How to convert CDV Files

[roxics]

Hey guys, I have a client that brought me some discs with CDV files on them. Transferred from laser disc I assume. I need to convert these to a friendlier format. Something like Avid DNXHD or Mpeg2 if worse comes to worse.

Problem is I can't even read these files at all. Do you know of a codec or method for conversion? I've done a little google searching but haven't come up with anything.

[aedipuss]

can't be direct laserdisc video. the format of laserdisc video is analog not digital.

[aedipuss]

if they are actual "cdv"s - http://www.cdvideo.info/ - again the video is analog and must be played in a laserdisc unit. you can then capture the video just like videotape using the composite or svideo out.

[roxics]

I would agree with you. Laserdisc is indeed analog. However these files do show up in explorer when I put the DVD in the drive. Each file is around 1.2GB to 2GB each. So they have to be digital to even be able to be read by my computer.

This is the part that confuses me.

[roxics]

Actual CDV I don't know. But the extension on these files is .cdv and it's unrecognizable by any software on my machine. I've tried opening them with Vegas pro 8, After Effects CS4, Adobe Media Encoder, VirtualDub and even attempted renaming the extension to something like .avi. No luck anywhere.

Also VLC, WMP and Media Player Classic won't play them at all.

[jman98]

CDV was a format that used standard CD discs and contained about 20 minutes of music (usually 4 songs) and 1 video probably limited to 5 minutes duration. The audio portion looks like a standard audio CD and anything that can play audio CDs should have no problems playing it. The video was only playable on laserdisc machines. For all intents and purposes the single video track is like a tiny laserdisc. If you put such a disc in a PC, you will only see the audio CD part of it.

Get your customer to tell you just what exactly they have given you and how they got it in the first place and maybe you'll have an idea on where to start. But given that CD discs were used for the format, that means that the laserdisc compatible video simply cannot be 1 GB or more in size so these are not true CDV files. For all I know you've garbage that simply cannot be played by anything, anywhere.

[AlanHK]

Have a look at the data at the head of the file.

I don't know if there are any built in Windows apps that can do that, but any hex editor can. Just Google for one.

Almost every file has a "signature" at the very beginning saying what program made it, and details of the format; and usually at least some of this is in plain text. Far more info than just a random extension gives you.

For instance this is the beginning of a video file, as seen by FAR. It's pretty obvious that it's an AVI file, using DivX codec, made by Mencoder.

[roxics]

Thanks guys. To be honest they aren't even technically a client yet. I've just been asked to give a quote on cost to convert these to an editable format. I asked for a sample to see what I can do with them. Apparently I can't do anything with them. Sounds like the client might be another video editor who couldn't figure out what to do with them either.

I may just have to pass. I have too many other projects on my plate at the moment to be opening up the video in hex editors and trying to figure out how to hack it out to work. I had hoped maybe it was just a codec I was missing or perhaps there was some opensource software that could easily recode it to something else. But it sounds like way more of a headache than it's worth for what we'd probably be paid.

[Ai Haibara]

...or try MediaInfo, to see if that can tell you anything about the files?

AlanHK: I usually use WnBrowse for things like that... view a file's content in both hex and text mode, and it's a good ASCII text viewer as well. (It's not a hex editor, though, just a viewer, so that might be safer if one's concerned about accidentally modifying the file.)