VideoHelp Forum
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 10 of 10
Thread
  1. Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Hello All,

    I have a video sharing website that uses the same toolset as ffmpeg, but recently a user uploaded a .wmv file that will not convert.

    I downloaded the original file from my server, ran it through ffmpeg, and I get the immediate "ding" and it produces an empty file.

    I tried converting it to ALL available output formats, with the same result.

    This is a .wmv file that ffmpeg is identifying as a .asf file when I load it.

    Quicktime Movie inspector tells me this about the original file:

    Windows Media Audio 9 Standard, Stereo, 44.100 kHz
    Windows Media Video 9 Standard, 640 x 480, Millions
    1036.00 kbits/s

    I HAVE been able to convert it with Flip4Mac by exporting it from Quicktime, but it puts a watermark on the video.

    Any idea what the problem is, or how to fix it?

    Thanks in advance for your help.
    Life's too short for bad coffee
    Quote Quote  
  2. Always Watching guns1inger's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Miskatonic U
    Search Comp PM
    At a wild guess, it may be DRM protected, in which case the user probably doesn't have the rights to upload it anyway.

    If it is just a glitch in the file, you might try running it through asfbin to see if it can fix it.
    Read my blog here.
    Quote Quote  
  3. Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by guns1inger
    At a wild guess, it may be DRM protected, in which case the user probably doesn't have the rights to upload it anyway.

    If it is just a glitch in the file, you might try running it through asfbin to see if it can fix it.
    Thanks for the quick response. I have no doubt that this is the owner of this video. The website I run is for martial arts, and this kid is from Borneo in the Malay Archipelago. It is video of him doing his routines as a very young child of about 4, and is obviously home video. As for asfbin, I'm on a Mac, so that doesn't work for me, but I really appreciate the effort to help!!!
    Life's too short for bad coffee
    Quote Quote  
  4. Always Watching guns1inger's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Miskatonic U
    Search Comp PM
    Like it or not, there is a much larger range of useful video software for windows than for the Mac, especially when it comes to specialty tools. It might be worth getting parallels just for these tools.
    Read my blog here.
    Quote Quote  
  5. Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    It's not a matter of liking it, I can't run parallels on my mac it's an older G4
    Life's too short for bad coffee
    Quote Quote  
  6. Always Watching guns1inger's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Miskatonic U
    Search Comp PM
    bugger . . . . .

    Virtual PC ? (I know, it's horrible)
    Read my blog here.
    Quote Quote  
  7. VH Wanderer Ai Haibara's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Somewhere on VideoHelp...
    Search Comp PM
    Can you play the file in VLC? If so, you might be able to transcode it with VLC. (I'm not sure if mplayer/mencoder supports WM9... or VLC, for that matter.)
    If cameras add ten pounds, why would people want to eat them?
    Quote Quote  
  8. Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Hmmm
    Life's too short for bad coffee
    Quote Quote  
  9. Explorer Case's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Middle Earth
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by sigung
    I downloaded the original file from my server, ran it through ffmpeg, and I get the immediate "ding" and it produces an empty file.
    Two most common possibilities:
    1/ Unsupported codec
    2/ Mismatch for mapping

    Originally Posted by sigung
    Windows Media Audio 9 Standard, Stereo, 44.100 kHz
    Windows Media Video 9 Standard, 640 x 480, Millions
    Audio listed before video. That is normal for WMV, but it is inverted from how ffmpeg wants the streams. This could result in a "mismatch for mapping"-error. That is, you have to set the stream mapping manually.
    To fix that, set the "Invert mapping" checkbox in the Audio tab of ffmpegX.

    Originally Posted by sigung
    I HAVE been able to convert it with Flip4Mac by exporting it from Quicktime, but it puts a watermark on the video.
    This is very helpful. ffmpegX can use QuickTime (including Flip4Mac) for decoding the source file, adding the ability to read most files that QuickTime Player can read, and encode without watermarking.
    Set the "Decode with QuickTime" checkbox in the Options tab.
    Quote Quote  
  10. Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Thank you Case, I did try the invert audio mapping, without success, but will now try the Decode with Quicktime. I have a feeling this is going to work!

    (5 minutes later)

    Well, tried it both ways audio inverted with QT, not inverted with QT, all failed. Thanks for all your suggestions.
    Life's too short for bad coffee
    Quote Quote  



Similar Threads

Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!