2 Video Problem

[StoneColdWhat]

1. My avis freeze when I play then in wmp so I uninstall and reinstall, same thing, try WMP works in there, tries VPLAYER freezes again.

2. An other avi works in WMP, loads in tmpgenc to encode and spits out only audio with no video, checked with all 3 players and no video in all of them. Also didnt see it when I was in source range in tmpgenc.

Idea?

[mats.hogberg]

Codec problem for sure.
If you managed to uninstall WMP, please tell me how, 'cause I sure have better use for the HDD space it occupies.
Most AVIs that can't be played using DirectShow players (like WMP) usually are playable in VLC (that doesn't use DirectShow)

As for TMPGEnc problem, it's surely also a codec related prob. Use GSpot on the AVIs that's causing problem. Find what video codec it uses. Download and install latest build/version of that codec.
Also, look at the TMPGEnc Trouble shooting guide.
Have you installed any codec pack? They are prone to cause this kind of problem.

/Mats

[StoneColdWhat]

Hey, nah no codec packs, I only have xvid and divx installed and forgot to mention in the 1st post that I already ran the avi thru gspot and I have the codecs. I thought if you uninstall WMP, then the whole system messes up, or is that IE ?

[mats.hogberg]

My avis freeze when I play then in wmp so I uninstall and reinstall

That made me believe you had found a way to uninstall (and reinstall) WMP.

/Mats

[StoneColdWhat]

oh sorry my bad man I meant the codecs.

[DereX888]

My avis freeze when I play then in wmp so I uninstall and reinstall

That made me believe you had found a way to uninstall (and reinstall) WMP.

/Mats

just an OT note: he could have uninst/reinst WMP if using Win2K instead of its bloated version...

[mats.hogberg]

oh sorry my bad man I meant the codecs.

OK! Well, that'd have been my next suggestion...
Well, I'm out of ideas - anyone else?

/Mats

[jimmalenko]

Even if gspot tells you that you have the codecs, is it able to properly render the files ?

[StoneColdWhat]

ahhh please help, getting a different player doesnt' help the problem because when I encode in tmgenc, it'll only read the audio and doesn't encode the audio.

[mats.hogberg]

Have you tried to make GSpot render the troublesome AVIs, like jimmalenko suggests above?

/Mats

[StoneColdWhat]

mmm... well in gspot i clicked the 1,2,3 in the bottom left corner, log said rendered ok but same thing still.

[mats.hogberg]

Load the AVI in VirtualDub and frameserve to your mpeg encoder (TMPGEnc). Old trick I've used for AVIs that TMPGEnc didn't read whatever I tried. VDub seems to be less picky.

/Mats

[StoneColdWhat]

Its not just 1 avi, its all my avis, something is wrong.

[mats.hogberg]

Bite the bullet. Reformat and reinstall Windows and everything.
Had similar problem once, but that was caused by a n00bish mistake of installing a codec pack. Almost had me reformat/reinstall, but I got it working enough (but not 100%) by selectively removing all codecs not included in a default Windows install, and then installing what i really needed (which basically bloiled down to ffdshow).

/Mats

[StoneColdWhat]

Hmmm well I just reformatted a few months bnack, dont wanna go thru that again, I'll try some other codecs tomorrow maybe try a codec pack.

[mats.hogberg]

maybe try a codec pack.

Only reason I don't yell Nooooo! at this point is because your system seems so f*cked up anyway, so it doesn't matter much what evil the codec pack may do.

/Mats

[StoneColdWhat]

well actually the 1 thing that I just rememebred that coulda messed up the codecs and such would be drivers update for my vid card and update of ati mmc.

[mats.hogberg]

Video card drivers shouldn't interfere - and I doubt mmc would either. Unless some kind of media player was bundeled in some update.

/Mats

[StoneColdWhat]

Hey well I dont know if this is related in anyway but when I look at my task manager, there are 6 svchost.exe running all with different memory usage but the usage barely moves, if I'm not mistake I'm only suppose to have 1 or 2 max and not 6 ?

[StoneColdWhat]

Hey actually I think I nailed the problem down to xvid avis, I jsut tried this div3 avi file that I encoded to mpg about a month or so ago and it plays fine so I think its xvid, but I've tried 2 versions of xvid with no luck.

[mats.hogberg]

Tried ffdshow? (Uninstalling the XviD codec)

/Mats

[StoneColdWhat]

Well I tried something that sort of worked, installed the latest xvid and it encodes fine in tmpgenc but still doesn't play in wmp but plays in mpc, so maybe its my wmp.

[DereX888]

ok, seems like u really need a helping hand =)
I dont think its a WMP issue (unless its that crap WMP7/8/9/10/11/12/13/... - any other than the standard-issue WMP6.4 )

I'll start from begining:
Its all simple and boils down to what codec controls what, because all of them love to steal from each other by default.
You can't do a bigger disservice to your system than install any of so-called "codec packs". They are simple batch installs, which are usually unneeded, always bloated, and can outright create codec conflicts (yes, because if codec pack install i.e. divx and xvid - only one of them, the last one thats been installed by the codec pack script, will play both divx and xvids, because both of them have "play generic mpeg-4" enabled by default, thus the last one installed (be it divx or xvid) sees the other one as that 'generic' mpeg-4 codec and 'steals' it; thats how those idiotic codec packs create worst mess... come on, NO ONE is that stupid to not be able to install few apropiate codecs on their system, there really is no need for ANY codec packs )

1
Track down all of your installed codec. Uninstall them all.
2
Install latest DivX codec. DO NOT select its default installation routine. Uncheck all the bloat during install ("divx player", "toolbars", "divx ekg", "play all mpeg-4", "trial divx pro" etc etc - simply anything but the codec itself). After installation go to its options and make sure "play all other mp4 files" is UNCHECKED.
3
Install latest XviD. Currently it doesnt contain any bloat, but it does set defult mpeg-4 playback with itself too, so after installation go to its options and uncheck this option.
4
Install ffdshow. Notice I dont say "latest". Thats correct. There are many newer builds, bloated with useless option that often don't work or aren't fully developed yet. So find yourseld a stable version thats been optimized for your processor (i.e. SSE2 or SSE3 for latest P4, SSE2 for newer AMD, but no SSE for older AMDs, etc - gotta know your chips potential though i.e. I use excellent version from October 2004 greatly optimized for my P4...).
Once you install it - go to its video options and for DivX and XviD codec select "disabled". Thats right - it means you 'disable' playback of files with such codecs through ffdshow codec, not that you disable it at all so they will still play using their original codec (using the divx and xvid codecs you've installed earlier).
Set "generic MPEG-4" to use "libavcodec" (it means they'll use ffdshow).
Also give yourself a favor and eenable there extra options like subtitles, AC3, DTS etc options to your liking. Theyre all excellent and will let you play almost anything with your standard-windows-issue Windows Media Player 6, 7,8,9 or whatever else version you have there (and eliminate need for any extra software players too - i.e. I am quite happy with standard WMP6.4 found on every windoze and I use just it since 95 up until XP and i never needed any other player yet to play any avi files).

Hint: In XP create a shortcut anywhere (i.e. right click on empty desktop space) and type there without the brackets: [MPLAYER2.EXE] click next, name it [Windows Media Player 6] and voila - youve got your WMP6.4 thats been always hiding there If you want this WMP6 to be deafult player instead of that behemoth WMP9/10, just set it as default player for all of its supported formats (View / Options /Formats - Select All, Apply).

Thats all.
I always fix "codec pack mess" on friends' machines this way and it never failed.
Jst remember the rule of thumb: never let any newly installed codec steal anything (do NOT use deafult installation routines - choose all options wisely, 'by hand', uncheck everything but the codec and you cant go wrong with that). When all of the codecs want to play other codecs, you will bound to trouble sooner or later, because in reality only the codec thats been installed last is working (playing its own and all others), while what you need is the divx codec to play divxes, xvid codec to play xvids, etc etc

4.
If you want to really cover anything you'd also need Morgan Media Stream Switcher. It will allow selection of desired audio track in any WMP on those multiaudio avi files (works for VCDs too iirc).

have fun


PS:
if by MPC you mean Media Player Classic - then it may be the cause. I have had very little luck using MPC, I always came back to WMP6.4 after trying latest versions of MPC, and to be honest - my opinion about it is proportionally lower to every higher build version...
My "codec trio" (divx + xvid + ffdshow) with WMP6.4 have never failed for almost any AVI.
Ah, and for DVDs I use PowerDVD (but I dont watch DVDs on computer, thus lack of i.e. subtitle playback on SVCDs etc doesnt bother me at all).
And yes, I do have few other codecs installed too - but those are usually proprietary codec needed by specific hardware (i.e. my Panasonic Lumix-1 camera captures in QuickTime MJPEG) or device-specific codecs (like huffy for captures). But in 99.9% cases the "codec trio" should suffice and certainly no one needs any "codec packs"