Forensic tools directory
Independent profiles of the software and hardware used in digital investigations. Each one says what the tool is for, what it can do, where it stops and what you need to know before you use it on a case.
- Multimedia and videoCurrentAmped FIVEAmped Software
Amped FIVE is a workstation for CCTV and image evidence. It opens proprietary DVR files, applies documented filters to make what is there easier to see and writes a report of every step. Clarifying a picture is a different job from proving it is genuine.
- Multimedia and videoCurrentAmped AuthenticateAmped Software
Amped Authenticate asks a different question from FIVE. Not what does this picture show, but can this file be trusted. It tests integrity, reconstructs processing history, links an image to a camera and searches for manipulated or generated content.
- Multimedia and videoCurrentFFmpegFFmpeg project
FFmpeg is the engine behind most media software. For an examiner its three commands inspect a file's streams, extract frames without guessing and convert footage for viewing with every setting on record.
- Multimedia and videoCurrentExifToolPhil Harvey
ExifTool reads the metadata inside a file and prints it in full: camera, lens, timestamps, GPS, editing software, maker notes and embedded thumbnails. It is the first stop when a photo or video has to explain where it came from.
- Multimedia and videoCurrentMediaInfoMediaArea
MediaInfo reads a media file's structure and reports it: container, video and audio codecs, bit rates, frame rate, duration, encoding settings and tags. It tells an examiner what a file is before any player opens it.
- Multimedia and videoCurrentImageMagickImageMagick Studio LLC
ImageMagick converts, inspects and processes images from the command line or from code. In a forensic laboratory it is the scripting layer for image work: batch conversion, pixel comparison, property listing and repeatable processing with every parameter on record.
- Multimedia and videoCurrentForensicallyJonas Wagner
Forensically is a free web page of image analysis tools that run inside the browser, so the picture never leaves the examiner's computer. It is a teaching and first-look tool, and its author says plainly that it cannot tell true from false.
How to read a profile
Every profile was written from the maker’s own documentation and checked on the date shown. Where a page did not state something, such as the operating system or a licence term, the field is left empty rather than guessed. Product status matters: tool families change names, and a page that calls a product current, legacy or transitioning saves you learning something that is already being replaced.
The profiles are educational. They do not say that one product is better than another and they do not promise results. A tool only does what the examiner understands, so each profile lists the knowledge you need first and the DFRTI courses that teach it.
Product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners. DFRTI is an independent educational and research institute. Inclusion in this directory does not imply manufacturer endorsement, partnership or authorisation. Facts are checked against the manufacturer's public documentation on the date shown and may have changed since.
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