I have an mp4 file that was taken with a XDCAM (SD card) 1.65GB



The camcorder was switched off inadvertently while the camera was busy recording. As a result, the file is corrupt.



1. The XDCAM will not playback the file.
2. Quicktime also refuses. Most other players crash or act strange too. (VLC; Media player; GOM etc)
3. The file can be loaded into Premiere Pro and scrubbed (I can see and hear the footage), but exporting the file causes unholy errors and system failure.

(Note: If the file is copied from the original SD card to another device and then loaded into Premiere Pro, it says the file is corrupt and won't load.)

4. I tried to convert the file to another format with AVS media converter, but the program says the file is corrupt. (Says something like, "Unknown file format".)



I opened the file in a Hex Editor, and a large proportion of the start just has zeros (compared to a healthy mp4 file recorded on the same cam).



I also tried to get some more info on the file with Media Info, but nothing is displayed (besides the file size and location).



Someone suggested transplanting the header from a healthy file into the mp4... anyone have any suggestions on how to go about this?



This matter is particularly frustrating since I can scrub the file and I literally just need 25 seconds of footage, but I can't export it!



This is what a healthy mp4's info from the XDCAM looks like:

General

Complete name : C:\Users\XXX\Desktop\559_0005_01\559_0005_01.MP4

Format : MPEG-4

Format_Commercial_IfAny : XDCAM EX 35

Format profile : Base Media / Version 2

Codec ID : mp42

File size : 189 MiB

Duration : 43s 480ms

Overall bit rate : 36.5 Mbps

Encoded date : UTC 2010-08-20 13:12:24

Tagged date : UTC 2010-08-20 13:12:24



Video

ID : 1

Format : MPEG Video

Format_Commercial_IfAny : XDCAM EX 35

Format version : Version 2

Format profile : Main@High

Format settings, BVOP : Yes

Format settings, Matrix : Default

Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=12

Codec ID : 61

Duration : 480ms

Bit rate mode : Variable

Bit rate : 35.0 Mbps

Width : 1 920 pixels

Height : 1 080 pixels

Display aspect ratio : 16:9

Frame rate mode : Constant

Frame rate : 25.000 fps

Standard : Component

Color space : YUV

Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0

Bit depth : 8 bits

Scan type : Interlaced

Scan order : Top Field First

Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.675

Stream size : 181 MiB (96%)

Language : English

Encoded date : UTC 2010-08-20 13:12:24

Tagged date : UTC 2010-08-20 13:12:24



Audio

ID : 2

Format : PCM

Format settings, Endianness : Big

Format settings, Sign : Signed

Codec ID : twos

Duration : 43s 480ms

Bit rate mode : Constant

Bit rate : 1 536 Kbps

Channel(s) : 2 channels

Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz

Bit depth : 16 bits

Stream size : 7.96 MiB (4%)

Language : English

Encoded date : UTC 2010-08-20 13:12:24

Tagged date : UTC 2010-08-20 13:12:24