[AG-DEV] resurrecting AGVCRtoMPEG2

Thu Jun 16 23:34:40 CDT 2011

	I don't honestly remember what happened to that code :) .. the AGVCR
file format hasn't and shouldn't need to change since the 2.x release
that added the proper RTCP replaying. So, if any code was made to
convert the 2.x files then that would be great. The file format itself
is just replaying packetized data from whatever codec was transmitted so
is codec agnostic. Frame timing may be the only major hurdle to overcome
since packet times do not necessarily correlate to desired frame times,
i.e if frames were dropped or stuttering occured when received by the
recording AGVCR, then those errors are 'faithfully' reproduced. That was
and is a potential failing of the AGVCR model and may make conversion to
other video formats hard since most do not like variable framerates. If
whatever converts the video just picks its own framerate and then
chooses whatever frame AGVCR 'would' transmit at that given time then
that may well yield a reasonable video. Correlating audio and video may
be the real trick though. :)
	I may some time get back to working on AGVCR but I have a full plate
with other things these days with my current job and family and thus it
is unlikely I will be able to help. If anyone needs help understanding
the AGVCR file format though, let me know.

	Derek

On Fri, 2011-06-17 at 10:25 +1000, Claus Endres wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> A long time ago, I wrote code for ffmpeg to allow it to use AGVCR files as an input format.
> I handed the code over to the AGVCR developer Derek Piper to keep it in sync with changing AGVCR file
> formats.
> 
> I have no idea what happened to the code. It is possibly still hidden in ffmpeg.
> 
> It required to extract one stream first (using AGVCR), and then convert it to whatever format
> you wanted.
> 
> I used this to produce DVDs from a series of podium discussions broadcast via AG. We were
> streaming PAL resolution MPEG4.
> 
> Regards,
> Claus.
> Gabriel Noronha wrote:
> > Thanks Andrew 
> > 
> > I'll fire your software up and see what it does, you need to advertise your project more because I've never heard of it before and I only found agvcrtompeg2 by intense googling for ag recorders to other outputs. 
> > 
> > your software might do what we want. (except convert archived records) 
> > 
> > Gabriel 
> > 
> >>>> Andrew Rowley <Andrew.Rowley at manchester.ac.uk> 16/06/11 10:53 PM >>>
> > Hi,
> > 
> > I was working on a project called ViCoVRE which was involved in much the same sort of thing - i.e. taking AG recordings and converting them into other formats.
> > 
> > The project is currently hosted at:
> > http://vicovre.googlecode.com
> > 
> > There is quite a lot of code in there that will probably do what you want.  It is in Java, but makes use of native ffmpeg libraries to do the actual conversion.  Feel free to have a look and let me know if you have any questions.  I think that the main thing that is missing is a reader for the AGVCR format (it uses its own AG recording format), although there is support for writing AGVCR files.  It is also mainly web-based, so I would guess it might need a GUI if you prefer stand-alone execution.  At worst, it might give you some hints for your own code ;)
> > 
> > Hope this is useful,
> > 
> > Andrew :)
> >  
> > ---------------------------------------------------------
> >  
> >    Andrew G D Rowley
> >    Senior Software Engineer, NaCTeM
> >  
> >    School of Computer Science
> >    Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre
> >    131 Princess Street, M1 7DN
> >    t :  +44 (0) 161 306 3093
> >    e :  Andrew.Rowley at manchester.ac.uk 
> >  
> > ---------------------------------------------------------
> > 
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: ag-dev-bounces at lists.mcs.anl.gov [mailto:ag-dev-bounces at lists.mcs.anl.gov] On Behalf Of Gabriel Noronha
> > Sent: 16 June 2011 12:50
> > To: ag-dev at mcs.anl.gov
> > Cc: manyon at gmail.com
> > Subject: [AG-DEV] resurrecting AGVCRtoMPEG2
> > 
> > Hi all 
> > 
> > AGVCRtoMPEG2 converts AGVCR recordings to something more useful for playback eg mpeg2 and mp3. 
> > so far the project was abandon 5 years ago https://trac.ci.uchicago.edu/if-media/browser/AGVCRToMPEG2 
> > the code for 5 years ago successfully can extract h261 and audio and produce mpeg2 and mp3's. 
> > 
> > I tracked the name of the orginal dev Yifan Lu but it seems he's to have moved on. 
> > 
> > In my efforts to understand it a bit better I've run the source through doxygen to get call graphs and a understanding of flow. 
> > http://noronha.id.au/AGVCRToMPEG2/files.html 
> > 
> > I've noticed he's copied code from VPC project and VPMedia but then deleted stuff. Is their any active documentation for those projects ? and is any active devs out their able to tell me if the new code will just copy and paste in ? 
> > 
> > currently waiting on uchicargo to give me svn access to upload any changes their is already a patch to allow it to compile with newer gcc and some new ubuntu install instructions. 11.04
> > 
> > plans just so you know: (in order sorta)
> >     full codec support h264 h261as and mpeg4 
> >     different arrangements for videos 1 large rest small etc..   
> >     update to use new ffmpeg functions so not using superseeded functions. 
> >     64 bit support
> >     GPU accelerated  (dreaming)
> >     new UI (maybe) 
> > 
> > yours 
> > 
> > Gabriel 
> > 
> > 
> > ----
> > Gabriel Noronha 
> > Access Grid Support Officer 
> > University of Newcastle 
> 
> 
> -- 
> --------------------------------------------------------
> Claus Endres                | Phone:  +61-3-5998 2310
> Endres Consulting Pty. Ltd. | Mobile: +61-418-595 136
> 10 Facey Road               | Fax:    +61-3-5998 2540
> Devon Meadows, VIC 3977     | claus at endresconsulting.com

-- 
Derek Piper - dcpiper at indiana.edu - (812) 855 5560
System Administrator / Informatics Specialist
Molecular Structure Center (IUMSC), Chemistry
Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
http://www.iumsc.indiana.edu/