What are the supported video file formats for EthoVision XT?

Supported video file formats for EthoVision XT 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16

EthoVision XT supports playback of the following digital video file formats:

• MPEG-1. (No longer supported in EthoVision XT 16.)
• MPEG-2. This is a collection of formats, not all are supported.
• MPEG-4. This is a collection of formats, not all are supported.
• MPEG-4 (mp4v) in MP4 container. This is the format of video files you obtain when you record video with EthoVision XT using analog cameras connected to the Picolo Alert board.
• MPEG-4 DivX in AVI container. This is the format created by Media Recorder and EthoVision XT with digital cameras. 
• H.264 AVC in MPEG container. This is the format created by Media Recorder 2.5 and lower with the Euresys Picolo H.264 board.
• H.264 AVC in MP4 container. This is the format that will be created by Media Recorder 4.0 with the Euresys Picolo H.264 board.
• H.264 AVC is a type of MPEG-4, which is supported.
• DV-AVI. This is uncompressed video from FireWire cameras. We do not recommend this format because of the large file size.

Note that DV-AVI is a special case of AVI. In general, EthoVision XT does not support video files of AVI format. The AVI format should not be confused with the *.avi file extension. Some MPEG-4 files have the extension *.avi, but other video formats with *.avi extension may not work. 

We cannot guarantee that all MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and H.264 files can be played back in EthoVision XT, only those created using the encoder boards supplied by Noldus and the Media Recorder software. 

To play back MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 files, EthoVision XT uses the MainConcept Decoder which is automatically installed when you install EthoVision XT. To play back MPEG-4 files, EthoVision XT uses the standard Windows decoder, which is present on all computers with Windows installed. To play back H.264 files you need decoding software which is installed when you install EthoVision XT.

One of the difficulties with digital video files is that the file extension does not indicate what the file type is. For example, the extension *.mpg can mean any one of different type of formats, and an MPEG-4 movie can have the extension *.mpg, *.mpeg or *.avi.

Video formats not supported by EthoVision XT

• DivX, other than the MPEG-4 DivX created by Media Recorder.
• WMV.
• Quick Time.
• FLV (Flash video, YouTube).
• XviD variants of the MPEG-4 format.

Testing Other Formats

EthoVision may work with other video formats that are not supported. Check that the Missing Samples (and Interpolated Samples if shown), which are shown at the bottom of the screen in the Detection Settings and Acquisition, are less than 1%. These numbers will turn red if the values are high. If the count of Missing or Interpolated Samples is high, this indicates the video is missing many frames or the frame timing is inconsistent and the analysis may be affected.

Determining the Format

If unsure of your video file type, right-click on your video, select Properties and that will display the video file information. 

The resolution (width x height) of your videos must be at least 640 x 480 and no more than 1920 x 1200.   If unsure of the resolution, right-click on your video, select Properties and click the Details tab.  That will display the resolution information. 

Converting Videos

If you need to convert your video files to a compatible format, we recommend the following inexpensive converter:

MP4Converter

To change the format it outputs, Under Profile (at the bottom of the screen), go to General Video Format.

• Observer and FaceReader: convert to DIVX, XVID, MPEG-1 or MPEG-2.
• EthoVision or DanioScope: convert to MPEG-1, MPEG-2 or DIVX.
• If converting MTS files, please convert to DIVX or XVID as support has reports from customers that MTS to MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 do not work.

They offer a trial period which will enable you to convert the first 3 minutes of a video. This should be enough to test the video in our system to see if it works. If so, you can then purchase the converter to convert all of your videos in their entirety.

Handbrake

Another conversion option is Handbrake, which is free. In Handbrake, on the Summary tab, set the format to MP4. On the Video tab, set the codec to H.264, the frame rate to “same as source” and pick the option for “Constant Framerate.”