Syncing Trouble

[outshimed]

Not sure where to post this so I'm sticking it here. I'm trying to watch an anime I have but I keep encountering an extremely frustrating problem. The files are in 1280x720 (making them higher res than other videos I've played, which is the only difference I can see) and MKV format. I have WMP, VLC, MPC, and GOM player (I use all of them on different occasions for different file types etc.). I have the CCCP downloaded and I haven't had any troubles with other shows in MVK that I've seen. Usually I can watch in whatever player I choose and it will work fine.

The problem: each player produces a different problem. When I try to play the file in

VLC: The audio, video, and subtitles sync fine but the video will occasionally freeze for 2-3 (instances of up to 30) seconds and then the picture will be extremely pixelated for a few additional seconds. Any scenes where there's a lot of action or movement I noticed this happens a lot more frequently.
Media Player Classic: The video runs fine but the audio does not match the video and the subtitle's don't match the audio -or- the video. It's a jumbled mess and impossible to follow, though the animation runs fine as I said.
GOM: Audio and subtitles are in sync, but out of sync with the video. Graphics problems here too.
WMP: The worst of them all, graphics and timing are all a mess.

Like I said before, I haven't had trouble with any other MKVs, and the files aren't corrupt because each factor works separately in a different player. Just wish I could mix VLC and MPC :[

[Baldrick]

Try also MPC-HC, I guess it should be able to use your graphics card to decode some video. And use ac3filter and vsfilter to decode the audio and subs. I would avoid codec packs.

And try also SMPLAYER!

[tomlee59]

When VLC freezes up, is it always in exactly the same place? For example, if you start playing at a different spot, does it then freeze again at the same place, or does it freeze at roughly a fixed offset from where you start? If the latter, the problem is an insufficiently powerful computer (either CPU or graphics subsystem, or insufficient free RAM). If the former, then perhaps it is a problem with the file.

Decoding hi-res at full frame rates is extremely demanding, so anything that degrades performance will be very noticeable. VLC is a great player, but its all-in-one nature does mean that it sometimes has a lot of overhead. If, as Baldrick suggests, you can find a dedicated player that is optimized for this one task, you might have better luck. And if you haven't already maxed out your RAM, do so. And run the CPU (and especially the graphics subsystem) at maximum warp. Don't try running other apps at the same time; don't do anything that contends with playback for attention of the CPU. This includes networking, etc. See if that helps.

[outshimed]

SMPlayer plays everything in sync but the video is odd. It seems like there's a bad cameraman filming everything. There is no freezing or pixelation but the screen moves in a very jerky manner. At first I thought it was the episode, then I played the same part in MPC and it was perfectly smoothe (but again, audio and subs way out of sync) and the filters didn't seem to help. =/

Also, @tomlee: How do I go about adding additional load to my CPU and GPU?

[MysticE]

With VLC playing open Task Manager and see what kind of CPU load you have.

[tomlee59]

Also, @tomlee: How do I go about adding additional load to my CPU and GPU?

You don't *want* to add load; you want to *reduce* the load. Load is anything that makes the CPU/GPU do any work not directly related to what you want them to do. So, by this definition, if all you want is to play your video, do NOT have any other programs running. Disable networking. Etc.

All of your descriptions are consistent with excessively loaded (i.e. overworked) CPU. Bad sync, jerky motion, pixelations etc. are all consistent with a CPU being asked to do more than it can really handle.