.mpeg (MPEG-2) files will only open in VLC Player, nothing else?

Just received a whole group of Quicktime .mpeg files (supposedly MPEG2 muxed, 1440 X 810) that will only open in the VLC Player.

They won't open properly in:

MPEG Streamclip: the image is white

Quicktime: the image is black

FCP timeline: the image is pale blocks of solid color, no image

But they open just fine in the VLC Player.

Any ideas what might be happening?

I just purchased the MPEG2 component plug-in and installed it. No difference.


Ben

No no no. You get the Mpeg2 component when you install FCP. You don't have to buy it separately. You can try downloading the trial version of Episode Pro to see if you get any joy with it. It uses its own codecs, so it doesn't rely on the Quicktime library, except when transcoding to Quicktime.



www.strypesinpost.com

Sounds like it might be a weird flavour of AVCHD.

Ben - what does it tell you about the CODEC when you open it in VLC and/or QTpro open the file and then Command+i (in VLC you must have the file highlighted in the playlist).



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Hi Ben and strypes,

I suspected as much (the MPEG2 component already loaded). Dang! I must have been half asleep when I did that.

These are supposed to be transfers from reels of 8 and super 8 film. I suggested to my friend to have them transfered DVCPRO HD; the transfer house did one roll in the DVCPRO HD and it worked beautifully, and then they did the next thirty rolls in this weird .mpeg format; I think the fellow doing the job is an amateur, or just unbelievably incompetent.

What she got were these supposedly .mpeg (MPEG2) files - according to the Quicktime inspector, though the format size is odd: 1440 x 810 ??? I've tried a half dozen tricks to get them running in FCP, MPEG Streamclip, Quicktime. Nothing works. But they run in VLC, the one player that doesn't allow me to export to another codec.

The transfer house says they're going to redo them, no charge, in SD. SD?? There is something odd happening at that place.

I've recommended to my friend she just get back all the film before something weird happens to it, and send it off to a competent transfer house in Toronto.

Thanks for you help guys,

All the best,

Ben

>But they run in VLC, the one player that doesn't allow me to export to another
>codec.

You can export from VLC. Just not with the QuickTime library, so they will be compressed formats that are unusable as an intermediate codec. Not that mpeg is an intermediate codec to start with.

Something is weird. I can't imagine how they hooked up a TC machine to an mpeg encoder. They must have done the encoding afterwards.



www.strypesinpost.com

Hi Strypes,

How does one export from VLC? And what codecs can one export?

I'm thinking the fellow projected the 8 mm on the fall and shot it with a camera, and then possibly converted it with something else. There was one reel transfered to DVCPRO HD (which is what was requested) and it looks okay, and works. And then all the rest are .mpeg files. I suspect the guy's setup is more or less amateur, and that maybe he borrowed an HD camera for the first reel, and then used God knows what else for all the rest.

If I had the time I'd go to his place and get him to SHOW me what he did. But I live in Paradise far from the Madding Crowd (maddening crowd) and it's a long drive and a ferry ride to get to the city. My dear friend will have to bite the bullet and have it retransferred somewhere else methinks.

Thanks for your help, and I would be intrigued how and what I can export from VLC, for future reference.

All the best,

Ben

Then select "transcode/save to file". Your options are Mpg1 to Mpg4, H.263, H.264, WMV 1&2, MJPEG, Theora, and "dummy" (don't transcode). They generally don't do quicktime, and the bitrates are near the floor, and you may lose a generation transcoding it to something useable. There may be options outside of VLC, but I'm not familiar with the FFMPEG library.


>I'm thinking the fellow projected the 8 mm on the fall and shot it with a camera

Okay, I was thinking a transfer from something like a Spirit or Cintel machine.



www.strypesinpost.com

Thank you Strypes,

Very helpful. This friend is trying to put together old family pics of little kids for the ex-husband who may be departing this mortal coil very soon. I can make H-264's maybe ... something he can watch.

The transfer was supposed to be done on something like a Spirit or Cintel. She was paying for a high quality transfer.


Mucho appreciated,

Ben

Can you tell us where you are located? Someone on the forum may know of a trustworthy post house in your area with a transfer facility.



www.strypesinpost.com

Vancouver Canada...