are there any programs that can analyze frames, and guess aspect ratio?

[codemaster]

I'm looking for a program that has the following features:
- it's free to download and use;
- can be used from a command line interface, not just from a graphical user interface;
- can analyze the contents of the frames in a video file (but not all frames, maybe one each 15 seconds), or the contents of jpeg images of frames extracted from a video file, and guess if the image has an aspect ratio of either 16:9 or 4:3 (the video file resolution is 720x576 px, which means the aspect ratio is 5:4, but the images in it's frames can have either 16:9 or 4:3);
- can output the aspect ratio as text in the command line interface, or as text in a text file.

Does such a program exist?

[_Al_]

Mediainfo CLI, it reads header, flags, it does not analyze video.

JPEG images, especially taken down from a DVD, DV file. As soon as you create that image, you do not know what correct aspect ratio was, you need to get that from video.

[JVRaines]

I don't know of any such program. But I would start by checking for letterboxing and pillarboxing (which is easy), then move to face recognition and analyzing whether the average face width was below a threshold, indicating a squashed 16:9 image.

[johnmeyer]

It is not at all clear what you are really trying to do. As already pointed out, Mediainfo and many other programs can read the header in a video or still file and give you the pixel count in each direction and, in some cases, the pixel aspect ratio (i.e., whether the pixel is square or rectangular).

So if that is all you want to do, this is simple stuff, and there are lots of options. Those who have already posted have pointed you in the right direction.

If instead you have photos or videos that have been encoded to a certain aspect ratio (for instance 1920x1080, using square pixels), but the content is not that aspect ratio, resulting in hard-coded black bars, then you need to create a script which looks at frames and determines how to crop it. One such script exists in the long RT_Stats thread over at doom9.org. Here is a direct link to that script:

"QueryBorderCrop()" returns the crop coords to remove letter boxing or other black bars around the edges of a clip.

[Cornucopia]

It is usually so much quicker and easier to fix them by hand after eyeballing and making educated guesses.

(Also, being finicky about your sources and knowing in detail their common provenance helps a lot).

Scott

[johnmeyer]

It is usually so much quicker and easier to fix them by hand after eyeballing and making educated guesses.

(Also, being finicky about your sources and knowing in detail their common provenance helps a lot).

Scott

Agree. The script I linked to is only useful if you have to do a LOT of this, and every video is different, or if you have changes within a given video file.

[Budman1]

As mentioned previously MediainforCLI will give a screen or text result and if you have MediaInfo installed, the mouseover can be activated in the options to show also. Notice it gives aspect as 2.35:1 but the dimensions tells it is anamorphic (1.91:1, 704x368)



OR CLI:

Template.txt:

General;Container Format = %Format%_\r\nOverAllBitRate = %OverallBitRate/String%_\r\nDuration = %Duration/String%_\r\n
Video;Aspect = %DisplayAspectRatio/String%_\r\nResolution = %Width%x%Height%_\r\nVideo Codec = %CodecID%_\r\nVideo Format = %Format%_\r\nVideo Bit Rate = %BitRate/String%_\r\nFrame Rate = %FrameRate%_\r\nScan Type = %ScanType%_\r\nTotal Frames = %FrameCount%_\r\n
Audio;Audio Codec = %CodecID%_\r\nAudio Format = %Format%_\r\nChannels = %Channel(s)%_\r\nAudio Bit Rate = %BitRate/String%_\r\nSample Rate = %SamplingRate/String%_\r\nAudio Profile = %Format_Profile%_\r\nAudio Delay = %Video_Delay/String1%_\r\n

Output:

C:\Users\Bud\Desktop\Mega_FLV Only stripped\bin\Debug>"C:\Users\Bud\Desktop\Mega_FLV Only stripped\bin\Debug\MediaInfo.exe" --Output=file://"C:\Users\Bud\Desktop\Mega_FLV Only stripped\bin\Debug\Template.txt" "C:\Users\Bud\Desktop\aCommercial HDCNVRTED.flv"
Container Format = Flash Video_
OverAllBitRate = 1 513 Kbps_
Duration = 14s 999ms_
Aspect = 16:9_
Resolution = 720x480_
Video Codec = 7_
Video Format = AVC_
Video Bit Rate = 1 348 Kbps_
Frame Rate = 23.976_
Scan Type = Progressive_
Total Frames = 358_
Audio Codec = 2_
Audio Format = MPEG Audio_
Channels = 2_
Audio Bit Rate = 96.0 Kbps_
Sample Rate = 44.1 KHz_
Audio Profile = Layer 3_
Audio Delay = 83ms_