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While I know these fake drives exist - wouldn't running the last 5 minutes of a video file utterly fail as it wouldn't have any of the header/codec/video envelo

While I know these fake drives exist - wouldn't running the last 5 minutes of a video file utterly fail as it wouldn't have any of the header/codec/video envelope data since that's at the beginning? Have a feeling the story is more anecdotal than anything...

JonnieCache 16y ago
VLC will happily play files without any header/TOC or whatever. It has lots of heuristics in it to sniff that info from the stream when it can't find it. Try it with some broken files sometime. It really is amazing. It may not be capable of seeking properly, but it will have a damn good go at playing the file. Also - the frame index of an AVI file is at the end. It is only the headers which are at the start, and these are less important.
- ajtaylor 16y ago
  I can corroborate this. VLC is the one piece of software that will happily play back a movie as it's being downloaded. It's a fabulous example of tolerant software.
wulczer 16y ago
Depends on the codecs and the container format. With an Ogg/Vorbis/Theora you should be able to cut it in pieces an it will work. With, say, H.264/AAC in FLV you can't.
DarkShikari 16y ago
Depends... AVI: Index is at the end, so it might play fine in a tolerant enough player. MPEG-TS: Headerless. Will play fine in any player. MP4/MOV: Index is sometimes at the end; if so, it might play fine in a tolerant enough player. MKV: Has a header and index, usually at the start. Probably won't play. Ogg: Has a header, but is indexless; might play fine in a tolerant enough player. Probably not though, as both Vorbis and Theora (the only things Ogg supports that are ever used) both rely on custom Huffman tables in the headers.
- elliottcarlson 16y ago
  Good to know - haven't kept up to date with the envelopes of current formats as it's been a long time since I have dealt with the nitty gritty of video formats. I believe WMV for example would fail.

JonnieCache 16y ago

VLC will happily play files without any header/TOC or whatever. It has lots of heuristics in it to sniff that info from the stream when it can't find it. Try it with some broken files sometime. It really is amazing. It may not be capable of seeking properly, but it will have a damn good go at playing the file. Also - the frame index of an AVI file is at the end. It is only the headers which are at the start, and these are less important.

ajtaylor 16y ago
I can corroborate this. VLC is the one piece of software that will happily play back a movie as it's being downloaded. It's a fabulous example of tolerant software.

wulczer 16y ago

Depends on the codecs and the container format. With an Ogg/Vorbis/Theora you should be able to cut it in pieces an it will work. With, say, H.264/AAC in FLV you can't.

DarkShikari 16y ago

Depends... AVI: Index is at the end, so it might play fine in a tolerant enough player. MPEG-TS: Headerless. Will play fine in any player. MP4/MOV: Index is sometimes at the end; if so, it might play fine in a tolerant enough player. MKV: Has a header and index, usually at the start. Probably won't play. Ogg: Has a header, but is indexless; might play fine in a tolerant enough player. Probably not though, as both Vorbis and Theora (the only things Ogg supports that are ever used) both rely on custom Huffman tables in the headers.

elliottcarlson 16y ago
Good to know - haven't kept up to date with the envelopes of current formats as it's been a long time since I have dealt with the nitty gritty of video formats. I believe WMV for example would fail.