MP4 playback help sought for sage V6

[DualQuad]

I have just begun experimenting with the transcode capabilities in SageTV V6 and have a configuration question. Right now my machine is running a lean configuration, OS, only necessary drivers, Nvidia Decoders, and SageTV.

I was able to get video and audio playback of transcoded material by using this in the properties file:
mplayer/use_for_all_mpeg4_playback=true

As I understand, this line forces MP4 playback to use the base Mplayer software in SageTV. What other MP4 playback mechanisms (software packages) are you guys using successfully for playback within SageTV?

Thanks in advance,
DQ

[MattHelm]

Did you ever get this working. I'm having a problem too:

After converting a file, I can watch it on my client, media extender, or with placeshifter (same machine as client), but not on the server. The server plays the file back, but all I get is audio and the menus, no video.

Oh, my video card on the server is only a Radeon 9200, could this be the problem? If so, what would the lowest end card be that could handle MPEG4 playback?

Any help out there?

[otakucode]

I have a very lean setup like you do, but I've installed the latest release version of the Xvid codec, and Sage uses that for MPEG-4 decoding. Sage has a bug with that though, and if the file has AC3 soundtrack, you can't resume watching something after you've stopped it or the video won't display more than 1 frame and when you hit stop, Sage will lockup and you have to kill it from task manager.

I think I'm going to try using that setting you mentioned, Sage support didn't bother mentioning such a thing and mplayer kicks butt. It is what Xbox Media Center is based on, and I have always found its capabilities to be nothing short of miraculous.

Edit: It worked! Turned on mplayer, and it works fine. Why are you looking for a different MPEG-4 playback solution?

[morfinx]

I use the latest Divx codec and mplayer/use_for_all_mpeg4_playback=false, which causes SageTV to use its internal DirectShow player to open Xvid encoded videos.

[DualQuad]

Originally Posted by otakucode

... [info deleted]

Edit: It worked! Turned on mplayer, and it works fine. Why are you looking for a different MPEG-4 playback solution?

Well, my playback of MPEG-4 transcoded material is not smooth. I am not sure if this lack of smoothness is a by-product of the encode or the decode side of the equation. I am starting from mpeg streams captured from an R5000. These streams are reporting wacky values when transcoded, like 65Mbps for Hd streams and things like that.

Currently, I have tried the DIXV codec and the builtin mplayer with unstaisfactory results. With your input, I will work off the assumption that the playback mechanisms are good and try fiddling around with the encode side.

Thanks for the input,
DQ

[otakucode]

Actually, I am seeing some issues with the mplayer playback, but the issues don't seem as serious as with the Xvid codec. I am hoping to tweak the mplayer stuff with the available mplayer options (there are tons). Might even see if it is possible to replace the mplayer version Sage is using with a better one. Good luck.

[Patilan]

Originally Posted by otakucode

...Might even see if it is possible to replace the mplayer version Sage is using with a better one.

Sadly, that doesn't work. (At least for me.) Sage is probably using some undocumented calls with MPlayer, and that breaks things when I try replacing it with a newer build. Too bad.