Recorded AVIs are corrupt, need to fix file

[chrisross]

I was using the TC at a week-long event and several problems arose. During one recording, the power went out. During another, the person operating it, left the TC on record and the hard drive filled up. So both times, the recordings didn't get closed properly and the AVI files are junk.

I grabbed those AVI's out of the temp folder and have tried everything I can to rebuild/re-index/etc. those files and nothing works. I saw this same issue posted back in June and saw no responses... so I'm glad that I'm not the only one. Any one have any ideas?

Thanks,
Chris

[PIZAZZ]

Number 1 thing........

Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always use a Uninterruptible Power Supply to plug a computer into. Did I mention ALWAYS! With a TriCaster you can get by with one of the small APC ones, 300 watts size is fine. All you want to do is keep the OS from going down. You don't need power to run for 30 minutes or so. Just enough time to plug the power back in. Office Depot has the APC we carry for $60 bucks.
http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=281456&Ntt=APC&uniqueSearchFlag=true&An=text


Number 2 thing.........

Make sure operators understand the ratio of time and space in regards to recording in 5:1 compression. 12 gigs is roughly an hour of time recording. Make sure it doesn't fill up or else.... well you figured that out. As far as I know if the header of the .avi file is not written then you are out of luck.

Number 3 thing.........

You might think about investing in a TriCaster Pro. There is at least a time running of the clip so you estimate how much space you have left.

Number 4 thing.........

Having had this drive filling up thing happen to me more than once before, I would suggest carrying a small piece of foam to put on the wall you beat your head against. :) Less marks that way.



Hang in there. Sorry to hear about your troubles.

[D3Cast]

...so I'm glad that I'm not the only one...Yup, that'd :ohmy: be me.

After whacking at the .avi files for a while, the best I could ever figure out was the header was completely blank (all 256 bytes or however long an .AVI header is supposed to be), and, right before I passed out, I thought, "if I could just rebuild the header, I might have a working file again."

But that was months ago, and other things have intervened.

I definitely feel your pain.

-steve

[D3Cast]

Bumping this up because it's gotten front-burner for me again, and this time I have to put some money where my request is:

I need one of these .avi files fixed, and I'm willing to pay somebody to help me. I know there are plenty of programmers out there (or people that know programmers), and somebody out there has to have the ability to re-create an .avi header from the body of an .avi file, knowing the standard TriCaster video dimensions and audio and video codecs. (As I mentioned above, the .avi file has a completely empty header, and none of my efforts to shove one in or obtain a tool to rebuild one have worked. And yes, I've tried every AVI fixer/header recreator out there -- at least the ones under $100 :D -- and none of them have worked. My guess is that the problem may be that these header recreators don't know how to deal with the NT25 codec.)

I would hazard a guess that virtually everybody who owns a TriCaster has had this happen at one point or another, so this would be an incredibly valuable tool for the TC community. And I'm offering to pay for some, if not all, of the development. Send me a PM.

Thanks.

-steve

[animlab]

Steve,

Try a samll utility call "ASF-AVI-RM-WMV Repair" form RepairVideo Inc. you can download a trial version from www.repairvideo.com. Only $34.95 for a copy.

I sold TriCaster to a local cable company and they use it to record their outdoor shows. They got situations like power failure, TriCaster Crashed, external raid cable break... and got lots of bad AVIs in their raid. I try this utility and it do repair the TriCaster NT25 temp AVIs.

[D3Cast]

Haven't tried that one yet. Thought I had found them all... :D

Will try it and report back ASAP. Thanks, Chen!

-s

[animlab]

Steve,
Is it work for you?

[D3Cast]

Sorry... "ASAP" in this case is going to be a couple of days, as I'm flat out. I'm very excited to test it, although I DIDN'T see how I would let this program know what codecs and video size it was encoded with. Thought that was an essential part of repopulating an AVI header.

-s

[animlab]

It is the amazing parts after I tried 5 utilities that unable to know what our AVIs were or hang.

ASF-AVI-RM-WMV Repair do the jobs very well. It just load the AVI files I saved from the temp directory, click on "Repair" button, select the "Advanced mode", then scan begin. After a while (it is not a fast program) and then all NT25 temp files repaired! (Remind that the "Fast mode" won't repait NT25 temp file.)

The trial version can run for ten days.

[D3Cast]

Okay, here's an update -- I've only had a chance to run this on two files, and the results are mixed...

First of all, if the AVI header is completely missing (as is the case with these .tmp files), you DO need to give ASF-AVI-RM-WMV Repair a reference file to work with, one that has the same aspect ratio and codec as the broken file. (Not a big problem; just give it a working TriCaster-recorded AVI file.)

The first file I tried it on was about 7 GB (about 45 minutes long). Loaded it up, clicked 'Repair', gave it a reference file, clicked 'advanced', and chug chug chug... off it went. And...

IT WORKED! At the end, I had a completely-repaired AVI file. How cool!

So then I tried it on the file I REALLY needed to recover. About 22GB -- just over 2 hours. Same process. Same chug chug chug. And...

It almost worked. At the end, what I had was a much smaller AVI (about 1.4GB) with the first five minutes and the last three minutes of the video, and that was it.

So I'm close, but I have no idea where to go from here to try and fix my second file. Sent an email to the folks at repairvideo.com, but haven't heard anything back...

Chen, any thoughts?

-steve

[D3Cast]

Chen, any thoughts?
Gratuitous bump in the hopes that Chen can think of something...

[animlab]

Steve,
I have test it for a 2 hours temp avi. and it works. I forget the file size and I will try to make a 3 hours avi file for testing.
My my TriCaster demo unit is not stable since last month. After launch, it seems switch to component output and I need to change it back to Y/C by Preference setting.

[westis]

Hi there,

We recorded today and forgot to turn off recording before closing the program. It seems like there should be a file of about 16Gb on the D: drive (since used space is 43Gb and the media folder only contains 27Gb and there are no other folders). But I can't find any file...

How were you able to recover avi files? There's no file in c:\windows\temp (and judgíng from the amount of space used on the c: drive there is no file of this size on the c: drive.

Is there any way to recover the lost file?

Using Tricaster (not Pro).

Thanks!!

[D3Cast]

It's generally in a "NewTek Info" folder (make sure hidden folders are visible in Windows File Explorer; they usually are on the TC) -- I would start in D:\Media\Clips\NewTek Info. Good luck!

-steve

P.S. Oh, and you have to rename them to .avi files, as well.

[westis]

It's generally in a "NewTek Info" folder (make sure hidden folders are visible in Windows File Explorer; they usually are on the TC) -- I would start in D:\Media\Clips\NewTek Info. Good luck!

-steve

P.S. Oh, and you have to rename them to .avi files, as well.

Thanks! I found them and managed to get them back... phew... :)

[donald.williams]

I am having the same problem as D3Cast is post #10 -

Using the app ASF-AVI-RM-WMV Repair - I put in the temp file -

Its like 24-25 GB -

Use Advanced -

Then it spits out a 45 minute file (The concert was 1 hour 40)

I have like 40 minutes from the first of the concert and then the last 4-5 minutes

The middle seems to be missing - however when I did a simple encode it registers as the whole amount of time - but it gives and error and won't play - leading me to believe that the whole video is there - I just need a way to decode it~

Any help is appreciated~

Thanks

[CreatvGnius]

I am having the same problem as D3Cast is post #10 -

Using the app ASF-AVI-RM-WMV Repair - I put in the temp file -

Its like 24-25 GB -

Use Advanced -

Then it spits out a 45 minute file (The concert was 1 hour 40)

I have like 40 minutes from the first of the concert and then the last 4-5 minutes

The middle seems to be missing - however when I did a simple encode it registers as the whole amount of time - but it gives and error and won't play - leading me to believe that the whole video is there - I just need a way to decode it~

Any help is appreciated~

Thanks
Wow, Donald!
You *did* note, doubtless, that someone else apparently went without an Uninterruptible Power Supply/Line Conditioner, causing him to have to perform a major file recovery operation. :devil:

UPS with voltage regulation/noise supression/surge and spike protection is good.

Congrats on getting at least a partial fix underway. Here's hoping knowledgeable folks will further aid you in getting all that content back to a state of usefulness. :thumbsup:


-PeterG

[animlab]

Guys, I have wrote a program to scan and fix the un-closed NewTek AVIs (for NT25 and NTHQ only) from TriCaster/VT capture. The beta version was tested fine and I planed to release it but I found some more variation file format of the NT codec last month. The final program might be announce around 15-30 days. (My company is going to move to new place the week and it seems I don't have time to finish it in following two weeks.)

If anyone of you have interested in my program, please drop a mail (animlab@ms1.hinet.net) to me. This program will be priced at USD$99.00. For anyone post before the final release will get the price at USD$ 49.00.

[ted]

Nice job Chen. Take the time to do it right and good luck on the move! :D

[donald.williams]

Chen, I will take a copy -

I just emailed you offline~

Let me know what to do to get a copy from you~

Thanks

Donald Williams

[D3Cast]

Yay! Nice work Chen!

Now maybe we can concentrate on getting our metaphorical stuff back, and hear less about how we really should have locked our metaphorical doors in the first place...

[CreatvGnius]

Guys, I have wrote a program to scan and fix the un-closed NewTek AVIs (for NT25 and NTHQ only) from TriCaster/VT capture.

I take it then, that TriCaster STUDIO™ and TriCaster ProFX™ record to disk via Live Production in NT25 codec, and not the newer SpeedHQ™ (non Alpha variant). If my guess is incorrect, somebody help me out with this?

Huge kudos, to you, Chen!! :thumbsup:
-PeterG

[ted]

I was sure that TC Pro FX records the newer NewTek HQ codec, but you have me doubting this now?
Love the new Avitar Peter! :D

[CreatvGnius]

I was sure that TC Pro FX records the newer NewTek HQ codec, but you have me doubting this now?
Love the new Avitar Peter! :D

I hope someone has definitive answer to report to us; Not knowing for sure which codecs are used for live shoots vs. background rendering (in Edit Media), etc. can be a bit disconcerting.

As to the avitar, I *knew* you'd have nothing but a positive remark about it, Ted!
PeterG
p.s.: Now, remember -- that's T7500 or better, 4MB L2 Caché, 800MHz Front-Side Bus or better, 15" diagonal 1400 x 900 Widescreen display or better, 256 MB of discrete video RAM or better ..:hey:

[animlab]

[ Removed ]

[jcupp]

Both my TC Studio and ProFX record SpeedHQ 720x480 using the Record Output Button. But they record DV from the Capture Media Tab and render DV from the editor.

[animlab]

Here are the correct information:
TCP/TCPFX/TCS capture use SHQ2 (SpeedHQ) avi format.
TC capture use NT25 avi format.
Both are 720x480 in resolution.

My first beta release of fixing unclosed NT25/SHQ2 avi file will be out around next Monday (03/10).

[CreatvGnius]

Edited for greater clarity:
Here's the correct information:
TCP/TCPFX/TCS capture from the LIVE PRODUCTION panel using SHQ2 (SpeedHQ) avi format.
The basic model TC-100 captures using NT25 avi format.
Both are 720x480 in resolution.

My first beta release of fixing unclosed NT25/SHQ2 avi file will be out around next Monday (03/10).

Congratulations, Chen. Looking forward to the release of your product! Also, thanks all for helping me on that encode query.

Now, I'm wondering, Does background rendering is done in SpeedHQ2?

Perhaps Paul Lara, John Perkins or Andrew Cross, or someone in Tech Support could provide that little detail.
-PeterG

[donald.williams]

Chen Pan - Thanks for the software - it works great - 0 effort and 0 problems - -

Popped in the unfinished NT file - and within a couple of hours the video is all there completely restored -

I would recommend this software to all tricaster users~

[animlab]

Willams, thank you for the recommand. I am happy that you have your video back.

[animlab]

D3Cast,

Is the FixNTavi work fine with your video? I'd like to know the result.

[D3Cast]

Chen,

PM me, if you would -- I haven't received the software, or a link to it, yet.

-steve

[animlab]

Steve,
I have send you twice. I am wonder there is something wrong with the email address. Can you email me again?

[PIZAZZ]

Steve uses some kind of voodoo magic based email... ;) I had to finally send him a download link from our website for the ScoreboardSkins he bought. Outlook would strip the .exe. Zips were rejected from his spamalot server.

Steve is always the trouble maker. :)


Chen -- NAB this year? You going?

[D3Cast]

Actually, all my email goes through Jef, so sometimes I get it within seconds, and sometimes it takes a few weeks. :neener:

-s

[D3Cast]

Never mind... stupid Gmail. I got it -- installing it now...

[animlab]

I am glad you finally got it. Hope you enjoy it.

[CreatvGnius]

D3Cast,

Is the FixNTavi work fine with your video? I'd like to know the result.
Payment sent the other day, Chen. Are we looking for FixNTavi™ via US Postal Service, or via Email, or...?

Thanks in advance!
-Pete

[animlab]

Pete,
FixNtavi was sent to you by email at 03/15 already. If you did not receive it, please drop me an email. YOu are using Gmail. Gmail might filter the attached .zip file by default. Please add my email to the white list, or send me another email address if you have one.

[D3Cast]

Yup...

"Zipped attachments
Gmail allows you to send and receive zipped attachments, as long as they meet three conditions:

They don't contain executable files.
They are less than the maximum attachment size (20MB).
They are not password-protected or encrypted."

This tripped me up, too.

-s

[animlab]

Thank you, Steve. That help a lot.

Pete,
I resend a zip file to you with .exe file renamed to .ex_. Please check it. Let me know it works or not.

[erik walth]

Wouldt like to hear how the program works ! I have 90 GB waiting for the " Cure " if it works..
best regards
erik

[animlab]

erik,

FixNTavi should work for your 90G file if you have another 90G spare space. My program won't overwrite the original avi file for safety reasons. I have test some 50GB NT25 and SHQ2 avi files without problem. I know all the people bought FixNTavi have their unclosed avi fixed.

And the updated news is that release 1.01 can fix the PAL NT25/SHQ2 avi files. I will send the release 1.01 to all the people bought the release 1.0 which works only on NTSC.

If you need FixNTavi, just drop me an email: animlab@ms1.hinet.net

[CreatvGnius]

:bump: :bangwall:

Number 1 thing........

Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always, Always use a Uninterruptible Power Supply to plug a computer into. Did I mention ALWAYS[?]! With a TriCaster you can get by with one of the small APC ones, 300 watts size is fine. All you want to do is keep the OS from going down.
Also, you want to keep the AC power clean, so you'd be better off acquiring an UPC with suitable power conditioning (e.g., voltage regulation, spike suppression of at least 1800 joules, etc.)

...You don't need power to run for 30 minutes or so. Just enough time to plug the power back in. Office Depot has the APC we carry for $60 bucks.
http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=281456&Ntt=APC&uniqueSearchFlag=true&An=text


Question, for you, Pizzaz: How much power capacity (in watts or in VA units) would you say is required in a UPC unit that's going to be conditioning the AC line power for the heftier TriCaster STUDIO? Thanks in advance (anyone).
-PeterG

[ilya.tinyakov]

My file 88 gig, Pal 720x576 NT25 codec was succesfully restored with FixNTavi.:thumbsup:
Thank You again.

Ilya Tinyakov.