Need help viewing and converting cctv footage.

[ashi]

Hi,
I have some footage off a CCTV camera which I want to view. I've seen the clip on the computer linked to the camera but when I try to view it on my own laptop it won't play on VLC or Quicktime. I would like to be able to view it and convert it to a format viewable on normal players. I've tried "muxing" it with mkvtoolnix but the resulting file still wouldn't play. VLC tells me that it doesn't support the format "N264" and unfortunately there's no way to fix this.

Mediainfo tells me its: AVI 41.3 MiB, 9min 56 secs, 1 Video stream N264, Video: 577 kbps, 352*288 (1.222) at 25 fps, N264 (PAL)

I can't tell you anything more about the clip as I don't have access to the original CCTV or camera anymore.

Any ideas on how to make this viewable?

PS: It's a clip of an hilarious incident which occurred a few days ago and got caught on camera. Would like to share it but can't even view it again myself!

[aedipuss]

the only way to get video that plays on normal devices is to export it from the original system. the original footage is encrypted until exported from the system as regular video. you have to use the original system and know the password. it's done purposely to prevent unauthorized viewing.

[ashi]

I don't have access to the original file or computer where it was recorded... After watching the clip I just copied the segment I wanted not knowing that it needed to be exported in a certain way..

ahh well

[Bjs]

Test open file using DGAVCDec

Install Lav filters and wrap the "n264" inside an mkv container using mkvmerge

Lav filters (32bit) (64bit)

Do you have a small sample file available for tests ?

[Nelson37]

Find the brand name of the unit, then download their software. They often use screwy codecs and require their playback software, these usually offer some sort of standardized export option.

The DVR companies often market under a variety of brand names, I've researched these a few times and it usually takes about an hour or so of searching to find the correct software to download. The visual appearance of the DVR unit is an important clue.

I've got a really funny clip of a guy going ape-crap tearing up an office, kicking over furniture and throwing stuff, then stops, carefully moves a box on the floor about 6 inches to one side, then continues going ape-crap. His wife wanted the video for evidence if she ever has to shoot him with the gun she carries in her purse, for that purpose.

[ashi]

I can't use DGAVCDec as I'm on a Mac not a Windows machine. Same goes for the LAV filters, I'm guessing. I've already tried wrapping in an mkv container with mkvmerge but that didn't work either. When I tried to play the resulting file it gave me the same error in VLC player (no suitable decoder module).

I also can't find out the brand of the dvr/original unit as it's in another country. We were there on a short holiday. The CCTV captured some great footage of fireworks gone wild.

I uploaded it to my box account. Here's the link for it:

https://www.box.com/s/7360u5sjb4q7vbnmxc53

Would be really great if someone could recode it to something viewable on normal players. Thanks!

[Nelson37]

Tried a couple I had, did some looking - no good links and no brand names I could find, nothing to play it with.

Did you actually see the recorder unit and would you recognize it? I have twice found player software by browsing ads and finding the same hardware under a different name. Other than this, not good odds of doing anything with the file.

How did the file come to be named ".mpg"?

[ashi]

No I didn't see the actual recorder unit. The files get saved to a computer and that's where I copied this particular clip from - as is. it played fine when i opened it on that computer. The CCTV is setup at the gate of an old family home. I didn't really bother to check out the recording equipment cos I didn't think it would be necessary. We could view the clip, it had an mpg extension - I didn't know it wouldn't play on my computers. So there's no way to recode to another format without knowing where it and how it was recorded?

[jagabo]

Use a hex editor to change the fourcc to XVID. And the extension should be AVI, not MPG.



The text in the red boxes originally read N264.

[ashi]

Oh wow! Thank you Jagabo. It plays just fine now.... Wish I had audio to go with it but I don't think the cameras record sound. This is excellent.

Thanks again everyone for all the help!

[Bjs]

QQPlayer

Windows player and converter ... not in english thou it wasnt too hard to figure it out ... and uncheck any default file extensions already used by other applications (install window with check box's)

Playing with fire crackers

[ashi]

Yeah, that was fun . Luckily there weren't any casualties! I've now added some music and graphics - turned out nice. Thanks again everyone!

[Dynomine]

Hmmmm i think it is a H.264 video format.
You need to convert that file using the program delivered with the CCTV recorder.
Also there are a lot free convertors for converting H.264 to AVI files.