In around 99% of cases, a damaged movie file can be repaired using one of the existing techniques like reindexing or container structure correction.
But from time to time, we receive files that has a rare or more complex form of corruption. For those cases, the repair technique must be developed, and it is unlikely that it can be reused in the future.
Such cases require an investigative repair.
This has immediate implications:
- it is not possible to guarantee beforehand that a repair is even possible.
- determining repairability can require a sizable amount of work. It is usually required to pay an pre-repair fee to figure out.
- repair can be possible but with degraded result (only audio, video of low quality, ...). Customer is notified of lower-than-usual expectations.
- if repair is possible, the cost of developing the repair solution can vary a lot. In some cases, the repair is technically possible but not economically viable, or not possible in the required timeframe.
Most common cases:
- Bitstream corruption
- De-shuffling
- Error-hiding
Such repairs are more expensive than regular repairs. The cost can be difficult to estimate beforehand, and be subject to changes during the investigation. The result is not guaranteed, and part of the repair fee can be requested upfront.
Examples of recent investigative repairs:
DV bitstream corruption, cannot be fixed, but customer pays minimum fee and can repair video with lower quality.
H264 bitstream corruption, successful repair, cost around $1000, see blog post: The Everest of movie repairs