Camera Labs

Hello everyone, I have recently bought my first dSLR. A canon 550D to be precise. But I can't play the files that it produces.. As most of you propably already know it produces .mov files but I don't know how to play these and al the programs that claimed to be able to convert it, turned out to not be able to do this..

I'm really out of ideas for the moment.. I don't need any video editingsoftware as I will propably only be using the film function for a casual clip here and there..

Does anybody know of any free software (For a PC, Windows XP) that can convert these files?

Thanks in advance

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550D + 18 - 55mm kitlens
50 mm F1.8
I apologize in advance for my poor spelling..

Why don't you install Quicktime?

Sure, Super video converter can do it, or you could install VLC which can play back pretty much anything.

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

Matz45 - If you just want to play your clips, as Citruspers says, VLC for Windows will do that.

If you are recording in 1920 x 1080 Full HD mode, you'll need a good graphics card and processor, with adequate RAM, to play adequately without stuttering.

But if you have problems with that, you could use the Standard HD mode - 1280 x 720 - which most PCs and Laptops can handle well.

Your camera has the option of recording Full or Standard HD.

The *.mov as file-extensioned from the camera, isn't actually a "format" - the file contains H264 video (MPEG4 AVC - Advanced Video Codec) - inside Apple's proprietary MOV container, often written as H264/MOV.

You can in Windows XP use the free Avidemux for Windows, which is one of the best video-converters, and is easy to use - to convert your videos.

You can convert 1920 x 1080 to 1280 x 720 with Avidemux, to make it easier to play. Also, convert to MPEG2 at 720 x 400(404) to make standard DVDs which play via a standard player for non-HD TVs.

Note that doing such conversions is heavy-duty work for PCs, so ensure adequate cooling for the PC, and keep a check on processor and board temps. Most boards have a utility that can display temperature. The Manual for the board will give maximum safe operating temperature.

Be careful - do check temperature if you haven't used your PC for heavy video conversion before. Without good ventilation and in-case circulation, temperature can rise steeply, rapidly. In warmer climates an additional case-fan can be advisable.

Converting 1920 x 1080 to HD Blu-Ray DVDs can be done with a PC, but you'll need an HD-burner and suitable blank disks.

If you need WMV - the free WinFF for Windows will convert to that. It has the options of standard WMV for PC use, and a Web Version for uploading.

(An alternative for uploading or attachments mailing is FLV [Flash] - which you can convert to with Avidemux.)

Dave.

Thanks for all the replies, I actually do have vlc but it doesn't work. Even if vlc would work I would still need to convert the files in order play them on my Playstation 3.

I tried quicktime too but it freezes everytime I try to start it.

I'm not planning on using my pc for videoplayback because it doesn't even have an hdmi-out, I'm going to use my ps3 for that.

I'll try Avidemux and let you know if it works or not..

Thanks!

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550D + 18 - 55mm kitlens
50 mm F1.8
I apologize in advance for my poor spelling..

Matz45 - You're using Win-XP, I think. For best results with current versions of programs like VLC, etc, if you haven't updated to Service Pack 3 yet, that might improve matters. SP3 is a free download from Microsoft - 316MB, and quite easy to do, though it can take a while - just follow the prompts and instructions. If unsure there are also Guides online.

If you are already on XP-Pro SP3, and having problems running programs, you might run your Antivirus program, and ensure that the "all files" option is selected.

Uninstall progams that you're having trouble with - such as VLC - before running the full in-depth AV check.

After that check, download the latest version of VLC for Windows - and before double-clicking the *.exe to install it - check that download with your Antivirus program!

Re "whether Avidemux works or not" - while it might be a bit "plain" to look at when first installed, it actually has a lot of functions, including format conversion, size conversion, audio resampling and conversion, filters (Colour, Sharpen, Denoise, and more), framerate per second altering, and a lot more - all with "Preview" so you can see what changes will do, before you do them.

It will also do basic editing, trimming, add fades start-finish of clips, append (join) clips, and extract and save audio (you can extract/save audio from camera clips, then delete the audio from the video, and add the audio back later in a larger editor as suits better.)

You can also use Avidemux to extract/save audio - say, AAC, AC3, etc, from videos or movies (check the legality of doing that with downloads or commercial products, in your region) - to play in audio devices.

You can install and use the free Audacity for Windows as a quite good basic to medium level audio-editor, to convert formats, edit audio clips, clean-up "noise" from tracks, apply effects, echo and more,etc. Audacity is very good for preparing audio extracted from camera clips for use in a video-editor.

You mention Sony's Playstation (my mid-teens godson also has that) - so Avidemux's ability to create Playstation compatible *.mp4 videos might interest you.

Prepare the video first - you can use Avidemux for that - then open it in Avidemux. Go to the menu-bar, click Auto - then Sony Playstation Portable. A small box will open. The top field - click the arrow-tab at the right end. A list will drop, offering sizes to suit your model of Playstation - 480 x 272, 720 x 480, etc (obviously, it can't be bigger than the video you're converting from...) - so select that.

Unless you're intending to change the Aspect Ratio, leave Source and Destination fields at 1:1. Click OK, and a window will open for you to browse or click to the desired output destination. Select that and click OK. Your Playstation compatible video will arrive there with *.mp4 file extension.

Any questions on the above - post back, and we can work through it.

Dave.

Alright thanks Dave,

I actually do know quite allot about computers, since my dad owns a computerstore and I work there in the weekends I just don't know anything about video

So I ofcourse already have SP3 installed, but I just figured it was smarter to ask for a good program on this forum instead of installing them al and trying them out (also because this can leave traces in your software and slow down or sometimes even corrupt your system.. )

The playstation does support quite a lot of files tough, just no .mov files

Thanks for al the help, I'm going to install it right now and I'll keep you updated





Update: I have just installed Avidemux.. And I hope I'm doing it wrong because it's not working Do I simply first open the file
So I for example just click the open button at the top and choose the file?
Because that not working
lol I'm starting to feel pretty stupid, I can make video's with my dslr but I can't even view them on my pc or my tv

_________________
550D + 18 - 55mm kitlens
50 mm F1.8
I apologize in advance for my poor spelling..

Matz45 - Re computers, I began with a "Genuine IBM" Twin-Slotter - no HDD, so no TSR, etc - in 1983, and much later - 1992-2003 - was a 5-cert Windows tech for 11 years. I got into Linux around 2000, and have been using it fulltime for a bit over 7 years. However, a large bunch of friends and families have XP boxes - 2 on Vista - so I get to help out amongst those quite often.

With Avidemux you can just drag-drop the file into the window. It will detect the H264 in your H264/MOV file, and ask if you want to change modes. Click the Red 'No' button and continue.

Under "Video" on the left, select the format you want - say, MPEG4. Below that, in "Configure", set "Encoding Mode" to 2-Pass, Average Bitrate.

You haven't said what frame-size your camera video is, or if you want to change the size. If you do, under "Filters", select Transform > Mplayer Resize, and use the slider to alter the size.

For playing on PC - leave Audio at "Copy".

At bottom left, for MPEG4, the "Format" is 'AVI'. For MPEG2 it's 'MPEG-PS (A+V)'.

For Playstation, do the MPEG4 conversion, with any size change needed, then use the Playstation converter as in the earlier post.

Give that a try and post back.

Dave.

I did but when I try to drag it to Avidemux, it says "Could not open file"..
The file is straight from my camera..

I have no idea what the problem is..

_________________
550D + 18 - 55mm kitlens
50 mm F1.8
I apologize in advance for my poor spelling..

Matz45 - Avidemux in Linux handles my Fuji HS10's 1920 x 1080 and 1280 x 720 H264/MOV files quite okay.

To see if it is an XP problem - I just tried both in my landlord's XP SP3 PC (I have it here for a RAM upgrade) - which has Avidemux. No problem with the 1280 x 720, but the 1920 x 1080 was "stuttery". (The PC has a 2.4-Intel, lower end 256MB graphics card, and now, 2GB RAM.)

To see if the 550D makes "different" H264/Move files, I downloaded samples of Std and Full HD from "...dvinfo.net" - they did exactly the same thing in that XP box. Both open in Avidemux, and play in VLC, in Linux.

So the 550D makes "quite normal" HD H264/MOV files, which, just on those samples, look to be pretty good quality.

That XP box does have Quicktime codec installed - does yours? I don't know if that makes a difference in Windows, but you might check. There's a *.exe called 'Quicktime Alternative' in its MyDocs - so they might have installed that... You might know about that - or your Dad certainly would.

(Linux uses a sort of "codecs pack" called "Win32-codecs-all", which includes Realplayer, Quicktime, Win-media, etc, alternatives.)

Dave.

Thanks but nope.. It's already installed.

I'm going to record a 480p video and see if that gives the same effect. Then I can also try to do this on my laptop wich is at work right now. But I fear this won't work either because the windows and the drivers of that one are completely messed up.. ( Somebody left it behind because it was broken and he bought a new one, the costs to fix it were to high, then we just fixed it later )
So I'll try that too but I fear that's not gonna fix it..

_________________
550D + 18 - 55mm kitlens
50 mm F1.8
I apologize in advance for my poor spelling..

Matz45 - If the 'Windows and drivers' are completely messed up, on any computer, you can hardly expect it to install and run new programs properly.

It sounds as if it's about time to back-up everything you want to keep, off the computer, format C:-drive, and do a clean-reinstall.

I don't know how your computer's HDD is partitioned, but if you're doing a clean-install it'd be a good idea to divide C:-drive off as a System drive (30GB is plenty for XP plus programs), and either partition the rest of the HDD into areas for storing things - in which case XP will probably default to calling the CD/DVD-burner D:-drive, and partitions after C: on the HDD E:, F:, etc.

Or you can do C: as a System drive of say, 30GB, and "rest of hard-drive" as one partition, lettered probably, E:.

The reason for this is that with C: as a System drive only - while you SHOULD back-up, off the PC, everything you need to keep, anyway - you can then Format-C: and reinstall XP and the programs - and if all goes well - everything in partitions - drives - after C:, will still be in place.

Why I mention this, is that I still keep seeing Windows PCs with very large HDDs containing huge amounts of data - with the System installed, unpartitioned - and "System and Everything" are all on the same C:-drive of a 320-500GB+ HDD... So - to "Format-C:" and reinstall the operating system, XP, etc - "everything goes".....

So if the PC owner hasn't been able to back-up maybe hundreds of GBs of data, photos, videos, movies, etc - off the PC - and a Format-C: and system reinstall is essential, they lose the lot.

(If Windows won't boot at all, and the HDD contains essential data, before Formatting the hard-drive and losing it - you can use a Linux LiveCD to boot the PC - it runs from the CD and RAM - and Copy off the data to DVDs, an External Hard-Drive, or even flash-drives. The Linux LiveCD can access all data on a Windows PC, very easily, to recover it.)

As for Editing Video on a laptop - other than the "480p" you mention - I assume you're meaning 640 x 480 - that's not HD, it's VGA, which most laptops can handle - you'd need a late model and high-powered laptop to Edit/Convert HD Video.

But you might try Avidemux and the H264/MOV VGA 640 x 480 on the laptop, to see how it works. Just watch the laptop's Temperature, and don't let it overheat under the constant load.

Dave.

No my pc is alright, it's just the laptop that's messed up , but it's too old anyway so it's not really worth reinstalling.

And I just called it 480p because typing on the galaxytab is kind of slow

*update* I have now been able to play 720 x 480 videos.. but the converting is still not really working..
So I drag the file to avidemux, and I choose the psp option-thingy
But then I diden't really see a convert button or something, so I figured I needed to save the file, saved it. And it started "converting" I believe.
But now it creates 3 files, one file wich is still in the H.264 format. One wich is a MBTREE-bestand (bestand = dutch for file) and is called *the name I gave it* + .stat.mbtree
and then another one wich is a "stat" file.

I again hope I'm doing it wrong

_________________
550D + 18 - 55mm kitlens
50 mm F1.8
I apologize in advance for my poor spelling..

If you need convert >> Format Factory (search on download.com)

If you need to watch >> VLC Player

Enjoy