[SCRIPT] Batch convert YUV 4:4:4 videos to YUV 4:2:0 in Retropie/Linux

thelostsoul

@Gogol I converted most problematic videos by completely recoding with Avidemux on my Ubuntu pc. That was before I saw this script. I don't remember the exact settings:

Video Codec=Mpeg4 AVC (x264)
change quality setting to something like 26 or so (really don't know anymore)
Audio Codec=AAC or MP3, not sure
Output Format=MP4v2 Muxer

Gogol

@thelostsoul I tried Avidemux for Windows with those settings but was unsuccessful in getting them to work.

I do not want to derail this thread and I could not find a PM function, so I wanted to ask if you would be willing to convert the eight .mp4 video snaps I have using the batch converter created by Clyde if I sent them to you, to test if they work after conversion and then send them back to me if they do?

thelostsoul

@Gogol You are right. Create a new thread and use my nickname so I get ping. Upload the files all at once in a zip file to https://uploadfiles.io/ and I try.

bluebrews

Just came across this and it worked like a champ for me. Thanks!

iainjh

thank you also. My .mp4's werent named -video.mp4 so I whipped that out and the script has run perfectly. thanks!

toto2000

hello everyone, I'm using Retropie 4.6 right now, and I encountered lots of scrapped videos that only had sound but no display in ES, with OMX player on or off.

I'm sorry, but aren't we all taking the wrong way to find a solution? The short term solution is to convert the videos, but the long term solution is to be able to play them as is, without converting. What other distribs (Batocera, Recalbox, Regamebox) do that Retropie doesn't? Why all these videos do play on other images and not on Retropie?
I got some scrapped romsets and I had to convert all videos, but when I spoke to the authors they said (what? They do play perfectly with our images.... update Retropie, we're using VLC behind the scenes, there is no problem....)

So... what would be the solution to play these videos WITHOUT converting?

Clyde

@toto2000 said in [SCRIPT] Batch convert YUV 4:4:4 videos to YUV 4:2:0 in Retropie/Linux:

So... what would be the solution to play these videos WITHOUT converting?

You could switch from OMX player to VLC by disabling the option "Other Settings" > "Use OMX Player (HW Accelerated)" in Emulation Station. VLC should be able to play almost any video format you throw at it, but it is slower than OMX on Raspberry Pis.

toto2000

@Clyde no, it doesn't change anything. I tried to switch this option off in ES Menu, and the video have sound but do not display at all + I also tried to restart ES. Nothing seems to have an effect on these videos.
Here is such a video: https://mega.nz/file/DhRyGYiJ#O_HlRb3Dptb-NW-ZyW9GQPdVl8I_VRhlwI0bPx2KkJs

Clyde

Yeah well, this video is in the aforementioned yuv444 format, and as I learned recently, VLC now shares some limitations of OMX because its now also hardware accelerated.

So on a Pi, you may only have the option to convert the videos to yuv420.

bmulligan

Thank you for this, Clyde. I've been pulling my hair out for days trying to figure out what I have done wrong scraping video snaps from the ArcadeItalia DB. It seems insane that the video player in ES can't be updated to play 4:4:4 video by default, or that there's no 'official' documentation for this at least.

Clyde

Update 4:

Removed "-video" suffix to support videos without it, e.g. those scraped with Skyscraper.
Added quotation marks to the variable $f to support file names with spaces and special characters.
Added a simple progress indicator by showing the currently checked file's path and name in the console.
Moved the update history here to declutter the opening post.

Update 3: Changed avprobe to ffprobe and avconv to ffmpeg for compatibility with Debian Buster and above, which doesn't have the transitional package libav-tools anymore . See Update #1.

Update 2: Deleted some outdated lines and edit: remarks.

Update 1: From Retropie 4.4 on, avprobe was replaced by ffprobe, and avconv was replaced by ffmpeg. But at least in RP 4.4, the old designations are still usable, and so is the script.

Colombia20102018

@clyde hello, I hate to do this but I’m completely new to this. Is there a way to summarize the steps to follow in a way that a kid would understand it? I’m reading all the posts and I get the idea but not sure how to implement it. I am working with a keyboard connected to my raspberry pi 3B and I can hear the sound of my videos but there is no picture. Can I fix them directly on raspberry pi or do I need to connect to a terminal? Can I fix them all at once or I have to fix one by one? Thank you and sorry for so many questions.

Clyde

@colombia20102018 Well, my opening post already includes a summary of the few steps you have to take:

Just save the script into a text file (e.g. 444p-to-420p.sh), make it executable with the command chmod u+x 444p-to-420p.sh, and run it from within your videos directory.

You can do that either a) directly on your Pi with a keyboard attached or b) via network using SSH (see the Docs about that).

a) Press F4 in Emulation Station, or b) connect via SSH.
Create the directory bin to store the conversion script with this command: mkdir -p ~/bin
Create the script file with nano ~/bin/444p-to-420p.sh, enter or paste the script's text, and exit nano by pressing Ctrl+x, y, and Enter one after another.
Back in the command line, make the script executable with chmod u+x ~/bin/444p-to-420p.sh
Navigate to your videos directory, e.g. RetroPie/roms/arcade/images: cd ~/RetroPie/roms/arcade/images
Run the script: 444p-to-420p.sh

Steps 2-4 only have to be done once.

After that, you'll find any converted videos in RetroPie/roms/arcade/images/converted. Continue as stated in my opening post:

After the conversion, you should test the videos in converted before finally moving them up one directory level to replace their 444p originals.

In my example, you would do the latter with this command:

mv ~/RetroPie/roms/arcade/images/converted/* RetroPie/roms/arcade/images

Be careful though, as this command will overwrite the originals irrevocably without asking for confirmation. Always make backups before doing anything potentially harmful to your files. ⚠️

Feel free to ask away if you encounter any problems.

Clyde

Update 5:

Added a link to this post with step-by-step instructions. Thanks to @Colombia20102018 for the suggestion.

Update 4:

Removed "-video" suffix to support videos without it, e.g. those scraped with Skyscraper.
Added quotation marks to the variable $f to support file names with spaces and special characters.
Added a simple progress indicator by showing the currently checked file's path and name in the console.
Moved the update history here to declutter the opening post.

Update 3: Changed avprobe to ffprobe and avconv to ffmpeg for compatibility with Debian Buster and above, which doesn't have the transitional package libav-tools anymore . See Update #1.

Update 2: Deleted some outdated lines and edit: remarks.

Update 1: From Retropie 4.4 on, avprobe was replaced by ffprobe, and avconv was replaced by ffmpeg. But at least in RP 4.4, the old designations are still usable, and so is the script.

Colombia20102018

@clyde thank you for the quick and detailed response. I completed steps 1 to 4 without any issues. I get confused with steps 5 and 6. Do I have to exit the GNU nano 3.2 to navigate to my videos directory or I do it right there? How do I exit the nano? I typed the cd command as instructed hit enter. Then I typed 444p-to-420p.sh and hit enter but nothing happened. Is that how I run the command? After done I guess I have to follow steps 5 to 6 for each emulator?
Sorry I am a complete newbie on this.

Clyde

@colombia20102018 Sorry, I forgot to mention: You can exit nano with Ctrl+X, y and Enter.

What do you mean by "nothing happened"? Was there any output?

Colombia20102018

@clyde do I need to do steps 5 and 6 inside nano? How do I run the script? What do I type before the 444?
Thank you for explaining how to exit nano

Colombia20102018

@clyde so I exited nano with control X, Y, enter and brought me back to this screen (attached). Typed the commands and got a permission denied message. What am I doing wrong? Thanks![alt text]![0_1609095494357_C42C9958-F56C-45D4-A6E7-234319F75DDC.jpeg](Uploading 100%)

Colombia20102018

@clyde when do I exit nano? After step 4? Could please go into more detail? Where do I run the script and how do I run it? Sorry for so many questions and posts but I just don’t know.

Clyde

@colombia20102018 The steps are sequential, so you exit nano as the conclusion of step three. And you shouldn't enter the command of step 4 until you leave nano.

Just to be sure: You'll have to enter or copy & paste the text of my script into the file in nano.

As for the permission error, I guess the chmod command didn't work (maybe because you entered it in nano), and thus, the file isn't executable yet. Try to enter it after leaving nano.

If that doesn't fix the problem, please tell me every step you took and every command you entered. Also, please show me the output of this command:

ls -l /home/pi/bin/444p-to-420p.sh

Besides, you don't have to use the full path to invoke the script if it is located in /home/pi/bin, as this directory is one of the directories the system is looking for entered commands and scripts. A simple 444p-to-420p.sh from any directory should suffice. But that also doesn't explain the permission error.

Thanks for pointing out the missing details in my instructions. I elaborated step 3 + 4 in my post above accordingly:

Create the script file with nano ~/bin/444p-to-420p.sh, enter or paste the script's text, and exit nano by pressing Ctrl+x, y, and Enter one after another.

Back in the command line, make the script executable with chmod u+x ~/bin/444p-to-420p.sh