Question Can my video files be saved? =(

[RobtheSwede]

I have a few mp4 files that i recorded with Bandicam with HEVC x265 codec.

Now, I've had no troubles with this before, but lately, with no changes to my settings or anything, some videos just wont play in VLC anymore. There's sound but no video. And the video file plays all the way thru, but just the sound. I don't know why this happens sporadically with some files, since I'm not doing anything different from what I always do when I record, and
I've tried to use other players than VLC etc but haven't been able to find a solution. So, are my files just ruined or is there something more I can try?

 

[rocktalkrock]

When you play the video in VLC, select "Tools > Codec Information". Does it list a video stream? If a video stream is listed, you may need to update your video codecs with "K-Lite Codec Pack".

 

[RobtheSwede]

Thank you for your reply. Yep, it does list a video stream there. I did try K-Lite codec pack but it said something about VLC not supporting it or whatever, and that you needed MPC instead, so I installed that as well... and.. nothing.. the file wouldn't play at all with MPC.

Now, something that i forgot to mention, when I play the file with VLC (and it does play, even tho just with the sound) at the beginning it makes an error message about the codec (that you can click away) that says exactly this: VLC could not support the format "hevc" (MPEG-H Part2/HEVC (H.265))

But you see, here's the most annoying part of all of this... on some days it apparently CAN support this format... because some days I record, in the exact same manner and with all settings and everything exactly the same, and it has no problems whatsoever playing the file.... but.... on some days, it just gives me this.... (of course, it happens on the days when I make the best videos as well.) So frustrating... =(

EDIT: Also, you know in folders with video files how you get to see a little preview picture icon of what the video file contains? Well... it doesn't give any such thumbnail icon preview for this particular file. But it does for all the other files I've recorded that is working. Not sure if that's of any help. Maybe there is something wrong with the file after all =( But maybe it can be fixed? =(
I tried the demo version of Stellar video recovery program, but that did nothing, and that program is too expensive anyway.

 

[rocktalkrock]

You can try re-encoding the video file with software like HandBrake. It will be slow because the video is H.265, but if the file is not damaged you can convert it to H.264.

HandBrake: Open Source Video Transcoder

HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded video transcoder.

handbrake.fr

 

[RobtheSwede]

"No valid source or titles found" that's what Handbrake told me when i tried to open the file. I mean, the data must be there, because the file has the same size as any of the other recorded vid files that I have.

I'm trying a program called Yodot MOV Repair right now... and it's doing it's thing but seems to take a long while to finish. Not expecting much at this point tho... running out of hope.. =(

Edit: Nope.. Yodot did nothing as well. It just failed.

Edit 2: The worst thing about all of this is that this is really making me paranoid about recording at all, since on some days it works and on others it gives me black screen vids like this. Feels like playing russian roulette when I record something, not a fun experience. And I have no idea whats causing it either, if it's anything with the 265 codec or something totally unrelated...

 

[rocktalkrock]

The problem could be your computer is not fast enough to record reliably in H.265. The more motion and detail in the video, the more computing power you need to keep pace. Have you looked over Bandicam's support page?

Black screen problem in the recorded videos - Bandicam

The reason for the black screen is because of the Video Acceleration Function (Overlay output). To solve the problem, please see the below instructions.

www.bandicam.com

Try using the link below to analyze your video file. It will give you detailed information about the file that you can save as a text file.

https://mediaarea.net/MediaInfoOnline

 

[RobtheSwede]

Thank you for all the trouble rocktalkrock trying to help me out here.

I do have a pretty good computer and have been able to record much more demanding stuff than this particular vid in H265 before. And yeah... this is a sporadic issue as well, it never used to happen, but now it seems to happen maybe every 5th or 7th video i record. And it's just the same stuff... that's the strangest part. But you know what.... there is one thing I just realized that has changed recently about my recording pattern..... I'm recording on a new external HD now.... a Seagate model STEL4000200, it's a 4TB external drive with 3.0 USB.... and... it's slow..... could it possibly be that.... the writing speed to the disk is too slow? Ugh.... I really don't want it to be the case... =(

Edit: And yeah, i read that support page for Bandicam.

 

[rocktalkrock]

Thank you for all the trouble rocktalkrock trying to help me out here.

I do have a pretty good computer and have been able to record much more demanding stuff than this particular vid in H265 before. And yeah... this is a sporadic issue as well, it never used to happen, but now it seems to happen maybe every 5th or 7th video i record. And it's just the same stuff... that's the strangest part. But you know what.... there is one thing I just realized that has changed recently about my recording pattern..... I'm recording on a new external HD now.... a Seagate model STEL4000200, it's a 4TB external drive with 3.0 USB.... and... it's slow..... could it possibly be that.... the writing speed to the disk is too slow? Ugh.... I really don't want it to be the case... =(

Try running a speed test of your external drive using CrystalDiskMark or HD Tune.

 

[RobtheSwede]

Ok, I did a test with HD Tune, not sure i did the right one, cause there was so many to choose from, it's the File Benchmark Transfer Speed Test:
Read Write
Sequential 150434kb/s 129864kb/s
4 KB random single 146 IOPS 352IOPS
4 KB random multi 32 329 IOPS 329IOPS

 

[rocktalkrock]

Ok, I did a test with HD Tune, not sure i did the right one, cause there was so many to choose from, it's the File Benchmark Transfer Speed Test:
Read Write
Sequential 150434kb/s 129864kb/s
4 KB random single 146 IOPS 352IOPS
4 KB random multi 32 329 IOPS 329IOPS

You would want to know the sequential write speed. Do you need to record to the external drive or could you record to an SSD and transfer the recording to the external drive later?

 

[RobtheSwede]

Yeah I don't know... doing those tests goes over my head a lil bit to be honest... =(

No I suppose I could rearrange my setup and record on another drive (I have many), but I did buy this drive especially for recording, so yeah.. it's a bit annoying... =( But you know what, I will have to try that for now.. record on one of my older drives and see how it goes, and then transfer the files to this slowpoke drive and just use it for storage... will be a lot of extra work, but might not have a choice here... I'm really starting to suspect it's the slowness of the drive that is messing up the files.... But yeah... I will see if I get rid of this issue permanently if I do this... If not, and the issue persists on other drives, we know it's something else causing it.... (But once again.. this problem is recent.. never ever used to happen on my older drives..)

Regarding my broken vids tho... if you or anyone else have any more ideas I could try to maybe salvage them if possible it would be much appreciated. Still, once again, thank you for your help rocktalkrock! =)

 

[rocktalkrock]

VLC can repair videos using "Convert / Save" but if HandBrake did not work, VLC probably will not either. I suspect the video was never recorded successfully in the first place. You can try this more sophisticated software to see if it works or not. It will repair 50% of the file for free.

http://grauonline.de/cms2/?page_id=5