Answers.Body: <p>You can use <code>ffmpeg</code>'s <code>blackdetect</code> for that:</p>
  <p>Let's say you are interested in blackscreen with a duration greater than 2 seconds (<code>d=2</code>):</p>
  <pre><code>ffmpeg -i &quot;surveillance.mp4&quot; -vf &quot;blackdetect=d=2:pix_th=0.00&quot; -an -f null -
  </code></pre>
  <p>output (example):</p>
  <pre><code>[blackdetect @ 0x7fac3b555380] black_start:40 black_end:53.44 black_duration:13.44
  </code></pre>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2021-01-18T14:16:13.800Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2021-01-18T14:16:13.800Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: drake7
Body: <p>I have a large video file (about 6 hours long), it's a record from surveillance camera, the camera itself has no illumination features, though surveiled area has pretty good light which is triggered by motion detector.</p>
  <p>So now I have a large video file that is mostly just a black screen, but it might contain some action.
  <br />Which software and or approach should I use to locate all action areas of the video (to watch 6 hour footage does not appeal to me).</p>
  <p>I was thinking about video player that generates timeline of thumbnails or has built-in function to find non-black frames.
  I prefer solution to be free and opensource, but I have searched for a while and I am kind of desperate now, so anything (that will get the job done) will do.</p>
  
Tags: <video><video-editor><software-recommendation><video-recording><software>
Title: Software or method to detect sequences of non-black frames in a long video
UserDisplayName: Zaza
ThreadText: # Software or method to detect sequences of non-black frames in a long video
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2021-01-17)
  
  I have a large video file (about 6 hours long), it's a record from surveillance camera, the camera itself has no illumination features, though surveiled area has pretty good light which is triggered by motion detector.
  
  So now I have a large video file that is mostly just a black screen, but it might contain some action.
    
  Which software and or approach should I use to locate all action areas of the video (to watch 6 hour footage does not appeal to me).
  
  I was thinking about video player that generates timeline of thumbnails or has built-in function to find non-black frames.
  I prefer solution to be free and opensource, but I have searched for a while and I am kind of desperate now, so anything (that will get the job done) will do.
  
  **Tags:** video, video-editor, software-recommendation, video-recording, software
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2021-01-18. Score: 0
  
  You can use `ffmpeg`'s `blackdetect` for that:
  
  Let's say you are interested in blackscreen with a duration greater than 2 seconds (`d=2`):
  
  ```
  ffmpeg -i "surveillance.mp4" -vf "blackdetect=d=2:pix_th=0.00" -an -f null -
  
  ```
  
  output (example):
  
  ```
  [blackdetect @ 0x7fac3b555380] black_start:40 black_end:53.44 black_duration:13.44
  
  ```
  
  
  ---
  
  