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[Bug 1406546] Re: Gray thumbnails generated for some videos

 

For Ubuntu 14.04 LTS users I've personally used a solution that uses
totem or ffmpegthumbnailer instead, available via https://launchpad.net
/~timo-jyrinki/+archive/ubuntu/shotwell:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:timo-jyrinki/shotwell
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install ffmpegthumbnailer

The current patch uses ffmpegthumbnailer because of a GStreamer bug that
did get fixed already in May 2014 but I just didn't switch back to the
Totem thumbnailer.

** Description changed:

  The Shotwell thumbnailer is limited in the way it does seeking in some
  video formats, resulting in data that is not the full video frame but
  only interframe data, resulting in mostly gray thumbnails for such video
  formats. This is not a GStreamer bug, since Totem thumbnailer works
  fine, so it's a difference in how GStreamer is ued.
  
  This can be tested manually with:
  /usr/lib/shotwell/shotwell-video-thumbnailer video.MTS > out.png
  
  Sony AVCHD format (MTS) is one example, while the MP4 from Sony's better
  XAVC S format works fine.
  
  This Ubuntu bug is for following the upstream bug report.
+ 
+ [Test Case]
+ 
+ wget http://kernelcat.com/shotwell/20141230125000.MTS
+ totem-video-thumbnailer -r 20141230125000.MTS totem.png
+ /usr/lib/shotwell/shotwell-video-thumbnailer 20141230125000.MTS > shotwell.png
+ ffmpegthumbnailer -s0 -i20141230125000.MTS -offmpeg.png
+ 
+ Totem and ffmpegthumbnailer generate a correct thumbnail, Shotwell does
+ not.

** Description changed:

  The Shotwell thumbnailer is limited in the way it does seeking in some
  video formats, resulting in data that is not the full video frame but
  only interframe data, resulting in mostly gray thumbnails for such video
  formats. This is not a GStreamer bug, since Totem thumbnailer works
- fine, so it's a difference in how GStreamer is ued.
+ fine, so it's a difference in how GStreamer is used.
  
  This can be tested manually with:
  /usr/lib/shotwell/shotwell-video-thumbnailer video.MTS > out.png
  
  Sony AVCHD format (MTS) is one example, while the MP4 from Sony's better
  XAVC S format works fine.
  
  This Ubuntu bug is for following the upstream bug report.
  
  [Test Case]
  
  wget http://kernelcat.com/shotwell/20141230125000.MTS
  totem-video-thumbnailer -r 20141230125000.MTS totem.png
  /usr/lib/shotwell/shotwell-video-thumbnailer 20141230125000.MTS > shotwell.png
  ffmpegthumbnailer -s0 -i20141230125000.MTS -offmpeg.png
  
  Totem and ffmpegthumbnailer generate a correct thumbnail, Shotwell does
  not.

** Changed in: shotwell (Ubuntu)
   Importance: Undecided => Medium

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1406546

Title:
  Gray thumbnails generated for some videos

Status in Shotwell:
  Unknown
Status in shotwell package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  The Shotwell thumbnailer is limited in the way it does seeking in some
  video formats, resulting in data that is not the full video frame but
  only interframe data, resulting in mostly gray thumbnails for such
  video formats. This is not a GStreamer bug, since Totem thumbnailer
  works fine, so it's a difference in how GStreamer is used.

  This can be tested manually with:
  /usr/lib/shotwell/shotwell-video-thumbnailer video.MTS > out.png

  Sony AVCHD format (MTS) is one example, while the MP4 from Sony's
  better XAVC S format works fine.

  This Ubuntu bug is for following the upstream bug report.

  [Test Case]

  wget http://kernelcat.com/shotwell/20141230125000.MTS
  totem-video-thumbnailer -r 20141230125000.MTS totem.png
  /usr/lib/shotwell/shotwell-video-thumbnailer 20141230125000.MTS > shotwell.png
  ffmpegthumbnailer -s0 -i20141230125000.MTS -offmpeg.png

  Totem and ffmpegthumbnailer generate a correct thumbnail, Shotwell
  does not.

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References