Please help- RAW .264 file needs to be playable

[eagle132]

Hello,

I'm fairly new at converting video. I have a .264 file that came from a cctv recording. I need to put it into a playable format. Right now, not even VLC seems to be able to play it.

From various searches, the most I've learned is that this .264 file is the raw video data and needs to be inserted into a video container in order to be played, such as MP4.

I am running Windows 7 64bit, if that changes anything.

Thanks so much!

eagle132

[johns0]

Install MKVtoolnix and load the file into mkvmerge and output as mkv and welcome to the forums.

[eagle132]

I actually tried that software before, which resulted in errors.

Here's what it spits out:

First when I load the file, it says-

You're adding an AVC/h.264 elementary stream to the output file. mkvmerge cannot determine the number of frames per second for such files itself. Therefore you have to set this parameter yourself on the 'format specific options' page.

If you don't do this then mkvmerge will assume 25 fps.

This message will only be shown once unless you enable mmg's warnings on its 'settings' page.

Then when I run the mux, after warning me of the above again, it runs. This happens-

mkvmerge v4.9.1 ('Ich will') built on Jul 11 2011 23:53:15
'C:\Users\USERNAME\Videos\channel1.264': Using the AVC/h.264 ES demultiplexer.
'C:\Users\USERNAME\Videos\channel1.264' track 0: Using the MPEG-4 part 10 ES video output module.
The file 'C:\Users\USERNAME\Videos\channel1 (2).mkv' has been opened for writing.
end-of-file

And under the error field it gives this message-

Error: 'C:\Users\USERNAME\Videos\channel1.264' track 0: mkvmerge encountered broken or unparsable data in this AVC/h.264 video track. Either your file is damaged (which mkvmerge cannot cope with yet) or this is a bug in mkvmerge itself. The error message was:

It ends at "was:"

Any thoughts? And thanks for the super fast reply!

[johns0]

What file version was the raw video in before?If the recording is ntsc the you set the fps at 29.97 or 23.976 if film.

[eagle132]

Well, this file was how I received the file from an office as is on a CD. So I can't really say anything about how it was before unfortunately.

And, strangely enough, even after prompting me with that message, when I go to the "Format Specific Options" page, all options are greyed out. Hmm.

[Vladrial]

Try using MP4Box

[davexnet]

In MKVmerge, before going to format specific options, make sure the added file is hi-lighted (selected) in the middle frame.

[eagle132]

In MKVmerge, before going to format specific options, make sure the added file is hi-lighted (selected) in the middle frame.

This was the problem haha, oops. It allows me to change the FPS now. However, it still has the same error-

Error: 'C:\Users\USERNAME\Videos\channel1.264' track 0: mkvmerge encountered broken or unparsable data in this AVC/h.264 video track. Either your file is damaged (which mkvmerge cannot cope with yet) or this is a bug in mkvmerge itself. The error message was:

I'm not sure what's up. I've read that maybe cleaning the first frame or something will help?

MP4Box (using MP4Box GUI), just says "status: error" when I try to Mux the file.

Hmm, odd file.

[davexnet]

Have you looked at the files specs with Mediainfo ? Here's the output from a typical file (in view/text mode).
If you don't see something similar, perhaps your file is damaged:

General
Complete name : I:\track1.h264
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
File size : 140 MiB

Video
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L5.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 8 frames
Bit rate : 4 000 Kbps
Width : 1 200 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 1.667
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.193
Writing library : x264 core 56 svn-680
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=7 / brdo=1 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=3 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / wpredb=1 / bime=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=4000 / ratetol=1.0 / rceq='blurCplx^(1-qComp)' / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30

[poisondeathray]

most cctv setups have proprietary software for viewing and converting

use the software that comes with the device

it may be encrypted or you may not be able to use it any other way

[Bjs]

I know the post is from late last year ... those searching for a method of both viewing and converting ".264" visit this swann link and download both the playback and avi generator ... both worked fine under windows 7 64bit ... thou using the converter is problematic ... close all programs which use any video plugins like web browser, windows explorer ... the converter takes about 15 seconds to convert a 350mb .264 stream using an intel i5.

Hopefully this will solve the problems with cctv and associated dvr's.

Update:

For those experiencing crash's of the converter due to problematic recordings try installing the converter from this link ... same but different version number, just let it overwrite the previous install ... is more fault tolerant, will pause when issue located but completes ... test damaged files recovered from local security dvr unit all fine.

Should the files disappear just pm.

[phatmax]

Since you have a raw file, try "dgavcdec109" to convert it to a ".DGA" file, then use avisynth, provided it's installed, to create an ".AVS" file. Most conversion programs will accept an ".AVS" file, as a source. It's not easy, there is a lot of messing around . Personally, to convert ".mp4" files, I use "YAMB", with "MP4box". For ".MKV" files, I use "MKVExtractGUI", with "mkvtoolnix". To convert the audio, I use "Xmedia Recode". You may have to do some reading to figure out proper >avisynth script. Good luck.

[johns0]

This thread is 6 years old,time to close it.