mp4 video play back on PC

[torklemm]

Hi Folks,

I just took for the first time a video clip with my Magician today, and had the Camera settings to

Capture Mode: Video
Capture Format: MPEG-4
Capture Size: Large

it produced a nice video clip file with in the .mp4 format (lets not talk about the quality)

I copied this file over to my SD card, and from there to my PC to play here.
It played by default using Apple Quick Time (7.0.3), no probs.
I tried to open it with WMP10 on my PC, and only got the sound, not video.
I was assuming, that a video clip taken with a Microsoft product (Magician WM2003) would play by default using the Microsoft pendant on the PC (WMP10), and MS does not rely on a 3rd party software (QT).

Any ideas what I'm doing wrong, or if I'm just missing the right codec on my PC to play back the file ?

Thanks

[MMaster23]

Hi Folks,

I just took for the first time a video clip with my Magician today, and had the Camera settings to

Capture Mode: Video
Capture Format: MPEG-4
Capture Size: Large

it produced a nice video clip file with in the .mp4 format (lets not talk about the quality)

I copied this file over to my SD card, and from there to my PC to play here.
It played by default using Apple Quick Time (7.0.3), no probs.
I tried to open it with WMP10 on my PC, and only got the sound, not video.
I was assuming, that a video clip taken with a Microsoft product (Magician WM2003) would play by default using the Microsoft pendant on the PC (WMP10), and MS does not rely on a 3rd party software (QT).

Any ideas what I'm doing wrong, or if I'm just missing the right codec on my PC to play back the file ?

Thanks

Correct me if i'm wrong but i do believe the camera program on modern HTC devices (like the Magician) is made by HTC itself and not by MS. So it's possible it uses different kind of codecs.

MS isn't allowed to ship a lot of codec with WMP. Only some basic and MS-made codecs. So you have to rely on third party apps/codecs to play the .mp4 files.

[Sean_Dillon]

Hello Torklemm

You can use the VLC Player to Play almost any type of media including the mp4 , 3gp etc etc .

here is the link to download it - h**p://www.download.com/VLC-Media-Player/3000-2194_4-10267151.html

You can also install the Nero Digital MPEG 4 AVC h.264 dshow decoder , after i installed this , my wmp ver 10 was able to play the Mp4 video files.

Cheers.

[vigor_]

Hello Torklemm

You can use the VLC Player to Play almost any type of media including the mp4 , 3gp etc etc .

here is the link to download it - h**p://www.download.com/VLC-Media-Player/3000-2194_4-10267151.html

You can also install the Nero Digital MPEG 4 AVC h.264 dshow decoder , after i installed this , my wmp ver 10 was able to play the Mp4 video files.

Cheers.

very useful decoder!

but only motion decoding not audio track.

i see only motion without sound.

[Sean_Dillon]

Hmmm , That is Strange Vigor_ , I thought the audio recorded in the video format of Magician was either mp3 , wma or wav . . . all 3 being suported by wmp. Will have to check this Thanx.

[JeffV]

It's none of those. The audio is AMR Narrowband, whatever the blazes that is! I've been having the same problem converting it. AMR doesn't seem to be supported by much.

[bucat]

You should use a plugin or converter program. For plugin Ulead video suite v9.0 is the best solution.For convert purpose I offer IMTOO program.Another way is using avi format instead of mp4

[Private-Cowboy]

Where do you get that Nero Digital dshow decoder? A Link would be nice.

[rustoss]

You should use a plugin or converter program. For plugin Ulead video suite v9.0 is the best solution.For convert purpose I offer IMTOO program.Another way is using avi format instead of mp4

The same with me. I use ImTOO 3GP Video Converter 2.1.55.1107b, good stuff.

[Sean_Dillon]

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[JeffV]

Okay, I've successfully done it now. My biggest problem was that imTOO 3gpp costs money, and I just couldn't justify spending the money on it.

There's probably a few different ways to do this, but here's how I've done it:

1) Separate the Video stream from the audio stream

I used Microsoft Graphedit for this. It comes in a Microsoft SDK, but if you google it, you can find it.

When you open graphedit and select render the file, you'll get a message saying that part of the stream isn't recognised. That's the AMR audio. That's step 2, so ignore. Assuming you've got an xvid mpeg 4 codec on your machine already (and I suspect also a 3ivx codec), a graph will show up starting with your video file and ending with a video renderer. Click on the video renderer, delete it, and click on the xvid decoder and delete it. Then add a filter called file writer to the video stream coming out of the 3ivx media splitter.

Run that and you have an xvid mpeg-4 video stream with no audio.

2) Separate the amr audio stream

I used Miksoft 3gp decoder for this. For some reason I couldn't do video with this tool, so I just clicked the "convert audio only" option. It gave me a PCM .avi file.

3) Mix the two together

I have used two programs for this, both locatable through google and both freeware. Virtualdub and TMPGENC.

Virtualdub is handy if you have to rotate the video stream. I don't think you can use virtualdub to finalize the video because the .avi sound file kicks up an error for me. But the video I wanted to convert was filmed on my JAM with it held lengthwise (aka 320x240), so when the file is normally viewed, you see it 240x320 and have to tilt your head.

I prefer to use TMPGENC and end up with an MPEG-1 file. Here's why...
You input the xvid video file as the video source, the .avi pcm audio as the audio source, under advanced, select "Full screen (keep aspect ratio)" instead of the "full screen" that is presented there, and then let her run. You end up with a video in mpeg-1 that is formated to 352x240 (NTSC vcr resolution), but with black stripes above and below so that the image isn't stretched or distorted, like it would be if you just went with "full screen". You can then convert that into an avi file with whatever software you want.

It's a ton of work to do, but for me, it was a better solution than spending another $30US on something I'd use minimally. I also do a fair bit of video work, so I had all the other tools and codecs handy.

Good luck!

[DanielS]

Hi

I use apples Quicktime - pro can also convert to AVI's.

BR
Daniel

[jimmy-bish]

The way I did it was to get the K-lite codec pack. Google it and don't download any versions from places that try to charge you for it, it's free. Also be aware of dodgy sites that may include spyware/malware with it. I've been stung a couple of times.

Then nearly any freeware converter will work. You can also play them in WMP.

[JeffV]

Errrr...yes, that would seem to be a "faster" way of doing it... :oops:

[uhlex]

hmmm, need help...can't seem to capture images (using the screen capture button) when playing mp4 files on the vlc player...i've imported the image on adobe photoshop but it was distorted...help?

[lakeman]

this is for info in relation to the original post
I too could not play my mp4 videos on my PC with sound and tried all the various players and plugins but this link from last year worked
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=12308&highlight=mp4