Help with MPEG4 File!!!!

[sambo 0]

Hi guys,

 

 

My work has a new AVTech AVC787D DVR CCTV secuity system. It's meant to record in MPEG4. But when you back up a recording you get a file with a .DVR file extenion, then you have to use a program call Videoplayer to convert this file to a .VSE file extension.

 

What I need to do is to make one of this files into a DVD so my Boss can play them in a DVD player,so that she can the DVD home and watch it her DVD player.

 

I have been looking around the net for the last week and am getting nowhere. I have used some video tools, one is telling me it's a divx file and another one is telling me it's an MPEG1 file.

 

The only other program I can use to play the .VSE file is VLC Media Player but I have to change the file extension to MPEG but then it plays at double speed only (not helpful!), plus all the time code is missing.

 

Is there anyone out there who can tell me how to convert these files so I can burn them onto DVD with Nero or even some other program?

 

Thanks

 

Sambo

[cachecreekcctv 0]

One reason I do not care too much for DVR's with so -called "DVD Burners" or "CD Writers" . Will write CD/DVD in format which is only readable by their software. Can convert my Avermedia files into AVI files easily. Also one good reason I bought my Plextor Divx hardware encoder, Model PX M402U. Will fit in the palm of my hand, and with my laptop, it can record straight out of DVR (output cable) and into laptop. Will encode in Divx, Mpeg1, Mpeg2, or Mpeg4 formats. Go to Plextor.com/products for a look . Very easy to use, and it is a Hardware encoder, not software. Comes with WinDVD DVD Creator software. Purchase from Tigerdirect or Newegg. Check it out for yourself.

[sambo 0]

But that would only record 1 Channel only!!!!!

[Metal Shaper Man 0]

If you use the Plextor PX M402U and set your dvr’s multiplexer to 4, 9, 16, one single channel or whatever, it will record exactly what you see on your monitor. Of course, you will not be able to multiplex the disk or files you’ve burned or saved to the programs mentioned above. The Plextor works well. I think you would like it.

[sambo 0]

I did not know if my Boss would like to spend more money on equipement when he was told that AVTech would backup in Mpeg4!!!!

 

I found out the .VSE file is the following:

MediaInfo:

 

Codec : MPEG-4 Visual

Codec settings/BVOP : No

Codec settings/QPel : No

Codec settings/GMC : 0

Codec settings/Matri : Default

Width : 720 pixels

Height : 576 pixels

Aspect ratio : 4/3

Standard : PAL

Resolution : 8 bits

Interlacement : Interlaced

 

I have some guys on an other forum having a look at this for to.

 

My Boss has left this one with me to get sorted!!!!1

[rory 0]

You may loose the time overlay, as their player may be doing that, but you could try ffmpeg which may convert it for you. Its command based but converts many types of files including flash, etc.

http://ffmpeg.mplayerhq.hu/

 

Rory

[cachecreekcctv 0]

Just a suggestion. Go to Softpedia and look at "FFDSHOW" all in one codec. I use it often on my home PC to decode many types of video. Softpedia also has an Mpeg-4 specific decoder in its' downloads. I went through the same thing you are going through. Only my Avermedia DVR's can easily convert into AVI files that are readable on any PC. The problem I ran into before, is the same problem that you are having. Someone will call and ask me to get video from a VHS tape system, or an older DVR that they cannot get into. Even some that have so called " CD writers" built in. I take my Dell Laptop (P4) and my Plextor hardware encoder. The Plextor fits inside the laptop bag. I take the "video out" cable from whatever recorded the video, be it VHS recorder, DVR, whatever, and directly into the Plextor. What I see on the screen, is what it captures. Video and audio together. Sit right there at the customers' location and make either a Video CD or a DVD. Will capture video in Mpeg1, 2, 4, and Divx. Takes sometimes about an hour from the time I get there to the time I hand them a DVD. Never had a complaint from anyone, including my local Sheriffs' office. The money spent on this Plextor Hardware Encoder bought from Tigerdirect has paid for itself dozens of times over. I normally charge $50 to make the DVD for someone. The first 3 DVD's I made, paid for the unit. I guess you have to ask yourself, is the time you spend trying to decode this DVR, worth the $150 or so the Plextor will cost you ?

[sambo 0]

Just a suggestion. Go to Softpedia and look at "FFDSHOW" all in one codec. I use it often on my home PC to decode many types of video. Softpedia also has an Mpeg-4 specific decoder in its' downloads. I went through the same thing you are going through. Only my Avermedia DVR's can easily convert into AVI files that are readable on any PC. The problem I ran into before, is the same problem that you are having. Someone will call and ask me to get video from a VHS tape system, or an older DVR that they cannot get into. Even some that have so called " CD writers" built in. I take my Dell Laptop (P4) and my Plextor hardware encoder. The Plextor fits inside the laptop bag. I take the "video out" cable from whatever recorded the video, be it VHS recorder, DVR, whatever, and directly into the Plextor. What I see on the screen, is what it captures. Video and audio together. Sit right there at the customers' location and make either a Video CD or a DVD. Will capture video in Mpeg1, 2, 4, and Divx. Takes sometimes about an hour from the time I get there to the time I hand them a DVD. Never had a complaint from anyone, including my local Sheriffs' office. The money spent on this Plextor Hardware Encoder bought from Tigerdirect has paid for itself dozens of times over. I normally charge $50 to make the DVD for someone. The first 3 DVD's I made, paid for the unit. I guess you have to ask yourself, is the time you spend trying to decode this DVR, worth the $150 or so the Plextor will cost you ?

 

 

This should not be this hard!!!!!!

[Metal Shaper Man 0]

Maybe, I’m wrong but, I was always under the impression that all dvr’s were intentionally set up so one could only play the video from that machine for legal reasons. It’s suppose to prevent someone from tampering with or altering the video where a lawyer could contest it in court. In fact, or I should maybe say, I don’t think you can play a VHS tape made on one VHS recorder on another. You have to play the tape on the same machine it was recorded on. Simply, what you are facing is not uncommon. As I see it, that's the way different manufactures set up their machines.

[cachecreekcctv 0]

I think you are correct on that point. I always just figured that each DVR manufacturer wanted their own software engineers to write their own software codec, so as not to infringe on anyone elses codecs, and be proprietary in their design. Even a time-lapse recorded VHS tape , I doubt, can be played back on another branded player. When I download a video scene from my Avermedia DVR's , it does have a proprietary codec, but, part of the screen software also asks "convert to AVI file?", so I always do. Almost all the time I have to use my Plextor Hardware Encoder, is just to get video from an older system (VHS, old DVR) to make a CD/DVD that is playable on a PC or DVD player. My customers are very small commercial/residential installs. Most of the people I deal with, probably could not figure out how to save their own video from their older DVR's if they had to. When I get called, it is because a business/home user had a problem and has called the local Police/Sheriff. When the cops ask " can you make me a video of that damage?", that is where I come in. I ask them " do you want to play this on a PC, or a DVD player?" My Plextor, laptop, and I, take it from there. Good luck !!

[rory 0]

VHS tapes could be played back on other recorders .. they had different multiplexers which was the issue.

[sambo 0]

It looks like the Plextor is the only way I am going to do this with the littlest amount of fuss!!!!

 

I will talk to my Boss next week.

 

Do you think a PVR with a DVD burner would work?

 

It would connect to the DVR in the same way!!!!

[cachecreekcctv 0]

The Plextor comes with WinDVD software, and Ulead software. I use both all the time. I have never regretted purchasing this Plextor Encoder, believe me. I have "encoded" over 100 movies onto my spare hard drive, which I bought solely to store music (Mp3's) and movies ( in Divx format).

[sambo 0]

The Plextor comes with WinDVD software, and Ulead software. I use both all the time. I have never regretted purchasing this Plextor Encoder, believe me. I have "encoded" over 100 movies onto my spare hard drive, which I bought solely to store music (Mp3's) and movies ( in Divx format).

 

I think the Plextor would be the best option but I would have to leave a PC or Laptop recording at work all the time.

 

I just thought if I got a cheap PVR link it to the DVR so it records all 16 channels screen, then I can just download it to my laptop every morning and burn it to DVD.

 

or if I can get a PVR which can record to ext Hard drive just swap every morning.

 

Looks like this is might be the easiest way to do what I(my boss)whats!!!!

[Metal Shaper Man 0]

I am certainly no expert in this field and can only provide an opinion based on the equipment I‘ve owned. Nevertheless, I realize that, there are many variables to deal with when copying or capturing the video from dvr’s. As mentioned above, there are file types to deal with. There’s also a speed problem due to time lapse. For example, and just a one of many examples is, a video can look like it’s going 100 mph if you replay a time lapse video on Windows Media Player because it doesn’t compensate for the missing frames caused by the time-lapse.

 

My dvr has five copy ports for backing up data. Three ports copy to specific external HDD’s and two seem to be nothing more than video outs, which are, S video and RCA video and audio out. Because I’ve never used the HDD copy ports, I’m not sure if they are readable by other media players other than that provided by the manufacturer. In fact, I would think one could only use the manufacturer’s player because my dvr will not even recognize any other external HDD other than that provided by the manufacturer. However, the S video and RCA seem to be nothing more than simple video outs. I can copy video by channels as mentioned above to a VCR. I can also copy to my PC by using the Plextor and the related video programs.

 

Again, I am no expert with this stuff. But, it looks to me like the Plextor only takes analog video from a video camera, camcorder, VCR, or cable source and provides compressed MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and DivX video for display or archiving onto your PC via the supplied video programs then to a recordable CD or DVD discs.

 

Just to throw a wrench in the wheel, in another post we were talking about the Plextor PX M402U and what one could do with it. Another member mentioned that all he had to do was plug his in the Plextor and burn directly to a disk. What he was saying did not make sense to me. Come to find out, I don’t think we were talking about the same thing. He was talking about a Plextor USB based DVD writer and we were talking about the PX M402U. To add to that, the manufacturer upgraded the newer model dvr’s so they would recognize other burners. They also provided downloadable upgrades for older model dvr’s as well.

 

The bottom line is to get to know your dvr. What works for one dvr may not work for the other. Maybe you can capture video to an external HDD or burner as a backup then view it later. Nevertheless, if you have a simple video out on your dvr the Plextor PX M402U will copy to your PC then to a disk. You can have the video in two places, one on the PC and one on a disk.

 

This is a link to the post mentioned above.

 

http://www.cctvforum.com/post-59642.html&highlight=#59642

[Kiwi 0]

I have an AVTech AVC782. I have two comments - first, the video player software app has a button to convert to AVI. Not that it does a good job at it - the results are awful and the files are much larger.

 

Also, regarding recording off the video "out," I've noticed that the playback quality off that output is not as good as directly playing the VSE file on a PC. Presumably the PC does not limit the MPEG4 decoding as much as what's needed to convert to RS170.

 

It would be great if we could find a way to hack these VSE's however.

[Metal Shaper Man 0]

That is exactly what I’m talking about. There are so many variables from one manufacturer to the next, plus, the changes they make from week to week. In many cases, one just has to take his chances. Anyway, I’ve had some very good results with the Plextor PX M402U for copying events. I do not use it as an external devise for long term backup.

[cachecreekcctv 0]

You are correct again. But you actually can burn directly to disk, with the DVD Creator software. I don't use that option normally, as I want to store any video I encode, to my hard drive to save it for the future. I have done several tests with this Hardware Encoder, and found that I can , and have gotten, two full-length movies on 1 DVD disk. I just normally save any video to DIVX format, then make either a Video CD or DVD. I believe DIVX is a version of MPEG4. Next time you go to an Electronics Retailer (Circuit City, Best Buy, etc. etc) take a look in the DVD player section, and see how many DVD players/recorders have listed on the carton "Divx Certified". A 15 minute video of kids spray painting a store front window, or breaking into a parked car, takes only about an hour to watch, encode, and then write to disk.

[sambo 0]

I have an AVTech AVC782. I have two comments - first, the video player software app has a button to convert to AVI. Not that it does a good job at it - the results are awful and the files are much larger.

 

Also, regarding recording off the video "out," I've noticed that the playback quality off that output is not as good as directly playing the VSE file on a PC. Presumably the PC does not limit the MPEG4 decoding as much as what's needed to convert to RS170.

 

It would be great if we could find a way to hack these VSE's however.

 

Hi Kiwi,

Yes the player software which came with the DVR can convert to AVI. But I was trying to convert 24hrs of video and I was finding that it was taking 18hrs to convert and it was corrupt. over the weekend I have tested different file sizes and found about 30mins of video was the max I could convert with no corruption.