F4F capturing/converting

[konverter]

Hi

How can i join and convert F4F files? Or a capture application would be good what is capable of downloading and converting these videos ( from a news site )

I searched google, but there are few informations about this thing, and no converters

By the descriptions it is a fragmented flash flv, or mp4 video, but VLC player and the standalone Flash player cannot open it

I tried many downloader-converter apps and toolbars, but few of them could download, and even, none of them could convert (convert failed)


Thanks in advace for any help

[Nilzor79]

*bump* . Seriously? No one have ever done this? I found this thread, but the link to the PHP script was broken (or private). Didn't help much

[aedipuss]

no. but each segment is a valid piece of a flash video playable in an flash capable player, so if you rename them to .f4v they should be playable/convertable. if not they were encrypted and you are out of luck.

[Nilzor79]

aedipuss: I'm not totally buying that "if it's encrypted, you're out of luck". Surely there must be some hackers who can get by that protection and create a dump tool for us? I mean as long as we can play it on our computer, we can decode it.

Anyway, I have a one such piece here . Can anyone tell if this is such an encrypted video? The extension was originally absent - I'm not 100% sure if it's really F4V, but it is the result of a cache dump from a flash movie using VideoCacheView. I'm guessing it is encrypted, because VLC could not play it.

[aedipuss]

first you'd have to find a hacker interested. those type videos are encrypted individually at the time of transmission with unique keys not stored in the video segments.

[Nilzor79]

I understand. I guess I'm just surprised no hacker's been interested. It's exactly a brand new technology. I guess they're too busy playing Diablo 3

[olyteddy]

If it plays, and you really want a copy, why not just screencap it?

[Nilzor79]

I would if I knew how. Got suggestions on a free tool?

[TreeTops]

There are a couple in the tool's section. Snagit seems to work better but not free.

[Nilzor79]

Ok thanks I'll check them out

[Bahman]

KSV has created a F4F video joiner!! It's a great move on downloading/capturing Adobe's new streaming technology that called HTTP Dynamic Streaming!!

That's a PHP script and you can download it here:
https://github.com/K-S-V/Scripts

[Nilzor79]

Thanks, Bahman, I think that was the script I tried to donwload from stream-recorder.com earlier. I'll definitely give it a try.

[richardw6000]

Hi,

A catch up TV service that I use has just changed over from streaming one .flv file per TV program (which I had no trouble downloading using DownloadHelper) to streaming hundreds of .f4f files per program. These .f4f files scroll past so quickly that it is impossible to get them all.

However, I have been able to download and save a handful of these .f4f files and have confirmed that these files can be successfully joined (combined together) into a .flv file using the AdobeHDS.php script (https://github.com/K-S-V/Scripts/wiki) which will play OK in VLC etc.

Is there any way of configuring DownloadHelper so that it will automatically download and save all the .f4f files being streamed on a site? I tried the Quick Download key but again was only able to get a few of these files.

So far DownloadHelper is the only addon I have found that will correctly identify and save an .f4f file so that it can used by the AdobeHDS.php script. All I need now is a way to grab all the .f4f files being streamed for a particular TV program.



Thanks in advance

[Chug a Bug]

No, VideoDownloadHelper can't download Adobe HDS fragments as a batch currently.

KSV's script will download all the files and then combine them if you can find the manifest file (usually ends with .f4m. File segments usually follow as Seg1-Frag1,2,3,4 etc). Alternatively use IDM to download all as a batch and then combine. Good luck.

php AdobeHDS.php --manifest "your_manifest_url" --delete

[richardw6000]

Thanks Chug a Bug,

I have already tried using AdobeHDS.php to download the files but I cannot get the required authentication to work (won't open the manifest file). I have read all the documentation provided by the developer of AdobeHDs.php but still no success. I did once try IDM but it did not seem able to find or download the f4f files. As I said in my first post, VideoDownloadHelper is the only one I have found that is capable of finding and downloading the f4f files. It is frustrating to see all the f4f files scrolling past and to know that if only I could grab them all, in the correct order, the job would be done.

[Chug a Bug]

You'll need to see HTTP traffic you could use Url Snooper or CooJah but I use Firefox like this -

1. Close and reopen Firefox.
2. Open Web Developer Console by going to Tools > Web developer > Web console. Close all tabs on left except for Net. Set filter (right hand side box) for seg1-frag1 for first fragment or .f4m for manifest.
3. Enter URL of your video in Firefox address bar and press go.
4. Click on URL displayed. In "Network Request" box highlight URL, press Ctrl+C and paste URL into Script or IDM.

Use manifest URL with script or use fragment URL(s) with IDM like this:





You'll have to guess the number of fragments with IDM though, if you know how long each one plays for multiply up the total length of the video in seconds and divide by that time to give a rough estimate of the total number of fragments.

[mgh]

Downthemall addon for Firefox will also do the job. It is free-if you go to
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/
it is 9th in most popular.
Get the Seg1-Frag1 url -say it is

http://..........Seg1-Frag1

Open Downthemall Manager from Tools-Downthemall Tools
Click on the + button.
In the dialog box put

http://..........Seg1-Frag[1:2500]

then click Start button. It will ask you whether you really want to download 2500 files! Let it, and you are in business. Point to be noted- by default it downloads four files simultaneously- if your connection is slow, you may need to cut it down to one, or else it will throw an error. Depending on your internet speed you will be offered a suitable resolution. Down load the f4m file itself and you will know how to get the resolution you want
2500 should be ample for most movies- rough calculation is 15 per minute.
The files will be downloaded as ....Seg1-Frag1 etc. with no extension
After you have finished downloading, check and delete any with a .htm or .html extension. Also check for missing files.

If there are missing files either as such or because you have deleted .htm or .html files. the code will be as follows

 php AdobeHDS.php  ....Seg1-Frag --rename

A full movie will be joined in less than a minute.

Imp- Pl rename the joined file immediately- and delete the fragments once you are sure that they have been joined correctly.
Before using downthemall again, delete fragments or change its download folder.
The one site from where I have downloaded such videos uses the same name for all videos- something in the url identifies actual video. If you do not take above precaution, your joined video will be deleted and downthemall will hang next time you download a video from that site.

[richardw6000]

Thanks for all the info guys. I haven't had a chance to try out your suggestions yet but I certainly will.
In the meantime, I did find a solution myself as follows;

1. Download the f4f files using Replay Media Catcher 4
2. Use AdobeHDS.php to join the f4f files together into a flv file

A few things to watch out for are:

AdobeHDS.php requires the f4f files to NOT contain spaces in the filename and be numbered 1,2,3 etc.
The files downoaded by Replay Media Catcher 4 may well contain spaces in the filename and are numbered as follows;

filename.f4f
filename-1.f4f
filename-2.f4f etc.

So you need to;

1. Remove all spaces
2. Renumber the files so that the first fragment file is filename-1.f4f.

Alternatively, if you don't mind NOT having the first f4f fragment in your final flv video file you can leave the numbering as saved by Replay Media Catcher 4

As far as using Replay Media Catcher 4 goes the quality of your network connection does matter. I used 2 computers to capture the same TV show, one a Toshiba notebook using a built-in Broadcom wireless adapter, the other a Dell desktop using a Belkin USB wireless adapter. I was successful with the Toshiba in downloading all 641 fragments which joined using AdobeHDS.php generated no errors, whereas in 3 attempts with the Dell I only managed to download 400-500 fragments.

Interestingly, if these incomplete fragment files are run through AdobeHDS.php errors such as

"Unknown packet type 0 encountered! Encrypted fragments can't be recovered."

are generated

[jimbo2012]

This oes not always work

I have manaed to find some f4fs which last about 1 monute - so want to join 10 consecutive f4fs together, but hds downloader php says that it finds no fragments

Can someone please advise how to do this if I have not got the very first fragment and want to only use from somewhere in the middle?

Thanks.

[vhelp]

I understand. I guess I'm just surprised no hacker's been interested. It's exactly a brand new technology. I guess they're too busy playing Diablo 3

so i'm curious..

i was willing to give it a shot because i have (i believe) something similar in my opera's cache folder, it creates multi-segments files like yours, sort of. anyway. i was thinking they all can be easily joined if they files are intact, but when i d/l'ed your sample "F9E15d01.f4v" from post # 4 topic, i was not able to play it. vlc just flickers. ok, so i got to thinking..maybe they are encryped as -eadipuss- suggested, and that you need to have *each* key alongside each segmented file, i.e,

file.1, key.1
file.2, key.2
.
.
file.9, key.9

and then join them. however, the key is what throws me off. how does it relate to each segmented file.
if i can figure that out then maybe its possible to joing. its all about knowledge.

is there a link to the website where you got to watch these videos ?
or, do i have to join ?

[mgh]

It expects segments to be named xxx1, xxx2 etc. If some numbers are missing you need to use the rename switch as I have given. Though individual segments should be playable, at the site where I have experience, they are not playable through flv player or vlc player, even though not encrypted. Once joined, the file plays perfectly as a .flv with avc video and aac audio.

[jimbo2012]

So if I took ten consecutive f4fs at random and wanted t join them, which application should I use to join just the files together to play, albeit one minute of video in this case? Please can you tell me where I can get a program that will join f4fs together. Thanks.

[mgh]

AdobeHDS.php is the only known application for joining them. Say you have nos 152 to 159, use the start switch, assuming the segments are xxxx152, xxxx153 etc

 php AdobeHDS.php xxxx --start 152

pl note there is no number following xxxx!

See this thread by the author of AdobeHDS.php
http://stream-recorder.com/forum/adobe-hds-downloader-t12074.html
for further details and switches.

If you have segments, the latest one tells you if they are encrypted and cannot be joined.

[jimbo2012]

Thanks. Do I make a new patch file then with this code in it - not sure how to do this. Please can you help?

Thanks.

[mgh]

Pl go to first post of http://stream-recorder.com/forum/adobe-hds-downloader-t12074.html
Install php as given there, and check that the installation is OK as given there.

Next go to https://github.com/K-S-V/Scripts/blob/fb5c9426f395361a9cfa85a3f70dcf086d2ac3f2/AdobeHDS.php

copy the script given there into notepad, and save as all files "AdobeHDS.php" in the same folder where you have php.exe

while there, click on the Wiki link, it gives all the switches and a few tips.

You can update the program by creating batch file with following code and running it.

 php AdobeHDS.php --update

To create batch file copy code into notepad and save file in same folder as php.exe and AdobeHDS.php as all files ""update.bat" ( the quotes are necessary to tell windows that it is not a text file). Double click on it in Windows Explorer to update AdobeHDS.php.


You can create batch files based on other code in the same way.

[jimbo2012]

Thanks for that. I have updated the version I am using but wondered how do you play a live stream

--play dump stream to stdout for piping to media player


What does the above mean for example?

Also if you want to start capturing a live stream do you replace xxxx with the actual fragment number??

Thanks.

[mgh]

In my case replace xxxx with "E:\Downloads\......Seg1_Frag" for joining the fragments

Pl note no number after Frag.


For other applications, pl see thread referred to at stream-recorder.com. If you have questions, pl post them there. Don't think anyone here will be able to give you any answer. My understanding ends at using AdobeHDS.php to join fragments.

[honfoglalo111]

I have a similar problem but these solutions seems very difficult...

So can anybody download this short video from this url? (It's a Hungarian news site)
http://tv2.hu/musoraink/tenyek/4105_robotok_a_parkban.html

I think there are fragments.

You've written lot's of solution - is anyone of them working in this case?

Please tell me, and I will try to learn that method.

[mgh]

I have a similar problem but these solutions seems very difficult...

So can anybody download this short video from this url? (It's a Hungarian news site)
http://tv2.hu/musoraink/tenyek/4105_robotok_a_parkban.html

I think there are fragments.

You've written lot's of solution - is anyone of them working in this case?

Please tell me, and I will try to learn that method.

Follow posts 16 and 17 here. 16 fragments total-15089 KB-length of video 1 minute 3 secs.

[Chug a Bug]

Ok I'll try and give an easy example of how to use Adobe HDS downloader script to download and join everything using the mainfest file, I'll use URL snooper in this example as its probably the easiest thing to use -

1) Open URL Snooper

2) Set the word ".f4m" in the filter box as we're only interested in the manifest file, click "Sniff Network" and open the browser and start the video playing.

3) In the space below URL's will start appearing, this is the traffic were interested in. Note there are several .f4m URL's listed in this case so we'll have use our brains here: the manifest we're looking for usually begins with a "GET" command - this is the one we want.
- right click on it and choose "Copy Selected URL's to Clipboard"

4) Open Notepad, paste our URL into our Adobe HDS downloader command line, save with .bat extension, double click batch file to start it running

5) Adobe HDS downloader is processing the manifest file - notice this video has 3 separate bitrates, 1800, 1000, 400 - the script will choose the highest quality available and download and then join the fragments automatically.

Enjoy your downloaded video.