TOOLBOX: Technical Tips and Info

Free Software Downloads and Reference Sites That Will Boost Your Video-Forensic Capabilities and Know-How.

Many steps and obstacles may sit between gathering video evidence at a crime scene and using it as a tool in the courtroom. How do you keep the evidence viable for the courtroom? How do you deal with possibly obscure digital file formats? Where do you look for answers when you hit a doorstop? To help knock out some of these obstacles, we’ve put together a list of useful free video software and reference websites.

Best Practices reference

The following links are best practice reference guides for
analyzing forensic video and retrieving video evidence from
CCTV systems.

SWGIT Best Practices for Forensic Video Analysis

Best Practices for the Retrieval of Video Evidence
from Digital CCTV Systems

Image Viewing Software

IrfanView: This freeware application will allow you to view and edit still
images on your system.

Codec Application Software

The following freeware applications will help you establish what codecs are required to play a media file, as well as identifying whether the codecs are present on your system. They will also point out problems associated with the codecs and the media files.

GSpot

AFREECODEC VT

MediaInfo

AVICodec

VideoInspector

Video Playback Application

This video playback and editing software application is geared towards processing AVI files. It can also read MPEG-1 files and handle sets of BPM images. It’s available as a free download.

Virtual Dub

File Extension Source

These sites are searchable file extension databases containing information about thousands of file extensions. Entries contain the file format, a description of the file and the programs that can open the file.

filext.com

fileinfo.com

Miscellaneous Video Tools

List of links to various video software tools, including decrypters, screen capture programs, video editors, video players and much more.

videohelp.com

fourcc.org: source for video CODEC and format information.

media-geek.com: A forensic multimedia community containing a variety of downloads and links as well as forensic video news, blogs and forums. This is a great place to go to ask questions about or read up on video forensics. It is also a great place to download proprietary players and codecs (click downloads from the menu).