DirectShow file source filter for raw H.264 bitstream files?

[charact3r]

Subject says it all really - does there exist an open source filter that can be used to open .264 files in WMP, GraphStudio, etc.?

Thanks :)

[kidjan]

Not that I know of. I've thought about writing one, since I frequently work with raw h264 streams, but I've never quite had the time.

If someone wants to collaborate, I'd be happy to help though.

[charact3r]

Well I guess it should be quite a simple filter: open file, scan for headers, divide file into samples and send the samples with timing information from the stream...?

[roozhou]

Well I guess it should be quite a simple filter: open file, scan for headers, divide file into samples and send the samples with timing information from the stream...?
If the file is large, scanning for headers is SLOOOOW!

The MainConcept MPEG Demuxer supports raw H264 streams. It never reports the correct length or seeks accurately. If you only needs to play from begin to end, there is no problem.

[Midzuki]

ArcDemux.ax connects to File Source Async and to the DivX H264 Decoder. Just tested in GraphStudio :) Probably will work fine with Avisynth's *convertfps=true*, but should be unsuitable for "direct playback" in most cases.

[pwimmer]

I found this topic when searching for a raw H.264/AVC/MVC reader. I didn't find any that works reasonably well, so I finally wrote my own (3dtv.at H.264 Source). It's unique feature is support for MVC extensions. It connects to the Microsoft H.264 decoder and the CoreAVC decoder and probably to any other decoder supporting the AVC1 media type. For MVC streams, the AMVC (base + extension) and EMVC (extension only) media types are used. CoreMVC handles these media types.

You can get the DirectShow filter by installing the Stereoscopic Player (http://www.3dtv.at/Downloads/BetaTesting.aspx).

Raw streams lack an index so that seeking is currently not possible. A simple approach that estimates the seeking position by bitrate would fail for separate left/right files. If there's enough interest, I might add optional indexing when opening the file for the first time. However, indexing would take some time, up to several minutes for a feature-length movie.

[SeeMoreDigital]

As far as I'm aware, LAV Filters (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=156191) can play elementary h.264 (.264) video streams.

EDIT: Yep, works fine for me with Media Player Classic ;)

[pwimmer]

As far as I'm aware, LAV Filters (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=156191) can play elementary h.264 (.264) video streams.

EDIT: Yep, works fine for me with Media Player Classic ;)

Right, but LAV Filters lacks support for MVC. Not only for raw streams, but also for MP4, MPEG-TS and MKV containers.

Btw, if somebody is interested in adding MVC support to the LAV Splitter, I'd pay for it.