How to make playable .RMF format RealVideos?

[trodas]

Some old videos I would like to check on, are in RealPlayer .RM format. 99,99% of them play fine, all one need is to install just the RealAlternative (w/o the browser support it is pretty slim package) and things work just fine, even on Windows 2000 SP4 and old BSplayer 1.41 So far, so good. However I get plenty of vids that are .RM by extension, however inside the header look quite different AND they refuse to play in anything I tried yet.
So after some time battling with this alone I decided to go and ask, if there is any conversion tool, that strip the weird header and make these play as normal .RM files, or do I need to re-encode them (I fear loss of quality) to be able actually play them back?

The header look this way:

.RMF            PROP   2   B@ B@  x  x  ¦f      *04ň  ˜ 
     MDPR  ă        
Él 
Él  >            * r-video/x-pn-multirate-realvideo logical stream&logical-video/x-pn-multirate-realvideo  b  b            ˜ €Ë     Ńł ~Ĺ eWD  ˜                 ˆ  ASMRuleBook   p#($Bandwidth < 10000),TimestampDelivery=T,DropByN=T,priority=9;#($Bandwidth >= 10000) && ($Bandwidth < 12000),AverageBandwidth=10000,Priority=9;#($Bandwidth >= 10000) && ($Bandwidth < 12000),AverageBandwidth=0,Priority=5,OnDepend="1";#($Bandwidth >= 12000) && ($Bandwidth < 26000),AverageBandwidth=12000,Priority=9;#($Bandwidth >= 12000) && ($Bandwidth < 26000),AverageBandwidth=0,Priority=5,OnDepend="3";#($Bandwidth >= 26000) && ($Bandwidth < 180900),AverageBandwidth=26000,Priority=9;#($Bandwidth >= 26000) && ($Bandwidth < 180900),AverageBandwidth=0,Priority=5,OnDepend="5";#($Bandwidth >= 180900) && ($Bandwidth < 903532),AverageBandwidth=180900,Priority=9;#($Bandwidth >= 180900) && ($Bandwidth < 903532),AverageBandwidth=0,Priority=5,OnDepend="7";#($Bandwidth >= 903532),AverageBandwidth=903532,Priority=9;#($Bandwidth >= 903532),AverageBandwidth=0,Priority=5,OnDepend="9";   $  SeekGreaterOnSwitch           3  RMFF 1.0 Flags                        %  MinimumSwitchOverlap              EndTime      rMDPR  Ű   
 xÔ xÔ  x  x            { -audio/x-pn-multirate-realaudio logical stream&logical-audio/x-pn-multirate-realaudio  Z  Z       ěMČďDň«ŽŔ            ˜  ASMRuleBook   €#($Bandwidth < 8000),AverageBandwidth=6000,Priority=5;#($Bandwidth < 8000),AverageBandwidth=0,Priority=5,OnDepend="0", OffDepend="0";#($Bandwidth >= 8000) && ($Bandwidth < 44100),AverageBandwidth=8000,Priority=5;#($Bandwidth >= 8000) && ($Bandwidth < 44100),AverageBandwidth=0,Priority=5,OnDepend="2", OffDepend="2";#($Bandwidth >= 44100) && ($Bandwidth < 96468),AverageBandwidth=44100,Priority=5;#($Bandwidth >= 44100) && ($Bandwidth < 96468),AverageBandwidth=0,Priority=5,OnDepend="4", OffDepend="4";#($Bandwidth >= 96468),AverageBandwidth=96468,Priority=5;#($Bandwidth >= 96468),AverageBandwidth=0,Priority=5,OnDepend="6", OffDepend="6";   $  SeekGreaterOnSwitch            -  RMFF 1.0 Flags                    %  MinimumSwitchOverlap        Č     EndTime      r-MDPR  ±                               fileinfological-fileinfo  k  k                     Content Rating           q      Audiences    [16k Substream for 28k Dial-up;28k Dial-up;56k Dial-up;256k DSL or Cable;768k DSL or Cable;          audioMode    music    .  
Creation Date    11/22/2007 13:43:23    R  Generated By    9Helix DNA Producer SDK 10.0 for Windows, Build 10.0.0.72    2  Modification Date    11/22/2007 13:52:23          videoMode    sharp   Ű  ASMRuleBook   Ă#($Bandwidth < 20000),Stream9Bandwidth = 10000, Stream10Bandwidth = 6000;#($Bandwidth >= 20000) && ($Bandwidth < 34000),Stream9Bandwidth = 12000, Stream10Bandwidth = 8000;#($Bandwidth >= 34000) && ($Bandwidth < 225000),Stream9Bandwidth = 26000, Stream10Bandwidth = 8000;#($Bandwidth >= 225000) && ($Bandwidth < 1000000),Stream9Bandwidth = 180900, Stream10Bandwidth = 44100;#($Bandwidth >= 1000000),Stream9Bandwidth = 903532, Stream10Bandwidth = 96468;MDPR   z      '  '  V  Ă       qŕVideo Streamvideo/x-pn-multirate-realvideo   "   "VIDORV40Đ@          @ € MDPR   z     .ŕ  .ŕ  V  ľ      ó q�Video Streamvideo/x-pn-multirate-realvideo   "   "VIDORV40Đ@          @ € MDPR   z     e�  e�  V   Ő      
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Ő    Video Streamvideo/x-pn-multirate-realvideo   "   "VIDORV40Đ@         H @ € MDPR   ®     p  p                     Audio Streamaudio/x-pn-multirate-realaudio   V.raý   .ra5       F          ŻČ           @  @    genrcook             MDPR   ®     @  @                     Audio Streamaudio/x-pn-multirate-realaudio   V.raý   .ra5       F           ę`            @  @    genrcook         MDPR   ¶     ¬D  ¬D  €  €               Audio Streamaudio/x-pn-multirate-realaudio   ^.raý   .ra5       N   €     ţ     € €    ¬D  ¬D    genrcook         %      MDPR   ¶    xÔ xÔ  x  x               Audio Streamaudio/x-pn-multirate-realaudio   ^.raý   .ra5       N   x     
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Normal, playable header or .RM file looks like this:

.RMF           PROP   2   ÝĐ ÝĐ  x  Í  ° ×  =őş‚    MDPR   p     dü dü  :  x      = ÔdVideo Streamvideo/x-pn-realvideo   "   "VIDORV40`           @ € MDPR   ¬    xÔ xÔ  x  x      = ×ńAudio Streamaudio/x-pn-realaudio   ^.raý   .ra5       N   x     
< 
< x    ¬D  ¬D    genrcook         %      MDPR  Š                                logical-fileinfo  L  L          )      Audiences    512k DSL or Cable;          audioMode    music    -  
Creation Date    5/26/2007 21:26:14    4  Generated By    Easy RealMedia Tools V1.8x    1  Modification Date    5/26/2007 21:26:14          videoMode    normal    $  Email    rick@redcheek.net    (  HomeWeb    http://redcheek.net CONT          (C) 2004  DATA

Sample file:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/za4nla
http://depositfiles.org/files/j5eu3dujc
http://ulozto.cz/xCHHyc4M/pain4fem-lea-2-rm

Anyone have any idea? Preferably... replace the header?

PS. tried to replace the header, the file play, but as a very small size vid AND there is nothing visible in it and the sound is just crazy and so... So change of the header make it possible, I just need to do it right

On a side note, the video is not exactly for the fainthearted, so, beware when trying to play it...

PS2. GSpot failed on the video:

[trodas]

BTW, followed one advice and tried VLC, however on W2k I'm version limited to v1.0.5 and it gives this:



...so if that should be it, then I did not care anymore At least 640x480 pixels, for christ sake! ))

[transporterfan]

Re-encode them if you want to play them on anything other than a computer.
FormatFactory worked. Almost wish it hadn't.

Forgot to mention: PotPlayer plays them, also. None of the MPC builds will.

[trodas]

Sounds interesting, I give it a try. As for the content of the vid, well, I did not put out this w/o a reason: "the video is not exactly for the fainthearted, so, beware"... So you should not complain about it

Unfortunately, the latest MS visual C++ 2010 SP1 did not work on Win2k SP4, nor on WinXP, so with version of Format Factory run using MS visual C++ 2008 ...? And where to get it?

[transporterfan]

Oh, I wasn't complaining.
Your system is seriously outdated (yes, I know you are aware). I am not sure what build of FormatFactory, if any, will run on it.
You can try one of the very early builds from here:

https://www.videohelp.com/tools/Format-Factory/old-versions#download

Nothing else I tried (many) worked. Even FFmpeg choked, as did anything which incorporated it.
I have a feeling the video is ok but the audio channels are confusing most of the software converters.

[trodas]

Well, got a bunch of those vids, so...
Anyway, I grab a MS visual C++ 2008 - this install fine on XP machine. And then choosed to download bunch of the older versions of Format Factory and tried 2.15 - worked. Tried 2.20 - worked. Dunno if there is any reason to go higher, tough. The setup for the conversion is very basic, I would like to directly change the lame settings, for example add a low-pass filter to counter the camera pitch, but I bet this won't be even in much more recent versions, right?

Now I just have to choose between avi/xvid and mkv/h264 conversion, as the vids are 720x576@24fps (full PAL with weird framerate) and the h264 look, surprisingly, notably worser, while having 30 089kBy Xvid vs 30 878kBy h264. Interesting. Also h264 encode in two pases, but the bricks are far ughlier. Xvid wins, time to start mass conversion

[transporterfan]

You might even be able to stream copy with VLC.

[El Heggunte]

I've taken a look at the pesky file, and it looks like it has multiple video and audio streams.
Otherwise, it was actually muxed in a very-weird way.
Since I am no expert at RealMedia things,...

ffmpeg cannot remux it.
A freeware RMVB muxer crashes while trying to remux the damn thing.
Gabest's RealMedia Splitter refuses it.
LAV Splitter accepts it, but then LAV Video shows only a tiny frozen frame containing only noise
AV Splitter crashes.
MKVmerge says the input file has zero tracks.
Mplayer plays the video, but outputs no audio

[transporterfan]

Yes. It has three audio streams, but I couldn't spend the time examining them. I found one other converter which would convert but the audio lagged by about 2 seconds.

[trodas]

I tried VLC, but only up to v1.0.5 as more recent versions did not work on Win2k. Never the less, problems are fixed with the conversion! Hoooray!

As far as the original files playback goes, I have no idea, what the hell they expected users to play them with. Perhaps Real Player... but that it is. I'm certain these files have no more that one video and audio track, as their converted size to Xvid is just a bit smaller, that the original filesize... so... It is interesting file to test the abilities of many programs

[Ai Haibara]

PS2. GSpot failed on the video:

Just so you know, GSpot's support for any formats/containers other than AVI/.divx or MPEG is rather minimal, or work-in-progress. You're better off using, say, MediaInfo, or something else to get info on your video files if they're not AVI/.divx/MPEG.

Plus, the picture wasn't resizable, anyway.

To this day, I've never found a method that works for converting RealVideo AND is consistent. (Yes, even VLC. Something that works for one file may not work for all of them, or I'll have an issue like out-of-sync sound and have to try a different known-to-work method. (Of course, it could be just me...) Real may have inadvertently invented the best copy protection of all. )

[jman98]

WHY are these old videos in Real Media format anyway?

I only know of 2 reasons to use Real.

1) The person who made the video is REALLY REALLY stupid.
2) People who are into anime often use the weirdest and crappiest video formats available for it. This is because some of these people fall under reason #1.

You have my sympathy that you have "plenty of videos" in this format.

I hope you understand Real is just about the worst quality video codec ever invented, so even if you are able to convert these, they're probably going to look terrible.

[trodas]

Actually, when converted, they looks pretty good But most RealMedia files I can play using the RM Alternative codecs - just these had to be converted.

BTW, many even big pornosites used RealMedia in the past....

[El Heggunte]

I tried VLC, but only up to v1.0.5 as more recent versions did not work on Win2k. Never the less, problems are fixed with the conversion! Hoooray!

As far as the original files playback goes, I have no idea, what the hell they expected users to play them with. Perhaps Real Player... but that it is. I'm certain these files have no more that one video and audio track, as their converted size to Xvid is just a bit smaller, that the original filesize... so... It is interesting file to test the abilities of many programs

I wouldn't say the conversion "fixed" the problem, IMHO the conversion is just a workaround. The actual solution would be a *flawless* remux, which, AFAIK and until now, is not possible through the available freeware tools. Regarding the sample file you uploaded, Mplayer detects 4 audio streams and 4 video streams inside it. I've managed to decompress the audio stream that has the highest quality, but I haven't managed to do a "perfect" remux of the 4th video stream. Mencoder was able to rewrap the video in an AVI container, but it was unable to create the keyframe index in the output. So I had to remove the duplicate frames in the AVI remux, generate a timecode table, recompress the decoded audio, and use the option "index all the video frames" in MKVmerge.

[trodas]

I dubt that this effort is could be justified - but you seems to really get on it! But when the videostream end up in mkv - will that make it playable with just RealMedia alternative codecs...?

http://www.sendspace.com/file/tufidq
http://ulozto.cz/xrstyA8/real-alternative-codecs-2-02-lite-exe

I somewaht doubt it, but - we see?

[El Heggunte]

So far, only a RealMedia Splitter can connect to the RealPlayer decoders.

Anyway, and to whom this may interest, I will post a link to a sample file A.S.A.P.

P.S.: done.

http://www.mediafire.com/?cb92d64d9d2yhc7

[trodas]

Thanks for your effort, but the video did not play. It is 700k bigger that the Xvid version I produced, yet it just did not play there. The BSplayer says that this is a "Unknown file format (RV40)" and that it is. I should mention that *.mkv files play fine there w/o a glitch...

But I dubt the result is nicer that mine:

http://www.mediafire.com/?4819lhnt3peb50z

...but you can compare. I can't.

[El Heggunte]

Thanks for your effort, but the video did not play. It is 700k bigger that the Xvid version I produced, yet it just did not play there. The BSplayer says that this is a "Unknown file format (RV40)" and that it is. I should mention that *.mkv files play fine there w/o a glitch...

But I dubt the result is nicer that mine:

http://www.mediafire.com/?4819lhnt3peb50z

...but you can compare. I can't.

The MKV I uploaded plays fine in MPlayer, PotPlayer and MPC-HC --- they work because they have (or can use) an UP-TO-DATE Matroska demuxer.
I already knew Haali Media Splitter doesn't support RV40 in "VfW-mode", and now you tell me VLC is b0rked too

[trodas]

So, why you use something that you known is useless and unplayable? Unless there is a better Haali Media Splitter, then you just can't use something, that is broken by default...

I did not tell you, that VLC is broken too - I did not tried VLC, because last version I could try is like 1.0.5 or so... tested, yes, it play. Excet this error on opening the file:

No suitable decoder module:
VLC does not support the audio or video format "undf". Unfortunately there is no way for you to fix this.

...but that it is. In VLC 1.0.5 is can and will play. However the quality is par to par to the Xvid I produce, so, there is no point using MKV (much less broken MKV) over classic Xvid avi witch play anywhere w/o troubles.

This one lack audio and when seeking - then horrible artefacts appear on the screen... so, really not a choice


PS. more recent version of VLC did not support Win2k, so I can use them.