BRU not extracting file properties of certain MP4 files

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BRU not extracting file properties of certain MP4 files

Postby micheal3070 » Wed Dec 09, 2020 7:09 am

I'm trying to add the folder name as a suffix to some of my video files so I can merge them into one folder instead and still have them sorted, MP4s however are giving me trouble. It works just fine extracting data on other video formats like WebM, I've also checked it against non-video filetypes like JPG and GIF which all work fine. Strangely enough, it only applies to some MP4s but not others, and I don't see any meaningful differences between affected and unaffected files.

The only difference I noted is that looking at the file properties window, details tab, the MP4 files that don't extract have no data in the video details or audio details rows; and also the "protected" option on these files is left blank. The details for MP4 files that do extract does have content in the video and audio details rows, as well as the Protected option being set to "no". I honestly don't know if this could be the cause or how to change any of it, but its the only difference I found.

Making copies of the files or moving them to different folders does not fix it.
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Re: BRU not extracting file properties of certain MP4 files

Postby therube » Wed Dec 09, 2020 9:24 pm

Able to post a link to a file that is not working for you?
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Re: BRU not extracting file properties of certain MP4 files

Postby Admin » Thu Dec 10, 2020 3:04 am

And/or also a screenshot of the "protected" option please, I think it might be related to that.
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Re: BRU not extracting file properties of certain MP4 files

Postby micheal3070 » Thu Dec 10, 2020 4:01 am

Here are some photos of the properties window

Image Image

Maybe worth mentioning that when setting the windows explorer to view "list" and creating a new column for "length", it shows the video length from the video details except for the affected video files which show nothing.

I did find a sort of brute force method of resolving this. I did some research and the "protected" option is apparently used for attaching DRM to files, usually applied to music and movies. I don't know how it ended up on videos I downloaded from from YouTube and Twitter, but removing it is tedious. Basically if you open the file in some kind of editing software and export it, or send it through a file-type converter, the file that results will be normal and BRU can extract from it. I personally put files through a conversion website Convertio.co and told it to convert MP4 files into MP4 files (which for some reason it allows), but this solution has to be done individually and can take a while. I'd still like to know how it happened or a better way to fix it if possible, but I don't really understand how DRM works.
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Re: BRU not extracting file properties of certain MP4 files

Postby Admin » Thu Dec 10, 2020 11:48 pm

Hi, yes, it is definitely related to DRM and "protected" files.
From the file property you sent you can see that for the protected files the properties are not extracted by Windows so the same in BRU.
Not sure why those files you have from youtube are protected...
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Re: BRU not extracting file properties of certain MP4 files

Postby micheal3070 » Sat Dec 12, 2020 2:18 am

Admin wrote:Hi, yes, it is definitely related to DRM and "protected" files.
From the file property you sent you can see that for the protected files the properties are not extracted by Windows so the same in BRU.
Not sure why those files you have from youtube are protected...



Who knows, probably something to do with third party downloading software doing weird stuff to the properties. I think file properties and DRM are beyond the scope of this forum, so I guess the question is as answered as its gonna be.
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