Grau Online Video Repair 1.5
Gifford Brickley
Does any one have a good solution to repairing a damaged .mov file recorded on Photo Booth? Computer lid was accidentally shut and caused the file to be damaged. I retrieved it by right clicking the Photo Booth app and opening the folder in Finder. File would not play on Quicktime or VLC.
1. _id=5 a video repair app costing EUR99 for unlimited use and EUR49 for 5 repairs. A free download which repairs 50% of the video to test it before you buy is a great feature because many others I've tried look like they are ripoffs that don't do anything. You need to supply a good file from the same camera which has to be on a list of supported cameras. The recovery file works on VLC but not on Quicktime. However the video and audio are not synchronised for some of the files repaired. So far it is the best app I've tried but the video-audio mismatch can be annoying and if there is another app that fixes that I would appreciate a recommendation.
2. is a service and charges on a per film basis. You download the app and provide a good file. An analysis is provided and you get a preview of still images of different parts of the video and an assessment is given online on whether they can fix the video. Then it gets expensive - $49 for a 10 minute clip. Since option 1 above was available I did not try this option but at least it seems like it would work.
3. remosoftware.com requires downloading an app and providing a good file. The repair process never started and apparently it only supports Photo Booth version 4 (current version is 9). At least there is a free download to test it first.
5. -recovery.com/ appears in many searches for this problem but it does not work and did not appear to have a free download feature. It does not require a good file. It processed the bad file, claimed it was repaired and saved it. However the saved file did not exist. There is then a feature to upload the damaged file and they will repair it but it could be phishing and I would never let a third party get a hold of my files.
I'm a video editor and I face .mov corruption issues almost every other month. Over the last 5 months even I got to experiment with the software range available online. My experience was a little different from yours. For me, Stellar Video Repair worked the best and almost every time. I have tried their newer version that claims to be better.
The second that worked about 50% of time was Grau Online.
Rest didn't work at all for me.
One of the worst gut wrenching feelings any content producer can face is opening up a memory card only to find that a file is corrupt or missing altogether. Recently we sold most of our Nikon gear and switched over to the new Panasonic GH5 cameras because of their better video features, superior image stabilization, and overall smaller size. Unfortunately we have found that unlike our Nikon cameras, the GH5 can corrupt files pretty easily if you are using their battery grip. In this video, I show you how these files can easily corrupt as well as a few software options you can use to recover any files corrupted during a loss of power.
Let me first give a disclaimer that I am in no was a specialist in data recovery. I consider myself pretty experienced with electronics, computers, and cameras but by no means do I understand all the ins and outs of how data is recorded to camera buffers and transferred to flash memory cards. Recently while filming our video on How to Build The Best PC for Photo and Video Editing, I accidentally corrupted a long, one hour take by trying to hotswap a dying battery in one of our GH5 cameras. This process of hotswapping batteries was never a problem with any of our Nikon cameras (Canon grips unfortunately place both batteries in the grip tray so hotswapping isn't an option at all), and as you can imagine, I was horrified to find out the hard way that the Panasonic GH5 cameras are not capable of saving files to the memory card if the grip battery is removed before power is transferred to the internal camera battery. Whoops, my bad guys!
This file corruption wasn't the first time we experienced a lost file on the new Panasonic GH5 system. We actually have lost about three files total in the first 60 days we have owned the new cameras. They have all been related to abrupt power loss, and all of those power losses have been related to a loose connection between the camera and the battery grip or a premature ejection of the battery inside the grip. Upon investigating if these files could be recovered, I found that many Panasonic users have experienced corrupt files in one form or another, and the problem dates back to the older GH4 as well. Unfortunately very few of the forums I found offered any helpful advice on how to recover these files, but after reading dozens of threads, I have come up with two of the best solutions if you find yourself in the sticky situation of having lost footage.
The first place to start seemed obvious. Let's see what Panasonic offers in terms of data recovery. I searched through their website and tried to find a OEM software solution for these corrupt files but that path lead no where. A few message boards pointed to some software called Panasonic AVCCAM Restorer and AVCCAM SD Card File Recovery (located under the Software tab). Panasonic's website claims that this software can help restore footage that has been accidentally deleted from an SD memory card. Now keep in mind that the GH5 camera is not an AVCCAM camera but since this link showed up multiple times on forums about GH4/5 corruption, I figured it would be worth noting it here and testing it out. Again, my files were not caused by a memory card corruption but rather a loss of power from the camera itself. Panasonic also has another piece of software on this page called AVCCAM Restorer which is "software for restoring inconsistencies in video data recorded on an SD card." The GH5 does allow you to record in the AVCHD format which is mentioned on the software page, but from my tests neither of these pieces of software did anything with the SD card from a GH5. I'm not exactly sure why this software was recommended so many times since it appears to only be useful for the more professional AVCCAM cameras, but it was the most obvious place to start.
The next piece of software that was highly recommended wasn't actually software itself but rather a recovery service offered by the company Aeroquartet. Their recovery software solution is called Treasured. By visiting their website you can actually upload corrupted .mdt files straight to their server and get a quick idea if the file can be recovered by the Aeroquartet team. Since this is a service and not a stand alone piece of software you do have to pay for each recovery session. I've included a screen shot of their prices which vary depending on the amount of files needed to be recovered as well as the type of file or container the original video file was saved as. If your footage is from a cell phone you are going to pay less than if the footage was shot on a much more professional video camera.
This service seemed to work well, but I did not actually pay to have any of my files recovered in their entirety. As I mention in the video above, several of my corrupted files were showing up as 0KB, and I of course tried to upload those files to Aeroquartet's servers. Since the files register as too small to recover, I thought it would be interesting to reach out to the Aeroquartet team and see if they thought any of my 0KB files could be recovered at all. To my surprise they actually had a solution for these files.
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I'm sorry to hear your upgraded gear is just... corrupting files. Goodness! I know you had a number of Nikon bodies and lenses for your video productions. The upgrade must have been a costly investment, and on top of it all, you're dealing with these inconveniences. While I'm not familiar with Panasonic cameras, I know shooting video on any camera has always been a significant drain on the battery. I'd also imagine the image stabilization is eating up a few milli amps. Switching brands has never crossed my mind, personally. Largely because Nikon has never let me down (I don't do any video work.) Their latest D5 just nails the focus like my D4 never could. I mean razor sharp regardless of the lens. Best of luck and I hope your Panasonic upgrade gives you no more problems.
I do have to say, having used a ton of different cameras, I stand by my belief that Nikon DSLRs are the best cameras for raw image quality when comparable models are tested side by side. The D810 and D750 cameras are getting a little old now (another reason we left) but compared to the Canon and even Sony, I think Nikon is the bar raiser. The two next Nikon replacements will prob smoke everyone as well. I just wish Nikon would give hybrid shooters like us more video options and improve the overall video sharpness and bit rate. Comparing D750 video files to everyone else is like comparing 4k to 720....Nikon's 1080p files looks so blurry and not sharp.
With Sony not allowing Nikon to use their top tear sensors anymore I have serious doubts if the Nikon D900 (or 820) will be anywhere close to the A7riii, and the canon is dead last, the 5d4 is not even close to them anymore
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