Specifying decoder per media format...

[sleeeves]

Starting with beta 6.4.2, Sage has this great sounding new property available to play around with:

7. Added ability to specify the audio or video decoder used for any specific media format in DirectShow. This is done in the properties file under videoframe/codec_audio_decoder_filter or videoframe/codec_video_decoder_filter where 'codec' is replaced by the media format name. These properties will get created as media with a new format is played back.

Has anyone tried using this to specify certain decoders per file format? My quick initial test of plugging in ffdshow for the mkv format made no difference.

This property seems very promising, allowing us to finally have complete control over how sage plays our media files. I haven't seen anyone else mention this property here in the forums (except bialio stating he was happy with this new feature...)

[Narflex]

MKV is a container/file format. It's not a codec. Look at the detailed info for the file you're trying to playback and then check out what the video & audio codecs for it are. Then if you set those properties to use ffdshow, then it'll use ffdshow (assuming you specified it correctly).

[sleeeves]

Originally Posted by Narflex

MKV is a container/file format. It's not a codec. Look at the detailed info for the file you're trying to playback and then check out what the video & audio codecs for it are. Then if you set those properties to use ffdshow, then it'll use ffdshow (assuming you specified it correctly).

I was thinking this property would let me explicitly select the ffdshow codec to be used to play back the .mkv file format I guess I interpreted the property to mean something like "file extension .mkv=ffdshow" - nice and simple. I've found that at least for .mkv files, which are able to contain a variety of media types, its not as simple at that. I played an .mkv file and these two lines were created in sage.properties:

videoframe/ac3_audio_decoder_filter=
videoframe/h264_video_decoder_filter=

I modified the lines to this:

videoframe/ac3_audio_decoder_filter=ffdshow Audio Decoder
videoframe/h264_video_decoder_filter=ffdshow Video Decoder

...and got audio and video to be played back with ffdshow.

Up to this point, I have been using the "always_use_dshow_player=true" line in sage.properties, but sage was still not using ffdshow. Using the new properties from 6.4.2+ now lets me control how .mkv files are played back.

Thank you Narflex for clarification!

[Halstead]

does tis require "always_use_dshow_player=true" to be on or off?

[sleeeves]

Originally Posted by Halstead

does tis require "always_use_dshow_player=true" to be on or off?

It shouldn't matter. On my system I do have "always_use_dshow_player=true". It seems that ideally, you'd want this set to false, and then use the other properties to specify per format the codecs you'd like to use. If I get a chance later, I'll try testing to see if it makes a difference...

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by Halstead

does tis require "always_use_dshow_player=true" to be on or off?

Originally Posted by sleeeves

It shouldn't matter. On my system I do have "always_use_dshow_player=true". It seems that ideally, you'd want this set to false, and then use the other properties to specify per format the codecs you'd like to use. If I get a chance later, I'll try testing to see if it makes a difference...

I'm not sure about that. Setting it false in the properties file is the same as choosing to use the Sage Player for mp4 files in the Detailed Setup. I'm pretty sure when it is set to false the Sage Player tries to play those files.

Gerry

[Halstead]

Seems like we need a tiebreaker here...

[sleeeves]

Originally Posted by gplasky

I'm not sure about that. Setting it false in the properties file is the same as choosing to use the Sage Player for mp4 files in the Detailed Setup. I'm pretty sure when it is set to false the Sage Player tries to play those files.

Gerry

I just tested this and yes the property must be set "always_use_dshow_player=true" for the "videoframe/ac3_audio_decoder_filter=" and "videoframe/h264_video_decoder_filter=" properties to have any effect. With "always_use_dshow_player_player" set to false, the videoframe lines do nothing.

[Halstead]

Hrmmmm...
These properties seem to have no effect for me- I can't seem to get Sage to use my preferred decoders (Arcsoft for video and FFDShow for audio). When I open up an AVI or M2TS file with h264 video and AAC or AC3 audio in Zoom Player, the FFDShow icon appears in my taskbar as expected. However, no luck in SageTV.

In fact, I get no audio at all unless I set always_use_dshow_player=false, in which case I'm pretty sure I'm just using MPlayer. The only difference I can think of is I have the Halli splitter installed, which Zoom Player uses, but SageTV doesn;t seem to.

before I file a bug report, does anyone have any idea what might be going on?

[sleeeves]

I've found that sometimes sage will simply do what it wants to do, and doesn't care what properties you set. I've seen this tho only with .mkv files and I chalked it up to the fact that the container can have many different filetypes/encoding methods, depending on where they've come from. This seriously drives me crazy . For .avi files, on all the ones I've played, I get ffdshow icons for both audio and video successfully. I also am using the latest (as of May '08) Haali splitter. But, I've noticed that on some .avi's, I get the Haali icon, and some I do not, but each time I DO get the ffdshow icons - see how it drive one insane? Sage is still deciding on what splitter to use - I have no idea how to tell sage what I want to use as the splitter - changing directshow merits don't work.

Anyway, I'd try playing back an .avi file then closing out sage and checking your sageclient.properties file for any new formats that sage may have found in that file. Then modify the videoframe/ line with the decoder you want. To troubleshoot, I cut/pasted all the codec specific videoframe/ lines to another text file, then played one .avi file at a time, to see what got added to the properties file. AVI files can also contain multiple encoding types, so sage may create one videoframe/ line for one .avi file, and create a different videoframe/ line for another. Takes some time, but this way you can identify what sage sees the file as, and then add your decoder.

I hope this make some sort of sense. And good luck .