package for basic examination of .dv video files?

[Robert P. J. Day-2]

  is there a package of basic .dv video file utilities, particularly
for just *examining* the properties of a .dv file?  i've yum searched
and nothing jumps out at me.  i'm just after some command-line
utilities that allow me to *inspect* the innards of various video file
formats, not necessarily do any transformations.  thanks.

rday
--

========================================================================
Robert P. J. Day                               Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA

            Linux Consulting, Training and Kernel Pedantry.

Web page:                                          http://crashcourse.ca
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[Patrick O'Callaghan-2]

On Mon, 2009-11-02 at 13:49 -0500, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> is there a package of basic .dv video file utilities, particularly
> for just *examining* the properties of a .dv file?  i've yum searched
> and nothing jumps out at me.  i'm just after some command-line
> utilities that allow me to *inspect* the innards of various video file
> formats, not necessarily do any transformations.  thanks.

Try tcprobe (part of the transcode package). I don't know if it handles
DV but it's easy to test.

poc

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[Robert P. J. Day-2]

On Mon, 2 Nov 2009, Patrick O'Callaghan wrote:

> On Mon, 2009-11-02 at 13:49 -0500, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> > is there a package of basic .dv video file utilities, particularly
> > for just *examining* the properties of a .dv file?  i've yum
> > searched and nothing jumps out at me.  i'm just after some
> > command-line utilities that allow me to *inspect* the innards of
> > various video file formats, not necessarily do any
> > transformations.  thanks.
>
> Try tcprobe (part of the transcode package). I don't know if it
> handles DV but it's easy to test.

  yup, that's a start, but i'm not sure how to parse the output:

$ tcprobe -i sample.dv
[tcprobe] Digital Video (NTSC)
[tcprobe] summary for sample.dv, (*) = not default, 0 = not detected
import frame size: -g 720x480 [720x576] (*)
     aspect ratio: 4:3 (*)
       frame rate: -f 29.970 [25.000] frc=4 (*)
      audio track: -a 0 [0] -e 32000,16,2 [48000,16,2] -n 0x1 [0x2000] (*)
                   bitrate=1024 kbps
$

  i'm unfamiliar with the output format of tcprobe, so what's the deal
with two different frame sizes being printed?  and two different frame
rates?  how should i interpret that?  thanks.

rday
--

========================================================================
Robert P. J. Day                               Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA

            Linux Consulting, Training and Kernel Pedantry.

Web page:                                          http://crashcourse.ca
Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
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[Patrick O'Callaghan-2]

On Mon, 2009-11-02 at 19:42 -0500, Robert P. J. Day wrote:

> On Mon, 2 Nov 2009, Patrick O'Callaghan wrote:
>
> > On Mon, 2009-11-02 at 13:49 -0500, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> > > is there a package of basic .dv video file utilities, particularly
> > > for just *examining* the properties of a .dv file?  i've yum
> > > searched and nothing jumps out at me.  i'm just after some
> > > command-line utilities that allow me to *inspect* the innards of
> > > various video file formats, not necessarily do any
> > > transformations.  thanks.
> >
> > Try tcprobe (part of the transcode package). I don't know if it
> > handles DV but it's easy to test.
>
>   yup, that's a start, but i'm not sure how to parse the output:
>
> $ tcprobe -i sample.dv
> [tcprobe] Digital Video (NTSC)
> [tcprobe] summary for sample.dv, (*) = not default, 0 = not detected
> import frame size: -g 720x480 [720x576] (*)
>      aspect ratio: 4:3 (*)
>        frame rate: -f 29.970 [25.000] frc=4 (*)
>       audio track: -a 0 [0] -e 32000,16,2 [48000,16,2] -n 0x1 [0x2000] (*)
>                    bitrate=1024 kbps
> $
>
>   i'm unfamiliar with the output format of tcprobe, so what's the deal
> with two different frame sizes being printed?  and two different frame
> rates?  how should i interpret that?  thanks.

Yes, I've often wondered that myself :-) The manual is silent on this
subject. However a possible interpretation is that the bracketed numbers
indicate defaults. Thus 720x480 is a 4x3 aspect ratio but the actual
frame size is different so the video will be distorted. Transcode can
crop, pad or rescale it to the correct ratio if required.

poc

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[Robert P. J. Day-2]

On Mon, 2 Nov 2009, Patrick O'Callaghan wrote:

> On Mon, 2009-11-02 at 19:42 -0500, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> > On Mon, 2 Nov 2009, Patrick O'Callaghan wrote:
> >
> > > On Mon, 2009-11-02 at 13:49 -0500, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> > > > is there a package of basic .dv video file utilities,
> > > > particularly for just *examining* the properties of a .dv
> > > > file?  i've yum searched and nothing jumps out at me.  i'm
> > > > just after some command-line utilities that allow me to
> > > > *inspect* the innards of various video file formats, not
> > > > necessarily do any transformations.  thanks.
> > >
> > > Try tcprobe (part of the transcode package). I don't know if it
> > > handles DV but it's easy to test.
> >
> >   yup, that's a start, but i'm not sure how to parse the output:
> >
> > $ tcprobe -i sample.dv
> > [tcprobe] Digital Video (NTSC)
> > [tcprobe] summary for sample.dv, (*) = not default, 0 = not detected
> > import frame size: -g 720x480 [720x576] (*)
> >      aspect ratio: 4:3 (*)
> >        frame rate: -f 29.970 [25.000] frc=4 (*)
> >       audio track: -a 0 [0] -e 32000,16,2 [48000,16,2] -n 0x1 [0x2000] (*)
> >                    bitrate=1024 kbps
> > $
> >
> >   i'm unfamiliar with the output format of tcprobe, so what's the
> > deal with two different frame sizes being printed?  and two
> > different frame rates?  how should i interpret that?  thanks.
>
> Yes, I've often wondered that myself :-) The manual is silent on
> this subject. However a possible interpretation is that the
> bracketed numbers indicate defaults. Thus 720x480 is a 4x3 aspect
> ratio but the actual frame size is different so the video will be
> distorted. Transcode can crop, pad or rescale it to the correct
> ratio if required.

  i suspect this is getting a bit far afield from a fedora topic, so
i'm going to look for a more appropriate forum -- a mailing list for
people interested in linux video, methinks.  but just to close this
off, here's the results of my latest experimentation.

  i have two .dv files i grabbed off the net, but "file" clearly sees
a difference:

$ file *.dv
pond.dv:   data
sample.dv: DIF (DV) movie file (NTSC)
$

  curiously, "playdv" (from the libdv-tools package) appears to play
both just fine, but tcprobe definitely sees a difference:

$ tcprobe -i sample.dv
[tcprobe] Digital Video (NTSC)
[tcprobe] summary for sample.dv, (*) = not default, 0 = not detected
import frame size: -g 720x480 [720x576] (*)
     aspect ratio: 4:3 (*)
       frame rate: -f 29.970 [25.000] frc=4 (*)
      audio track: -a 0 [0] -e 32000,16,2 [48000,16,2] -n 0x1 [0x2000] (*)
                   bitrate=1024 kbps

$ tcprobe -i pond.dv
[probe_ffmpeg.c] critical: unable to open 'pond.dv' (libavformat failure)
[tcprobe] critical: failed to probe source
[rpjday@localhost dv_files]$

  now i'd like to test using the "x264" utility to convert to raw
h.264 format:

$ x264 -o sample.264 sample.dv
x264 [error]: Rawyuv input requires a resolution.
$

  ok, let's throw a resolution at it:

$ x264 -o sample.264 sample.dv 720x480
x264 [info]: 720x480 @ 25.00 fps
x264 [error]: no ratecontrol method specified
x264 [error]: x264_encoder_open failed
$

  and, at this point, i think it's time to crack open a book on video
and get familiar so i know what the diagnostics mean.  what i was
after was pulling together a collection of command-line utilities for
examining and converting video files of various formats, that's all.
apparently, i still have some research to do.

rday
--


========================================================================
Robert P. J. Day                               Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA

            Linux Consulting, Training and Kernel Pedantry.

Web page:                                          http://crashcourse.ca
Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
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[Tom Horsley-3]

On Tue, 3 Nov 2009 05:51:51 -0500 (EST)
Robert P. J. Day wrote:

> what i was
> after was pulling together a collection of command-line utilities for
> examining and converting video files of various formats, that's all.
> apparently, i still have some research to do.

Don't worry, the research will never stop :-), but I find the
mplayer/mencoder stuff from rpmfusion the most complete as far
as supporting weird video formats. The 32 bit version can even
load and run windows codecs, but that rarely seems necessary
lately. Of course, mencoder is also the most complete in terms
of the number of command line options, you can spend weeks
playing with them. There is also a "midentify" script that
just prints info about the file in the same spirit as tcprobe
(but totally different format, of course).

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[Patrick O'Callaghan-2]

On Tue, 2009-11-03 at 07:20 -0500, Tom Horsley wrote:

> On Tue, 3 Nov 2009 05:51:51 -0500 (EST)
> Robert P. J. Day wrote:
>
> > what i was
> > after was pulling together a collection of command-line utilities for
> > examining and converting video files of various formats, that's all.
> > apparently, i still have some research to do.
>
> Don't worry, the research will never stop :-), but I find the
> mplayer/mencoder stuff from rpmfusion the most complete as far
> as supporting weird video formats. The 32 bit version can even
> load and run windows codecs, but that rarely seems necessary
> lately. Of course, mencoder is also the most complete in terms
> of the number of command line options, you can spend weeks
> playing with them. There is also a "midentify" script that
> just prints info about the file in the same spirit as tcprobe
> (but totally different format, of course).

And with even less of a manual than tcprobe.

Tcprobe is useful to see the length of the video, which midentify
doesn't seem to report.

I get the feeling all these things are written for people who already
know what they're doing :-) Even the tools with man pages are
masterpieces of obscurity.

poc

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[Robert P. J. Day-2]

On Tue, 3 Nov 2009, Tom Horsley wrote:

> On Tue, 3 Nov 2009 05:51:51 -0500 (EST)
> Robert P. J. Day wrote:
>
> > what i was after was pulling together a collection of command-line
> > utilities for examining and converting video files of various
> > formats, that's all. apparently, i still have some research to do.
>
> Don't worry, the research will never stop :-), but I find the
> mplayer/mencoder stuff from rpmfusion the most complete as far as
> supporting weird video formats. The 32 bit version can even load and
> run windows codecs, but that rarely seems necessary lately. Of
> course, mencoder is also the most complete in terms of the number of
> command line options, you can spend weeks playing with them. There
> is also a "midentify" script that just prints info about the file in
> the same spirit as tcprobe (but totally different format, of
> course).

  yeah, "midentify" was sort of what i was after, thanks.  back to
research.

rday
--

========================================================================
Robert P. J. Day                               Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA

            Linux Consulting, Training and Kernel Pedantry.

Web page:                                          http://crashcourse.ca
Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
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[Paul W. Frields]

On Mon, Nov 02, 2009 at 08:23:00PM -0430, Patrick O'Callaghan wrote:

> On Mon, 2009-11-02 at 19:42 -0500, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> > On Mon, 2 Nov 2009, Patrick O'Callaghan wrote:
> >
> > > On Mon, 2009-11-02 at 13:49 -0500, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> > > > is there a package of basic .dv video file utilities, particularly
> > > > for just *examining* the properties of a .dv file?  i've yum
> > > > searched and nothing jumps out at me.  i'm just after some
> > > > command-line utilities that allow me to *inspect* the innards of
> > > > various video file formats, not necessarily do any
> > > > transformations.  thanks.
> > >
> > > Try tcprobe (part of the transcode package). I don't know if it
> > > handles DV but it's easy to test.
> >
> >   yup, that's a start, but i'm not sure how to parse the output:
> >
> > $ tcprobe -i sample.dv
> > [tcprobe] Digital Video (NTSC)
> > [tcprobe] summary for sample.dv, (*) = not default, 0 = not detected
> > import frame size: -g 720x480 [720x576] (*)
> >      aspect ratio: 4:3 (*)
> >        frame rate: -f 29.970 [25.000] frc=4 (*)
> >       audio track: -a 0 [0] -e 32000,16,2 [48000,16,2] -n 0x1 [0x2000] (*)
> >                    bitrate=1024 kbps
> > $
> >
> >   i'm unfamiliar with the output format of tcprobe, so what's the deal
> > with two different frame sizes being printed?  and two different frame
> > rates?  how should i interpret that?  thanks.
>
> Yes, I've often wondered that myself :-) The manual is silent on this
> subject. However a possible interpretation is that the bracketed numbers
> indicate defaults. Thus 720x480 is a 4x3 aspect ratio but the actual
> frame size is different so the video will be distorted. Transcode can
> crop, pad or rescale it to the correct ratio if required.

I suspect those are to honor NTSC vs. PAL differences.  The former is
a North American standard, the latter European (and IIRC most other
places).  Is that output really showing you the contents, or is it
just making recommendations on how it would be imported?  No idea.

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