How to best save 2 channel avi

[cacherjoe]

I have a Thinkware F550 with the rear camera also installed. I'm able to save the AVI, but am having issues getting both channels to show in a single window. Windows Media Player doesn't like it at all, and VLC will show it in 2 separate windows.

What software or how are other saving the files do you can post to Youtube or Facebook, etc.

Thanks

Joe

 

[jokiin]

Don't they have their own playback software for these?

 

[cacherjoe]

There is and it is a pretty good program. The problem is when both cameras are in use there is a single avi file generated. I want to be able to separate the streams and better display the footage from the 2 cameras.

I did find a way. Ffmpeg to spit the streams then Wondershare Video Edit to overlay the rear camera as a PIP. Works great.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

Yeah those combined streams into a single AVi are a bit funky

 

[Gibson99]

There is and it is a pretty good program. The problem is when both cameras are in use there is a single avi file generated. I want to be able to separate the streams and better display the footage from the 2 cameras.

I did find a way. Ffmpeg to spit the streams then Wondershare Video Edit to overlay the rear camera as a PIP. Works great.

i thought ffmpeg was just a codec. are you splitting the two streams with some command line magic? if so, please share. my CF-100 works similar to your camera in that it puts both front and rear video streams into a single AVI container. And just out of curiosity, which stream ends up with the audio? front, rear, both or is the audio split into its own mp3 file? I could see wanting just the rear video but also wanting the audio with it. that would actually be cool if it could be split into three separate files - 2 mov files and an mp3... much more flexible that way for editing/compiling.

 

[cacherjoe]

i thought ffmpeg was just a codec. are you splitting the two streams with some command line magic? if so, please share. my CF-100 works similar to your camera in that it puts both front and rear video streams into a single AVI container. And just out of curiosity, which stream ends up with the audio? front, rear, both or is the audio split into its own mp3 file? I could see wanting just the rear video but also wanting the audio with it. that would actually be cool if it could be split into three separate files - 2 mov files and an mp3... much more flexible that way for editing/compiling.

Sorry it took so long to reply. I didn't realize there was a reply there.

I'm new at ffmpeg so I can't get technical. An IT guy at work mentioned it and I found the following from a google search:

You have to run 2 commands to separate the streams individually. The output*.avi is what you want to name the output file. You have to know some simple dos commands to navigate to the folder your files are in. Other than that it is pretty easy. When you install ffmpeg, run the batch file. You will get a dos box, run the commands from there.
ffmpeg -i test.avi -map 0:0 -vcodec copy output1.avi
ffmpeg -i test.avi -map 0:1 -vcodec copy output2.avi

test.avi = your file name
0:0 = stream 0 (front)
0:1 = stream 1 (rear)
0:2 = stream 2 (audio) I don't have audio enabled on my camera so I don't split that out. I assume you can have the output file name as mp3 or something or it may tag the audio on one of the video streams. You may have to play with it a bit.

 

[Gibson99]

excellent! i'm quite familar with dos (it's part of my day job)... i could even write a simple vbscript or powershell script to have a graphical front-end so that non-techy users can easily use it as well.

I'll have to grab a file off the wife's dashcam and experiment with it.

 

[Mtz]

OK, we are waiting for it.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[cacherjoe]

That would be awesome.

 

[Mtz]

Would


enjoy,
Mtz

 

[Gibson99]

finally got some time to work on this. holy cow it's 3am? maybe i should take a break and sleep on it.

anyway, i'm using vbscript to do it. on my CF-100, the audio track is recorded in PCM so i had to save it as .wav rather than .mp3 - ffmpeg doesn't have a built-in codec to convert to mp3, so it failed on audio. but once i figured that out, it's basically done. i'm looking into giving the user the option to combine the audio with the individual video tracks, but that's not as critical. as it stands right now, it seems to work right. as you can see below, the first file is the original one direct from the dashcam's memory card. below that are the three tracks broken out by my script and ffmpeg. it also writes a log file containing the output from ffmpeg, for those who like to look at that sort of thing. Most people probably won't need that log file though.



can you guys with cameras other than the CF-100 please check the metadata/info on your combined files (using VLC or even ffmpeg) and see what compression method the audio track uses? if everyone seems to be using PCM then that makes things simple for me. and just to be sure - your combined files from the camera are .AVI right?

 

[Mtz]

Man, you should move to Romania. Here is 11:30 AM.

OK, so where is the script?

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[Gibson99]

well the script was putting together a command line, but for whatever reason it won't actually RUN the command line. i could dump it to a txt file then run that file manually as a .bat file and it'd create the files just fine. so i may end up doing that, unless this way i'm about to try to dump the command line into a string then try to run the string... works.

there's never just one way to do something... the trick is finding the way that WORKS.

 

[Gibson99]

OK I think it's ready for public testing.

edit: I've posted a new thread just for my script so that it's easier for me to keep track of, and hopefully easier for other users to find. Post any comments about the script to that thread, link below:
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...video-file-splitter-utility-for-windows.9814/

 

[GTA Driver]

Thanks for finding this program. I have been trying to separate my channels for a year now

ffmpeg -i test.avi -map 0:0 -vcodec copy output1.avi
ffmpeg -i test.avi -map 0:1 -vcodec copy output2.avi

test.avi = your file name
0:0 = stream 0 (front)
0:1 = stream 1 (rear)
0:2 = stream 2 (audio).

I wonder if the channel and consequently the map parameters vary from manufacturer, model number or file format as I get different settings.

My parameters vary from what you have, i get:

0:0 = audio
0:1 = front
0:2 = rear​

My cam records in MP4

 

[Gibson99]

i didnt find ffmpeg, others on here did, but i wrote this script myself. i can easily tweak it to work for your camera. can you post a raw file somewhere so i can test my modifications? i will then post that vbscript to allow you and others with your model camera to use it. so in addition to the raw file, what is your camera's make and model?

 

[GTA Driver]

i didnt find ffmpeg, others on here did, but i wrote this script myself. i can easily tweak it to work for your camera. can you post a raw file somewhere so i can test my modifications? i will then post that vbscript to allow you and others with your model camera to use it. so in addition to the raw file, what is your camera's make and model?

My camera is an JaewonCNC Iroad Ione 3300ch .

Looking for a free alternative to dropbox where you don't need a credit card to evaluate. I used to share files all the time.

 

[Gibson99]

Never used it myself but maybe Google drive?

 

[GTA Driver]

Never used it myself but maybe Google drive?

I wanted to keep my Dash cam and related activities separate from other personal interests and attempted to create a google account based on my driving. It asks for cell phone number, not sure if that is mandatory, but cell phone number is attached to another gmail account.

So I made a hushmail email account which I have just begun use for the logins for thing srelated to dash cams, and advocating safer driving in the area.

Problem I am having, and why it may be good to use google drive or shell out for Drop box is the size limitation of the free alternatives. Most have a 5 mb size limit and my raw files from my Iroad are 25 mb.

Here is a streamfile link which will be good for 24 hours
https://www.streamfile.com/pickup/h6pHytmDzb8T

 

[jokiin]

www.mega.co.nz