seek help in using rtmpdump

[anctop]

Hi,

I'd like to ask a question about choosing high resolution streams in downloading with rtmpdump.

Currently I'm using a front-end called "RTMPDumpHelper" (on Windows) for downloading, but the problem is that it can only grab the default "medium" quality.

For example, when I try to get the video from "http://mytv.tvb.com/news/pearlnewsat730/280569", the RTMPDumpHelper log shows the command :

rtmpdump -r "rtmpe://wowza.stream.tvb.com:1935/vipo/_definst_/mp4:vipo/mytvsuper9/9075/907432/000001224887.mp4" -a "vipo/_definst_/mp4:vipo/mytvsuper9/9075/907432/000001224887.mp4?ts=1478571730" -f "WIN 19,0,0,185" -W "http://img.tvb.com/mytv4/swf/supertv_r2-1.swf" -p "http://mytv.tvb.com/tc/cat_news/pearlnewsat730/280569" -C S:vipo/mytvsuper9/9075/907432/000001224887.mp4 -C S:1478571730 -C S:2eda1421de91f1b5714878600dfdb195 -y "mp4:vipo/mytvsuper9/9075/907432/000001224887.mp4" -o "2016-11-08_10-22-34_000001224887.flv"

If I force change to high quality during playback and drag the slidebar back to the beginning, then the resultant .flv is broken.

By using network sniffers, I find the "json" file ("http://api.mytv.tvb.com/rest_user_subscription_api/video_path/format/json?id=280569") which contains the URL's for all resolutions :

{"profiles":{"low":{"Cantonese":"rtmpe:\/\/wowza.stream.tvb.com\/vipo\/_definst_\/mp4:vipo\/mytvsuper9\/9075\/907432\/000001224886.mp4?ts=1478571730&sig=57b6141921f6d43da085623e89655768&audioindex=0"},"high":{"Cantonese":"rtmpe:\/\/wowza.stream.tvb.com\/vipo\/_definst_\/mp4:vipo\/mytvsuper9\/9075\/907432\/000001224887.mp4?ts=1478571730&sig=2eda1421de91f1b5714878600dfdb195&audioindex=0"},"hd":{"Cantonese":"rtmpe:\/\/wowza.stream.tvb.com\/vipo\/_definst_\/mp4:vipo\/mytvsuper9\/9075\/907432\/000001224889.mp4?ts=1478571730&sig=b25144ffb5782d45556c33b989bfb299&audioindex=0"},"auto":{"Cantonese":"rtmpe:\/\/wowza.stream.tvb.com\/vipo\/_definst_\/mp4:vipo\/mytvsuper9\/9075\/907432\/907432_mobile_auto.mp4?ts=1478571730&sig=968e91e2f550737fbbeb13e036c6e29f&audioindex=0"}},"is_drm":false,"protocol":"hls","breakpoints":[{"id":309792,"video_id":280569,"time":716.52,"created_at":"2016-11-04 17:04:15","updated_at":"2016-11-07 20:59:16"},{"id":309811,"video_id":280569,"time":851.16,"created_at":"2016-11-04 17:04:15","updated_at":"2016-11-07 22:15:07"}],"opening_start_at":["0"],"subtitle":{},"is_pay":0,"duration":1152.36,"chapters":[]}

The URL of the desired stream should be :

"rtmpe://wowza.stream.tvb.com/vipo/_definst_/mp4:vipo/mytvsuper9/9075/907432/0000012248...9&audioindex=0"

I tried to invoke the rtmpdump command directly, but fail :

RTMPDump v2.4 GIT-2014-03-02 (Compiled by KSV)
(c) 2010 Andrej Stepanchuk, Howard Chu, The Flvstreamer Team; license: GPL
Connecting ...
WARNING: Trying different position for server digest!
INFO: Connected...
ERROR: RTMP_ReadPacket, failed to read RTMP packet header

Could someone kindly suggests a solution ?

Thanks in advance.

[sysanin]

If I force change to high quality during playback and drag the slidebar back to the beginning, then the resultant .flv is broken.

Try to quickly switch the video quality.
Start playback the video from the beginning
(do not press stop/pause) move the slider to 00-00

[anctop]

Try to quickly switch the video quality.
Start playback the video from the beginning
(do not press stop/pause) move the slider to 00-00

Thanks for your suggestion, I've already done so.

The problem is that an action like this must break the resultant .flv file.
When it is played with MPC-HC, the clip stops at the position where the change was made. Also it cannot be edited by video editors (e.g. avidemux).

As I've mentioned, I have the URL of the HD stream, but just cannot download it with "rtmpdump" from command line.

Do you have any idea ?

[sysanin]

The problem is that an action like this must break the resultant .flv file

I don't quite understand this.
Maybe I have time to change the quality of the video before the video playback? (Bad proxy)
193 MB

[anctop]

The problem is that an action like this must break the resultant .flv file

I don't quite understand this.
Maybe I have time to change the quality of the video before the video playback? (Bad proxy)
193 MB

You're magical ! How could you do that ?
My environment is Win7 + Firefox 36.x + RTMPDump toolkit + RTMPDumpHelper front-end,
and no proxy (as far as I know) for internet connection.

I'm eager to know what tools you're using (e.g. player, browser, downloader, etc) ?
On my system, there's no way to change resolution when the advertisements are playing, but it's too late to change when the true contents start.

Please kindly help.

[anctop]

From your screen capture, I notice that you're using "PotPlayer".
I've installed the latest release of "PotPlayer" and allowed it on the firewall.

But when I "Open URL" and enter the target "http://mytv.tvb.com/news/pearlnewsat730/280569", it quickly returns an error :
[Attachment 39417 - Click to enlarge]

It plays YouTube, but all other URL's fail, including its own bundled examples.
Does it mean that I have missed something ?

Also, I notice that "PotPlayer" does not attach to RTMPDumpHelper.
In other words, even if PotPlayer plays my target URL, there's no way to save it.

[sysanin]

Try TubeDigger (trial) in the "Monitor Browsers" mode

[anctop]

Try TubeDigger (trial) in the "Monitor Browsers" mode

Many thanks for your recommendation.

During the weekend I've tried more than a dozen of video downloading freeware/trialware (all are known by web search) but the results are disappointing : none of them did the job rightly.
I think it's time to pay for a copy of "TubeDigger".

By the way, I'm still curious about why your "PotPlayer" works. I'd like to imitate your environment.
What is the version of your "PotPlayer" ?
What other related software have you installed ?

Also, I've heard that the target site supports HLS as well, which is easier to download.
Could you advise on this ?

[w-ch]

Hello sysanin, I just tried the TubeDigger but it cannot capture the source, either nothing captured or the program crashes. Can u hv further suggestions? Thank you!