.avr video converted to Mac

[Blueface]

Need some help converting an .avr video on a DVD or thumb drive to a format viewable on a Mac.

Any help is appreciated.
Mac haters stay away. Not having a good day and will bite if provoked.

P.S., I have worn Google out and could not find any program.
All that initially led you to believe for Mac were for Windows only.

[T.G]

Carlos, I'll check later what some of my software can do and get back to you.

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by T.G

Carlos, I'll check later what some of my software can do and get back to you.

Adam, no rush.

I have a new DVR for my home surveillance cameras with a built in DVD recorder if I want to save anything from the built in hard rive for future reference. Turns out it creates a .avr file and a .exe for EF Media on the DVD that can only be played on a PC.
I thought I would be able to burn a DVD and take it directly to a non PC DVD player as I did with my prior system but was in for a shock when I tested it out today for the first time.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by Blueface

Adam, no rush.

I have a new DVR for my home surveillance cameras with a built in DVD recorder if I want to save anything from the built in hard rive for future reference. Turns out it creates a .avr file and a .exe for EF Media on the DVD that can only be played on a PC.
I thought I would be able to burn a DVD and take it directly to a non PC DVD player as I did with my prior system but was in for a shock when I tested it out today for the first time.

A DVR makes sense, that's what my initial lookups on the container (file type) were saying. Well, that or an Atari ST 8bit audio file from 25 years ago...

I have some more questions, but since it's a security system, I'll send them via PM.

[mmblz]

Carlos,
If you have to use a Windows app, one possibility that might work is CrossOver:
http://www.codeweavers.com/products/crossover/
This avoids having to have a Windows OS - but I don't know whether the player app would work with it. Looks like there is a free trial though...

On the flipside, if you don't want to Dual Boot, you can of course buy Parallels or VMWare Fusion. But those cost more... Virtual Box is a free app that does the same thing:
http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

[mmblz]

http://www.squared5.com/
?

(I don't even know what an avr is)

Do youtube or vimeo recognize it? If so you might be able to convert that way...

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by mmblz

http://www.squared5.com/
?

(I don't even know what an avr is)

Do youtube or vimeo recognize it? If so you might be able to convert that way...

Julian, please see my last post for more info that may help you guys help me.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by mmblz

(I don't even know what an avr is)

Yeah, I'm not familiar with the container type offhand either and I can't recall if I've ever dealt with an AVR file before. I don't have remote access to the video edit systems from here, so I'll have to check them later.

[backwoods357]

Yeah looks like squared5 is the way to go.

[dunng]

You could try opening it with VLC...

[T.G]

Originally Posted by dunng

You could try opening it with VLC...

That was my first thought at the beginning of this thread too, but needed to check the codec list first.

[TheRiddick]

Carlos, why not simply install VLC player (Mac version), it plays pretty much any format available out there. I'm a very recent convert to Mac and well, Windows platform does have its better points (lack of Backspace space on Mac is just stupid to begin with).

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by TheRiddick

Carlos, why not simply install VLC player (Mac version), it plays pretty much any format available out there. I'm a very recent convert to Mac and well, Windows platform does have its better points (lack of Backspace space on Mac is just stupid to begin with).

Did not work.

[Blueface]

Trying squared5 next.

Update.
Unsupported format.

[Bill86]

Couldn't you use a windows simulator on your Mac to play the video files?

Or am I off base here?

I've never heard of .AVR but to me this seems a bit easier.

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by Bill86

Couldn't you use a windows simulator on your Mac to play the video files?

Or am I off base here?

I've never heard of .AVR but to me this seems a bit easier.

Using Boot Camp and a Windows license on my Mac will ultimately work but trying to avoid that route.
Would almost rather just buy a netbook to dedicate to this system to do conversion.

My son in law found a program on his laptop (PC) that can convert this to any format that can then play anywhere.
Was looking for something similar for Mac but can't find it.

[TheRiddick]

Caros, I just installed another player in addition to VLC: http://handbrake.fr/

Have you tried this? http://www.fileinfo.com/extension/avr

[T.G]

Originally Posted by TheRiddick

Have you tried this? http://www.fileinfo.com/extension/avr

Greg, that's the old AVR format from 25 years ago, when it was for the Atari ST audio.

The current AVR container appears to be a nonstandard H.264 (MPEG-4) package, and as such, they have tweaked something in there that makes it unintelligible to most players (just about everything plays H.264 these days since it's part of the blu-ray standard). Unfortunately, there's very little information out there on this AVR container, and some of which appears to be in conflict and possibly incorrect.

The more I look into this, the more I fear that Carlos might get get stuck with no option short of an added computer.

[TheRiddick]

The link above points to a Mac sound player. I have not tried it since I have no avr files on hand. What's funny is that it seems avr files were Mac files to begin with, strange they don't support it now days.

I had to switch to Mac last month as I ran into some installation/configurations issues while upgrading Ruby on Rails code to latest releases. The switch is a pain, in general, at least for now after 20+ years of developing apps on Windows. Like I said, just typing and not having a Backspace key is ridiculous in many ways. So, I am not that surprised with the avr file format issues.

I'll check some more if the link I provided does not point to an app that can play the format.

[backwoods357]

Originally Posted by TheRiddick

just typing and not having a Backspace key is ridiculous in many ways. So, I am not that surprised with the avr file format issues.

You have to use the del key or Fn+Del. I hate OSX but I do have to admit the Mac Pro towers have excellent hardware in them. This problem doesn't appear to be any fault or defect in OSX, it's a proprietary container meant to work only with their software.