Tip #9Kinesense LE

How to run FFmpeg preprocess scripts on import

Re-encode awkward video during import by running FFmpeg commands from the Advanced section of the import wizard, and save your own preset scripts.

Patricia McCabeSoftware Engineer

Importing videos into Kinesense can be a tricky business, sometimes a little extra help is needed before the video will import. For example you might need to re-encode a video from h264 to mjpeg. You can do this by typing ffmpeg commands directly into Kinesense in the Preprocess Script section of the wizard and Kinesense will preform them before attempting to import the video. FFmpeg is a small application that helping transcode different media files.

The Summary page of the Video Import Wizard with the Advanced section open on the Preprocess Script tab.

To access this go to the advanced section in the summary page of the wizard and select the Preprocess Script tab. There is a text box where you can add a new script or you can expand out the Preset Scripts section and select one of those

The Preprocess Script tab with the Preset Scripts list expanded, showing H.264, H.265 and MJPEG wrapping and encoding presets.

Of course if you have your own scrip that you know works and you don’t want to have to keep typing it in every time you can add it by selecting the Add button beside the text box. There you can give the command a name and a description so that you remember what it does in future.

The Add FFMPEG Preset dialog with Name, Command and Description fields.

When you’re happy with your command make sure the Use Script check box is check and then hit Begin Processing as usual. Kinesense will run the command on every video you’ve selected for import and then import the newly created video.

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