Could anyone help me with a .dvr problem please?

[DVRproblem]

Hi. I've now spent probably about a dozen hours trawling the web, reading forums and downloading software that doesn't work in order to either view, or convert a .dvr file.

I have a CD with the file on it and no way of getting any other copy in any other format. I also don't know how to find out any more about the hardware, etc... other than the fact it's from a CCTV camera.

I'm at a loss as to what to do, I just can't find anything that will open or play it.

Thank you in advance for any help.

Steve.

[edDV]

Start with section 8.2 here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_video_recorder#Security

Most security DVRs don't record full frame rate. They need conversion.

[DVRproblem]

Okay thanks... how do I do such a conversion though? Sorry, I'm not much of a techie so whilst I got the jist of the wiki page, I didn't follow what I can do.

[intracube]

I'm at a loss as to what to do, I just can't find anything that will open or play it.

What programs have you tried to open it with?

You could try VLC media player. It does a good job of opening most media files.

If you download mediainfo and open the file with it; then on the toolbar select View>Text and copy and paste the details of the video/audio codecs here.

[DVRproblem]

Yes I tried VLC, and pretty much every other player I could find... plus codecs that were recommended such as codec 42 but no luck I'm afraid.

I did the MediaInfo thing but I'm guessing these results aren't much help:

General
Complete name : C:\Users\Steve\Desktop\StorkBK.dvr
File size : 701 MiB

Nothing came under the "General" bit, with no file type info or anything, no info on any video or audio codec either (unless I followed the instructions incorrectly, but I can't see any other options to display codec info anywhere).

[usually_quiet]

My understanding is that some of these devices use a proprietary format for recordings, and software supplied with the CCTV DVR needs to be installed on a computer to view exported files.

[sum_guy]

Well, source from a CCTV camera, but what device did the camera output to? Is it a computer with dvr software? or some other dvr device? How did it get the .dvr file type?

usually_quiet is correct, you may need the recording device software installed on the computer to view the file type.

Hope you aren't going to be convicted of anything in that recording

[DVRproblem]

Haha, no, thankfully it's not that kind of a recording. The only problem is however... I've no way of contacting the person who originally provided it anymore to ask what it was recorded on. Is there some way I can guess the most common hardware and download something to go with is... I'm guessing it's not that simple

[sum_guy]

Wow, well, first the simplest thing, try mediainfo and see if you can glean any information from the file. Most likely, this thing is proprietary and you will need to know who killed who on the dvr to see how it was recorded. This one is gonna be a problem. A major problem, you could dissasemble with a hex editor, re-invent the code, but lets face it, not really an option. You will need the recording format or software type.

[DVRproblem]

Hmm, it sounds like I'd be better off maybe taking it into a shop or something, I'll have a look around on the web for any specialists or studios as I don't think I'm going to be able to manage it... far more complicated than I originally anticipated.

Thank you though guys, much appreciated for all the help

[intracube]

I'll have a look around on the web for any specialists or studios as I don't think I'm going to be able to manage it... far more complicated than I originally anticipated.

I did a quick search on google for 'StorkBK', which returned quite a few relevant pages:

There were a couple of links to media-geek.com which say, 'AVE Multiview - for storkBK.dvr files ... AVE Multiview v1.5.0.4 - plays storkBK.dvr files' - although I get immediately forwared to a login page.

Doing a search for AVE Multiview brings back multiview.net

[DVRproblem]

Ah brilliant, I didn't even think to search that. Thanks