Fun Expander 2.5.2 - Video converter with ffmpeg to i-frames added [Updated 2022-04-11]

Software
24

Yes this does work. This does not help my confusion for this whole issue. But I will use this command directly to ffmpeg for now. Thanks.

25

Fun Expander is not doing anything else than automize the command line entry. And if i understand @hosenguy right, the command window for ffmpeg has opened after selecting the video file. I have no clue whatā€™s going wrong there.

The command window should look like this while converting:

With a long video (big file size) it should stay for some minutes or hours. You have to wait until it is closing itself, then your new file should be available. Donā€™t close this window manualy, this would stop the converting.

26

Iā€™m having trouble getting ffmpeg. I download it from the site, extract it twice and then canā€™t find the .exe within the folder. Am I missing something? I downloaded the ā€œffmpeg-snapshot.tar.bz2.ā€

27

Try this one @Glove, to see if it helps, its the one I personally use : 60.23 MB file on MEGA

3 Likes
28

Looks like smooth sailing! Thank you, @Realcumber

1 Like
30

I have an odd problem where Funexpander works fine the first time I unzip it, but then subsequent times it says itā€™s open but I canā€™t see it on screen. Iā€™ve tried to maximise/restore but the only solution Iā€™ve found is to delete funexpander.ini - is there a setting in the ini file to fix this?

31

I think, I know what you mean. This happens when you close the program while it is minimized. You can open the ini file in a text editor and set the negative values ā€‹ā€‹(2nd and 3rd last entry) to zero. I will fix that bug at the next opportunity. Thank you for reporting this error.

1 Like
32

@HeelsLover69 Could you add a checkbox to force the i-frames feature to re-encode using 30 fps? You only need to add -r 30 in the command line, typically before the -filter parameter. If you already have that parameter in the command line in the current version then please ignore this request (I use a bat-file from the command line myself so Iā€™m unsure what Fun Expander produce).

The motivation for this request is just to reduce the number of key presses needed to step frame by frame when using OFS for scripting. OFS loads the video in its original fps while JFS tend to load the video in 30 fps regardless of the source fps. 30 fps also makes the output file size smaller if the video is e.g. 60 fps, which is great for those scripting long videos like VR-videos.

2 Likes
33

I had the problem of the i-frame file being made but not visible to any program except Fun Expander as described above. I since found another program that also uses ffmpeg to create a file and it did the same result. So I got mad and tried a bunch of stuff and found a fix.

If I go to the directory of ffmpeg and run just it with no switches as administrator it runs and quits.
Then I go to the directory of Fun Exp and run it as administer and locate the ffmpeg from before, then load a video and it works every time after that.

Each time I use Fun Exp I have to run it as administrator but the ffmpeg only has to be run as administer one time. I donā€™t understand what running ffmpeg as admin one time does but I have tried this several times with different copies of ffpmeg and it always requires this.

Thought you would like to know.
Thanks for the fine program!

34

I will check that.

Strange!

35

Just for clarification, I cannot make a 60 fps to a 30 fps with Fun Expander, correct?
The i-frames stuff is mostly for vr videos?

I have a bunch of videos I would like to script. Some are at 60 fps and they are a pain to script. And I was looking for a method to reduce a video to 30 fps (if thatā€™s even possible).

36

With funexpander you canā€™t but you can do this via command line if you have ffmpeg.
Check last point is Sentinelā€™s tutorial, there is a code for it:

2 Likes
37

Thank you very much.

I am not understanding how to do it, so I guess I will continue the tedious scripting with 60 fps video. Feeling really stupid now, but anway.

1 Like
38

Itā€™s really not that hard, but working with the command line is not for everyone.
However, given that you use Windows 10, try this little tool that I created for you. It creates the command line you need.

First make sure you have downloaded ffmpeg and extracted it somewhere. https://ffmpeg.org/

  • Use the buttons to browse to the location of ffmpeg.exe, your video file and an output folder.
  • Press the button to show the command line.
  • Select the generated command line text it and copy it.
  • Finally, press the open command line windows button do open a command line window.
  • Paste the previously copied command line and press enter.
  • Wait maybe 1-2 hours (varies greatly depending on your processor) for an ordinary VR video. The output file name is converted_video.mp4.
    Voila!

It is intentional that I donā€™t let my app convert the video directly because it is nice to see the progress in the command line window instead of having an unresponsive app for 1-2 hours.

Remember that this is a really quick hack for you so donā€™t expect any bells and whistles. It only has rudimentary error handling, it doesnā€™t remember your selections the next time you need to convert something etc.
Download the tiny app from OneDrive: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AhJYoQuTm55_gQEcwitEDx6fQLsQ?e=bXodyJ

3 Likes
39

Thank you! This worked very well as well. Husky was also so nice and give a link to a .bat file he uses for converting. I will definitely use both of your files in the future for 60 fps videos conversion.

Thanks again @sentinel and @Husky for helping my stupid brain out.

1 Like
40

I made a misstake. I forgot to include the very important command line argument -r 30 that sets the frame rate. I will fix that and upload a new version.

Try this one instead: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AhJYoQuTm55_gQEcwitEDx6fQLsQ?e=bXodyJ

1 Like
41

Ok, I assumed I just had to open it and put the video path in and thatā€™'s it. Didnā€™t test the actual converting yet. But I am gettin an error message, saying that the command doesnā€™t work or is not correctly spelled. It may has something to do, that my Windows is set in German.

If everything works on your end, please donā€™t put any effort in me. I got the .batch file from Husky and that does the trick as well. Thank you again for your effort, sentinel.

42

It should work. I donā€™t use English Windows either. But if you have something that works now then that is great. I usually use a bat-file too :slight_smile:

1 Like
43

Ok, works now. Donā€™t know, what I was doing wrong.
Next 60 fps video will get scripted in 30 fps. 60 fps version takes way longer I feel like.

Thanks again :slightly_smiling_face:

1 Like