Recommend DAV to MP4 Converter, Please

Dave McKeen · Jun 21, 2018

I'm sure it's here in multiple places, but a search in the forum isn't working for me. I have a Starlight SD49225T-HN and love it, but would like to convert some DAV files to MP4. Dahua's ToolBox has proven impossible for me to access. What's with signing in, anyway?

All of my attempts fail.

When I do a Web search for the converter I'm kind of leery of the results. Would appreciate a recommendation or two of converters that have worked well for members.

Thanks - Dave

ermac · Jun 21, 2018

Hi Dave, you can use Dahua's SmartPSS software to export your recorded DAV video format files to whichever format you prefer; AVI, MP4 etc. Here is how you do it... https://dahuawiki.com/SmartPSS/Backup

tigerwillow1 · Jun 21, 2018

I would also like to have this information. Having to sign into an account to use the toolbox is a bunch of crap. I've tried exporting mp4 from smartPss a few times, and the windows 7 player won't play it.

ermac · Jun 21, 2018

tigerwillow1 said:
I would also like to have this information. Having to sign into an account to use the toolbox is a bunch of crap. I've tried exporting mp4 from smartPss a few times, and the windows 7 player won't play it.

What version of Windows Media Player are you using? Windows Media Player 11 and early versions do not support MP4 by default unless you install the CODECS, you can download and install the CODECS here: Windows | Official Site for Microsoft Windows 10 Home & Pro OS, laptops, PCs, tablets & more
Windows Media Player 12 supports MP4 by default.

SkyLake · Jun 21, 2018

Or you could install the VLC player.

Official download of VLC media player, the best Open Source player - VideoLAN

tigerwillow1 · Jun 21, 2018

ermac said:
What version of Windows Media Player are you using? Windows Media Player 11 and early versions do not support MP4 by default unless you install the CODECS, you can download and install the CODECS here: Windows | Official Site for Microsoft Windows 10 Home & Pro OS, laptops, PCs, tablets & more
Windows Media Player 12 supports MP4 by default.

Good info but didn't work for me. I've got media player 12, and it plays other mp4s that I have. With an older version smartPss mp4, the media player says it doesn't understand the format and maybe I need a codec. With an mp4 from my current version 2.01.0 of smartPss, the video player just displays its big musical note while advancing through the timeline. Maybe I need an even newer smartPss? I couldn't find anyplace where the media player will display its version. I had to go to the exe file properties to find it.

SkyLake · Jun 21, 2018

Try Smart PSS version 2.02.0

Template:SmartPSS - Dahua Wiki

Dave McKeen · Jun 21, 2018

Hi ermac,

Thanks very much!

And thanks to SkyLake for the link to the latest SmartPSS download!

- Dave

tigerwillow1 · Jun 22, 2018

I get the same musical note display in media player with Smart PSS version 2.02.0 mp4 and avi. At least I'm on the latest smartPss now, so not totally wasted time.

puppyfrog · Dec 11, 2018

Hey guys, I started a thread over here (DAV converter command line), but was wondering if any of the previous contributors to this thread know of any command line tools to convert DAVs?

pcunite · Apr 10, 2019

I have found an easy way to do this, that also preserves the audio. Download the newest version of FFmpeg. Then run one of these commands. Couldn't be simpler.

DAV to MP4:
ffmpeg -y -i video.dav -vcodec libx264 -crf 24 -movflags +faststart video.mp4

DAV to AVI (quickest method):
ffmpeg -y -i video.dav -vcodec copy -movflags +faststart video.avi

puppyfrog · Apr 11, 2019

pcunite said:
I have found an easy way to do this, that also preserves the audio. Download the newest version of FFmpeg. Then run one of these commands. Couldn't be simpler.

DAV to MP4:
ffmpeg -y -i video.dav .dav -vcodec libx264 -crf 24 -movflags +faststart video.mp4

DAV to AVI (quickest method):
ffmpeg -y -i video.dav -vcodec copy -movflags +faststart video.avi

You rock! Thanks for keeping tabs on ffmpeg development. I'm testing it out right now.

puppyfrog · Apr 11, 2019

Typo maybe?

ffmpeg -y -i video.dav .dav -vcodec libx264 -crf 24 -movflags +faststart video.mp4

should read

ffmpeg -y -i video.dav -vcodec libx264 -crf 24 -movflags +faststart video.mp4

Still no audio for me on:

ffmpeg version 4.1.1-0york1~18.04 Copyright (c) 2000-2019 the FFmpeg developers
built with gcc 7 (Ubuntu 7.3.0-27ubuntu1~18.04)
configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-version='0york1~18.04' --toolchain=hardened --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu --arch=amd64 --enable-gpl --disable-stripping --enable-avresample --disable-filter=resample --enable-avisynth --enable-gnutls --enable-ladspa --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-libcodec2 --enable-libflite --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libjack --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libmysofa --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librsvg --enable-librubberband --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libssh --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwavpack --enable-libwebp --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-lv2 --enable-omx --enable-openal --enable-opengl --enable-sdl2 --enable-nonfree --enable-libfdk-aac --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libdrm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-chromaprint --enable-frei0r --enable-libx264 --enable-shared
libavutil 56. 22.100 / 56. 22.100
libavcodec 58. 35.100 / 58. 35.100
libavformat 58. 20.100 / 58. 20.100
libavdevice 58. 5.100 / 58. 5.100
libavfilter 7. 40.101 / 7. 40.101
libavresample 4. 0. 0 / 4. 0. 0
libswscale 5. 3.100 / 5. 3.100
libswresample 3. 3.100 / 3. 3.100
libpostproc 55. 3.100 / 55. 3.100

ffmpeg is updated, but might need to update a dependency.

pcunite · Apr 11, 2019

puppyfrog said:
Typo maybe?

ffmpeg is updated, but might need to update a dependency.

Opps, thank you. I corrected it now. I've tested on Windows 7 and 10. Do you have a Windows machine you could verify with? A sample DAV file I could try?

pcunite · Apr 11, 2019

puppyfrog said:
Still no audio for me

Try this different command:

ffmpeg -y -i video.dav -vcodec libx264 -crf 24 -filter:v "setpts=1*PTS" video.mp4

puppyfrog · Apr 11, 2019

Works perfectly in Windows 10, I'm pretty sure it's a dependency that needs an update on my Ubuntu box.... I need to sort that. Thanks!

BitHammer · Jul 6, 2019

Can ffmpeg select cameras from a multiple camera backup? I used the avi conversion string above and only got the first camera. I need the second camera too.

richardpl · Aug 23, 2019

BitHammer said:
Can ffmpeg select cameras from a multiple camera backup? I used the avi conversion string above and only got the first camera. I need the second camera too.

Could you upload short sample with multiple cameras? I never got such sample at first place, so maybe this could be easily added.

Daniel Campos · Oct 21, 2019

works like a charm on windows 10!

DAV to MP4:
ffmpeg -y -i video.dav -vcodec libx264 -crf 24 -movflags +faststart video.mp4

DAV to AVI (quickest method):
ffmpeg -y -i video.dav -vcodec copy -movflags +faststart video.avi

How can I create a script to make it automatically with a bunch of .dav files?

I'm using this command to concatenate and code a bunch of .dav files to mp4:

Quickest method
./ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i join2.txt -c copy output.mp4

Slowest
./ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i join2.txt -c copy -vcodec libx264 -crf 24 -movflags +faststart output2.mp4

where join2.txt has:
file A000.dav
file A001.dav
file A002.dav
file A003.dav

But i don't want to have to write the files' names.. i would like to have it concatenated and coded to mp4 automatically.. how can I do it?

jack7 · Oct 21, 2019

Probably the easiest and fastest way to batch convert dav H.264 and H265 files is to use Dahua Toolbox ConvertTool which has a good user interface.

Recommend DAV to MP4 Converter, Please

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