AVI Playback Question

[joe123]

Hi.

I just upgraded from SageTV V5 to V6 and am trying out the Convert feature.

I selected one movie to convert to MP4 (AVI) format and it shows ok on my MediaMVP, but when I try to play the movie back on my computer with Windows Media Player, I get a blank screen while playing.

What am I missing on my Win XP machine to be able to play back avi movies? I am using Windows Media player 11.

EDIT: Shows OK, but REALLY bad recordings!

[gplasky]

A video decoder that supports MP4. (Like Quicktime, ffdshow, CoreAVC, PowerDVD, etc.)I'm not sure exactly what MP4 flavor you are decoding to. (Even Divx is a form of MP4)

Gerry

[morfinx]

Download Combined Community Codec Pack:

http://www.cccp-project.net/

MP4 is a container, the video/audio contained inside could be several different types. CCCP has decoders for all of them (Divx, Xvid, H.264/AVC, MPEG2, MPEG, MP3, OGG, AAC, etc)

[stanger89]

Codec packs area almost univerally a very bad thing. Blight has a writeup on them on the Zoomplayer site.

You're much better off installing only the codecs you need. ffdshow can decode almost anything.

[morfinx]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Codec packs area almost univerally a very bad thing. Blight has a writeup on them on the Zoomplayer site.

You're much better off installing only the codecs you need. ffdshow can decode almost anything.

How so? I havn't had any problems with CCCP. Besides, it installs most filters that one would inevitably need to anyways.

[joe123]

Originally Posted by morfinx

How so? I havn't had any problems with CCCP. Besides, it installs most filters that one would inevitably need to anyways.

Mee too. I would like to know why as well.

[ke6guj]

one can think of the codec-packs as sort of a "shotgun" approach to installing the correct codec. It may install a working codec, but it wll install tons of codecs that you don't need and sometimes they can interfere with each other. If you have 4 different codecs that can play the file, which codec is being used, and where do you do any needed coded adjustments?

IF you are trying to play a video and it doesn't play, then just install the needed codec for that file. If you don;t know what codec you need, Gspot will let you know what audio and video codecs are used in that file.

[morfinx]

Originally Posted by ke6guj

one can think of the codec-packs as sort of a "shotgun" approach to installing the correct codec. It may install a working codec, but it wll install tons of codecs that you don't need and sometimes they can interfere with each other. If you have 4 different codecs that can play the file, which codec is being used, and where do you do any needed coded adjustments?

IF you are trying to play a video and it doesn't play, then just install the needed codec for that file. If you don;t know what codec you need, Gspot will let you know what audio and video codecs are used in that file.

That's precisely what CCCP was created for. For users who don't want to mess with DirectShow filter managers and GraphEdit, it's perfect.

The CCCP was created to

* alleviate the major problems caused by conflicting codec packs
* provide a video media playback standard for the "community"
* be capable of playing back most common video media files and formats
* be extremely easy to install and uninstall, even for users with no technical knowledge

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by morfinx

How so? I havn't had any problems with CCCP. Besides, it installs most filters that one would inevitably need to anyways.

I'll let Blight, the author of Zoomplayer answer that:
http://forum.inmatrix.com/index.php?showtopic=107

Originally Posted by Blight

Codec packs are evil, they can take over your system, install multiple version of decoders which can conflict and even install bad filters which can cause your image to vertically flip, your audio to crackle or even stop working and other nasty side-effects

Also:
http://www.inmatrix.com/articles/mediasetup3.shtml

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by morfinx

That's precisely what CCCP was created for. For users who don't want to mess with DirectShow filter managers and GraphEdit, it's perfect.

That's exactly the point, install only the codecs you need and you'll never have to resort to filter managers or Graphedit. Those are the last resort of a cluttered system.

And like I said, ffdshow, all by itself, can play almost anything.

[Patilan]

Better yet, MPlayer , all by itself, can play anything.

[morfinx]

Originally Posted by stanger89

That's exactly the point, install only the codecs you need and you'll never have to resort to filter managers or Graphedit. Those are the last resort of a cluttered system.

And like I said, ffdshow, all by itself, can play almost anything.

What about users who aren't as tech savvy as you? Haali Splitter, VSFilter, ffdshow, these are all commonly used filters. As I said before, one of the primary objective of CCCP is to answer the concern you brought up, that is to "alleviate the major problems caused by conflicting codec packs". User installs CCCP and only CCCP, gets the most commonly used codecs without the need to install anything else. Where's the problem?

[dblaine2]

Its good that you had great success with this codec pack, but Stanger is making the point that in general codec packs are not as robust as this one.

[dblaine2]

I tried my first AVI convert to see if I can replicate your problem. What I found is horrible stutter.

Here is what I did:

I ripped a DVD (A Fish Called Wanda) using DVD Shrink. This is my normal method - I just keep VOB's which work great and do not stutter. They exist on a fileserver downstairs and is accessed by Sage over wireless G. I then ran VideoRedo to combine the VOB's into one MPG. Again no stutter when played in Sage. Then I used the Sage Convert feature to convert it to high quality AVI. Here is where Sage stutters like crazy.

Any ideas?

[morfinx]

Originally Posted by dblaine2

I tried my first AVI convert to see if I can replicate your problem. What I found is horrible stutter.

Here is what I did:

I ripped a DVD (A Fish Called Wanda) using DVD Shrink. This is my normal method - I just keep VOB's which work great and do not stutter. They exist on a fileserver downstairs and is accessed by Sage over wireless G. I then ran VideoRedo to combine the VOB's into one MPG. Again no stutter when played in Sage. Then I used the Sage Convert feature to convert it to high resolution AVI. Here is where Sage stutters like crazy.

Any ideas?

It appears we have the same problem:

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22338

I submitted a bug report but so far haven't heard back. Now I know it's not an isolated case, I urge you to submit a bug report as well.

[Patilan]

Originally Posted by dblaine2

Then I used the Sage Convert feature to convert it to high resolution AVI. Here is where Sage stutters like crazy.

Am I understanding correctly that you are converting it to a higher resolution than the original? If so, then why on earth would you ever do that?

[dblaine2]

Hey it was my first one. I'll try Good quality AVI next.

[Patilan]

My point was, you never gain any quality by upconverting the resolution. You lose quality. In fact, it is strongly advised that you leave the resolution alone, unless you really have to mess with it for some good reason.

Instead, consider what goal you are trying to achieve. If you want to save disk space, convert your mpeg2 DVD to h.264 avi, and in the process play with the bitrate, but not with the resolution. DVDs commonly have bitrates around 9,000 kbps, and that video can retain its quality when converted to h.264 with around 900 kbps! That's 10 times less file size for (almost) the same quality!

Or, if your machine is old and slow for smooth h.264 playback, then you can go with some other mpeg4 codecs, like xvid with around 1,200 kbps, or divx with around 1,600 kbps, etc. Trail and error till you find what fits you best.

Patilan

[dblaine2]

Originally Posted by Patilan

My point was, you never gain any quality by upconverting the resolution. You lose quality. In fact, it is strongly advised that you leave the resolution alone, unless you really have to mess with it for some good reason.

Instead, consider what goal you are trying to achieve. If you want to save disk space, convert your mpeg2 DVD to h.264 avi, and in the process play with the bitrate, but not with the resolution. DVDs commonly have bitrates around 9,000 kbps, and that video can retain its quality when converted to h.264 with around 900 kbps! That's 10 times less file size for (almost) the same quality!

Or, if your machine is old and slow for smooth h.264 playback, then you can go with some other mpeg4 codecs, like xvid with around 1,200 kbps, or divx with around 1,600 kbps, etc. Trail and error till you find what fits you best.

Patilan

Ok, I'll bite. What do you use to convert MPG2 to H.264?

NM: I found Staxrip

[Patilan]

Originally Posted by dblaine2

What do you use to convert MPG2 to H.264?

Well, you could use the built-in transcoding in Sage. You'll have to play a bit with the transcoding presets in the Sage.properties file. Docs for the Sage's transcoder (ffmpeg) can be found here.

Personally, I prefer Mencoder over the Sage's transcoder for all my jobs. But you'll see what fits you best.

Good luck.