This forum software has now been archived into static HTML page (i.e. it does not function as a working forum anymore, so you cannot login.)

In due course a new forum will be available to help support newer CamStudio versions.

Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

Recording Saved as .AVI, .WAV, .TXT, Unmerged - Help?

edited August 2012 in Support
After recording a full-screen capture of my computer earlier today (using Lossless Codec and CS v. 2.6), it never merged the three files together like it always does with other ones. Now, the .AVI alone is 1.89 GB, the .WAV is 2.52 MB, and the .TXT is 67 B. Also, the .AVI doesn't display a length, but the .WAV does (00:27:20). The .AVI won't open with any program I've read about so far on here, or the ones I already had [I've tried VirtualDub, WMP, WMM, RealPlayer, QuickTime, Pinnacle VideoSpin, DivX Plus, GordianKnot, ffmpeg (which admittedly I couldn't completely figure out how to use), Microsoft Expressions Encoder, Format Factory, and DivFix++, as far as I can recall]. I can get the .WAV to play, but only about 15 seconds of it plays when I open it for some reason. As for the .TXT, it just says "2.6<\version>294<\release><\recorder>" when I open it. My theory is that somehow the overall file was going to be over 2 GB, so it didn't save, but really I'm just guessing. I'm not too worried about the sound, but I'd really like to salvage the video if possible. Any ideas, or is it likely lost? I'm starting to believe the former is true, but I wanted to ask here before I give up. If any other info is needed, just let me know and I'll try to tell you.

Comments

  • Deoxyx911,

    Here is a video that points to how to get started with VirtualDub to try to fix this. If it is too far over size, even this won't work. If not, try MediaCoder as mentioned in this thread: http://camstudio.org/forum/discussion/1049/2gb-file-limit-workarounds/p1



    Forget the lossless codec unless you really NEED archival quality footage. Jawor's Xvid works much better and allows nice, long recordings.

    See this video's "more info" area for lots of links:



    Let me know what issues or luck that you have.

    Terry
  • First, I just want to say "thanks" for the quick reply! It's really appreciated. Anyway, MediaCoder did get me a little further than others in that I could get it to be listed on the file list in the program, but it wouldn't play it, and any function I tried to perform on it lead me to an Error 13 ("Description: A video source error is encountered Possible causes: The active video source cannot decode the input file or device Solutions: Try other video sources"). Also, that is a great video about VirtualDub, but for me that program won't go to the options for opening the .AVI, saying that my video is an unsupported or unknown type of file. I'm not super-tech-savvy, so it is possible that there is some way hidden within MediaCoder's many options that could fix it, but I didn't see any such option myself. Could renaming the file to appear to be another type be able to help at all? I've tried conversion, but I don't know if renaming could potentially do anything useful. If you have anymore ideas, I'll try them.
  • Deoxysys911,

    I just remembered seeing this repair trick: http://camstudio.org/forum/discussion/comment/3580#Comment_3580

    It requires FFMPEG which you can download from Sourceforge.

    Let me know if you have any luck with that!

    Terry
  • BTW - did you have direct-stream-copy selected in VirtualDub's video settings?

    Terry
  • OK, as for VD, yes, I made sure that the audio and video were set to direct stream copy. However, FFMPEG is just something I cannot seem to comprehend. I have spent hours looking into how to use it, and I have yet been able to get it past a Command Prompt window that disappears almost immediately, even after following several installation guides step-by-step. I can't rule out the possibility that FFMPEG would work, but I can't find out if it does currently. If you have other suggestions, or perhaps resources where a person without computer-programming knowledge of any kind can learn how to use FFMPEG (or, by some miracle, a place where I can find someone who knows what they're doing to try and do it for me), I'm eager to hear about them. Also, it has occurred to me that whatever process the temp .AVI files are put through by CamStudio to become the final product should fix it to make it playable by almost anything, so if there is any way to put it through that same process inside or outside of CS, this may work as a solution, I believe. I don't know how much easier this is said than done, though, considering my lack of in-depth program coding knowledge and such.
  • Deoxys911,

    From the Start menu, type cmd, hit enter and start up the command prompt window first, then type in the FFMPEG commands. The window should stick around then!

    Perhaps I'll try this and make a video this weekend. Stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, if you do succeed, perhaps you can make a video of what you did that worked. :-)

    Terry
  • edited August 2012
    Thanks for that explanation, knowing how to use it really helps! The problem remaining is that CP just gives me a message about how FFMPEG isn't a recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batch file. I'll do a little more research, this time probable tutorial videos or something like that, to see if I can figure out if I messed up on the installation. As for the video you might make, that seems like it would be a good resource, as I doubt I'm the only one who has had this type of problem. yeah, I'd definitely be willing to demonstrate with a (probably Xvid codec-recorded) video. I'll edit this post and let you know if later today I've been able to utilize FFMPEG.

    EDIT: Hey, I managed to figure out how to use it, at last! I'm now in the process of trying to figure out how to convert, I'll update again in a little while.
  • You probably have to include the path to the program either in your PATH environment variables (if you know what that is!) or explicitly spell it out as part of the command, like:

    c:\file-path-to-ffmpeg\ffmpeg -i "c:\file-path-to-video-file\filename.avi" -vcodec copy "c:\file-path-to-where-you-want-to-save-it\filename.avi"

    Let me know if that works!

    Terry
  • edited August 2012
    I actually just learned about paths last night when looking into FFMPEG, but I decided to just spell it out. Now it says "Invalid data found when processing input" whenever I try to do anything with my .AVI. I tried a complete .AVI created by CS, and it read it fine, so it is just that one file (the temp file) that it won't let me do anything with.
  • Well, that's too bad. I had high hopes for that one working. This temp file may just be too large to save. How big is it?

    Terry
  • According to its Properties, "1.89 GB (2,030,701,568 bytes)," or "1.89 GB (2,030,702,592 bytes)" on disk. If you can't think of anything else, that's fine. You put a lot of effort into trying to help me, and I'm really grateful for just that, even! With you, CamStudio has to have one of the most dedicated help workers there is, at least in my experience. But hey, I'm still open to any other ideas, of course.
  • edited August 2012
    Deoxyx911,

    Thanks for the compliments... though I'm only on par with many of my experiences with other open-source efforts and their support folks (usually always a small number of dedicated helpers - and CamStudio is worth the effort IMHO!)

    Did you try downloading MediaCoder and trying that? It was mentioned in this thread:

    http://camstudio.org/forum/discussion/1049/2gb-file-limit-workarounds

    MediaCoder has two editions - and the FLV version allows batches (or it used to) without having to pay for a license. Here are both links for that:

    http://www.mediacoderhq.com/flv-converter/

    http://www.mediacoderhq.com/index.htm

    The FLV version also produces MPEG-4 videos. I needed to adjust the H.264 profile to Baseline from the Settings button to get Windows Media Player to work!

    image

    (Click to enlarge)

    Terry
  • edited August 2012
    Yes, I tried MediaCoder a while back, but it gave me an error code 13 ("Description: A video source error is encountered Possible causes: The active video source cannot decode the input file or device Solutions: Try other video sources"). MediaCoder's FLV version gave me the same result. It also said that the length of the file could not be determined when I clicked "Effects" in the FLV version. Curiously enough, Windows Explorer also doesn't display a length for it, although the .WAV file has a length of 00:27:20 when viewed outside of a media program.
Sign In or Register to comment.