fast ASF to AVI conversion

[Andiii]

Hi Everyone!

I need to convert an ASF file to an AVI file as quickly as possible, so I'm trying to avoid re-coding it. The original ASF files are MPEG4 and I want to keep this the same as well as maintain the frame rate and size etc - I just want to enable my AVI enabled program to be able to read it....

...I don't know anything about the ASF format, but does this seem possible?

There are plenty of programs out there than can re-code it where you set you choice of codec etc for the output AVI, but this takes far too long for my application.

Many Thanks

Andrew

[Xero]

Get ASFtools from this website

http://www.geocities.com/myasftools/

it changes the carrier from asf to avi without re-compressing it. If you need help with it just ask. Hope it works.

[Andiii]

$50 reward if anyone can sort this out!!

I tried that and it seems to work, but the minor downside is that the resultant .avi is corrupted

The original .asf file is encoded with the codec MP4S, and hence so is the resultant .avi file. Players will pickup the avi and try and play it, but the image is just a complete mess, although the audio is fine.

I'm at a loss really - at this stage it's difficult to know if it is a codec problem, or a bug in the asf -> avi conversion program.

How about a $50 reward to anyone that can get it sorted out!! I need the conversion to work for a project I'm working on at work and "in the poo" if I can't get it sorted!!

Please note the $50 reward only applies if it converts from .asf to .avi WITHOUT re-compressing/re-coding, I can do that easily enough, but the conversion process is way too slow for the project requirements.

So come on any offers, I've put a 5 second section of the original .asf file here:

http://www.race-technology.com/FTP/M0000004.cut.ASF

Give it a try...

Andy (getting a bit desperate!)

[Xero]

You mean MP43 not MP4S right? If so that codec was only ment to work with ASFs. There is a fix for it here

http://www.moviecodec.com/download/codecs.shtml

Edit: Nevermind I loaded the file into Asftools and it said it was MP4S.

[Xero]

Just a random question, but why did you make/get a ASF file! ASF is (IMO) the worst file to create, because Microsoft made it so no other well-known program (et. VirtualDub) could use it!

[Andiii]

There was no choice... the file is generated by some hardware that we are stuck with, there is no option for anything else - if there was I wouldn't be here, it's very frustrating!

Andy

[Xero]

Did you have a choice of a codec (et. Microsoft MPEG4-V1 or V2) if it was either of these codec this would be alot esier.
Look here

http://www.moviecodec.com/codecdownload/msmpeg4.shtml

[Andiii]

nope, no choice... WYSIWYG

[Xero]

Well I changed the file extention from .asf to .avi and it played in Windows Media Player, Winamp and The Core Media Player.

[Xero]

Re: fast ASF to AVI conversion

Originally posted by Andiii
Hi Everyone!

I need to convert an ASF file to an AVI file as quickly as possible, so I'm trying to avoid re-coding it. The original ASF files are MPEG4 and I want to keep this the same as well as maintain the frame rate and size etc - I just want to enable my AVI enabled program to be able to read it....

...I don't know anything about the ASF format, but does this seem possible?

There are plenty of programs out there than can re-code it where you set you choice of codec etc for the output AVI, but this takes far too long for my application.

Many Thanks

Andrew

What is your "AVI Enabled" program?

[ormonde]

"I need to convert an ASF file to an AVI file as quickly as possible"

Try a program called "AVS Video Converter"

[Xero]

Don't forget this part "so I'm trying to avoid re-coding it".

[Andiii]

Hi,

Changing the extension from .asf to .avi obviously doesn't actually change the format of the data, the programs in question are still decoding it as an ASF video file.

The AVI "enabled" program is our own software which we write for our autosport data logging products - basically the next version of the software has video capabilities as well as numerical data and graphs - it's very cool.

The problem is that the video data must in imported as an AVI file as that is what windows natively supports. However, the only video recording device we can find that meets our criteria outputs ASF files. So this has raised the need to convert from ASF file to AVI files - I'm sure it's simple enough as the encoding in the files remains the same, it's just the format etc that needs changing.

Andy

[Xero]

Ok, I did some research and the name of the codec for MP4S is ISO MPEG-4 Video v1. Did you try installing one of these after you used ASFtools?

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/format/codecdownload.aspx