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• Returning a success or failure from ffmpeg

  16 mars 2014, par user3331834

  I have some code executed in PHP after meeting some criteria through if/then statements which looks something like this :

  if(in_array($ext,$video)&&($ext!=="mp4")){
  
      exec("ffmpeg -i ".$fileName.".".$ext." -s 640x360 ".$fileName.".mp4");
  
      /*
  
      if(successful){
  
          unlink($fileName.$ext);
  
          $status="Video entry approved. File converted.";
  
      }
  
      */
  
  }

  As you can see, the issue I'm having is trying to figure out what should go in place of if(successful). The point of this section of the code is to check the files extension against an array of known extensions that are in video format, and that aren't already in the mp4 format. If it passes this check, ffmpeg should run and convert to mp4.

  So a few questions here. Firstly, how can I return a status to tell me if it is converting, succeeded, or failed ? Secondly, how can this be run asynchronously ? That is, if I wanted to convert multiple files, would I be able to do so ? Would I be able to limit ffmpeg to ensure it does not take up all of my server's processing power and inadvertently bring the site to a grinding halt ?

  Or is there a better way to go about converting files than this ? I'm pretty sure my method must be crude.

  EDIT : In addition to this, how does one run ffmpeg in the background, so that the page can be closed, and/or another instance from the same page can be started up by the user for multiple simultaneous conversions ? Is it possible to include a real-time progress status of each conversion ?

• Processing a video on a webserver [on hold]

  6 septembre 2013, par Django Reinhardt

  A client is interested in applying a Sepia style filter, as well as title cards, to user-uploaded videos on their website. This would obviously be automated on their webserver, and it seems ffmpeg, dvd-slideshow and/or aviDemux are good ways to make this happen.

  Unfortunately, from what I've read, such processing would require a lot of webserver CPU power — far more than the average webserver usually has. How can I practically perform these calculations on a website ?

  Should I just try and go for a beefy dedicated hosting package, or can I rent another server that's more suited to video processing ?

• Trolls in trouble

  6 juin 2013, par Mans — Law and liberty

  Life as a patent troll is hopefully set to get more difficult. In a memo describing patent trolls as a “drain on the American economy,” the White House this week outlined a number of steps it is taking to stem this evil tide. Chiming in, the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (where patent cases are heard) in a New York Times op-ed laments the toll patent trolling is taking on the industry, and urges judges to use powers already at their disposal to make the practice less attractive. However, while certainly a step in the right direction, these measures all fail to address the more fundamental properties of the patent system allowing trolls to exist in the first place.

  System and method for patent trolling

  Most patent trolling operations comprise the same basic elements :

  1. One or more patents with broad claims.
  2. The patents of (1) acquired by an otherwise non-practising entity (troll).
  3. The entity of (2) filing numerous lawsuits alleging infringement of the patents of (1).
  4. The lawsuits of (3) targeting end users or retailers.
  5. The lawsuits of (3) listing as plaintiffs difficult to trace shell companies.

  The recent legislative actions all take aim at the latter entries in this list. In so doing, they will no doubt cripple the trolls, but the trolls will remain alive, ready to resume their wicked ways once a new loophole is found in the system.

  To kill a patent troll

  As Judge Rader and his co-authors point out in the New York Times, “the problem stems largely from the fact that, [...] trolls have an important strategic advantage over their adversaries : they don’t make anything.” This is the heart of the troll, and this is where the blow should be struck. Our weapon shall be the mightiest judicial sword of all, the Constitution.

  The United States Constitution contains (in Article I, Section 8) the foundation for the patent system (emphasis mine) :

  The Congress shall have Power [...] To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.

  Patent trolls are typically not inventors. They are merely hoarders of other people’s discarded inventions, and that allowing others to reap the benefits of an inventor’s work would somehow promote progress should be a tough argument. Indeed, it is the dissociation between investment and reward which has allowed the patent trolls to rise and prosper.

  In light of the above, the solution to the troll menace is actually strikingly simple : make patents non-transferable.

  Having the inventor retain the rights to his or her inventions (works for hire still being recognised), would render the establishment of non-practising entities, which most trolls are, virtually impossible. The original purpose of patents, to protect the investment of inventors, would remain unaffected, if not strengthened, by such a change.

  Links

  • Taking on Patent Trolls to Protect American Innovation
  • Fact Sheet : White House Task Force on High-Tech Patent Issues
  • Make Patent Trolls Pay in Court
  • Constitution of the United States