I want my CCTV

June 26, 2008 5:03 PM

Video file needs codec to play, which I have; how do I convert it to something that doesn't need this codec?

We can save .avi files from our CCTV camera dvr setup. Then for people to view them, they have to install a Geo MPEG4 codec. I would like to be able to do something to convert these files so they can be viewed without this. I want to be able to hand it to a neighbor or police and just have them open in windows media player or whatever.

Sample video file here: http://www.creativemethod.com/cg/cam1.avi
Codec that I use is here: http://www.creativemethod.com/cg/CCTVCodec.rar
What is the simplest way to do this? Thanks!

posted by striker to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

I'm sure there's a fancy tool for this, but a down and dirty approach would be to use something like VLC and transcode it to mpeg1.
posted by gjc at 5:18 PM on June 26, 2008

As long as you have the codec on your computer then pretty much any application capable of opening and AVI and exporting should be able to convert it. The application I use most often for this sort of thing is SUPER.

VLC is also good, but as a much more limited set of output options. Other useful tools for this sort of thing include Avidemux and FFMpeg (although it is not so user friendly).
posted by sycophant at 6:10 PM on June 26, 2008

Best answer: Assuming you have the codec installed, download and install the freeware app VirtualDub. Open your CCTV avi with VirtualDub. Click Video, Compression, and Select "Microsoft Windows Media Video 9". Click OK. Then click File, Save as AVI, give it a new/different name, and then Click Save.

The newly saved file should work in the Microsoft Windows Media Player (version 9 and greater).
posted by whatisish at 8:15 PM on June 26, 2008

Best answer: I took a look at it. The fourCC "GEOV" is just a vanity thing: it's a normal MPEG-4 ASP codec. The problem is it is based on similar code to the older DivX/XviD codecs, meaning it plays upside down if you tell your decoder to treat it as DX50 (Divx 5/6, also used by XviD for compatibility reasons). If you're on Windows, you can use Avisynth's DirectShowSource() function to load it into Virtualdub, Avidemux, etc. From there you can re-encode to Xvid or whatever, making sure to flip the image vertically with a filter (can also be done in Avisynth).

I would have recommended changing the fourCC to indicate an older DivX/XviD file, but not everyone has modern decoders (e.g. ffdshow) installed to automatically flip the output. Looks like you're stuck with re-encoding. I can confirm that Avidemux newest stable version crashes on opening your sample. Looks like you may need Avisynth's help unless Virtualdub can decompress it thru the old VFW interface loading your Geo codec. I would write a complete script for you to load into Virtualdub but I'm loathe to install the Geo codec. Here's a sample:

DirectShowSource("C:\path\to\your\thing.avi",audio=false)
FlipVertical()
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 8:34 PM on June 26, 2008

FWIW, I installed your codec and tested your sample using the above mentioned procedure. No problems. Also, you probably noticed that you can uninstall the GEO codec from the Add/Remove Programs control panel for testing.

The re-encoded file plays fine without the codec - without crashing the video player. ;)
posted by whatisish at 8:52 PM on June 26, 2008

Response by poster: wow.. much thanks. Upside down was indeed one of the problems someone was complaining about, despite my providing the codec and instructions on how to install. I will indeed be checking out VirtualDub, and even better that it can be scripted.... perfect.
posted by striker at 9:50 PM on June 26, 2008