Transcoding .dat video files

[Mark Booth]

I have a home video surveillance DVR system that outputs backup video files in a .dat format. VLC (latest version) on the Mac will load these files and play them just fine. But I need to convert (transcode) the video to a MP4 or h.264 or whatever format that I can playback in QuickTime player (or even in iMovie would be OK). I need to EDIT the files.

Unfortunately, when I use VLC to transcode the files to h.264 the ONLY option it gives me is MPEG TS. The MPEG TS files will not load in either QuickTime Player or iMovie. So, instead I tried to transcode the .dat files to mpeg (I tried 1-3), and, again, no matter which encapsulation I choose, neither QuickTime nor iMove will recognize the files as valid video files.

The DVR manufacturer (Q-See), supplies a player application when you export the .dat video backup files. But it's Windows only. So, I fired my MacBook Pro with Windows XP installed and used Q-See's player to export the video as .AVI. I thought I was home free. But, AGAIN, neither QuickTime Player nor iMovie will load and play the AVI file. In fact, even VLC won't play the AVI file created that way.

Again, the original .dat video file plays FINE within VLC. I just need to export it to a format that is Mac friendly (QuickTime Player or iMovie).

Can anyone offer any helpful advice or suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

Mark

[Mark Booth]

I found a solution! VLC was the only application on my Mac that would load and play the .dat video files from the DVR. I had tried HandBrake (first, actually), but it wouldn't recognize the files properly. As it turns out, my copy of HandBrake was a couple of versions too old. When I upgraded to the latest version of HandBrake, it not only recognized the files but allowed me to convert them to MPG4 video with ease. The files play fine with QuickTime Player.

Mark

[DaveP]

Can you detail your process for this a bit?

I did a backup from a Q-see 428 DVR (which also is an h.264 recorder) to a USB stick which resulted in a folder (named 20101204215428) that contained 3 files:
reclog.bin
00000000.dat
00000001.dat

Neither VLC nor the current version of Handbrake (when I use 'Open Source' - is that what I should be doing?) seems to be able to open the .dat files for me.

Any advice?