FLAC Problem. Help Please.

[KD17]

I searched for FLAC help through Google and ended up on this site and saw other FLAC threads so maybe you guys can help me.

OK, I downloaded a couple videos, but they are .flac. I don't know too much about .flac so I did some research and it seems like .flac is for audio files right?

Anyway, is there a way to convert these to so I can watch the videos? I know they're not audio because a 4:00 video is over 50 MB. Thank You.

[Deano]

Re: FLAC Problem. Help Please.

FLAC is definately audio, Lossless audio. This would account for the filesize, as conceivably a 4 min sound could easily be 50meg if at a low compression level.

[xoas]

Re: FLAC Problem. Help Please.

Are you sure that these are FLAC? And if so, how?
My own guess would be that these are Macromedia Flash files with an .fla extension. These would be playable on Macromedia Flash Player which should be a free download if it is not already on your system. Since the .fla extension is sometimes used for FLAC files also, this would explain where confision might arise.

I would expect that your download site might be able to shed somewhat more light on the type of files these are. I would recommend that if you don't have any clarification there, I would first try to play them as Macromedia Flash files.

However, if you wish to post a link to the site for these videos, perhaps we could provide greater guidance.

Best wishes,
Bill

[KD17]

Re: FLAC Problem. Help Please.

I'm positive they're FLAC.

The extension is .flac and right under the title is say "FLAC FILE".

I'm also having the same problem with .shn. They're supposed to be videos, they're huge files, yet they are SHN files.

[xoas]

Re: FLAC Problem. Help Please.

Could you point us to the download site?

[LtData]

Re: FLAC Problem. Help Please.

Do remember that the "FLAC FILE" part comes from Windows identifying them by extensions as FLAC files, not that they are necessarily FLAC files.

[ChristinaS]

Re: FLAC Problem. Help Please.

AFAIK the .fla extension for Flash file is for the flash file source, not the final playable file. The .fla file will be opened by Flash compiler programs, not by the player.

[gameplaya15143]

Re: FLAC Problem. Help Please.

*.flac is flac lossless audio!
*.shn is shorten lossless audio!

neither are video

[xoas]

Re: FLAC Problem. Help Please.

It looks like the possibilities are:
1. These files are audio files only in .flac and .shn formats;
2. These files are in some other format and are simply mislabelled;
3. That these files somehow have some type of video information encoded with them.

The problem with the first possibility is that KD17 feels sure that these are music videos and also I believe he is correct in pointing out that the file size (over 50 mb flac for a 4:00 minute video) is large for FLAC even if the lowest compression setting is used (I tried converting a 4:07 wave file and ended to FLAC at 0 compression level and the resulting Flac file was 32 mb).

The second alternative might be possible but then we have no idea how to address this short of making sure that the file extensions are correct. Of course, if one could play the .flac file in a player that can handle flac, the fact that it could be played as an audio file might be at least partial confirmation that the file extension is correct. Or one could blindly start trying to play the file in a variety of video-capable programs in the hope that you would find one that could play the video assuming that video there is. WMP springs to mind, of course. WinAmp with a FLAC plugin might be interesting also since WinAmp does over support for visualizations (although a full music video seems rather far-fetched).

The third possibility is suspect because no one seems to have any experience of this having been done and we have no guidance we can provide in terms of advising how to view the video within such a file. One could try, I suppose, looking for hidden files that might support the video portions.

So I still think the best bet would be to find out more about where these files originated in the hopes that the download site might offer some further guidance. Short of that, there are the steps mentionned above. One might also try using FLAC Front-End to test the FLAC files (which would confirm or refute their status as true FLAC files but would not necessarily refute the possibility of there being some associated video content).

Anyway, short of someone showing up with a solid suggestion as to how to address such files, I think the possibilities are laid out and its up to KD17 to decide what to do.

Best wishes,
Bill

[KD17]

Re: FLAC Problem. Help Please.

Thank You xoas. I think I'm first going to try and get WinAmp and find a plug-in to try and possibly play the files correctly.

If I can't get anything to work then I guess large files are due to the fact that they're FLAC and I'll just use GoldWave or something to rip the audio into smaller files that are more appropriate for the length of the clip.

Anyway, thanks again for the help (everyone). I'll try your suggestions and see where they get me.