importing video on PC

[rustyconc]

Hi,

I thought I'd share a recent workaround I discovered for importing video
into ImageJ in Windows.  I've been bothered for some time by the time
and disk space wasted by ImageJ's inability to import anything but
uncompressed AVI videos. Although the Quicktime Opener can import some
videos on PC, at least some modern codecs such as DivX and Xvid cannot
be read. For these, I have found a workaround using AviSynth and a
couple other free utilities.
Although the setup takes some effort, it seems to work easily
thereafter.  Instructions I composed for my students are pasted in below.

Cheers,
Russell



Importing AVI Videos

On PC (for all installed windows codecs)

    1. Install all of the following
          1. AviSynth
             http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/Main_Page
          2. Pismo File Mount
             http://www.pismotechnic.com/download/
          3. AVFS
             http://www.turtlewar.org/avfs/
    2. Use notepad to create an avisynth script for the video you want
to load
          1. Script contents:
             AVISource("videofilename.avi")
             ConvertToRGB24()
          2. Save as videofilename.avs (THAT 'S' IN *.AVS IS IMPORTANT)
    3. Mount the videofilename.avs file
          1. Right click in explorer and choose "Quick mount"
             This creates a mounted (fake) folder, inside of which will
be a new version of the video named videofilename.avi (i.e., the same as
the original)
          2. NB: If you decide you want to delete the videofilename.avs
file and corresponding folder, you must first right click and 'Unmount'
the avs file.
    4. In ImageJ, click File>Import>AVI, and then just select the newly
created videofilename.avi inside the mounted folder.
       You can now import the AVI provided AviSynth can read the file,
which will include any AVI file for which the codecs are installed in
Windows.


    5. Batch files to speed the process up (just double click the batch
files to perform their actions)
          1. To create and mount avs files for all videos in a folder,
open notepad, save the file as "multiavscreatemount.bat", paste the
following code in, and save again

             for %%a IN (dir /b *.avi) do call :avscreate %%a
             GOTO :DONE

             :avscreate
             if (%1)==(dir) GOTO eof
             echo AVISource("%1")> %1.avs
             echo ConvertToRGB24()>> %1.avs
             pfm mount %1.avs
             GOTO :eof

             :DONE

          2. To unmount and delete avs files for all videos in a folder,
open notepad, save the file as "multiunmountdel.bat", paste the
following code in, and save again

             for %%a IN (dir /b *.avs) do call :unmount %%a
             GOTO :DONE

             :unmount
             if (%1)==(dir) GOTO eof
             pfm unmount %1
             del %1
             GOTO :eof

             :DONE

[ctrueden]

Hi Russell,

Cute trick, and nice guide! Have you considered adding these directions to
the ImageJ Documentation Wiki? You could make a How-To:

  http://imagejdocu.tudor.lu/doku.php?id=howto:start

Regards,
Curtis

On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 12:35 AM, Russell Wyeth <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I thought I'd share a recent workaround I discovered for importing video
> into ImageJ in Windows.  I've been bothered for some time by the time and
> disk space wasted by ImageJ's inability to import anything but uncompressed
> AVI videos. Although the Quicktime Opener can import some videos on PC, at
> least some modern codecs such as DivX and Xvid cannot be read. For these, I
> have found a workaround using AviSynth and a couple other free utilities.
> Although the setup takes some effort, it seems to work easily thereafter.
>  Instructions I composed for my students are pasted in below.
>
> Cheers,
> Russell
>
>
>
> Importing AVI Videos
>
> On PC (for all installed windows codecs)
>
>   1. Install all of the following
>         1. AviSynth
>            http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/Main_Page
>         2. Pismo File Mount
>            http://www.pismotechnic.com/download/
>         3. AVFS
>            http://www.turtlewar.org/avfs/
>   2. Use notepad to create an avisynth script for the video you want to
> load
>         1. Script contents:
>            AVISource("videofilename.avi")
>            ConvertToRGB24()
>         2. Save as videofilename.avs (THAT 'S' IN *.AVS IS IMPORTANT)
>   3. Mount the videofilename.avs file
>         1. Right click in explorer and choose "Quick mount"
>            This creates a mounted (fake) folder, inside of which will be a
> new version of the video named videofilename.avi (i.e., the same as the
> original)
>         2. NB: If you decide you want to delete the videofilename.avs file
> and corresponding folder, you must first right click and 'Unmount' the avs
> file.
>   4. In ImageJ, click File>Import>AVI, and then just select the newly
> created videofilename.avi inside the mounted folder.
>      You can now import the AVI provided AviSynth can read the file, which
> will include any AVI file for which the codecs are installed in Windows.
>
>
>   5. Batch files to speed the process up (just double click the batch files
> to perform their actions)
>         1. To create and mount avs files for all videos in a folder, open
> notepad, save the file as "multiavscreatemount.bat", paste the following
> code in, and save again
>
>            for %%a IN (dir /b *.avi) do call :avscreate %%a
>            GOTO :DONE
>
>            :avscreate
>            if (%1)==(dir) GOTO eof
>            echo AVISource("%1")> %1.avs
>            echo ConvertToRGB24()>> %1.avs
>            pfm mount %1.avs
>            GOTO :eof
>
>            :DONE
>
>         2. To unmount and delete avs files for all videos in a folder, open
> notepad, save the file as "multiunmountdel.bat", paste the following code
> in, and save again
>
>            for %%a IN (dir /b *.avs) do call :unmount %%a
>            GOTO :DONE
>
>            :unmount
>            if (%1)==(dir) GOTO eof
>            pfm unmount %1
>            del %1
>            GOTO :eof
>
>            :DONE
>
>
>
> --
>
> Russell Wyeth
> Biology, St Francis Xavier University
> P.O. Box 5000 Antigonish, NS B2G 2W5 Canada
> Shipping: 1 West St. Antigonish, NS B2G 2W5 Canada
> http://people.stfx.ca/rwyeth/
> Ph: 9028673886 Fx: 9028672389
> Cell: 9023180250
>