Any tool to convert Mpeg-4 elementary stream to AVI format? [Archive]

Appu

27th January 2006, 10:10

JoeBG

27th January 2006, 12:37

Hi,

I have been looking for a tool for converting the mpeg-4 video elementary stream to AVI format so that virtualdub can handle it. Any body know any tool for this. Or anybody knows how to feed an mpeg-4 elementary stream to virtauldub?

Any help is highly appreciated!..

regards,
Appu.

mencoder should do so :) Don´t know if AVIMux GUI can do it - just try :)

But why avi? mp4 or mkv should be much better ;)

Appu

27th January 2006, 12:51

Thanks for the reply.. I have used AVIMux GUI , but couldn't convert .mp4v to AVI.

I will try with mencoder.

Basically I want to use VirtualDub and similar software for further processing the elementary stream. But these softwares accepts the input either in .avi or in .mp4 format. Unfortunately VirtualDub cannot understand mp4 format.( Am I wrong here?).

I am not sure mkv supported by virtualdub.

regards,
Appu.

bond

27th January 2006, 13:03

Basically I want to use VirtualDub and similar software for further processing the elementary stream. But these softwares accepts the input either in .avi or in .mp4 format. Unfortunately VirtualDub cannot understand mp4 format.( Am I wrong here?).what do you want to do with the video? mp4box can do a lot with .mp4 too (splitting, appending, etc..)

Appu

27th January 2006, 14:04

Basically I want to edit the video file ( Spltting, joining, appending etc). Since virtualdub is quite popular for these aspects , I thought of using it. I haven't used mp4box and meGUI extensively. Have tried with it ( meGUI also ) couple of times.
Can meGUI or mp4box be a replacement for virtualdub for editing files?

I can convert it into mp4 format if I have enough software support to edit and analyse the stream..

regards,
Appu.

Doom9

27th January 2006, 14:14

mencoder should do so well.. you'll get an avi alright, and mplayer can even play it.. but that AVI is corrupt.. you can't open it via VfW or DirectShow so playback and editing on Windows is largely out of the question.

Can meGUI or mp4box be a replacement for virtualdub for editing files?no. You can split, and append, but you need to know timecodes and you get no preview. However, considering the large GOP sizes, it would be advisable that you do whatever editing you want to perform BEFORE! any encoding is performed, VirtualDub or not.

Appu

27th January 2006, 15:37

Thanks for the reply..
I understand the need of editing before the encoding. But here I have only elementary streams with has got lots of I frames. Need to split and join some streams for some testing purposes. Prefer to use a tool like virtualdub instead of hexedit!..

So there is no utility readily available for AVI creation?.. Haven't tried with mp4Box yet.

Doom9

27th January 2006, 16:17

JoeBG

27th January 2006, 16:46

perhaps ffmpeg will do the trick.. I need a reliable raw -> avi muxer myself for megui but I haven't gotten around to testing ffmpeg yet.. I just know that mencoder doesn't quite cut it in that department.

How about a "dirty" solution for the meantime:
1) importing with yamb to mp4
2) exporting with yamb to avi :)

Doom9

27th January 2006, 17:02

How about a "dirty" solution for the meantime:
1) importing with yamb to mp4
2) exporting with yamb to aviI'm afraid that doesn't work either. The AVI exported from the MP4 (and by the way I'd naturally use megui as the muxer ;) ) is messed up as well. I know because the samples I tried to make for the mencoder user list came out quite messed up (they could be opened in VDub though).

[)370|\|470!2

27th January 2006, 19:16

If this stream ain't avc, you may try to use mp4ui to convert to avi.
Though you'll need first to convert it to mp4(or just to open some
existing mp4 file, audio file will do iirc, add this stream into it then extract).

Appu

28th January 2006, 05:46

If this stream ain't avc, you may try to use mp4ui to convert to avi.

Didn't quite follow this. mp4ui is used to extract elementary stream from mp4. Is that correct?. My aim is to create a avi from an elementary stream.

I will try with ffmepg as doom9 suggested. Will get back to you regarding this.

Appu

28th January 2006, 13:53

Just an update..

I have quickly tested with ffmpeg , and I could create a avi file from mpeg-4 elementary stream.
This is what I have used..
ffmpeg -i input.m4v -vcodec copy output.avi

The generated file was playable with VLC, VirtualDub and Windows media player. Gspot indicated that it is a video only avi file with "DIVX" as four cc.

Thanks doom9!..

regards,
Appu.

Doom9

28th January 2006, 14:07

good news.. I guess I should give it a try as well. Did you manage to find an up-to-date w32 ffmpeg build somewhere?

bond

28th January 2006, 14:51

I'm afraid that doesn't work either. The AVI exported from the MP4 (and by the way I'd naturally use megui as the muxer ;) ) is messed up as well. I know because the samples I tried to make for the mencoder user list came out quite messed up (they could be opened in VDub though).the asp-in-avi files created by mp4box from mp4 are not ok? if yes, in what way?

Doom9

28th January 2006, 15:12

if yes, in what way?the video is partially corrupted.

bond

28th January 2006, 15:20

the video is partially corrupted.in what way?

Doom9

28th January 2006, 15:40

frames get decoded improperly.. the kind of thing you get when you flip a couple bits in a stream.

bond

28th January 2006, 15:51

the only thing i get is that ffdshow shows partly wierd colors, which seems to be some idct issue in ffdshow

dunno if thats what you mean?

celtic_druid

28th January 2006, 16:19

@Doom9, I did a new ffmpeg compile the other day, you can grab it from my site (might put a newer build up) or http://ffdshow.faireal.net/mirror/ffmpeg/ffmpeg.2006.01.25.7z

Appu

28th January 2006, 16:44

Did you manage to find an up-to-date w32 ffmpeg build somewhere?
I downloaded the win32 build from http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=ffmpeg. Got it through google. The version that I have downloaded is 0.4.9-pre1. I guess this is the latest version because the latest source code that I have downloaded ( from sourceforge ) is also 0.4.9-pre1.
Looks like there is no further development happening on ffmpeg. I don't see any release after 2004. Any idea about this?.

celtic_druid

28th January 2006, 17:30

Plenty of development going on. Even on that page there is a link to "ffmpeg 0.4.9-pre1 CVS 2005-02-22 binary". One of my old builds by the way.

SeeMoreDigital

28th January 2006, 18:02

frames get decoded improperly.. the kind of thing you get when you flip a couple bits in a stream.Would this suggest that using "any tool" to de-mux MPEG-4 streams from the MP4 container into the AVI container will create borked AVI's?

If so, are such streams "irretrievably" borked. Can they be repaired at all?

Cheers

Appu

29th January 2006, 10:53

Thanks for the info. I have downloaded the latest version from the link http://ffdshow.faireal.net/mirror/ff....2006.01.25.7z that you have provided.

How did you manage to compile it for windows?. Using Msys and MingW? Wanted to do a build for Momusys reference encoder for windows..

regards,
Appu.

celtic_druid

29th January 2006, 12:01

Actually, that was the second latest. http://ffdshow.faireal.net/mirror/ffmpeg/ffmpeg.2006.01.29.7z

Yep, mingw.

Doom9

29th January 2006, 13:51

Would this suggest that using "any tool" to de-mux MPEG-4 streams from the MP4 container into the AVI container will create borked AVI's?That's a stretch I'd say.. I've only tried to do this once and I really have no use for this functionality.. I just needed to cut a sample in this particular case and since the people who were going to look at are glued to mplayer and mplayer's mp4 capabilities are less than stellar, it had to be an AVI export. I've never done this since and have no plans to ever do it again.

SeeMoreDigital

29th January 2006, 14:04

Would it not be useful to investigate and identify which applications are able to de-mux MPEG-4 SP/ASP streams from the MP4 container and into the AVI container, without generating corrupt streams?

Cheers

Doom9

29th January 2006, 14:08

feel free to do it.. as I said that feature is useless to me and I've already spent too much time on something I think it useless.

bond

29th January 2006, 14:37

I just needed to cut a sample in this particular case and since the people who were going to look at are glued to mplayer and mplayer's mp4 capabilities are less than stellar, it had to be an AVI export. mplayer has no problem with mp4 to my knowledge (except the 64bit thingie, which hardly anyone needs anyways)