H.264 .mov files do not accurately play. Help!

[wonderkev]

Hello. I have spent more than 10 hours reading other people's threads and trying different things on my own. I'm going crazy here. First off. I can't play any of my movies on my computer, which have been recorded in the H.264 format with a .mov extension. Obviously I can't play them in WMP 11 or Windows Movie Maker. First off I tried using Quicktime Player. It would start and then freeze, although I could hear the audio. Every now and then the video would catch up and freeze again. I already have VLC player on my computer so I tried that, and had similar issues. Most of the time on VLC, I would only see the first frame. I created a system restore point and then installed the ffdshow codec. That didn't solve anything. I now could see parts of the movies on WMP but nothing played accurately. I uninstalled the ffdshow codec. I am using Windows Vista Home Premium. I was prompted to install updates on my system, so I clicked to install them. It then installed Service Pack 2 on my system. Through other posts and threads, I read about K-Lite codec package and thought I would give that a try. It didn't solve any of my problems. I then uninstalled that. I uninstalled my Quicktime and installed the latest version, and am having the same problems. I then uninstalled my VLC player. This is becoming extremely frustrating. My last 3 cameras recorded into .avi, and I could always play them in my WMP and also edit them using Windows Movie Maker. I was hoping to that with my latest vids, but keep hitting these dead ends. I put a couple of my movies onto a usb drive and transferred them onto my girlfriend's iMac, and she was able to play my movies using Quicktime without any problems. Now to make the situation worse, when I open up older movies I have, which are in .avi format, they don't play correctly in WMP. They used to, but don't anymore. Now the audio is a little behind the video. Any ideas???? I have already tried running Quicktime with the video in safe mode. I installed DirectX end-user runtime web installer. I really would like to be able to play these in Quicktime, but be able to edit them in Windows Movie Maker. I am using a Toshiba Satellite L305D-S5934 (bought 10 months ago). I'm running Windows Vista Home Premium on it. It uses an AMD Turion X2 Dual-Core Mobile RM-70 with 3.00 GB of RAM and an ATI Radeon 3100 Graphics. PLEASE, any advice would be greatly appreciated. I can't keep spending every free hour I have trying to make this work. Thanks again.

[poisondeathray]

try kmplayer

or mpc + quicktime alternative / quicktime pro , or mpchc with the internal mov splitter and h.264 enabled

if you're still getting issues, you might have system problems. Try uninstalling all the codec packs and reinstall only what you need. Installing Codec packs can cause codec conflicts and issues like you are seeing now

the other possibility is that your videos are damaged or corrupted, although less likely if they play on your girlfriends computer

[wonderkev]

Thanks. I tried KMPlayer, and immediately it appeared it was going to work. On a 27 second video, the first 20 seconds played well, but the last 7 seconds did not. The video switched to slow motion and the last 3 or 4 seconds of audio got muted or cut off. This happened on 3 different videos I tried. Any ideas on what I can use to check my system for a fix?

[poisondeathray]

what are the specs of the video? use mediainfo (view=>text)

it might be that your computer is too slow, but I doubt it, a dual core (even a laptop version) should be able handle it

does the playback falter exactly at that same spot? everytime? that would suggest corruption/glitch or error in that video...but if it happens on all the videos after 20 sec or so, that would suggest your computer is too old/slow

have these files ever played properly on that system?

you can try a utility called codec tweak tool, that will try to sort out broken codecs

the only way to be sure (last resort) is to reformat and start from the beginning, avoiding codec packs & installing only the filters you need.

[wonderkev]

The computer definitely isn't too slow. At one time all of my older .avi files were working flawlessly, but now they are not. To make the situation worse, I created a system restore point two days ago, so after installing ffdshow and the k-lite codec pack, I would be able to go back and do a restore, but that restore point is no longer there. Instead, I show two other restore points, 1. before installing Service Pack 2, and 2. Before reinstalling Quicktime. Both of the restore points came after my original restore point. Crap. Anyway, here is the info on one of my mov files.
General
Complete name : C:\Users\Desktop\Vids\MVI_0278.MOV
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : QuickTime
Codec ID : qt
File size : 34.8 MiB
Duration : 12s 100ms
Overall bit rate : 24.1 Mbps
Encoded date : UTC 2010-01-15 21:12:59
Tagged date : UTC 2010-01-15 21:12:59
Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Baseline@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 12s 100ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 23.4 Mbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 30.000 fps
Resolution : 8 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.848
Stream size : 33.8 MiB (97%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2010-01-15 21:12:59
Tagged date : UTC 2010-01-15 21:12:59
Color primaries : BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4, SMPTE RP177
Transfer characteristics : BT.709-5, BT.1361
Matrix coefficients : BT.601-6 525, BT.1358 525, BT.1700 NTSC, SMPTE 170M
Audio
ID : 2
Format : PCM
Format settings, Endianness : Little
Format settings, Sign : Signed
Codec ID : sowt
Duration : 12s 100ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 705.6 Kbps
Channel(s) : 1 channel
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Resolution : 16 bits
Stream size : 1.02 MiB (3%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2010-01-15 21:12:59
Tagged date : UTC 2010-01-15 21:12:59

[poisondeathray]

I suspect it's the audio that's giving you issues

If you are using ffdshow to decode, under the uncompressed setting, set "all supported" instead of "disabled" which is the default , and press apply. Close the media player , and restart it

But if your AVI files that used to work suddenly don't, then that suggests a system wide issue (e.g. from a codec pack screwing up your system)

Before going to reformat, try that codec tweak tool. If that doesn't work, try installing k-lite mega codec pack (perhaps something got screwed up in the uninstall)

[wonderkev]

Thanks again for your suggestions. I had uninstalled ffdshow yesterday, but I reinstalled it just now and changed the uncompressed setting. Now my older vids (.avi) work again perfectly using WMP 11. The sound now works well with Quicktime also. The only issue is I get a twitch in the video every 3/4 of a second. It looks like a small jerking motion to the left and it does this throughout the entire video. I will try the codec tweak tool next.

[poisondeathray]

which videos twitch? the avi files or mov files? what video & audio codecs in the avi files (use mediainfo)

do the ffdshow icons pop up in the taskbar when you play?

[wonderkev]

The .mov files are twitching. Actually, it appears as if they skip a frame or two every 3/4 of a second, but the audio works fine. The ffdshow icons do not pop up in the taskbar when I play. Here is the info on the .avi files, which do work in WMP.

General
Complete name : C:\Users\MVI_0372.AVI
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 14.4 MiB
Duration : 8s 0ms
Overall bit rate : 15.1 Mbps
Mastered date : Thu Feb 19 11:28:05 2009
Writing application : CanonMVI06
Video
ID : 0
Format : M-JPEG
Codec ID : MJPG
Duration : 8s 0ms
Bit rate : 15.0 Mbps
Width : 640 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 30.000 fps
Resolution : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 1.623
Stream size : 14.3 MiB (99%)
Audio
Format : PCM
Format settings, Endianness : Little
Format settings, Sign : Unsigned
Codec ID : 1
Codec ID/Hint : Microsoft
Duration : 8s 0ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 88.2 Kbps
Channel(s) : 1 channel
Sampling rate : 11.024 KHz
Resolution : 8 bits
Stream size : 86.1 KiB (1%)
Interleave, duration : 1000 ms (30.00 video frames)
Interleave, preload duration : 1000 ms

[poisondeathray]

I'm confused as to why your AVI files suddenly work in WMP, if you don't see the ffdshow icons activated (this suggests you are using another decoder). Something is messed up with your system

[wonderkev]

I'm sorry I wasn't more specific. While playing the .avi files in WMP, the ffdshow icons do show up in the taskbar. My .mov files can only be played in Quicktime, and that is where the twitchy video displays on all my .mov files. The ffdshow icon does not show up in Quicktime. The audio is good. When I try to play my .mov files in WMP, I receive the following message: Windows Media Player cannot play the file. The Player might not support the file type or might not support the codec that was used to compress the file.

[poisondeathray]

In order to use ffdshow to decode mov files in directshow players (such as WMP , MPC) , you need a mov splitter or source filter. I think it should come with quicktime alternative. If ffdshow is being used to decode, the icons should pop up. Your filter chain is not connecting to ffdshow for the .mov files in WMP

KMplayer should be able to decode it now as well

[wonderkev]

I went ahead and installed the Quicktime Alternative codec, and then installed the KMPlayer. While playing a .mov file in the KMPlayer, the audio plays correctly, but the video appears to play in slow motion, so the audio ends before the video, and they are not aligned. I'm getting burnt out on this now, since I have been at this for a few hours today, but I really do appreciate all of your help 'poisondeathray.' If you have any other suggestions, I'll need to look at them tomorrow. I need to step away from this laptop. Thanks.

[wonderkev]

The reason I started a new thread was because it looked like over 140 people have viewed this thread, but you were the only responder. I wasn't sure if you were out of ideas or not, or if others weren't responding, because they assumed you had control of it. I'm new to this forum, and only registered yesterday. I'm still stuck not being able to view my .mov files correctly.

[poisondeathray]

yes i'm out of ideas

if you can upload a small sample clip, i can check to see if it works on a PC (vs a MAC that your girlfriend has), but not sure if that will provide any new information (since we already are under the assumption that you have codec/system issues)...it might be last resort time (format, reinstall) , if you don't have an earlier restore point

you haven't answered if these mov clips ever played correct at some point in time?

You can try a different VLC version (build). VLC should be able to play anything , because it doesn't rely on system installed codecs. The fact that it has problems suggests either the clips are damaged or other issues with your system (like hardware, computer too slow)

You can check the taskmanager and look at CPU usage as you are playing. If it's maxed out and you still get studdering, that suggests your computer is too slow

And if Quicktime doesn't play it's own files, you have big problems.

[lowellriggsiam]

Did you author this file, or did you aquire it? I, too, agree that posting a sample clip would be helpful. With so many issues I would suspect the file is corrupt some way. I have seen earlier posts where the audio had issues and audio accelleration was responsible. So, unless, issues with audio affect the video I would like to see it.

[wonderkev]

Okay here is one of the files. I can't believe my manual restore point has been deleted. I show two more manual restore points that I have created, but not my first. I wonder if it was deleted after installing the new service pack.

[lowellriggsiam]

It seems to me that everytime I install service packs it says "creating a restore point".

[lowellriggsiam]

That sample clip plays without issue here. My PC has a 9600 phenom, HT2400 video card, 3 gigs of ram, running windows vista service pack 2. The only codec I have installed is the divx codec. I also have an ac3 filter. Odviously I must have the quicktime codec as I am playimg it on the quicktime player.

[wonderkev]

Yeah, it did create a restore point before installing the Service Pack 2. However, I had an earlier restore point, that I manually created before installing the K-Lite codec package. That restore point no longer shows, after having installed the Service Pack 2. I find that peculiar. I do believe all my .mov files are fine, and my computer has enough memory and speed. It must be some config issue or conflict.

[wonderkev]

Oh, and to answer one previous question, this is the first time I have tried to play these .mov files on my computer. My camera, which is taking these vids is a recent purchase.

[lowellriggsiam]

Try removing all the codecs you installed except for divx, ac3, and quicktime. I suspect there may be a codec conflict.

[wonderkev]

All I have for codecs is Quicktime and the ffdshow. My .mov viewing problem occurred before I put any codecs on the computer (besides the quicktime). I used to have the VLC player, but have since uninstalled it. Once I removed all of my codecs, I then had problems viewing my .avi files in WMP, but after reinstalling ffdshow, I now can at least view those.