Out of the box, ImageJ has limited support for some video formats such as AVI and QuickTime.
Plugins
There are several ways to enable support for more video formats:
- Bio-Formats includes support for reading additional codecs for some video formats. See the Bio-Formats AVI and QuickTime pages for the list of supported codecs. Bio-Formats is included with the Fiji distribution of ImageJ.
- Enable the beta-quality FFMPEG update site, which uses native bindings to the FFmpeg library to read many video formats. The source code for this update site is embedded in the scifio-javacv history.
- For exporting video, you could try the Save As Movie plugin. Unfortunately, there is no update site for it; you must perform a complex installation procedure manually.
Transcoding
Another strategy is to transcode your video to an uncompressed format using a tool such as QuickTime Pro, VirtualDub or FFmpeg on the command line. The uncompressed video stream can then easily be opened in ImageJ without the need for additional plugins. Similarly, for saving video, you can write to an uncompressed format, then compress it afterward using an external tool.
For files larger than 4GB, you may run into trouble with otherwise excellent transcoders like FFmpeg. For cases like that, check out media player and the k-lite codec pack.
Future directions
The SCIFIO-JavaCV project will offer out-of-the-box support for video formats supported by OpenCV including those supported by FFmpeg. At the moment, the SCIFIO-JavaCV project is inactive due to lack of development resources.
