Play and/or convert .264 files using OS X or Linux

[bedouin]

I bought a cheap camera last week (more about that here). The firmware saves video files with the extension .264, which I've learned is a raw h264 file and commonly used by many manufacturers. Tricks I've found on-line to convert these files (e.g., using MKVToolNix) do not seem to work.

The camera comes with some Windows-only software, including a tool to convert the .264 files to other formats and play them back. Is there a way to do this without the manufacturer's application using OS X or Linux? Ideally, I'd like to just play them back in an ordinary video player without converting them — if that's possible. Aside from the annoyance of having to load a Windows virtual machine, the files converted by the manufacturer's app play too fast and lack sound (although they playback fine using the manufacture's mobile app and player for Windows). I'm not averse to command-line solutions.

If they are of any use, here are the video and audio settings.

 

[jasauders]

Would you be able to host a test video that we could download? I'm not familiar with the .264 extension, but I'd be curious about taking a shot at it and seeing if anything in my notes/software arsenal may help.

 

[bedouin]

See the zipped attachment.

View attachment A161030_101708_101722.264.zip

 

[jasauders]

Not having any luck so far. VLC took a dump to play it + didn't produce a playable video when I used VLC to convert it, Handbrake won't convert it, WinFF (ffmpeg frontend) doesn't fly, ffplay via terminal doesn't play it, and remuxing it with ffmpeg doesn't return a playable video. MPlayer/SMPlayer, an often praised alternative to VLC for also supporting "every format under the sun" didn't do much either. Renaming .264 to .h264 as advised by VLC forums as a "sometimes works" idea didn't work either.

I can't lie, I have yet to see a video file as fussy as this one before. I'll keep trying, though.

 

[andyblac]

come across them before, KGUARD use there own proprietary H264 and get same results, you have to use they own players NO WAY around it.

 

[jasauders]

That level of proprietary is such a poison...

 

[bedouin]

I don't know if looking at a converted file from the camera's bundled app would help, but I've attached one. It will open in VLC. The app appends .H264 onto converted files as opposed to .264. The quality degradation is pretty noticeable after conversion.

 

[jasauders]

Just tried that file here. Seems to work. VLC plays it back at a faster pace, though. SMPlayer plays it without issue, but I have to set my file type in the 'open' box to 'all files' to see it listed. SMPlayer plays back at regular speed. Same is true for Totem ("Videos" on Ubuntu) -- plays at regular speed, but must kind of force the program to open it.

 

[bedouin]

come across them before, KGUARD use there own proprietary H264 and get same results, you have to use they own players NO WAY around it.

You'd think such a cheap camera by an unknown manufacturer would be relying on something somewhat open.

 

[bedouin]

Just tried that file here. Seems to work. VLC plays it back at a faster pace, though. SMPlayer plays it without issue, but I have to set my file type in the 'open' box to 'all files' to see it listed. SMPlayer plays back at regular speed. Same is true for Totem ("Videos" on Ubuntu) -- plays at regular speed, but must kind of force the program to open it.

Yeah, that file was created using the proprietary, Windows-only conversion software. I'd like to avoid using Windows at all if possible. In addition to speeding the video up, the conversion deletes the sound.

 

[nayr]

You'd think such a cheap camera by an unknown manufacturer would be relying on something somewhat open.

as they say; you get what you pay for.