Question / Help Question about automating OBS

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MrMike

New Member
I'm interested in using OBS in an automated way to save and convert video clips from a Blue Iris surveillance system. Blue Iris can convert the clips it saves but you have to step though them one-by-one manually to do it. Ideally I'd like to convert them to MP4 or some other common format.

The clips that the Blue Iris produces are in an oddball proprietary format and are saved as ".BVR" files. As far as I can tell they can only be played back through the Blue Iris software itself or through an application named "Media Player Classic - Home Cinema (MPC-HC) ".

Unfortunately the MPC software doesn't offer any "Save as" capability. :(

My goal is to schedule clips to be converted at night when the system load is low. The clips are stored on a NAS but could be moved to wherever they need to be for conversion. My hope is to play the clips in MPC and have OBS capture the window they play in (or even from the video stream itself if that's possible), and then save them as MP4 files.

(I kind of doubt that OBS can load a raw .BVR file, but there's a sample file here if anyone wants to see if it can: https://we.tl/t-kCekdc2OMD , 3.7 MB, it's just a cat running by and triggering the camera. I think the file will get removed a week from today.)

So, with all that said, does this sound like something that OBS could do? I see there's a plugin that allows control of OBS from the command line (Command line tool for obs-websocket plugin (Windows) 1.5.2, and if that works the way I think it does, that might be a solution.

Thank you for reading this far. Any ideas or suggestions you could offer would be very welcome!

Mike
 
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rockbottom

Active Member
I manage commercial real estate, that Blue Iris system sucks ass. I would never install that crap in any of my buildings, what a POS. Proprietary files, must be converted with the Blue Iris app....
 
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rockbottom

Active Member
No

I downloaded your file & tried to re-mux it with Avidemux, no go.

Then I tried to remux it with Shana Encoder, it worked!! https://we.tl/t-5Q8ybR6yZ7

Unfortunately you won't be able to automate it but at least you'll be able to remux the files without needing the BI app.

Here's the link to D/L Shana Encoder https://shana.pe.kr/

===================== General =====================
Complete name : T:\Untitled_2020-03-21_16-38-22.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Formatprofile : Base Media
Codec Id : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 3.54 MB
Duration (ms) : 7s 320ms
Overall bit rate : 4 059 Kbps
Writing application : ShanaEncoder

===================== Video =====================
Id : 1
Format : AVC
Format info : Advanced Video Codec
Formatprofile : High@L5.1
Formatsettings, CABAC : Yes
Formatsettings, ReFrames : 1 frame
Formatsettings, GOP : M=1, N=24
Codec Id : avc1
Codec info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration (ms) : 7s 320ms
Bit rate : 4 057 Kbps
Width : 2 560 pixels
Height : 1 440 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.044
Stream size : 3.54 MB (100%)
 
Last edited:
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rockbottom

Active Member
I was also able to use HandBrake with your file (re-encode). https://we.tl/t-Dxc4YTK9yT

HandBrake Capture.JPG


===================== General =====================
Complete name : T:\Sideyard-W.20200318-1.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Formatprofile : Base Media / Version 2
Codec Id : mp42 (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 2.86 MB
Duration (ms) : 7s 633ms
Overall bit rate : 3 139 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2020-03-21 21:19:21
Tagged date : UTC 2020-03-21 21:19:21
Writing application : HandBrake 1.3.1 2020010400

===================== Video =====================
Id : 1
Format : AVC
Format info : Advanced Video Codec
Formatprofile : Main@L4
Formatsettings, CABAC : Yes
Formatsettings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec Id : avc1
Codec info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration (ms) : 7s 633ms
Bit rate : 3 135 Kbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) fps
Minimum frame rate : 23.974 fps
Maximum frame rate : 23.981 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.063
Stream size : 2.85 MB (100%)
Writing library : x264 core 157 r2935 545de2f
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=2 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=hex / subme=6 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=1 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=30 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=22.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=20000 / vbv_bufsize=25000 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Encoded date : UTC 2020-03-21 21:19:21
Tagged date : UTC 2020-03-21 21:19:21
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709
 
koala

koala

Active Member
ffmpeg is able to read and convert .bvr just fine, if you are searching for a command line solution. This is probably the best solution for OP's use case, without any playing with a player and recording that player.

ffmpeg -i SIDEYARD-W.20200318.bvr test.mp4

Wrap around a batch file or powershell script that waits for the existence of *.bvr files, converts them with ffmpeg, then removes any successfully converted file.
 
M

MrMike

New Member
Thank you rockbottom and koala!1

The ffmpeg solution might be exactly what I'm looking for. Let me try and whomp up a simple powershell script to test and I'll let you all know how it goes.

Again, thank you both for the help!
 
M

MrMike

New Member
Koala, thank you for the ffmpeg solution- it does exactly what I need and works like a charm.

I've been experimenting with the various command line options and gotten some nice reductions in file size while converting them to mp4 format.

Scaling the actual size (resolution) of the video itself down results in some truly incredible reductions in file size, like going from a 6.5M file to one that's 850K or so, and the drop in the quality of the video is barely noticeable. Great stuff. :)

Again, thank you again for this- it's exactly what I needed!
 
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