problems watching some avi files

[tricks]

I’m having major issues with some of the avi's I burn to play on my stand alone player. Most of these files play fine on my computer with DivX Plus and WMP but once I burn them to a DVD (as avi files) only half of the picture shows, the bottom half of the screen is the garbled background the DVD player shows when there isn’t a disk in it. Now this is a limited number of files that give me this problem, most play fine. Some of these files have been converted from Xvid or MKV to Avi because of the problem with the Divx plus player not playing some Xvid files. I don’t think this factors in though because some of them played fine before I burned them. I’ll go into the Divx player problem in another post.

I tried burning at the slowest speed, converting, and asking (in a post) if anyone else had this problem with the same file ( they didn’t) the only thing I ever got to work was converting to a DVD (VOB) file. I’m thinking it may be something to do with the output resolution (screen size) but I have noticed that files that played fine on the DVD player hooked to my flat screen have been of various sizes. I use Xilisoft for most of my conversions, but I have also tried using the Divx converter, and VDub but with VDub I have had a 1gb file become 90.1 gb’s! but that’s a whole other story, if ya can’t tell I’m wayyyy new at this stuff. I hope this is enough information, thanks for any advice you may have to get me on track. Here is the format info on one of the files that when burned and played on my stand alone shows only half a screen ( the tv is set on widescreen)

I posted info on another board and someone thought that maybe it was the codec ID being DX50 and suggested I change it to xvid with the fourcc changer, at first it seemed maybe that was right but then I found a file that played fine that was DX50, if needed I can post info from mediainfo or gspot. Thanks

Format: Divx 6.9.2 YV12 Decoder DX50


SYS Info.

Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3 (5.01.2600)
DirectX: 9.0c
CPU name: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz
CPU speed: 3000MHz
Memory: 2047MB
Screen size: 1152x864 (32bits)
Video card: RADEON X300/X550 Series, 128MB
Video driver: ati2dvag.dll (version: 6.14.10.6571)
Audio card: Realtek HD Audio rear output

[guns1inger]

So many things wrong.

Xilisoft is crap
Virtualdub produces uncompressed video unless you set the compression - you haven't set it
Post mediainfo tree views of a file that works, and a file that fails
The simplest fix for AVI files for standalone DVD players that support them is AVI Recomp. It is a lowest common denominator encoder that removes anything that might cause players to choke - except format issues (PAL/NTSC)

[tricks]

For this problem Xilisoft really doesn't come into play, I have this problem with files that I have burned as they are and never converted. What converter would you recommend? I'll post the Mediainfo later today, thanks for the help

[jagabo]

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/295067-Common-DivX-DVD-Players-AVI-Playback-problems!

One thing left out of the list is non-mod4 frame sizes. The width and height should be integer multiples of 4. Multiples of 8 and 16 are even better. So 640x479 (mod1) and 640x478 (mod2) are bad. 640x476 (mod4) is usually ok. 640x472 (mod8) and 640x480 (mod16) are best.

[tricks]

OK here is a file that played fine, I picked this one because it has a codec ID of Dx50, at first we thought this was the problem (from reply on different site) because all the problem files had this codec ID..until this file, now this is a two file movie but I won't think that would matter.

General
Complete name : Already Burned\.2010 cd2.divx
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 686 MiB
Duration : 55mn 28s
Overall bit rate : 1 730 Kbps
Writing library : Boilsoft Joiner build 2411/release

Video
ID : 0
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, QPel : No
Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix : Default (H.263)
Codec ID : DX50
Codec ID/Hint : DivX 5
Duration : 55mn 28s
Bit rate : 1 400 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 3:2
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.169
Stream size : 556 MiB (81%)
Writing library : DivX 3013

Audio
ID : 1
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Codec ID : 55
Codec ID/Hint : MP3
Duration : 55mn 28s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 320 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Video delay : 22ms
Stream size : 127 MiB (19%)
Alignment : Split accross interleaves
Interleave, duration : 42 ms (1.00 video frame)
Interleave, preload duration : 500 ms

now here is a file that doesn't play right, shows only part of the picture.

General
Complete name : \Divx Movies \S.avi
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 871 MiB
Duration : 1h 30mn
Overall bit rate : 1 340 Kbps
Writing application : Lavf51.12.1

Video
ID : 0
Format : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile : Simple@L1
Format settings, BVOP : No
Format settings, QPel : No
Format settings, GMC : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix : Default (H.263)
Codec ID : DX50
Codec ID/Hint : DivX 5
Duration : 1h 30mn
Bit rate : 1 199 Kbps
Width : 640 pixels
Height : 352 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.178
Stream size : 779 MiB (89%)
Writing library : Lavc51.40.4

Audio
ID : 1
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Mode : Joint stereo
Mode extension : MS Stereo
Codec ID : 55
Codec ID/Hint : MP3
Duration : 1h 30mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Stream size : 83.2 MiB (10%)
Alignment : Aligned on interleaves
Interleave, duration : 24 ms (0.72 video frame)
Interleave, preload duration : 24 ms
Writing library : LAME3.97

[jagabo]

I don't see anything obviously problematic in the MediaInfo report of second video. Do you have other 640x352 (or close) files that play properly?

[lordsmurf]

Writing library : Boilsoft Joiner build 2411/release

This is a red flag for me.

[jagabo]

Writing library : Boilsoft Joiner build 2411/release

This is a red flag for me.

But that one plays fine. The one that doesn't play used Lavf51.12.1 -- which is ffmpeg I believe. The OP could try a simple remux with VirtualDub or AviDemux.

[tricks]

I don't see anything obviously problematic in the MediaInfo report of second video. Do you have other 640x352 (or close) files that play properly?

I have a Width : 624 pixels Height : 352 pixels and another 624 pixels 336 pixels both played fine, on the whole this problem doesn't happen that often but it seems to be happing more offten, same with the problem I'm having with Divx Plus not playing some Xvid files, whole other issue though LOL

[jagabo]

Can you make a small clip of the problematic video available? Use VirtualDub:

1) File -> Open Video File
2) Video -> Direct Stream Copy
3) Mark-in, Mark-out (mark a small section, ~10 seconds)
4) File -> Save as AVI

[jman98]

I'm not saying that this is likely the cause, but I'm also not going to say that this is definitely not the cause either.
1) Since it seems that some/many of your files are downloaded and not converted, it could be that they got corrupted at some point and now all you can get is a corrupted version. I've seen this happen with Bit Torrent. Once a file gets corrupted and the original seeders drop off, what gets passed around is a corrupted version of the file. It's a lot easier for this to happen than you might think. A few years ago I downloaded a foreign TV program that has never been broadcast in the USA and cannot be bought on DVD anywhere, not even in the country of broadcast. I had some hard drive problems and my copy of the file got corrupted.
2) Hollywood has been known to deliberately seed corrupted torrents. Usually this is a torrent file that never completes (ie. it hangs at 99% when you download it). Maybe instead of seeding a file that never completes to download they are trying seeding deliberately corrupted files.

Yes, go ahead and post a sample but I want to warn you that there is almost no chance anyone here can fix the problem. Realistically all you'll get is some advice on what's wrong with the file.

[tricks]

Jman, these aren't torrents, probably is silly but I worry about viruses with those, my GF has downloaded a number of them (but they weren't video files) anyway I download avi files either streaming or some are direct download links, for the most part I can check if the file is corrupt and have got a few but not many. The files I'm talking about play fine on my computer, I think I posted on the forum I got these files from if anyone else had the problem, I'll have to look back to be sure. The other things is with at least one I converted it into a DVD file (VOB) and it played fine after that, I guess I could try that and if it works I'll just have to use a full DVD for that movie, where I can get 5 or 6 on a DVD now, it just bugs me not knowing what the problem is! LOL

[tricks]

Jagabo, I can post a clip but as I said these files play fine on my computer, but maybe you need to see the code or something? I'll post it

[jagabo]

I have a few Divx/DVD players and standalone media players I can try out. Also, I may be able to find something by examining the file with a hex editor or AVI chunk editor.

[tricks]

ok great and again thanks for all the help, one other thing one of the problem files played fine on my sons XBox but I didn't post any info on that file, if I had know he watched it I would have posted that one as the problem file. Well at least I'm learning a little here, I guess that's the good thing about a problem you find out how to fix it! LOL

[tricks]

Here is the clip, it's only 13 sec, sorry it took so long I have a lot going on right now, a friend was on his motorcycle and was struck by a car, looks like we are going to lose him, anyone who believes in prayers Leroy can use them, thanks

[jagabo]

I haven't seen anything unusual in that clip yet. It played properly in my computer, a Philips 5990 Divx/DVD player, and a Western Digital WDTV Live. All three places in the headers that report the frame size indicate it's 640x352. I've seen videos where those disagree -- and that causes problems like you are seeing. But if the original file had a problem there it's possible that VirtualDub fixed it when it saved the clip. You should check that the clip still has the problem in your player. If the player plays the clip properly a quick remux with VirtualDub should take care of you.

One other difference between the two files you posted MediaInfo reports is the lack of B frames in the the "bad" clip. But, if the player had problems with B frames, I would expect the first clip to have the problems, not the second. Ie, some players can't handle B frames, or multiple consecutive B frames, or packed bitstream (which is only used with B frames).

GSpot shows the clip to have fixed length GOPs of 12 frames. That's pretty short for Divx/Xvid files but shouldn't be the cause of your playback problem.

[tricks]

Yeah they also play on my sons Xbox just fine, so I think it is something in these files that my DVD play doesn't like and converting to a VOB (DVD) seems to fix the problem or it has one the few I converted. I ran two of the files I'm having problems with through AviRecomp but I don't know what I'm doing, on one I left the settings on default, the other one I disabled B-vob's. After looking back I'm not sure why I did that, because I have files that play with and without B-Vops, so that doesn't seem to be an isssue. The file I posted that doesn't play right doesn't seem to say if it is NTSC or not, that line seems to be missing, I'm going to look at the info from the other files I have with the same problem, along with checking out the things you mentioned, now if I can just find those R/W disk, I don't want to waste a bunch of R DVD's! LOL

[tricks]

Good news! I fixed the files, well for now I was working with clips because it was faster to work with a clip than a whole movie. The ones I ran through AviRecomp worked with B-vops and without, also I made clips from the original file that wouldn't play with Vdub and applied xvid compression and those played fine also. First I want to thank everyone for the help and I'd like to ask another question LOL for the best picture should I use AviRecomp or Vdub to compress? and any certain settings I should set for it to come out best?

[jagabo]

Since the files played fine on a computer there was never any doubt that you could re-compress the clips to make files that would play. But re-compression is time consuming and will result in a loss of quality. Re-multiplexing is preferable but it doesn't sound like that worked for you.

I don't use AviRecomp but from what I understand it's pretty much automated. And it has a preset that pretty much guarantees set-top Divx/DVD player compatibility. Using VirtualDub can probably get you better results but will require a little more knowledge. I'd try this to start:

1) File -> Open Video File
2) Video -> Compression...
3) Select Xvid, press Configure. Press the Load Defaults button at the bottom left of the Xvid dialog. Near the top change the Target Quantizer value to 3.
4) File -> Save as AVI

That will give you a file of fairly good quality (relative to the source) with a size in the same ballpark. If your player has problems with those settings go back to the Xvid config dialog and press the "more" button at the top right (on the Profile @ Level line). Change the Max Consecutive B-VOPs to 1, or disable B-VOPs completely. Also on that page, try enabling Adaptive Quantization to get a little more compression.

Using a Target Quantizer of 2 will get you better quality but the file will probably grow a lot bigger. And the peak bitrate might get too high for your player. You can use non-integer values between 2 and 3 if you want.

[tricks]

I don't think I was clear on what I wrote in my last post, Vdub also worked for me and the files looked about the same as with Avirecomp but I want to tweak the settings in Vdub like you said above, I had the Target Quantizer set at 1 and the file came out at 2.5 GB's LOL the rest of the settings were the same. What is Re-multiplexing? and thanks again