how do I determine the file type of a video file

Possible Duplicate:
Tool to view video/audio file information

Sometimes I get the url of a video embedded in a webpage and download it, just to find the file has no extension name.

I can play the video with a player, so it must be legal.

How do I determine the extension name of the video file in such circumstance?

onemach

Posted 2012-03-25T02:59:24.577

Reputation: 2 575

2Which OS are you using? – boehj – 2012-03-25T04:31:47.180

@boehj Mac OS X – onemach – 2012-03-25T05:23:30.137

Answers

Use Mediainfo, it is the best tool out there for this job.

HackToHell

Posted 2012-03-25T02:59:24.577

Reputation: 6 162

1Didn't work for me - the file I can't play is just showing as "350MiB container" in MediaInfo, no video info at all – darylknight – 2015-02-01T17:45:05.427

same with me unfortunately. – Sridhar Sarnobat – 2017-11-13T06:41:44.623

If you don't already, open up a folder and go to Tools -> Folder Options -> View -> and deselect 'Hide extensions for known file types'

If you are downloading from YouTube, the format is going to be a .flv (flash video) unless your downloader converts it.

If all else fails, just click on the webpage, view the source, and find out where the video was embedded on the page and find the format. If you are getting them all from the same site, they are more than likely all going to have the same format.

These are just a few things I could think of, I hope they might possibly help you.

cutrightjm

Posted 2012-03-25T02:59:24.577

Reputation: 3 966

Or Gspot. Reviews HERE. It allows you to see what container, internal codec etc that your video is using.

RJ-

Posted 2012-03-25T02:59:24.577

Reputation: 713

1Development stopped in 2007 ;p – HackToHell – 2012-03-25T04:46:59.433