How to extract webm videos from PDF

JackSPk · 01-30-2015, 10:26 PM

I'm really stuck here, trying to extract short webm video files from a PDF. I searched the entire day about it, trying different programs and methods, but nothing work.

With an EPUB is really easy, because I can open it with Calibre, and a temp folder is created with all the videos inside, so I tried to convert the PDF to EPUB with Calibre and then open it, but the conversion has no videos, just a lot of images with a couple of pixels inside (and it was REALLY slow, like 2 hours to convert it).

Tried converting to other formats, but was exactly the same, and really slow too.

Is there a better way to do this? Or I just need to keep trying programs and conversions until I success (or not)?

dgatwood · 01-31-2015, 12:27 AM

Inside PDF? Eww.

I've never seen video embedded in a PDF, but based on what PDF files usually look like under the hood, I'd expect the video data to be in the form of a giant blob of base64-encoded data, in all likelihood, wrapped with some sort of magic commands to tell the reader that the blob contains video data. If you can find that blob, you can probably copy the base64-encoded blob to a text file, then use a base64-decoding tool to extract the raw video.

Of course, whether anything can then process the video file or not depends on whether they leave in the appropriate header data when they stick it in the PDF file or replace that data with equivalent data somewhere else in the PDF file (in which case you'd have to reconstruct the header bits). I couldn't begin to guess. It's worth a shot, though.

DaleDe · 02-02-2015, 11:46 AM

I would expect that video in PDF is using FLV format.

Dale

JackSPk · 02-02-2015, 07:05 PM

Thank you for your responses. Fortunately I didn't need to decrypt the pdf manually or something like that.

What I do was install Mac OS X Mavericks on VirtualBox, download File Juicer, download the PDF again and then extract all of it's content.

It took a lot of time because running mac os in an AMD is really tedious, but worked, so :)

PS: Just in case that someone want to know the video format, according to File Juicer, is MP4.

crashnburn · 12-30-2015, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JackSPk

Thank you for your responses. Fortunately I didn't need to decrypt the pdf manually or something like that.

What I do was install Mac OS X Mavericks on VirtualBox, download File Juicer, download the PDF again and then extract all of it's content.

It took a lot of time because running mac os in an AMD is really tedious, but worked, so

PS: Just in case that someone want to know the video format, according to File Juicer, is MP4.

Typically FLV & MP4 - containers. Anyone find a tool like this on Windows?

willus · 01-08-2016, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crashnburn

Typically FLV & MP4 - containers. Anyone find a tool like this on Windows?

See this thread.

01-30-2015, 10:26 PM	#1
JackSPk Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2015 Device: none	[Solved] How to extract webm videos from PDF I'm really stuck here, trying to extract short webm video files from a PDF. I searched the entire day about it, trying different programs and methods, but nothing work. With an EPUB is really easy, because I can open it with Calibre, and a temp folder is created with all the videos inside, so I tried to convert the PDF to EPUB with Calibre and then open it, but the conversion has no videos, just a lot of images with a couple of pixels inside (and it was REALLY slow, like 2 hours to convert it). Tried converting to other formats, but was exactly the same, and really slow too. Is there a better way to do this? Or I just need to keep trying programs and conversions until I success (or not)? Last edited by JackSPk; 02-02-2015 at 07:05 PM. Reason: Solved

02-02-2015, 07:05 PM	#4
JackSPk Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2015 Device: none	Solved! Thank you for your responses. Fortunately I didn't need to decrypt the pdf manually or something like that. What I do was install Mac OS X Mavericks on VirtualBox, download File Juicer, download the PDF again and then extract all of it's content. It took a lot of time because running mac os in an AMD is really tedious, but worked, so :) PS: Just in case that someone want to know the video format, according to File Juicer, is MP4.

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01-31-2015, 12:27 AM	#2
dgatwood Curmudgeon Posts: 629 Karma: 1623086 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: iPad, iPhone, Nook Simple Touch	Inside PDF? Eww. I've never seen video embedded in a PDF, but based on what PDF files usually look like under the hood, I'd expect the video data to be in the form of a giant blob of base64-encoded data, in all likelihood, wrapped with some sort of magic commands to tell the reader that the blob contains video data. If you can find that blob, you can probably copy the base64-encoded blob to a text file, then use a base64-decoding tool to extract the raw video. Of course, whether anything can then process the video file or not depends on whether they leave in the appropriate header data when they stick it in the PDF file or replace that data with equivalent data somewhere else in the PDF file (in which case you'd have to reconstruct the header bits). I couldn't begin to guess. It's worth a shot, though.

02-02-2015, 11:46 AM	#3
DaleDe Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,470 Karma: 13095790 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Grass Valley, CA Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7	I would expect that video in PDF is using FLV format. Dale