How do I repair a broken .mov (QuickTime) file?

Question

I have a video file (.mov > QuickTime) which was recorded with a VHoldr ContourHD camera.

One of the problems with this camera is that when the battery dies, it doesn't terminate the video file correctly... which is exactly what happened to my video. I've searched around a bit, and all the video and audio data should actually be there, but the .mov file is missing headers and should be reindexed.

I found this site that offers to do .mov repairs, but they charge almost $80 for one lousy movie. I'm sure there must exist a (free) tool which can simply reindex a .mov file, but I've yet to find it...

I'm on Windows. I've tried VirtualDUB with MOV mod, but that doesn't work. It refuses to load the corrupt file. Can anyone suggest another tool or any other way to fix (reindex) QuickTime movies?

Answer 1

I tried the HD Video Repair Utility with some success.

Answer 2

I use and love MPEG Streamclip on my Mac, but there is also a Windows version. I've used it to save many broken files from my camcorder, and it's absolutely free (no crappy watermarks or anything). It's saved me a lot of lost footage and a lot of wasted time. I suggest you give it a try!

Answer 3

I used VLC convert function. I saved my video from mov to mp4 and managed to remove the freezes. My camera is Nikon D600.

Answer 4

I use Panasonic GH2, that is the same thing, when the battery die, it cannot close the vedio file, I try the following, in most case, it works with FREE, I use Win7, please try,

Put the card in your card reader, run my computer, select your card, right crack, select tools, run check & scan, let window repair and close the file.

In most case , the file will close correctly, and the lost file can play.

Good Luck