New Recode AVC profile playable?

[GbrNole]

actually what i meant to state is that the files will only be much bigger if you chose to keep the ac3 track for certain titles and that is only because the ac3 track isn't compressed during the encode.

so lets say for example your 90min movie may run ~650mb about 575mb of that will be video and the remaining 75mb are audio. approx the same ratio exists for xvid when you use mp3 to encode the audio portion rather than ac3. if you retained ac3 then the total file size would be closer to 900mb.

[dvd_maniac]

Then what you are asking is WHY I am using standard Nero MP4 rather than Xvid? I have done some Xvids before however I am no expert. What do you think the advantages are for Xvid over Nero's mp4?
With Nero, 90 minute movie =
500-600MB 650-750kbps, depends on action, Sci-Fi vs. drama, Documenary.
Approximately 60 Minute total 2 pass, Extra Quality (highest available)
Quality is around 70% compared to original DVD. Totally exceptable for me.
Playable in both set top dvd players.

[korben_dallas]

Your set top dvd players will play .mp4 videos???

[dvd_maniac]

Yup

from JVC WEBSITE

XV-NP10S
Manufacturer's suggested retail price: $179.95

Built in Memory Card Slot to read SD/MMC, Compact Flash, Smart Media, XD and Memory Stick
Plays DVD Video,DVD-R, DVD-RW (Video Format), CD, CD-R/RW, SVCD, VCD, JPEG Playback, WMA MP3 formats, MPEG-4, DivX, SD/MMC, Memory Stick, Compact Flash, XD and Smart Media.
Direct Digital Progressive Scan
High-bit/high-sampling (10-bit/54MHz video D/A converter
Stylish Design with Front Illuminated Panel at only 47mm high
Express Play Start


Not the best player in the world though. It sometimes glitches on playing DVD's. I have yet to have a problem with mpeg4, weird isn't it? Anyways, I plan to put client in all the rooms anyways after christmas so it doesn't matter. I will probably be putting them in the closet...

[GbrNole]

the client issue is my entire holdup with .mp4 as i would prefer to network pinnacle showcenter's or maybe avel media players.

[dvd_maniac]

the client issue is my entire holdup with .mp4

Are you saying that Client will not play mp4's?

[gplasky]

Came across this in another forum and thought of this problem you were having. This might be able to work in Sage to play your mp4 files without using Nero. Here is the download:

mpegable DS Decoder

Worth a shot?

Gerry

[greggerm]

OK - DVD Maniac - I've followed the various threads here and on Doom9 in which you have participated and I must say thanks for trailblazing this "issue". Thankfully your posts have contained all the keywords I've been searching with so I get brought to the latest and greatest finds right away.

So here is the progress so far on my end...

* Encodes to Nero's AVC format "require" Nero to be installed on the playing machine. (Other threads indicate that other decoders can be used, but for simplicities sake, I just dropped Nero on my Sage machine to experiment)

* I encoded a clip to on my desktop with Nero AVC and moved it to the Sage PC - after installing Nero, it played back fine in Showtime. I also was able to sucessfully open the file and play it back in Windows Media Player 10. This is a good thing.

* I added the .mp4 extension to my Sage video library list, and my clip showed up in SageTV import library, as expected.

* Sadly, the same DirectShow error is popping up when I attempt to play it. (-4,0x8004022f Error in the Video Portion yadda yadda)

* I use the Cayers STV, so I activated an external video player (happens to default to WMP10) - this drops Sage to the background and plays the file just fine! But obviously this is within Windows Media Player and not Sage. Another drawback is that this changes *ALL* video files, not just my import library, so even normal MPEG2s are played back in WMP. Not good WAF impact. (even though she's technically only a G/F)

Am I correct in presuming that the state of Nero AVCs is such that they cannot play from within Sage? While all other DS enabled apps seem to work OK, sage seems to have an issue with them. Have you made any steps forward getting Nero AVC's into Sage?

BTW - I briefly tried the above AVC filter from mpegable, and it returned the same results for me.

-Greg

[Cayars]

greggerm, the newest version of Cayars (17) in testing allows you to set the external player to only be used for file types SageTV itself can't handle which is exactly what you want to do I think.

You can also change the external player to anything you want by editing the "VideoPlayer.cmd" file in the External directory under Cayars.

Carlo

[korben_dallas]

Unless something has changed, neither DVD or I were ever able to get AVC encoded mp4 files to play in Sage. Regular mp4 yes.. avc mp4 no.

You can use the 3ivx codec for playback of standard mp4 (without needing Nero installed), but it is a 30 day trial codec.

[greggerm]

Cayars and Korben - Thanks for the updates.

Cayers - I recall reading in your STV's MASSIVE thread that you were working on something to that effect. That would be a great addition to the suite you've already built. I was going to use that functionality as a last resort, but it looks like it'll be our only hope! (Great GREAT STV, by the way - significant WAF approval) I'll just have to figure out some remote control issues, and I'll be on my way!

Korben - Thanks for the info. I was able to get the ASP's ("Normal .mp4") working just fine with the 3ivx codecs, but I think I am being a bit of a forward thinker wanting to stick with the latest and greatest. I know I'll kick myself in the pants down the road when AVCs become part of Sage's native tongue.

[Cayars]

Yea, that's the one issue with using an external player. You have to setup your remote outside of SageTV to deal with the new application. It's pretty easy to do with the Hauppauge Remote software and if you use Girder there should be setup instructions available for all the common players already.