5 supports VDub plugins). But I'm sure that I didn't switch the proxy off via the regfile.