John McGowan's AVI Overview: Authoring and Related Topics

How can I play an AVI file?

MS DOS

On DOS, the shareware program QuickView by Wolfgang Hesseler can
play AVI files (including sound). QuickView 1.03 is available
through the simtel sites such as

ftp://info.nic.surfnet.nl/mirror-archive/software/simtel-msdos/graphics/qv103.zip

You can get the latest version of QuickView (2.30 on 6/6/98) from

Wolfgang Hesseler's Home Page

Microsoft Windows

Windows Media Player

Windows 3.x, Windows 95, and Windows NT are usually configured so
that double clicking on the icon for an AVI file will invoke an AVI player
application. Video for Windows includes an application known as Media
Player that can play AVI files as well as other multimedia data types.
ActiveMovie 1.0 inclues an ActiveMovie ActiveX control that can play
AVI, QuickTime, and MPEG video as well as other multimedia data types.

On Windows 3.x, Media Player is MPLAYER.EXE. This is a 16 bit
Windows 3.x application. Windows 95 can run both the 16 bit Media Player
and a 32 bit Media Player. There is also a Media Player on Windows NT 4.0
This is MPLAY32.EXE

MediaPlayer can be invoked by typing mplayer.exe at the DOS command
prompt or through the Run... item in the Windows 3.x Program Manager or
the start menu for Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0

The ActiveMovie ActiveX control on Windows 95 is amovie.ocx. This can
be executed as a standalone application using the
commands Rundll32 amovie.ocx.

ActiveMovie is only available for Windows 95. It will not work on
Windows 3.x Windows NT 5.0 should add an ActiveMovie implementation.
ActiveMovie 1.0 is shipped with the Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2.
ActiveMovie has been renamed DirectShow.

Woldo's MCI Video Player for Windows 95/98/NT

Wolfgang Doehler distributes a free alternative to Windows Media Player
for 32 bit Windows platforms:

http://pweb.de.uu.net/wolfgang.doehler

Power Macintosh

On the Apple Macintosh, Apple's QuickTime 3 Pro includes a QuickTime
Internet Plug-In that can play AVI video. The QuickTime Internet
Plug-In is available for:

o Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 and 4.0 for Macintosh
o Netscape Communicator 4.0 for Macintosh
o Netscape Navigator 3.0 for Macintosh

http://quicktime.apple.com/

On the Macintosh, Microsoft's Internet Explorer (Web Browser) can play
AVI files directly. There is also an application AVI->QuickTime that
can convert AVI files to QuickTime .MooV files on the Macintosh.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer 3.01 (on 6/4/97) for the Macintosh may
be downloaded from the Microsoft Web site at:

http://www.microsoft.com/ie/

MacZilla is an inexpensive shareware Netscape Navigator Plug-In for
the Macintosh that plays QuickTime .MOV, Video for Windows AVI, and
MPEG-1 files. MacZilla can also play Sun Audio .AU, Microsoft
.WAV, and MPEG Layer 2 Audio .MP2 files. If you pay the
fee, MacZilla will send you a STANDALONE player (not a Netscape
Plug-In) for the Macintosh. The MacZilla URL is:

http://maczilla.com

NOTE: I personally experienced a lot of crashes with MacZilla on
my Macintosh. (6/4/97)

Unix

Xanim by Marc Podlipec is a free X Windows based AVI Player for Unix.
Much of Xanim is available as source code!! The Xanim home page is:

http://xanim.va.pubnix.com/

XAnime 2.80.1 was released on March 21, 1999. This is a minor
release with some changes to XAnim 2.80.0, described below.

XAnim 2.80.0 was released on March 14, 1999. According to the
XAnim Web site:

XAnim 2.80.0 is now ready for consumption. In addition to several new
video codecs, the new revision also supports dynamically loadable
video decompression libraries. This means you no longer need to
recompile xanim each time a new video codec is released or
upgraded. There are currently dll's for: Creative CYUV, Radius
Cinepak, Intel Indeo 3.2, Intel Indeo 4.1, Intel Indeo 5.0, CCITT
H.261 and CCITT H.263.

Mark Podlipec writes (PREVIOUSLY):

Below is some up-to-date information about XAnim, the unix X11 AVI player.

Thanks,

Mark

----

Latest revision: XAnim 2.70.6.4

Official Web sites:

http://xanim.va.pubnix.com/home.html
http://smurfland.cit.buffalo.edu/xanim/home.html
http://www.tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de/xanim/

AVI Video and Audio Codecs Supported:

+ AVI Video Codecs supported:
+ IBM Ultimotion (ULTI)
+ JPEG (JPEG)
+ Motion JPEG (MJPG)
+ Intergraph JPEG (IJPG)
+ Microsoft Video 1 (CRAM/WHAM/MSVC)
+ Radius Cinepak (CVID)
+ Intel Indeo R3.1 (IV31)
+ Intel Indeo R3.2 (IV32)
+ Intel RAW YUV9 (YUV9)
+ Creative CYUV (CYUV)
+ Uncompressed (RGB )
+ Run length encoded (RLE8)
+ Editable MPEG (XMPG)

+ AVI Audio Codecs supported:
+ PCM (0x0001)
+ MS ADPCM (0x0002)
+ ULAW (0x0007)
+ DVI/IMA ADPCM (0x0011)

Digital Equipment Corporation's VAX/VMS

On VAX/VMS, Xanim (see above) has been ported and works on VMS.

Amiga

MooVId (and) PIV-MooVId AVI/MOV Player for the Amiga
http://www.dfmk.hu/~torokl/

*** MooVId (shareware) ***

MooVId AVI/MOV player with GUI and INDEO support for Amiga computers
Last version: 0.50b (13.09.1998)

Required hardware:
Kickstart 3.0 (3.1 Recommended)
MC68020 or better (68040 recommended for bigger AVI/MOVs)
ECS or AGA chipset (on ECS the playback is only 16 grayscale)
1 MB of free memory

Required software:
Reqtools.library
CyberGraphX or Picasso96 for GFX-Board playback

Recommended hardware:
MC68040/060 and ZorroIII graphicsboard (for bigger animations), but MooVId can play 240x180 truecolor AVI/MOV at 15FPS (without skipping) in perfect (!) colors on 030/50 AGA.

MooVId features:
AVI (Video for windows) and MOV (Quicktime) player in one file

Support INTEL Indeo 3.1 & 3.2 (IV31 & IV32)

100% assembly coded (fast & short)

Buffered I/O handling (direct playback from CD-ROM or HDD)

Timer Based frame skipping method

FULL AGA support (256 color/gray or ham8)

Bugfree "18bit" gfx on AGA Amigas

Special (fast & very good ham8) STORM dither on AGA Amigas

ECS Support (16 grayscale)

16 grayscale Window playback

Full support of the CD32 akiko chip

Synchronized audio playing

On-fly selectable frame rate

Fully system friendly

Direct p96 support (no CGFX "emulation")

Direct CGFX support

Accelerated decoders for ZorroII gfxboards

Full GUI (check the screenshoot)

Supported codecs:

Video for Windows (.avi)

Supported video encoders:

Codec Name FourCC code Depth
Intel Indeo IV31/IV32 24 bit
Microsoft RGB RGB 8/16 bit
Microsoft Video 1 CRAM/MSVC 8/16 bit
Radius Cinepak CVID 24/32 bit
Run Length Encoded RLE 8 bit

Supported audio codecs:
Audio format Channels Bits
PCM MONO/STEREO 8/16 bit
MS-ADPCM MONO/STEREO 4 bit (16bit)

Quicktime (.mov, .qt)

Supported video encoders:

Codec Name FourCC code Depth
Apple Video RPZA 16 bit
Intel Indeo IV31/IV32 24 bit
Radius Cinepak CVID 24/32 bit

Supported audio encoders:
Audio format Channels Bits
RAW MONO 8/16 bit
TWOS MONO 8/16 bit

Other codecs (like JPEG and IMA audio) is in progress

*** END of MooVId ***

PIV-MooVId AVI/MOV player with GUI and INDEO support for PicassoIV
graphics board

Last version: 0.991b (27.11.1998)

Required hardware:
Kickstart 3.0 or better
MC68020 or better (68040/060 recommended)
PicsassoIV graphics board (other graphicsboard NOT supported!)
1 MB of free memory

Required software:
Reqtools.library
Picasso96 1.38 or better (latest version recommended)

Recommended hardware:
MC68040/060 and PicassoIV in ZorroIII mode

PIV-MooVId features:
The FASTEST AVI/MOV player for Amiga

Support the video layer of the PicassoIV

All decoders (espec. Cinepak and Indeo) are video layer accelerated

AVI/MOV playback in a resizable window (up to fullscreen), without slowdown!

AVI (Video for windows) and MOV (Quicktime) player in one file

Support INTEL Indeo 3.1 & 3.2 (IV31 & IV32)

100% assembly coded (fast & short)

Buffered I/O handling (direct playback from CD-ROM or HDD)

Timer Based frame skipping method

Synchronized audio playing

On-fly selectable frame rate

Fully system friendly

Full GUI

Supported codecs:

This part is same as at MooVId!
Plus:
Codec Name FourCC code Depth
Cirrus Accupak/PalomAVI videocapture format CLJR 24 bit

*** END OF PIV-MooVId ***

TapAVI 1.5
Picasso AVI Animation Player
AVI Player for 020+ KS2.0 Picasso-II (variety of Amiga)

http://www.ziplink.net/~wingell/ibrowse/tapavi.html

There appears to be an Amiga version of the XAnim AVI Player. The TapAVI
documentation in fact says that in general XAnim is better but TapAVI is
better for certain uses.

xanim for the Amiga is available in a file xanim6.lha and other files from
Aminet. Aminet is an
archive of Amiga public domain, freeware, and shareware software.
The primary Aminet site is at Washington University in St. Louis:

http://wuarchive.wustl.edu/~aminet/

Many mirror Aminet sites exist.

OS/2

OS/2 has built-in support for AVI files ... up to a point. OS/2
has had built-in AVI support since OS/2 2.0 in 1992. However, it
cannot play all Windows style AVI files.

Practice Corporation markets an extension for OS/2 called AnPoCODEC
which adds support for playback of Windows-style AVI files, including
AVI's compressed with RLE (Microsoft RLE), CVID (Cinepak), and MSVC
(Microsoft Video 1). Practice also markets QUickMotion which adds
support for playing QuickTime video files.

http://www.quickmotion.com/

At least two other programs exist that are claimed to be OS/2 AVI Players.

Calliope

DMP 1.41

Atari

There are reportedly at least three AVI players for the Atari:
- Animator (http://removers.atari.org/softs/en/download.php3)
- Aniplayer (http://perso.wanadoo.fr/didierm/)
- Mplayer (http://perso.wanadoo.fr/gtello/

All these are 100% assembly code written, so they are fast. They
also support many codecs.

Return to Top

How to capture screen to AVI Files

Microsoft Camcorder

Microsoft distributes a free screen capture utility called
Microsoft Camcorder (sometimes abbreviated MSCamcorder). Camcorder
can save screen captures as AVI files or a .EXE file.

http://www.microsoft.com/msoffice/office97/camcorder/default.htm

HyperCam

See the following posting from Greg Kochaniak dated 5/10/97 from the
comp.archives.ms-windows.announce newsgroup.

I have uploaded to Simtel.Net:

http://www.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/win95/mmedia/hycam119.zip
ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/win95/mmedia/hycam119.zip 251872 bytes

hycam119.zip HyperCam v1.19 AVI screen capture for Win95,NT

HyperCam v1.19 captures the action from Windown 95 or NT screen in any
graphics mode, including cursor movements and sound, and saves it to
standard AVI movie files. Perfect for demonstrations, presentations
and tutorials.

Special requirements: Windows 95 or Windows NT.

Changes: Fixed two problems: starting recording in 256 color mode would
produce sometimes invalid AVI files (when, upon minimizing HyperCam
window for recording, another window with a different palette would come
to front and realize its palette). The other problem: selecting AVI file
name with Browse button would not always work correctly.

hycam119.zip has replaced hycam118.zip.

Shareware. Uploaded by the author.

Greg Kochaniak, Hyperionics
gregko@hyperionics.com
http://www.hyperionics.com/

SnagIt

TechSmith Corporation markets a Microsoft Windows product called
SnagIt which can capture the screen to AVI files. SnagIt also can
capture the screen to still image formats such as BMP.

http://www.techsmith.com/

Return to Top

Authoring Tools to Create AVI Files

A wide variety of 2D and 3D animation applications as well as other
multimedia authoring tools generate AVI files directly. This is
especially true for Windows versions of applications, since Microsoft
provides an API for creating AVI files. A list of applications
that can create AVI files follows.

LightWave 3D 5.5 for Windows 95 and Windows NT

LightWave is a popular 3D modeling and animation program
widely used in broadcast television. LightWave can do almost
anything and supports third party plug-ins to add features that
it lacks.

NewTek
Note: According to product literature on the NewTek Web site.

http://www.newtek.com/

Caligari Truespace 1,2, and 3 for Windows

Caligari TrueSpace is a popular low-end 3D modeling and animation
program. Traditionally, TrueSpace has been polygon based limiting
its usefulness for modeling organic forms. TrueSpace 3.0 adds
some organic features.

Caligari Corporation
Note: Confirmed from personal use of Caligari TrueSpace.

http://www.caligari.com/

Fractal Design Ray Dream Studio for Windows

Ray Dream Studio is a suite of 3D modeling, animation, and rendering
tools.

Fractal Design
Note: According to product literature on Web site.

http://www.fractal.com/

Macromedia Director 6.0 for Windows

Macromedia Director is a widely used authoring tool for creating
interactive 2D animations such as presentations, multimedia for
kiosks, prototypes of user interfaces, and similar uses. Director
can also produce straight 2D animations appropriate for AVI files.

Macromedia
Note: According to product literature on the Macromedia Web site.

http://www.macromedia.com/

CorelMOVE

Corel's CorelMOVE animation software can export AVI files.

Return to Top

How to create AVI files from analog video:

Video Capture Cards

On Intel based PC's, use a video capture card to convert analog video
from video tapes or video cameras to AVI files. A PC video capture card
is typically either a 16 bit ISA bus card or a 32-bit PCI bus card that
plugs into the 16 bit ISA or 32-bit PCI slots in your PC motherboard.
32-bit PCI bus cards are steadily replacing 16-bit ISA bus cards.
Most video capture cards have either a composite video connector or
both a composite video and an S-Video connector. Most video capture
cards perform compression of the video in hardware or firmware on the
video capture card before tranferring the compressed video over the ISA
or PCI bus to the PC hard drive.

Most video capture cards only capture video. They do not contain audio
capture. Audio capture is done through the audio or sound card of the
computer. It is increasinly common to have the audio input and output
hardware built into the motherboard. The computer may not have
a physically distinct sound card.

Sound cards usually have a Microphone input jack, a Speaker or
Headphone output jack, a Line input jack, and a Line output jack.
Line input and the microphone input are not interchangable. The
jacks use different electrical signals. Most users will use
the microphone for input and speakers or headphone for output.

Video Capture in Video for Windows

Under Microsoft Windows, video capture cards come with a Video for
Windows capture driver (CAPTURE DRIVER). The capture driver exports
standard functions (including some dialog boxes for user interaction)
that any Video for Windows software application can call.
Any Video for Windows video capture application, including video
editing applications that support video capture, can and must use this
Video for Windows capture driver to capture video.

Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Windows NT 3.51, and Windows NT 4.0 all use
Video for Windows capture drivers. ActiveMovie 1.0 for Windows 95 and
Windows NT 4.0 does not provide a mechanism for video capture, only
video playback. Video for Windows continues to be the software
component for video capture.

The capture driver may consist of a single file or multiple
files. The capture driver is identified by the name MSVIDEO (in
the SYSTEM.INI file in Windows 3.x and Windows 95 for example).
In Windows 3.x and Windows 95, the SYSTEM.INI file will contain
a line such as

MSVIDEO = C:\PROSHARE\ISVRPRO.DRV

ISVRPRO.DRV is the name of the video capture driver used by
Intel's Smart Video Recorder Pro in the Intel ProShare
video-conferencing system.

where MSVIDEO points to the top-level file that exports the
standard Video for Windows functions for the capture driver.
This file may in turn invoke other separate files that form
the rest of the video capture driver. For example, the
installation program for the miroMEDIA PCTV TV Tuner and
Video Capture Card installs eleven (11) different files
to support the Brooktree Bt848 video capture chip on the
card. This card consists of some connectors, a few resistors
and capacitors, and the Bt848 chip.

In Windows 95, users can view and configure the video capture driver
by selecting System in the Windows 95 Control Panel. Then select the
Device Manager tab. System | Device Manager is actually a user friendly
interface to the Windows 95 Registry which contains all of the
information about a device such as names and locations of driver
files, hardware resources used, and other data in a complex database.
The Device Manager contains icons representing all the devices
installed on the computer. The video capture card and associated
driver will appear either in the "Sound, video and game controllers"
category or "Other Devices".

Each device has "Properties". Users can view and change the properties
either by:

(1) Click once on the device icon in System | Device Manager to select
the device.
(2) Click once on the Properties Button in System | Device Manager.

(1) Double-click on the device icon in Device Manager.

The Device Properties usually have a General, a Driver, and a
Resources tab. The Driver and Resources Tabs may be absent in some
cases.

Users can usually determine the version of the device driver
from the Driver tab of the Device Properties in System | Device
Manager. The Driver tab usually lists all of the files
installed on the system that make up the device driver.

Use the Driver tab to install or update the video capture driver. The
Driver tab contains a Change Driver... button. Clicking on the Change
Driver... button will bring up a list box with the devices and drivers
known to Windows 95. The relevant video capture card and driver may
be in this list. The user may need to provide a disk or CD-ROM with
the drivers and a Device Information (INF) file. If the driver is not
on the list of available drivers, the user must click on the Have
disk... button to load the drivers from the disk or CD-ROM using an
INF file. The INF file contains the information telling Windows 95
how to install the capture driver, including which files to install
where on the hard disk and what changes to make to the Windows 95
Registry and the INI files.

Use the Resources tab to view and change the hardware resource
settings: the IRQ levels used, the DMA channels used, and the I/O
addresses used by the video capture card. It is not uncommon for a
newly installed video capture card to have an IRQ conflict with other
devices on the system. Often Windows 95 will detect the conflict but
fail to resolve it.

Windows 95 automatically assigns resources such as IRQ levels to
devices such as video cards. Windows 95 is supposed to select
IRQ levels that do not conflict. This does not always work. To fix, try
deleting the device from the Device Manager and restarting Windows 95.

TO DELETE A DEVICE FROM DEVICE MANAGER

(0) Make sure that you have the installation CD-ROM or disks with the
device driver software for the device BEFORE you delete it!!!

(1) Click on the device icon in Device Manager.
(2) Presss the delete button on your keyboard or click the Remove
button on System | Device Manager.

When Windows 95 restarts, it will again automatically detect the
hardware, install the necessary drivers, and configure the hardware.
If Windows 95 does not have the necessary drivers it will prompt the
user for a disk or CD-ROM with the needed drivers. As above, the disk
or CD-ROM will need a Device Information or INF file to tell Windows
95 how to install the needed drivers. On a second or third try,
Windows 95 may get it right. Users must delete the device before
restarting Windows 95 to force Windows 95 to auto-detect, otherwise
it will simply use the information currently displayed in Device
Manager.

If deleting the device from Device Manager and restarting Windows 95
fails to fix the problem, the user can manually set the IRQ level and
other resources through the Resources tab in the Device Properties in
System | Device Manager. Uncheck the "Use automatic settings" check
box. Then, the user can manually change the IRQ, DMA, and I/O
settings. Note that this disables the automatic configuration of the
device and can cause other problems. In some cases however there is
no choice but to manually set the resources.

In Windows 95, users may also view and configure some video capture device
information by selecting the Multimedia icon (applet) in the Windows
95 Control Panel. Then select the Advanced Tab. Then select the
Video Capture Devices icon from the icons in the Advanced Tab. This
will show the installed Video for Windows capture drivers. The
IRQ, DMA, and I/O resources usually cannot be set through the Multimedia
icon; users must use System | Device Manager in the Control Panel.

Typically, when a user installs the software for a video capture card,
the installation will install the Video for Windows capture driver for
the video card, Video for Windows if needed, non-standard Video for
Windows compression drivers, and some video capture and editing
applications.

Microsoft shipped a simple Video Capture application called
VidCap, a 16-bit application, with the original 16-bit Video for
Windows (full, not run-time). There is also now a VidCap32, a 32-bit
video capture application. Many other applications such as Adobe
Premiere support video capture.

The video capture drivers provide a Video Source dialog box for
selecting the analog video input format, connectors, and other
options. The Video Source dialog box varies from video card to
video card. It can include options to adjust the brightness or
color of the video image.

The capture drivers also provide a Video Format dialog box for selecting
the color format (image format or pixel format) of the image, the image
size to capture (such as 320x240 or 160x120), whether to utilize hardware
compression built into the video capture card, and miscellaneous
other features.

Users can access the Video Source and Video Format dialog boxes through
their video capture software application. In VidCap, select the
Options menu. Then Video Format... to get the Video Format dialog
box. Video Source... to get the Video Source dialog box.

See below for further discussion.

Analog Video Formats

Composite video signals are analog signals that combine luminance and
chrominance (color) information in a single analog signal that can be
transmitted over a single wire or stored in a single track on an
analog magnetic tape. The NTSC video signals used by commercial
television sets in the United States and Japan are an example of
composite signals. Composite video is particularly prone to errors in
reproducing exact colors due to the overlap of the color and luminance
signals. Video professionals jokingly refer to NTSC as Never The Same
Color.

S-Video video signals separate the luminance and chrominance
information into two separate analog signals that can be transmitted
over two separate wires or stored in two separate tracks on an analog
tape. S-Video is generally superior to composite video in reproducing
colors correctly. The S-VHS and Hi8 video tape standards use S-Video.
Ordinary VHS video tape uses composite NTSC signals. Thus, in
general, using an S-VHS or Hi8 video camera with S-Video output to
provide the analog video signal to the S-Video input of a PC video
capture card will provide better video quality.

A third type of video signal is component video. In component video, the
luminance (Y) and two color difference signals (U and V or I and Q) are
separated into three separate analog signals that can be transmitted
over three separate wires or stored in three separate tracks on an
analog tape, or digitized separately. Component video is used in
professional video production and provides the best quality and the
most accurate reproduction of colors. The professional Betacam SP video
cameras use component video. The current generation of widely used
PC video capture cards do not provide component video inputs.

Capture with Motion JPEG Compressed Video

Typical PC video capture cards store the digitized compressed video as
an AVI file using Motion JPEG compression. Motion JPEG is used
instead of other compression schemes because each frame is compressed
separately. This allows frame accurate editing of the AVI file after
capture. If a compression scheme that uses frame differencing - where
a frame is stored as the differences between the frame and a previous
frame (such as MPEG) - is used, it is difficult to edit the video.

Typical PC video capture cards are bundled with non-linear video editing
software such as Adobe Premiere which can be used to edit the Motion JPEG
compressed AVI file and ultimately compress the edited AVI file using
compression such as Cinepak using frame differencing for maximum
compression.

PC video capture cards usually compress the video using a lossy
compression scheme such as Motion JPEG or MPEG because uncompressed
video places very high demands on the bandwidth of the ISA or PCI bus
and on the bandwidth to the hard drive. In addition, uncompressed
video can fill even very large hard drives very quickly.

Capture with Uncompressed Video (Color Formats)

A number of video capture cards such as those based on the Brooktree
Bt848 and Bt848a video capture system chip save uncompressed video
in alternative color formats to the common 24 bit RGB color format.
Such as the 15 bit RGB color format or YUV9 color format. These
formats represent a pixel with less than 24 bits, reducing bandwidth
and storage requirements. Color formats may also be known as
IMAGE FORMATS or PIXEL FORMATS.

24 bit RGB is almost universally supported. Other color formats may
not be supported by graphics software, video editors, or playback
drivers. Beware problems such as inability to play an AVI file or
view a BMP may occur with AVI files or BMP still images created with
some color formats.

Color Formats Section

PC video capture cards are usually bundled with application software
and drivers to perform video capture such as Microsoft's VIDCAP.EXE
(16 bit) or VIDCAP32.EXE (32 bit) or Intel's SMARTCAP.EXE or other similar
software.

Video capture drivers may provide the ability to select different
color formats for uncompressed AVI video, such as RGB15 or YUV9. With
Vidcap and Vidcap32, select Options | Video Format ... to set the
color format for a video capture session and file. Video Format ...
invokes a Video Format dialog box provided by the video capture
driver; this dialog box differs from capture card to capture card.

Users can usually use the Video Format dialog box to select the
size (resolution) of the captured video (such as 320x240 or
160x120 pixels). Users usually can select the color format which
may be identified as IMAGE FORMAT or PIXEL FORMAT.

NOTE: Windows 95 and Windows NT require different device drivers.
Most video capture cards have drivers for Windows 95. Only some
have Windows NT drivers. Video capture cards that have Windows NT
device drivers and therefore can be used under Windows NT are listed
at the end of this section.

Recent Video Capture Cards (PCI)

Some current (1/11/97) popular PC video capture cards that generate
AVI files are:

Digital Processing Systems (DPS) makes high end video capture cards
for the broadcast and studio markets. Some of these cards can
capture video on the PC. Some of these cards are designed for
Windows NT and include Windows NT device drivers.

http://www.dps.com/

FAST AV Master PCI 60 field/60fps with Motion JPEG, Includes Ulead's
Media Studio Pro digital video editing application.

FAST Web Page

Truevision Bravado 1000 50/60fps 32-bit PCI video capture board with Motion JPEG, Includes Adobe
Premiere 4.2 Full Version

Truevision Web Page

MiroVideo DC30 PCI, complete non-linear video and audio editing for
Windows 95, Includes Adobe Premiere 4.2 Full Version

miro Web Page

Azeena Vision 500 640x480 30 fps Motion JPEG PCI Capture Card
Up to 3:1 compression.

Azeena Web Page

Hauppauge WinTV PCI TV-tuner and Video Capture Cards.
This is a family of TV-Tuner and Video Capture cards.
Built around the Brooktree Bt848 video capture chip.

Hauppauge Web Page

Winnov Videum AV, Half size ISA card, composite and S-Video
input, claims to capture 352x240, 24 bit, AVI videos at 30
frames per second (must be compressed to fit across ISA bus - JFM)

Winnov Web Page

Intel Smart Video Recorder III, a 32-bit PCI card that uses Indeo
video compression. Includes a composite (NTSC) video input and an
S-Video input, RCA and S-Video cables, Asymetrix Digital Video
Producer and Asymetrix WebPublisher.

Intel Page

U.S. Robotics markets the Bigpicture Video capture card and NTSC
camera for about $249.99 (7/22/97). The video capture card is a PCI
half card with a single RCA jack for the NTSC composite video in and a
+5 Volt, 1 Amp power output jack for the NTSC camera. The video
capture card uses the single Brooktree Bt848 chip, a complete video
capture system on a single chip.

Personally, I was impressed that they could get the entire video
capture system on a single chip. More information on the Bt848
can be found at:

Brooktree Bt848 Press Release

Bigpicture can capture NTSC composite video at 30 frames per second at
320x240 or 160x120 resolution.

Bigpicture also comes in versions with U.S. Robotics modems. The idea
is that this can be a PC video phone.

Bundled software includes Kai's Power GOO Special Edition, Asymetrix
Digital Video Producer to capture and edit video, VDONet's VDOPhone (trial
edition), and VDONet's VDOLive player.

MINI-REVIEW

I intalled the Bigpicture video capture system under Windows 95b (OEM
Service Release 2) on a 200 MHz Pentium with MMX, 32 MB RAM, two
Western Digital IDE hard drives (2GB and 5 GB), and a 12x CD-ROM.

The installation was difficult due to resource conflicts. At first
the video capture card appeared to conflict with the SupraExpress 336i
PnP modem in my PC. After reinstalling a few times, the video
capture card started to work, but the modem stopped working. A conflict
between the modem (an ISA card modem) and the COM1 serial port was
reported in the Windows 95 Device Manager (Control Panel | System |
Device Manager tab). I fixed this by disabling the automatic
settings on the modem and changing the IO address. I left the COM1
port (which I don't use) and the modem using the same IRQ (Interrupt
Request) level.

While the documentation provides some pointers on these conflicts, I found
the problem frustrating and difficult to fix although I am moderately
familiar with PC installation and configuration.

Once fixed, the camera and video capture card worked fine. My modem
seems to work fine. I can capture video and use the modem at the same
time.

U.S. Robotics
7770 North Frontage Road
Skokie, IL 60077-2690

http://www.usr.com/

Old Video Capture Cards (ISA)

Some widely used older, 16-bit ISA cards, are:

Video Spigot from Creative Labs
- 16-bit ISA Card
- RCA Jack for Composite (NTSC/PAL/SECAM) Video Input
- S-Video Connector
- Windows 3.x Drivers (16 bit)

Media Vision Pro Movie Studio
- 16-bit ISA Card
- RCA Jack for Composite (NTSC/PAL/SECAM) Video Input
- S-Video Connector
- Windows 3.x Drivers (16 bit)

Intel Smart Video Recorder Pro
- 16-bit ISA Card
- RCA Jack for Composite (NTSC/PAL/SECAM) Video Input
- S-Video Connector
- Windows 3.x Drivers (16 bit)
- Version 2.20.061 (known to run under Windows 95)

The Smart Video Recorder contains chips to accelerate
and implement Intel's Indeo 3.x and YVU9 proprietary formats.
These allowed it to capture video with Indeo compression on 486
machines even though Indeo encoding is very compute intensive.
The special chips on the board encoded the video instead of the
PC's CPU.

Intel is no longer supporting the Intel Smart Video Recorder
(Oct. 1997). Drivers and other support information are still available
at the Intel Web site.

I've successfully installed and used the Intel Smart Video
Recorder Pro on two different machines under Windows 95 with
Driver Version 2.20.061 of the drivers for this card.

Video Capture through PC Parallel Port

A few products enable video capture through the parallel port of
your PC. In principle, this eliminates the difficulties of opening
your PC case and installing a video capture card. A parallel port
capture system consists of a camera and/or adapter that plugs into
the parallel port of your PC and some associated software - usually
Microsoft Windows drivers and applications.

Alaris QuickVideo Transport

Alaris QuickVideo Transport is an adapter that plugs into a PC-compatible
Parallel Port with 25-pin connector. QuickVideo Transport accepts analog
video in NTSC, PAL, and SECAM from RCA plug/composite and S-Video sources.
It can be used with Camcorders, Digital Cameras, and VCR's.

Alaris Corporation
47338 Fremont Boulevard
Fremont, CA 94538
(800) 317-2348 (Voice)
(510) 770-5700 (Voice)
(510) 770-5769 (FAX)

sales@alaris.com

http://www.alaris.com/

http://www.dartek.com/products/qvtransport.htm

Connectix QuickCam

Color QuickCam is a small solid-state camera that plugs into the
PC parallel port.

http://www.connectix.com/

What to do about horizontal tearing in the video?

In horizontal tearing, part of the video is displaced horizontally
from where it should be. For example, a flag pole might be displaced
to the right creating a zig-zag or even a break in the pole.

In the diagram below, think of each line as a video scan line:

Tearing is a common problem when capturing video from the output of an
analog video tape such as a VCR. It can happen in other contexts as
well.

Analog video such as NTSC, PAL, and SECAM composite video has a
sychronization signal at the end of each horizontal scan line and a
vertical synchronization signal at the end of each frame.

The motors and mechanical parts in the transport mechanism of a
video tape player can slip slightly, causing the analog signals and
horizontal synchronization signals to arrive at slightly incorrect
times. Video monitors, capture cards, and other video equipment
have a tolerance for jitter in the timing of the synchronization
signals. Tearing occurs if this tolerance is exceeded.

Digital video capture cards can be very sensitive to the timing jitter
in the output of video tape players. Tearing will occur because the
synchronization is off. Capture cards are frequently more sensitive
than analog video monitors and other analog video equipment which are
better designed to handle timing jitter in the analog signals.

Devices called Time Base Correctors (TBC) can adjust for jitter in
the timing of the analog video synchronization signals and other
distortions of the analog signals. TBC's are available as plug-in
cards for PC's and as black boxes inserted between the video
source and the video capture card.

Time Base Correctors are available from:

Prime Image Inc.
http://www.primeimageinc.com/

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Hard Drive Video Capture Issues

Digital video capture requires writing data to the PC hard disk
at sustained very high data rates. The higher the resolution and
quality of the digital video, the higher the data rate the hard disk
must handle.

1. Defragment the hard disk. This allows the PC to write the
digital video (the AVI file) to contiguous disk sectors without
stopping to skip the drive head over used regions.

2. Scan the disk and fix any bad sectors if possible.

3. Conventional hard drives pause the drive heads for thermal
recalibration which slows their ability to write data to the
hard disk. Special AV (Audio/Video) hard drives (which cost
more) disable the thermal recalibration during data writing.

This supposedly allows an AV hard drive to capture higher video
data rates. Note that you can capture video onto conventional
hard drives. People do this all the time. But for very high
end video capture, you may need a special AV drive.

Video Capture Cards with Windows NT Drivers

The DPS (Digital Processing Systems) Perception ISA video capture card.

The DPS PVR-2500 Perception Video Recorder (PCI-bus)
for Intel and DEC Alpha Windows NT workstations. An optional
AD-2500 real time video capture daughter card adds component,
S-Video, and composite video inputs to this high-end product.
The AD-2500 is the actual capture card in this product which is
a "digital video disk recorder system".

The DPS HVR-2800 Hollywood Video Recorder (PCI and ISA). The PCI
version is available for both Intel and DEC Alpha Windows NT
workstations. The Hollywood is also a "digital video disk
recorder system", more than a simple video capture card.

DPS makes PC video products aimed at the studio and broadcast
production markets.

http://www.dps.com/

The Truevision Targa 2000 video capture card.

http://www.truevision.com/

The Osprey 100 PCI Video Capture Card works under Windows NT as well
as Windows 95. The Osprey Systems Division of Multimedia Access
Corporation makes a line of video capture cards, all or some with
drivers for Windows NT 3.51 and NT 4.0

The Osprey 100 is a PCI board based on the BrookTree Bt848 single-chip
video capture device. The version of the Osprey 100 that I have seen
has one S-Video input and two composite (NTSC or PAL) video inputs.
The Osprey 100 has software and drivers for both Windows NT 3.51 and
Windows NT 4.0

The NT software for the Osprey 100 (10/8/97) consists of the VidCap32
video capture application, a Video for Windows Capture Driver, and
a Windows NT Device Driver for the Osprey. There are at least
two versions of the software: 0.93(beta) and 0.95(beta). On
10/7/97, the 0.95(beta) was available by anonymous ftp from
Osprey.

The anonymous ftp site also contained directories for a 1.00 version
of the software that could not be downloaded (10/7/97).

The 0.95(beta) software from Osprey is a single Windows executable
that easily installs VidCap32 and the drivers, also updating the
NT taskbar, registry, and so forth.

The Osprey 100 with the 0.95(beta) drivers captures video under NT 4.0
with both VidCap32 and the Progressive Networks RealEncoder software.
At least in some of my experiments, VidCap32 exhibited some problems
although it was possible to repeatedly capture AVI clips. Problems
included flawed updating of the VidCap32 window and sluggish
performance of the NT system until rebooted. The problems appeared
intermittent.

System Tested:

(Micron Millenium PC) Intel Pentium 132 MHz with 48 MB RAM
Phoenix BIOS Version 4.04 M-M
Windows NT 4.0 (Build: 1381 Service Pack 2)
Osprey 100 PCI Video Capture Card with 0.95(beta) drivers for Windows NT
Diamond Multimedia Stealth64 Video 2001 PCI (2MB RAM)
Creative Labs Vibra 16 ISA sound card with NT 4.0 Drivers
Intel 82557 based 10/100 Ethernet PCI Network Interface Card (NIC)
IDE CD-ROM (ATAPI 1.2) Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
Inexpensive NTSC video camera (bundled with LiveLan videconferencing product)

http://www.osprey.mmac.com/

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How to Create AVI Files from Television

To create an AVI file from your favorite television program, there
are two approaches.

Television is transmitted over radio frequency (RF) waves.
The NTSC, PAL, or SECAM composite analog television signals
are modulated onto high frequency radio waves to create the
familiar television channels. In the United States, television
channels 2 through 69 cover the range from 54 MHz to
806 MHz. An NTSC channel uses about 4 MHz of frequency
range.

Traditional analog Cable Television (CATV) works much the
same except that the RF is sent over coaxial cables instead of
the open air.

A device usually referred to as a tuner can demodulate the
television radio frequency signal and extract the NTSC, PAL, or
SECAM composite analog signal. Television sets, Video
Casette Recorders (VCR) and cable television set top boxes contain a tuner.

The easy way to turn your favorite television show into an
AVI is to record the show to a videotape using a VCR. The VCR
can output the composite analog video signal to a video
capture card in your PC (see the section on creating AVI from
composite analog video).

A number of companies market TV tuner cards for PC's. In this
case you can feed the television radio frequency (RF) signal
into the TV tuner card which will demodulate the NTSC, PAL, or
SECAM signal. Use an associated video capture card to convert
the demodulated composite analog video to an AVI files.

ATI Technologies, for example, markets a PC TV Tuner.

It is probably simpler to use a VCR than a PC TV Tuner card.
A VCR circumvents the often painful installation problems
with PC hardware.

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How to Create Morph Effects for AVI

Morphing is a technique for progressively transforming one image
into another image, or one video sequence into another.
For example, a video producer might morph one face into another.

STOIK Software markets a tool called

Morph Man for Windows 95

http://www.stoik.com/

Morph Man can create AVI files with a still image morphing into
another still image, or one video sequence morphing into another.

STOIK provides a demonstration version of Morph Man for
evaluation purposes.

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How to compress the audio sound track in AVI Files

AVI files include support for compressed audio although they are
frequently generated with uncompressed PCM audio. The Windows
Multimedia system includes a component called the Audio Compression
Manager (ACM), an audio counterpart to the Video Compression Manager (VCM).
The ACM enables installable audio codecs.

Unfortunately not all authoring applications access the full ACM. For
example, the free VidEdit application from Microsoft, a simple video
editor, only permits selection of various PCM audio encoding. There
is no way to compress the audio in an AVI file through VidEdit,
although the Windows operating system, through the ACM, and the AVI
file format do support audio compression.

Historically, AVI files were frequently authored with video compression,
usually Cinepak, and uncompressed PCM audio. The size of the audio track
could be reduced by using 8 bit mono (one channel) PCM audio at a
11 KHz sample rate as the "audio format". Microsoft VidEdit, for
example, allows this. AVI was used for compressing video on hard disks
and CD-ROM's. Hard disks and CD-ROM's have plenty of room for uncompressed
audio but an uncompressed video quickly exceeds their capacity.
Thus audio compression was not as critical as video compression.

With the advent of the Internet, with typical bandwidth of a few
Kbits/second, audio compression has become more important.

AUTHORING TOOLS SUPPORTING AUDIO COMPRESSION (INCOMPLETE)

Adobe Premiere 5.0 for Windows

AUTHORING TOOLS *NOT* SUPPORTING AUDIO COMPRESSION (INCOMPLETE)

Microsoft VidEdit 1.1

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How to change frame rate of AVI files

You may want to change the frame rate of an AVI. For example, you
may want to convert a video captured at 30 frames per second (NTSC)
to 15 or 10 frames per second to reduce the size of the file. This
type of conversion throws away frames; it does not play the AVI in
slow motion.

Video editors usually contain this function.

For example, the free VidEdit video editor can convert the frame rate
of AVI files.

Select

Video | Convert Frame Rate ...

in VidEdit

For more on video editors, see Video Editors

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How to crop an AVI file

Microsoft VidEdit 1.1 can crop an AVI file, that is create
another AVI file with a rectangular region of the original AVI
file:

Select

Video | Crop ...

in VidEdit

Undoubtedly, many other AVI video editors can crop AVI files.
Microsoft VidEdit 1.1 has the special virtue of being free and
available on the Web.

For more on video editors, see Video Editors

Return to Top

How to edit AVI files:

Several applications exist to edit (cut, paste, etc.) AVI files.
Such applications are known as video editors. Sometimes such
digital video editors are called non-linear editors, in contrast to
traditional videotape or film based editing.

Video editors range from very simple applications to very sophisticated
applications.

Video Editor Features

Common video editor features include:

* cut, paste, and deleting video sequences
* selecting video codec and compression settings
* selecting audio codec and compression settings
* converting video frame rate
* converting audio sampling rate
* adjusting synchronization of audio and video
* converting color depth of video (24, 16, or 8 bit usually)
* converting to NTSC or PAL safe colors
* adding transitions and other special effects
* applying image processing filters to video
* adding text and subtitling
* much more in high end video editors....

VidEdit

The full 16 bit (Windows 3.x) Video for Windows from Microsoft (not
the "Run Time") shipped with a simple video editing program VidEdit.
VidEdit can cut, paste, concatenate, add sound, and do many other
things to AVI files. VidEdit can be downloaded from a number of
sites on the Internet.

WARNING: Microsoft's NetShow audio/video/multimedia streaming
product includes a number of new video codecs such as Microsoft MPEG-4 and
VDONet's VDOWave. The NetShow Player installation installs decode
only versions of these codecs, none of which will display in the list
of codecs in VidEdit, sensibly enough. The NetShow Tools install
codecs with encoder capabilities. These will show in the VidEdit
list of codecs. See the section on NetShow for further information.

Some video editors such as Asymmetrix Digital Video Producer (DVP)
4.0 will show the NetShow decode-only video codecs in the list of
codecs for compression, even though these codecs do not compress
video. In fact, if these decode-only codecs are selected to
compress a video clip, the AVI file is not compressed although an AVI
file is generated.

I was quite confused by this behavior until I understood the
distinction between the NetShow codecs with encode enabled and the
decode-only video codecs.

VidEdit does recognize the following 32 bit Video for Windows codecs:

Intel Indeo (R) Video Interactive [32]
Intel Indeo (R) Video R3.2 [32]
Intel Indeo Raw R1.2 [32]
Microsoft Video 1 [32]
Cinepak Codec by Radius [32]
Indeo video 5.0 [32]

VDONet VDOWave [32]
MPEG-4 High Speed Compressor [32]

As far as I can tell Microsoft is not currently distributing VidEdit.
However, a file winvid.zip is bouncing around the Net. This file
includes the Video for Windows run time along with a number of Video Tools
including VidEdit and VidCap (Microsoft's video capture tool).

Disclaimer: I am not certain what the legal restrictions on
VidEdit or winvid.zip are.

EarthStation 1 Archive of Windows Freeware and Shareware

Microsoft's VidEdit Video Editor is also available at:

EarthStation1: Recommended Shareware and Freeware Page

http://earthstation1.simplenet.com/software.html

Once you have reached the EarthStation 1 page, click on the Graphics
section. VidEdit is in this section which is also identified as the Graphics Editors
section. Scroll down a few pages to find VidEdit or use the find string
on this page feature of your Web browser.

Click to download VidEdit.

There is or was also a mirror site at:

http://mirrors.org.sg/earthstation/software.html

This link was not working as of Feb. 14, 2000.

Alchemedia Inc. Shareware Page

The Alchemedia Inc. shareware page contains a file videdit.zip with
VidEdit.

http://www.alchemediainc.com/sharewar.html

Personal AVI Editor

FlickerFree markets an inexpensive/shareware avi editor for
Windows called Personal AVI Editor.

Personal AVI Editor ($49.95 + Shipping and Handling)
http://www.flickerfree.com/index.html

MGI VideoWave

MGI Software Corporation (Toronto, Canada) markets a PC video
capture and editing program called VideoWave. VideoWave supports
AVI, QuickTime, and MPEG. Suggested price: $99

http://www.mgisoft.com/

Corel Lumiere Suite for 32-bit Windows

Lumiere is a new contestant in the PC video editing game. (May, 1997)

Corel Lumiere Suite for 32-bit Windows
List Price on Corel Web Site: $89 (US)

Corel Corp.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
(800) 772-6735
(613) 723-3733
FAX: (613) 728-9790
http://www.corel.com/

Corel's Lumiere Web Page

Ulead Media Studio Pro

Ulead's Media Studio Pro ( around $300 )
http://www.ulead.com/

Asymetrix Digital Video Producer

Asymetrix's Digital Video Producer (DVP)

Typical Retail Price: $69.95 (Sept. 1997)

A simple digital video capture and editing program for Windows 95 and
Windows NT. DVP is bundled with many video capture cards and is
also available retail. More information is available at the Asymetrix
Web site.

http://www.asymetrix.com/

Adobe Premiere

Adobe Premiere is the reigning king of desktop video editing
programs. Versions exist for both the PC/Windows and the
Macintosh.

Adobe Systems Premiere ( around $500 )
http://www.adobe.com/

SpeedRazor

in:sync produces SpeedRazor Mach 3.51 (5/16/97), a professional
non-linear editing (NLE) video editor for Windows NT for the
Broadcast industry. This can handle AVI as well as other formats.

Speed Razor (not cheap)
http://www.in-sync.com/

Return to Top

Fast Movie Processor

October, 1998.
Fast Movie Processor, version 1.41
Copyright 1997,1998 Robert Tibljas and Zeljko Nikolic

ABOUT FAST MOVIE PROCESSOR (FMP)

The program's purpose is to convert and process image sequences and
movies. While converting it can apply many image filters and
functions like emboss, brightness, contrast, gamma correction, blur,
sharpen, mirror and others. Invaluable if you need to construct an
AVI movie, change resolution of images or perform quick changes and
adjustments. Program is easy to use and highly optimized for speed.
Disk usage is reduced to the minimum.

DISTRIBUTION

This program uses shareware distribution concept. If you intend to
use Fast Movie Processor only for non-commercial purposes you are
not obligated to register. However, if you are using it for
commercial purpose you must register it before.

E-mail: rapidi@planetall.com

Home page: http://www.bigfoot.com/~rapidi
http://members.xoom.com/rapidi

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Peck's Power Join

A program to join AVI files end to end.

http://members.tripod.com/~grok/video.htm

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Editing and Converting WAV files

AVI and WAV files are closely related. WAV files are the sound file
format, and frequently provide the source for the sound tracks in an
AVI file.

CoolEdit (PC)

A good shareware sound editor and sound file format converter is
Syntrillium Software's CoolEdit (Cool96) for Windows 3.1 and Windows
95. This supports many common sound file formats such as Apple's
.aiff and Next/Sun .au files.

http://www.syntrillium.com/

GoldWave (Windows 3.1/95/NT)

Another shareware sound editor and sound file format converter is
GoldWave.

http://www.goldwave.com/

Macromedia's SoundEdit16 (Macintosh)

Macromedia markets a sound editor for the Macintosh called
SoundEdit16 + Deck II. SoundEdit can open and save in WAV
format. For further information on SoundEdit, see the
Macromedia Web site:

http://www.macromedia.com/

Sound Forge

Sonic Foundry markets a digital sound editor for Windows called
Sound Forge 4.0 (5/16/97) Sound Forge includes support for importing
AVI video and editing the sound to synchronize with specific frames in
the AVI file.

http://www.dg.co.il/Forge/forge.htm

SpeedRazor (Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0)

in:sync produces SpeedRazor Mach 3.51 (5/16/97), a professional
non-linear editing (NLE) video editor for Windows NT for the
Broadcast industry. SpeedRazor can read and write WAV audio files.
It has sophisticated multi-track stereo audio editing and mixing
features.

Speed Razor (not cheap)
http://www.in-sync.com/

Editing and Converting Sound Files on the Macintosh

A Macintosh shareware utility SoundHack by Tom Erbe can read, write, and
modify sound files on the Macintosh including Microsoft WAV
format and AIFF. Macintosh users can use SoundHack to convert
AIFF and other Macintosh sound files to the WAV format for
integration in AVI.

http://www.imuse.com/Soundhack.html

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How to output an AVI file to videotape:

AVI files generated with a video editor such as Premiere or a 3D
Animation program such as Caligari TrueSpace can be output to
videotape (e.g. a VHS tape) using a hardware device known as a scan
converter. A scan converter converts the VGA signal intended for
the computer monitor into an video signal, typically NTSC or S-Video.
The video signal can then be input into a videotape recorder such as a
VHS VCR.

A scan converter may be a small box which resides between the computer
and the monitor. It may be integrated into a video card. For example, ATI's
new 3D XPRESSION+PC2TV video card includes NTSC and S-Video output as well
as output to a conventional computer monitor.

Configure the PC graphics in one of the modes supported by the scan conversion
hardware and play the AVI file in full screen mode.

Some manufacturers of scan converter (or similar) hardware:

ATI Web Page

VideoLogic Web Page

PC Video Conversion claims to make a high quality scan converter
called HyperConverter that converts from SuperVGA to broadcast quality
NTSC/PAL video. Less than $5000.

PC Video Conversion

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The Phantom Final Frame when Viewing an AVI

When playing or viewing an AVI with a number of Microsoft Windows
applications, you will see a "phantom" final frame. The "phantom" frame
may appear as a blank frame or a duplicate of the last frame depending
on the Windows application.

For example, if you have a one second AVI file with 30 frames and
you view this AVI file with Microsoft VidEdit 1.1, VidEdit will
display positions that it numbers 0-30. The 30 position will appear as
a blank frame. Note that 0-30 means 31 total positions; there is a
"phantom" final frame.

If you view the 30 frame AVI file with Microsoft Media Player, there
will also be positions 0-30. In this case, position 30 is a duplicate
of frame 29.

What is this?

The MCIAVI driver has a concept of the "end" or "position after the last
frame in an AVI". In the 30 frame AVI example above, positions 0 through
29 are the actual frames in the AVI file. 0 is the first frame, 1 is the
second frame, and 29 is the last (30'th) frame. Position 30 is the "end"
or "position after the last frame in an AVI".

The Microsoft Windows application, such as VidEdit 1.1 or Media Player,
decides what to display for this "end" position.

You can see this feature of the MCIAVI driver through the Media Player.
Open an AVI file through Media Player. Then, type Ctrl-F5 to invoke
a dialog box for entering MCI (Media Control Interface) string commands.

set time format frames
status length (would return 30 for the example above)
seek to start
status position (returns 0)
seek to end
status position (returns 30 - this is the "phantom" frame)
seek to 29 (this is the true last frame in the AVI file)
seek to 0
play
status position (returns 30)

In conclusion, the "phantom" final frame represents the position after
the last frame in the AVI file. It is NOT a frame in the AVI file.

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Binary File Editors for Viewing and Editing AVI Files

Occasionally, you may need to view or edit an AVI file at the
down and dirty byte level. Use a binary file editor for this.

Many binary file editors, including quite a number of free
ones, exist.

HexEdit

Harmony Systems offers HexEdit, a free binary editor for Windows NT
and 95, that can be downloaded from their Web site:

http://www.hsys.com/hex.htm

SimTel Archives

The SimTel collection of ms-dos software includes a section with
many binary file editors. There are many mirrors of the SimTel
site. One is:

http://oak.oakland.edu/simtel.net/msdos/binaryed.html

HEdit 2.1

Trial versions of HEdit, a binary file editor, both for Windows 95/NT and
Windows 3.1 are available at:

http://www.yurisw.com/hedit/

GNU Emacs (Unix)

The GNU Emacs editor from the Free Software Foundation has a hexadecimal
mode. The GNU Emacs command to invoke this mode is hexl-mode.

In GNU Emacs, type the META Key (ESC-x)

Type: hexl-mode at the command prompt.

The current buffer will switch into (Hexl) mode.

On my Unix system (Sun), I found the Hexl mode a little sluggish
at times. Sometimes I had to wait several seconds to get a response
to scrolling or jumping to the start of the AVI file. Emacs modes
are usually implemented in interpreted LISP; this may be the reason.

beav (Unix)

beav, a binary file editor and viewer, is available for Unix.

beav displays the contents of a binary file as both hexadecimal and
ASCII in side by side views.

beav can edit as well as view binary files such as AVI files.

Unix Prompt% beav file.avi

od (Unix)

od is a common Unix command. It is NOT an editor. od
stands for Octal Dump.

od file.avi | more (Octal Dump of AVI File)

od -x file.avi | more (Hexadecimal Dump of AVI File)

od -a file.avi | more (ASCII Dump of AVI File)

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RIFF and AVI Parser/Viewers

VidTrace

VidTrace is a 32-bit Windows console application for Windows 95 and
Windows NT that I wrote to parse and display RIFF and AVI files.
VidTrace displays the RIFF Forms, LISTS, and CHUNK. VidTrace also
understands the AVI header format, audio stream header format, and
video stream header format.

Sample output of VIDTRACE some-file.avi

RIFF (139086) AVI
LIST (2004) hdrl
avih (56)
Microseconds Per Frame: 33333
30.000300 Frames Per Second
Maximum Bytes Per Second: 1727488
Pad to Multiples of This Size: 6050647
Flags DWORD (hex): 710
FLAG: (AVIF_HASINDEX) AVI File Has 'idx1' chunk
FLAG: (AVIF_ISINTERLEAVED) AVI File is Interleaved
Total Frames: 239
Initial Frames: 23
Number of Streams: 2
Suggested Buffer Size: 57582
Width in Pixels: 160
Height in Pixels: 112
Scale (MAY BE UNUSED): 0
Rate (MAY BE UNUSED): 3220642425
Samples Per Second (MAY BE UNUSED): 3220642425
Start of AVI File (MAY BE UNUSED): 27920
Length of AVI File (MAY BE UNUSED): 4294967295
LIST (116) strl
strh (56)
Stream Type (Four Character Code): 'vids'
'vids' is Four Character Code for Video Stream
Installable Compressor (Four Character Code): 'vdow'
'VDOW' is Four Character Code for VDONet VDOWave Video Codec
Flags (hex): 0
Priority (MAY BE UNUSED) (hex): 0
Language Code (MAY BE UNUSED) (hex): 0
Initial Frames: 0
Scale: 33333
Rate: 1000000
Start: 0
Length: 239
Suggested Buffer Size: 1340
Quality: 0
Sample Size: 0
Frame (MAY BE UNUSED OR ABSENT): 0 0 0 2170023936
strf (40)
Windows Bitmap Header
Number of Bytes Required by Bitmap Structure: 40
Width of Bitmap in Pixels: 160
Height of Bitmap in Pixels: 112
Number of Planes: 1
Number of Bits Per Pixel (1,4,8,16,24, or 32): 24
Compression Mode (hex): 574f4456
COMPRESSION: Custom Compression 'VDOW'
Size of Image in Bytes: 53856
Horizontal Resolution in Pixels per Meter: 0
Vertical Resolution in Pixels per Meter: 0
Number of Color Indices Actually Used by the Bitmap: 0
Number of Color Indices Considered Important to Display Bitmap: 0
LIST (92) strl
strh (56)
Stream Type (Four Character Code): 'auds'
'auds' is Four Character Code for Audio Stream
Installable Compressor (Four Character Code): ''
'' is Four Character Code for Uncompressed Audio
Flags (hex): 0
Priority (MAY BE UNUSED) (hex): 0
Language Code (MAY BE UNUSED) (hex): 0
Initial Frames: 23
Scale: 1
Rate: 11025
Start: 0
Length: 87512
Suggested Buffer Size: 368
Quality: 0
Sample Size: 1
Frame (MAY BE UNUSED OR ABSENT): 0 0 0 2170023936
strf (16)
Windows Waveform Audio Header
Waveform Audio Format Type (hex): 1
Audio Format (WAVE_FORMAT_PCM): Microsoft Pulse Code Modulation Audio
Number of Channels of Audio: 1
Samples Per Second: 11025
Required Data Transfer Rates (Bytes Per Second): 11025
Block Alignment in Bytes: 1
Bits Per Sample: 8
Size of Extra Format Information Appended to End of WAVEFORMATEX Structure (Bytes): -15736
vedt (8)
JUNK (1688)
LIST (104908) movi
LIST (380) rec
01wb (367)
LIST (380) rec
01wb (368)
LIST (380) rec
01wb (367)
.
.
.
LIST (16) rec
00dc (4)
idx1 (11840)
DISP (21)
DISP (20268)

Download VIDTRACE

Microsoft RIFFWALK

Microsoft distributes a command line utility called RIFFWALK with the
16-bit Video for Windows 1.1e Development Kit that parses the
structure of RIFF and AVI files, displaying the file structure in RIFF
Forms, LISTS, and CHUNKS.

Sample output of RIFFWALK some-file.avi

00000000 RIFF (00021F4E) 'AVI '
0000000C LIST (000007D4) 'hdrl'
00000018 avih (00000038)
00000058 LIST (00000074) 'strl'
00000064 strh (00000038)
000000A4 strf (00000028)
000000D4 LIST (0000005C) 'strl'
000000E0 strh (00000038)
00000120 strf (00000010)
00000138 vedt (00000008)
000007E8 LIST (000199CC) 'movi'
0001A1BC idx1 (00002E40)
0001D004 DISP (00000015)
0001D022 DISP (00004F2C)
00021F56

The Video for Windows 1.1e Development Kit is included with the
16-bit SDK's in the Microsoft Developer Network CD-ROM's.

Bill Luken's RIFFSCAN

RIFFSCAN is another DOS console application that prints out
a human readable ASCII trace of RIFF and AVI files.

http://home.att.net/~wluken/bill2sw.htm

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Size limits on AVI files

An AVI file cannot be larger than the disk partition that
contains it. Different filesystems have different maximum sizes
for disk partitions.

Under the 16 bit FAT (File Allocation Table) filesystem used by DOS,
disk partitions are limited to a maximum size of 2GB (Gigabytes). In
DOS, a hard disk is divided into 512 byte sectors. DOS Version 4
added support for 32 bit sector numbers. 2 raised to the 32 is roughly 4
billion, multiply this times 512 bytes in a sector to get the 2GB
limit. FAT16 partitions are limited to 2GB, necessarilly limiting AVI
files to a maximum size of 2GB as well.

DOS versions prior to DOS 4 limited disk partitions to 32MB (Megabytes).
These earlier versions of DOS used 16 bit sector numbers in all I/O
routines. 2 raised to the 16th power is 64K, multiply this by 512 bytes
in a sector to get the 32MB limit.

Partitions using other filesystems such as the Windows NT File Systems (NTFS)
may not be subject to the 2GB limit.

The new FAT32 filesystem available with Windows 95 permits partitions larger
than 2GB. Unfortunately, a 1 or 2 GB file size limit is hard wired
into some of the code for the Microsoft Video for Windows. In
particular, the RIFF parser code and MCIAVI (the MCI driver for
AVI files) contain a 1 GB or 2 GB limit hard wired into them.

Microsoft's Active Movie, which replaces Video for Windows,
allegedly contains fixes for the 1-2 GB size limits hard wired
into Video for Windows.

Microsoft's OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2) incorporates FAT32. Earlier
OEM releases and the retail version of Windows 95 (as of 2/15/97) do
not include FAT32. Microsoft sayeth: "Neither MS-DOS 6.x nor retail
versions of Windows 95 will recognize a FAT32 volume". To see if you
have OSR2, go to the Control Panel, select the System icon, and click
the General tab. It will say "4.00.950b". If there is no trailing
letter or "4.00.950a", then you do not have OSR2.

OEM versions of Windows 95 cannot be purchased separately as off the
shelf software. They are bundled on systems created by companies
like Dell, Compaq, and so forth. The retail version(s?) of Windows 95
can be purchased at software stores or through software resellers.

I believe that there was some sort of beta release of FAT32 prior to
OSR2, either a special version of Windows 95 or a way to install FAT32
in versions of Windows 95 that did not come with FAT32.

OSR2 and FAT32 seem to have some problems. Some applications
such as Corel's Paradox 7 fail on FAT32 volumes. See:

Bug Net Web Site

or search the Microsoft Knowledge Base for the keyword OSR2.

The header for an AVI file includes a 32 bit AVI file length, imposing
a restriction of 4GB on the AVI file size.

How to get around the 2 GB Size Limit on AVI Files

OpenDML AVI File Format Extensions

The Open Digital Media (OpenDML) Consortium has defined
OpenDML AVI File Format Extensions to add support for
professional video functionalities to AVI. This includes
a fix for the 2/4 GB limit. The OpenDML AVI File Format
Extensions are used by some professional video capture
and editing products (See VirtualDub below).

Microsoft has claimed to have incorporated the extended OpenDML
version of AVI into ActiveMovie 1.0 (now DirectShow) from Microsoft.
This may be an example of Microsoft vaporware.

VirtualDub 1.2 a is a (free) open software video capture
and editing program. Quote from VirtualDub web page:

VirtualDub can read and write AVI files with hierarchical, 64-bit
indexing specified in the OpenDML 1.02 standard and supported by
both ActiveMovie (Windows Media Player) and QuickTime. This means
you can capture and process files beyond the infamous 2-gigabyte
barrier, and work on video in one segment.

http://www.geocities.com/virtualdub/

Known Versions of VirtualDub:

VirtualDub 1.2a (available January 2000)
VirtualDub 1.1

OTHER WORKAROUNDS

AVI_IO is a product that is a workaround for the 2GB
limit on AVI file sizes in Video for Windows.
It accomplishes this by supposedly seamlessly storing
longer AVI files in a series of AVI files. For example,
a 6 GB video clip would be stored in three (3) 2 GB AVI files.

There is a free trial available at:

http://www.nct.ch/multimedia/avi_io/

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How to Fix Problem with CorelMove4.0 AVI Files

CorelMove 4.0 exports AVI files that cannot be played using
Video for Windows 1.1 or the Windows 95 Video for Windows or
ActiveMovie 1.0.

Corel has a fix file that can be downloaded from their software
library. The file is called "cmvfix.exe."

The URL is...
http://www.corel.com/products/graphicsandpublishing/draw4/library.htm

Description text from the Web page...

Title: CMVFIX.EXE For CorelMOVE 4.0 AVI export correction

CMVFIX.EXE by Corel Corporation 1994 contains these
compressed files: CMV4FIX.EXE is a compressed file that
contains fixes for CorelMOVE 4.0's AVI file exports. These
are new replacement .DLLs. AVI4FIX.EXE is a Windows
application that will allow you to correct older CorelMOVE
4.0 AVI files to work with MS-Video For Windows 1.1. If you
create an AVI file AFTER installing the CMV4FIX update that
accompanies this fix, then you will NOT be required to run
this application. This will change the RLE compression in
the CorelMOVE AVI files.

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DV Video Data and AVI

DV, which appears to be an abbreviation for Digital Video, is a digital
video format for use in digital video cameras. It is similar to Motion
JPEG. Microsoft has specified a scheme for incorporating DV video data
in AVI files.

What is Type 1 DV AVI?

There are two types of AVI files containing DV digital video data.

A Type 1 DV AVI file stores the DV digital video in a single AVI stream
called "ivas", which stands for "interleaved video/audio stream". IVAS
is the four character code used to identify the stream. The IVAS stream
contains the native DV video format which contains interleaved video and
audio data using the video and audio encodings specified by the DV
standard.

Type-1 DV AVI files are not compatible with Video for Windows and cannot
be used with Video for Windows (VfW) based video editors. Microsoft currently
states that it will provide DV encoder and decoder filters for DirectShow
only.

As of January 24, 2000, Microsoft posted a description of DV Video Data and
AVI Files at:

http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/desinit/dvavi.htm

What is Type 2 DV AVI?

There are two types of AVI files containing DV digital video data.

A Type 1 DV AVI file stores the DV digital video in the "vids" video stream.
The audio data is also stored in the "auds" audio stream. "vids" and "auds"
are the standard AVI video and audio streams used in most AVI files. This
Type 2 DV AVI file format is backward compatible with Video for Windows.

As of January 24, 2000, Microsoft posted a description of DV Video Data and
AVI Files at:

http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/desinit/dvavi.htm

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How to make AVI NTSC (or PAL) Safe

AVI files can represent colors that are not supported by the NTSC or
PAL analog video standards. These colors correspond to
synchronization and control signals in the NTSC or PAL video. Such
AVI files cause problems if translated to NTSC or PAL video.

Equilibrium's DeBabelizer Pro for Windows 95 and NT 4.0 reads and
writes about 90 common and not so common image file formats as well
as AVI files. In addition to translating between all of these formats,
DeBabelizer Pro has a number of image processing functions.

DeBabelizer Pro can remove colors from AVI files that are excluded by
NTSC or PAL to create an NTSC or PAL safe AVI file.

Equilibrium has a demonstration version of DeBabelizer Pro on its
Web site. This is a demonstration version. The demonstration version
adds the words Equilibrium (very large words) to all images and video that
it processes.

DeBabelizer Pro ($595 Suggested Retail Price)
Equilibrium
475 Gate Five Road, Suite 225
Sausalito, CA 94965
1(800)524-8651 or (415) 332-4343

http://www.equilibrium.com/

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Disclaimer

jmcgowan11@earthlink.net