Help with videos that switch sizes during playback.

[woody345]

I'm hoping someone might be able to help with this odd behavior. I have some flv caps from a streaming site that change size back and forth during playback due to their trying to maintain quality. To give an example, I start a file and it's at 600x400 for 3 minutes, then jumps to 1200x800 for a minute because the feed cleared up or whatever, then drops back down when their feed gets bad. I use VLC and MPC and they litterally shrink and grow as the files play.

Is there some way to fix this so they remain one size throughout?"

[Krispy Kritter]

Most streaming sites will allow you to set the stream size. Youtube, for example, has settings for 240P, 480P, 720P, etc. (for the files that support it). I'm not sure how you would set that when you aren't using the web interface.

Or you could capture, and playback later.

[woody345]

I'm resigned to the caps being messed up, it is what it is. I would however like some way to process them after the fact, to force them to one resolution so playback is steady, that's what I'm hoping to find a solution to.

[theewizard]

The only thing to guarantee consistent stream is a solid high speed internet connection

The best way is to use one of the download utilises, and download the best version accessible
Instead of recording the incoming stream

[woody345]

The only thing to guarantee consistent stream is a solid high speed internet connection

The best way is to use one of the download utilises, and download the best version accessible
Instead of recording the incoming stream

My connection is perfect, it's the quality coming from the site that gets bad depending on the feed coming into it before they restream it. I guess there is some confusion about this so I will be a little more clear, the streams I'm capping are from a webcam site, live broadcasts so there is no option to download different versions, i'm getting the live feed right from the site, but it is changing in size as they try to maintain consistant quality, so if it starts to lag, they switch to a smaller resolution midstream to reduce bandload.

Like I said, I'm curious if this can be resolved after the fact with some software that will force a resolution during transcoding?

[theewizard]

I doubt it, not with out some serious editing, cropping and recoding
Your capture recording is going to be one continuous stream at one resolution
The quality varies inside that resulting capture
It will take some serious work to edit the poor sections and recode

The job would be easier IF your capture is in sections, aka separate files at each resolution change, but I doubt that it works that way

[poisondeathray]

I'm hoping someone might be able to help with this odd behavior. I have some flv caps from a streaming site that change size back and forth during playback due to their trying to maintain quality. To give an example, I start a file and it's at 600x400 for 3 minutes, then jumps to 1200x800 for a minute because the feed cleared up or whatever, then drops back down when their feed gets bad. I use VLC and MPC and they litterally shrink and grow as the files play.

Is there some way to fix this so they remain one size throughout?"

But how did you "cap" it?

Are they separate videos ? or a single continuous where this happens ?

Is your cap actually the same recorded dimension, and there is pillar/letter boxing as it "switches" ? Or are the physical dimensions actually changing mid stream in a single file?

What does mediainfo (view=>text) say about one of these and can you upload a short sample where this occurs

[woody345]

I'm hoping someone might be able to help with this odd behavior. I have some flv caps from a streaming site that change size back and forth during playback due to their trying to maintain quality. To give an example, I start a file and it's at 600x400 for 3 minutes, then jumps to 1200x800 for a minute because the feed cleared up or whatever, then drops back down when their feed gets bad. I use VLC and MPC and they litterally shrink and grow as the files play.

Is there some way to fix this so they remain one size throughout?"

But how did you "cap" it?

Are they separate videos ? or a single continuous where this happens ?

Is your cap actually the same recorded dimension, and there is pillar/letter boxing as it "switches" ? Or are the physical dimensions actually changing mid stream in a single file?

What does mediainfo (view=>text) say about one of these and can you upload a short sample where this occurs

I am using a custom program that grabs the raw stream right from the site, it caps whatever they broadcast. The physical dimensions of the video literally change midstream so the final file grows and shrinks when you play it as a single file. Media info only shows the initial resolution when you check it. I'll PM you a link to a test sample so you can see for yourself.

[theewizard]

when you play it back on vlc, the picture changes size and quality inside the video frame, but the video frame does NOT change size ? Yes or No ?

its ONE file, the picture frame resolution is constant, never saw a video with different resolutions of the video frame
the quality changes yes.. but every single frame is the same resolution aka pixel dimensions of the initial first frame recorded

[woody345]

when you play it back on vlc, the picture changes size and quality inside the video frame, but the video frame does NOT change size ? Yes or No ?

its ONE file, the picture frame resolution is constant, never saw a video with different resolutions of the video frame
the quality changes yes.. but every single frame is the same resolution aka pixel dimensions of the initial first frame recorded

In VLC, I start a file and it shows240x194 with a display res of 240x180. The file then grows larger, resolution is now 480x386 with disp res of 480x360. The entire vlc window grows and shrinks as the file does, perhaps i have some setting to change window with resolution, i don't know. But these changes in the middle of playing causes my display driver to crash using MPC which actually plays better otherwise than VLC, but VLC doesn't crash the display.

[theewizard]

this is a problem
it will take major work editing this file , cutting each change into seperate files and recoding then joining them

I suggest you abandon your custom stream grabber
I suggest you view the video in a streaming viewer 'vlc' or browser, with a window of a set size of the minimum expected resolution and use a screen capture program to capture it
you will then have a file with one resolution,
which you can convert/transcode to another resolution, using avisynth or ffmpeg or a GUI program that uses those as the base frame server and encoder

you might even be able to record it using vlc

[woody345]

this is a problem
it will take major work editing this file , cutting each change into seperate files and recoding then joining them

I suggest you abandon your custom stream grabber
I suggest you view the video in a streaming viewer 'vlc' or browser, with a window of a set size of the minimum expected resolution and use a screen capture program to capture it
you will then have a file with one resolution,
which you can convert/transcode to another resolution, using avisynth or ffmpeg or a GUI program that uses those as the base frame server and encoder

you might even be able to record it using vlc

That's what I was worried about. I have a screen cap program I use now and then on the site, but it doesn't cap automaticcally or when i'm sleeping or when multiple streams are going so I will just have to make due. Thank you guys for taking the time to try and help.