Security Video Conversion?

[heemidtech]

I have an ADT security system from which I can burn off CD with the desired video clips. The playback is only through the computer. On the disc is just an exe, I guess the video and player are all one file. Any ideas how I can convert this to Mpeg, AVI or anything else that I can edit? Thanks.

[Alex_ander]

There's some chance that .exe is a self-extracting archive (like rar or zip) containing common video files and a player software. I'd try first to view file properties with a universal archiver like WinRAR and to unpack the content if possible.

[heemidtech]

It doesnt tell much, the company that makes the "clip player" is IDIS. I dont think it extracts anything because you can set passwords for playback. Is there a way to capture the video as it plays? I tried playing with VirtualDub but it wasnt grabbing anything. Thanks

[thecoalman]

I believe what the poster above was referring too was not actually executing the file but opening it like you would a zip file. A .exe can contain files like a zip, if you can simply extract the video file and it's a common format that's all you need to do. Can't tell you how to do it but I've done it in the past from the run panel.

If all else fails camstudio should work for screen capture.

[temosis]

scan it using ISObuster latest version, i'm sure it will catch what its holding secret inside a CD,also check ur temporay directory "c:\documents and settings\(this is ur user)\local settings\temp" in that way we will know if it extracts any file, also after you run the exe open task manager and scroll down the process list and check any suspicious type of file other then normal system processes...

[Cornucopia]

There's usually no "secret hiding place" for the files, if it's anything like what I've done before.

They give you a propietary media format (NOT even renamed avi or other standardized container either) and player and password protect/encrypt the player and media (they're customized/tied together). Password levels allow multiple security tier levels (depending upon manufacturer and package):
1. No playback at all
2. Playback only, no export/manipulation
3. Playback and manipulation/editing/analysis, but no export
4. Everything

Some apps NEVER have export to a standardized format.


What can be done is:
A. Manually build a decode filter chain in GraphEdit based on the player's usual chain, but built with standard filewriting as output.
B. ScreenCap with Camstudio, etc.

I've had most (very good) success with B, although there is usually a FPS/MotionSmoothness hit going this way. Did one just last week in a well publicized (around here) Manslaughter case--output full-screen to DVD. This makes a much bigger impact on the Jury than a little corner of a quad-windowed application on a laptop!

Scott

[heemidtech]

Thanks for the suggestions, I tried CamStudio select my region but when I playback the avi its all black. Is there some kind of security on the playback?

[heemidtech]

The clip I have is about 140MB I will make a smaller one off the security machine tonight and post it, if some of you guys would take a crack at it that would be great.

[trhouse]

Is this a DVR4? If so, the datasheet says the capture format is jpeg with selectable compression. It further says that the cd file will auto-run on a cd-rom without need to install any software to your computer.

[heemidtech]

Not sure on the model but yes the player and video file play straight off the CD so there is no need to install any software on the computer.

[trhouse]

You might want to check this out if this is the format used by your DVR.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MJPEG

I was investigating surveillance DVR's for awhile. There were quite a few DVR's on eBay that recorded with m-jpeg compression but all the newer ones are using mpeg4 compression.

[heemidtech]

here is the file, any workable format (AVI, MPEG) would be great thanks.
http://files.filefront.com//;7594134;/

[heemidtech]

Also for those interested i'm in the red gloves, enjoy the fight.

[Cornucopia]

Camstudio (or similar vid screencap) should work. Make sure you have "Hardware Overlay" (or "Accelleration") turned off--this might be causing your "black screen".

As a last resort, it'll take a while but you could always do frame-by-frame export to BMP (your application does allow that). Then you could open in Virtualdub and set the correct FPS rate and export as usual.

Scott

[heemidtech]

Turning off acceleration did it, works like a charm, thanks

[louieb2]

As of December 2014, here is what worked. Running Windows 7 Pro 64 bit; ISOBuster 3.5; AnyVideoConverter Pro 5.7.6.

Use ISOBuster to scan the file, it will complain but tell it to proceed anyway. The EXE file I was extracting from contained an SFW, an MPG, and an MP2. Right click on the MP2 file and select extract. VLC and IrfanView both failed to play the files. I used AnyVideoConverter to convert it to a 720x480 AVI. The resulting AVI file was playable but contained none of the time stamp information in the display.

I believe the security camera providers' policy of exporting the video in an EXE format is threefold: 1) it is more portable for Windows users, 2) it contains time stamp information in the displayed output 3) it prevents users from tampering with the video.