Quick Guide

MPEG-4 digital cameras:

MP4Cam2AVI supports *.MP4, *.MOV and *.AVI clips from most MPEG-4 camcorders, it makes them DivX/XviD-compatible and readable with DVD-MPEG4 players.

Program doesn't need any codecs to perform conversion, but you should install any ISO MPEG-4 compatible codec to view or edit target files. DivX5 is recommended.

1. ISO MPEG-4 compatible VfW codecs

To view or edit target avi files, you should install Video for Windows (VfW) codec with ISO MPEG-4 support (i.e. DivX5, 3ivX, XviD).

Directshow codecs, such as those used by Windows Media player, are not suitable.

Table 1. ISO MPEG-4 compatible VfW codecs (only most common codecs and fourcc's are listed).

Codec name	Acceptable fourcc's*	Status	Download page
DivX 5	DX50, XVID	Freeware	[DOWNLOAD]
XviD	XVID, DX50	Freeware, Open Source	[DOWNLOAD]
3ivX**	3IV2, DX50, XVID	Commercial, 30 days trial	[DOWNLOAD]
FFDShow***	FFDS, DX50, XVID (configurable)	Freeware, Open Source	[DOWNLOAD]

* MP4Cam2AVI makes AVI's with 'DX50' FourCC by default. In most cases, you don't need to change this setting. To change FourCC of already converted avi files use 'fcc change' button.

** With 3ivX codec you can play .MP4 files with Media Player (from cameras lile Sanyo Xacti C1/C4/C5, Sony M1 and Olympus C-770) , but this won't help with video editing apps, most of them don't work with .mp4 container.

*** During FFDShow installation, check 'VfW Interface' option. Otherwise you can't edit target avi's in VirtualDub and other video editing apps.

2. Recommendations for video editing apps
    (VirtualDub, Abobe Premiere, Pinnacle Studio, etc.)

1. First of all, install ISO MPEG-4 compatible VfW codec (i.e. DivX 5), if it's not installed yet. If you don't have such codec installed, avi editor won't import avi files.

Try not to install many codecs or codec packs, cause different codecs may conflict with each other. The best way is to have only one MPEG-4 codec installed.

If you have problems with avi file import, try to remove all MPEG-4 codecs first, then install one codec and try again.

In most cases, DivX codec is recommended - I had no problems with avi editing software when I used DivX codec.

With XviD and FFDShow codecs, I couldn't import avi files to Adobe Premiere Pro, in Pinnacle Studio they imported OK, but file thumbnails were black (with DivX it was fine).

With 3ivX codec files imported fine (Abobe Premiere Pro & Pinnacle Studio), but thumbnails were black.

2. In MP4Cam2AVI, set audio option to 'PCM', this will give better audio/video sync.

3. 'Source audio' option and .MP4 files with AAC sound
    (Sanyo Xacti, Olympus C770, Sony M1 cameras)

Actually, avi container doesn't support AAC sound. Use this option for preview purposes only (converting with 'Source audio' is 5-10 times faster, than with 'MP3', cause audio recompression requires CPU time).

To play avi files with AAC sound, you should install CoreAAC directshow filter (freeware) or 3ivX codec (commercial).

Most of video editing apps (VirtualDub, Adobe Premiere, etc.) don't understand AAC sound in avi files, use 'PCM' or 'MP3' options.

MJPEG (photo cameras):

MP4Cam2AVI convetrs MJPEG .MOV files to AVI without recomression, target avi's are MJPEG too, they have fourcc 'MJPG' (MP4Cam2AVI doesn't convert them to DivX, it performs direct stream copy conversion). In most cases you don't need to install any codecs to play mjpeg avi files. If you can't play these files, install Morgan Multimedia MJPEG codec.

The easiest way to compress target mjpeg avi files to standard DivX (XviD, etc.) is using VirtualDub. Use Ctrl+E shortcut to open target file in VirtualDub.

Some MJPEG cameras write audio with non-standard sample rates less than 8000 Hz (i.e. 7875 Hz). When you select 'MP3' compression option for such files, audio will be resampled to 8000 Hz (Lame mp3 encoder doesn't work with non-standard sample rates). So, if you want to get maximum audio quality, use 'PCM' or 'Source audio' options (also recommended for further editing).

Other cameras:

From v2.20, MP4Cam2AVI supports H.263 video (Some Kodak EasyShare cameras) - you can convert H.263 MOV's to avi without recompression, but, to view them on PC or to edit with avi editors install H.263 capable codec (i.e. FFDShow).

3GP support is not fill, MP4Cam2AVI will convert them with no sound.

Sorenson Video 3 support is experimental yet.

Command-line mode:

Use this feature to run MP4Cam2AVI from batch files, scripts, etc. To start MP4Cam2AVI in command-line mode, at least 1 parameter should be passed via command-line.

Command-line usage:

mp4cam2avi.exe -src="<source dir>" [-dst="<target file/dir>"] [-ini=<custom.ini>] [-s] [-m] [-x]

Example:

mp4cam2avi.exe -src="d:\_sample\mp4" -dst="d:\video\out.avi" -ini=my.ini -s -m -x

Params:
-src - source directory (currently it's only possible to convert all files in directory)
-dst - target directory/target file (depends on action, auto set if empty)
-ini - load settings from custom .ini file - use this option for non-default conversion settings (if -ini id not specified, default settings will be used)

Keys:
-s - start conversin immediatelly
-m - start minimized
-x - terminate when finished

In normal execution mode, MP4Cam2AVI reads settings from settings.ini file on each startup and saves settings on termination (if settings.ini is missing, it will be created with default values). In command line mode, settings.ini file is ignored. To use non-default settings, create custom ini file and pass it to MP4Cam2AVI with -ini parameter:

1. Start MP4Cam2AVI, set desired settings, close MP4Cam2AVI
2. Rename settings.ini file (i.e. to my.ini)
3. In command-line mode, use -ini=my.ini parameter.

You can save several ini files with different conversion settings.

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