16x9 Anamorphic DV AVIs and Windows Movie Maker 6

[paulmedynski]

Hi folks,

I've got a bunch of DV AVIs that I captured from my Canon Elura that were shot in "widescreen" mode on the camera (which I believe is 16:9 Anamorphic). I used WMM 6 (on Vista) to do the capture - the entire tape to one big AVI file, and then I used Scenalyzer to split that into individual AVIs per scene.

When I load the individual AVIs back up in WMM, it thinks they're 4:3 and squishes them vertically so everyone's head is a tall, skinny oval. I've told WMM to display the preview window in 16:9 and to render output as 16:9, but the result remains squished vertically.

I just tried Enosoft DV Processor, but none of the Embedded Data Procession Aspect Ratio options helped. WMM continues to think the AVIs are 4:3. And the Aspect Ration Conversion option only converts to 4:3

Any thoughts? Did WMM screw up the capture, did Scenalyzer toast the aspect ratio info, or is WMM just unable to handle 16:9 DV files?

The captured and Scenalyzed AVIs seem to play correctly in Windows Media Player, and VirtualDubMod plays them correctly as well. So apparently those programs are smart enough to notice the anamorphic video and stretch it back out to 16:9 properly.

One "conversion" that did work was to load the AVIs up in VDM and choose Full Processing, and then ffdshow Compression to MPEG2, with an Output Aspect Ratio set to 16:9. That produced a re-encoded file that WMM correctly interpreted as 16:9, but of course a) unnecessarily re-encodes and b) would take forever with the 80GB of AVIs I have

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
-Paul

[zoobie]

I think scenalyzer screwed some of my stuff up a long time ago and wmm didn't like
can you cap 5 seconds from your cam and then import to wmm w/o scenalyzer?
also, perhaps the wmm cap was goofy...maybe try windv with type 1 & type 2
look in tools here on the left menu for some more ideas

and welcome aboard

[2Bdecided]

Not all software recognises the 16x9 flag in DV AVIs.

However, it's strange that you say that VirtualDubMod does, since it defaults to 1:1 pixel display, which doesn't give the "correct" aspect ratio for any SD source - IME you have to tell it what you have to get the display to look correct.

Media Player Classic works, but sometimes you have to click on the window before it jumps to the correct shape.

Cheers,
David.

[JohnnyMalaria]

WMP is one of the few players that looks beyond the AVI header and uses the DV decoder to tell it about the true aspect ratio of the DV stream in the file.

What happens if you open one of the AVI files in our Enosoft DV Processor as far as aspect ratio goes? Does the display below the little video window for the input show the video to be 4:3 or 16:9?

What is your target format? (MPEG2, WMV etc)

I'm not at my Vista machine at the moment so I can't try anything.

BTW, if Scenalyzer uses the usual DirectShow stuff for capturing (like WMM, WinDV, our software), it *shouldn't* do anything at all to the aspect ratio information in the DV stream.

[paulmedynski]

Thanks for the comments everyone. Here's some more info based on your questions:

I'll try re-capturing a bit of the widescreen footage off the camera shortly. I'll use both WMM6 and WinDV, and post the results of how WMM6 interprets the anamorphic AVI files.

I haven't used Scenalyzer to do any capturing. I'm using the free edition, and I think it only does the post-capture scene processing.

It turns out that you're correct about VirtualDubMod. It defaults to a PAR of 1:1, so I actually did Input Image Processing and stretched the original AVIs out to 852x480. I don't want to do that though, since it would take forever and seems to munge the ouput, even at 6Mbit+ bitrate. Of course, I'm a total n00b so it's entirely possible that I don't know what I'm doing with VDM

Enosoft DV Processor correctly shows the AVI file aspect ratios as 16:9, as does GSPot and MediaInfo. I've attached screenshots of each.

My target format is DVD. I've got separate WMM6 projects for each month of scenes, and I want to be able to make a DVD out of however many projects will fit. It seems easiest to just use Windows DVD Maker, since it can read the WMM6 project files directly and encode everything into a DVD (including menus) all at once. I'm creating a DVD using WDM and WMM6 projects right now, and I'll post the results when I play it back on my 4:3 Sony Wega (with manual 16:9 mode - it squishes the frames vertically, which might end up looking fine), and my 16:9 Samsung LCD that has some zoom/stretch options I'll play with.

Thanks for the help so far!

-Paul

[paulmedynski]

Another screenshot (can't seem to add multiple pictures to a single post).

[paulmedynski]

And the third screenshot.

[JohnnyMalaria]

Since your ultimate target is DVD, you should not change the frame size. DV and MPEG2 share 720 x 480 (for NTSC). The same dimensions are used for 4:3 and 16:9. The stretching/squishing is done by the display equipment (e.g., the television).

[paulmedynski]

It turns out that Windows Media Player isn't playing the AVIs back with the correct aspect ratio. I'm a bonehead and the sample clip I've been using looked ok, but really it wasn't. I found a better clip with a clear headshot of myself, and lo and behold, WMP stretches out my head top to bottom. So I can't use WMM6 with my files because it produces a DVD with long faces

I also used a tool called avimaster and it reported that the AVI RIFF header doesn't contain any dimension information; height and width were both set to 0. This is consistent with the info displayed when I right-click on an AVI in Windows Explorer and look at the details - it shows blanks for height and width. So perhaps my AVIs all have crap RIFF headers, but the DV stream within is fine and it reports info that some programs notice while others don't.

I fired up Adobe Premiere CS3 Pro and it told me that the PAR of the AVIs is 1.2. I tried exporting and changing the PAR to 1.0, and the resulting AVI playsback at the correct AR in WMP and WMM6. However, it doesn't fill the 16:9 frame in WMM6; there's black strips along all sides.

Is it possible that the PAR in the AVIs is being reported to be 1.2, but that information isn't in the AVI RIFF header; ie it's only in the DV stream itself? Premiere has no problems playing and exporting the clips in the proper AR, but WMM6 and WMP still don't seem to notice.

I tried AVIedit, but it locked up halfway through my sample AVI. I also tried K3CCD's AVI Repair Tool, but it requires an AVI file with a "good" header, and I doubt I have any of those lying around. I'll give it another try if I can capture some new footage with WMM6 that displays correctly.

Attached is the file info for one of the AVIs as determined by Premiere.

Thanks,
-Paul

[paulmedynski]

I just noticed that the above file info from Premiere says there's isn't an audio track. That's incorrect - the AVI files are Type 1 (as far as I can tell), and Premiere plays them back with audio just fine. Maybe that's another indication of garbage RIFF headers.

[zoobie]

try gspot for file info

[2Bdecided]

You don't want to convert these to a PAR of 1 or anything like that.

You want to get them, as-is, into a reasonable MPEG-2 encoder that will either
a) read the 16x9 flag and preserve it, or
b) let you set the 16x9 flag in the MPEG-2 output

As for messing around with the controls on your TV - for correctly encoded DVDs, you shouldn't have to - it should autodetect. This feature may be more common in Europe than in the USA though.

If you encode it incorrectly (i.e. 16x9 content flagged as 4x3) then of course you'll have to over ride it on the TV - note that a bodged DVD like this will never play correctly on a standard 4x3 TV (which can't squash the image) - if the DVD player knew the video was 16x9, it would reformat it correctly for a 4x3 TV - but if it's incorrectly flagged as 4x3 already, it won't help.

So, if you encode your DVDs incorrectly, don't give them to friends - unless you want them to think you're very tall and skinny!

Cheers,
David.

[JohnnyMalaria]

I just noticed that the above file info from Premiere says there's isn't an audio track. That's incorrect - the AVI files are Type 1 (as far as I can tell), and Premiere plays them back with audio just fine. Maybe that's another indication of garbage RIFF headers.

They aren't garbage - they're just different. AVI header snoopers aren't necessarily aware of Type 1 DV AVIs and report the wrong info. Even Windows Explorer will show different info for a Type 1 and Type 2 of the same video.

I'm surprised that WMP on your system isn't playing your DV AVIs with the correct aspect ratio. Do you have a non-Microsoft DV codec installed?

[paulmedynski]

I'm not sure which DV codec I have. I recall having installed the Vista Codec Package from here a while ago:

http://shark007.net/vistacodecpackage.html

I just uninstalled it, and then used WMP to tell me what codecs it thinks are installed (Help -> About -> Technical Information), and here's what WMP said:

Windows Media Player
Version 11.0.6001.7000
Operating System
Version: 6.0.6001 System Locale: en-CA
Service Pack: 1.0 User Locale: en-CA
Build Lab: 6001.vistasp1_gdr.080917-1612 Geo ID: Canada
Type: Workstation DRM Version: 11.0.6001.7000
Architecture: x86 Indiv Version: 2.5.0.0
Processors: 2
Media Player Binaries
Name Version Name Version Name Version
wmp.dll 11.0.6001.7000 wmlaunch.exe 11.0.6001.7000 wmpshell.dll 11.0.6001.7000
wmplayer.exe 11.0.6001.7000 wmpband.dll 11.0.6001.7000 wmpsyncmgr.dll 11.0.6000.6324
wmploc.dll 11.0.6001.7000 wmpcm.dll 11.0.6001.7000 wmpconfig.exe 11.0.6001.7000
wmpps.dll 11.0.6000.6324 mpvis.dll 11.0.6000.6324 wmvcore.dll 11.0.6001.7000
wmpeffects.dll 11.0.6001.7002 wmpdxm.dll 11.0.6001.7000 mf.dll 11.0.6001.7000
Other Binaries
Name Version Name Version Name Version
drmv2clt.dll 11.0.6001.7000 SSDPAPI.dll 6.0.6000.16386 USERENV.dll 6.0.6001.18000
msnetobj.dll 11.0.6001.7000 WINHTTP.dll 6.0.6001.18000 prloader.dll 7.0.0.125
cscapi.dll 6.0.6001.18000 upnp.dll 6.0.6001.18000 MSVCP80.dll 8.0.50727.1434
davclnt.dll 6.0.6000.16386 cewmdm.dll 11.0.6001.7000 prremote.dll 7.0.0.125
drprov.dll 6.0.6000.16386 FirewallAPI.dll 6.0.6001.18000 MSVCR80.dll 8.0.50727.1434
ntlanman.dll 6.0.6001.18000 mswmdm.dll 11.0.6001.7000 klscav.dll 7.0.0.125
MPR.dll 6.0.6001.18000 midimap.dll 6.0.6001.18000 jscript.dll 5.7.0.18068
MSOXMLMF.DLL 11.0.8164.0 MSACM32.dll 6.0.6001.18000 scrchpg.dll 7.0.0.125
schannel.dll 6.0.6001.18000 msacm32.drv 6.0.6001.18000 CLBCatQ.DLL 2001.12.6931.18000
sensapi.dll 6.0.6000.16386 imagehlp.dll 6.0.6001.18000 gdiplus.dll 5.2.6001.18065
credssp.dll 6.0.6001.18000 MSASN1.dll 6.0.6000.16386 dwmapi.dll 6.0.6001.18000
rtutils.dll 6.0.6000.16386 CRYPT32.dll 6.0.6001.18000 dbghelp.dll 6.0.6001.18000
TAPI32.dll 6.0.6000.16386 WINTRUST.dll 6.0.6001.18000 SHELL32.dll 6.0.6001.18062
NETAPI32.dll 6.0.6001.18157 ksuser.dll 6.0.6000.16386 OLEACC.dll 4.2.5406.0
rasman.dll 6.0.6001.18000 wdmaud.drv 6.0.6001.18000 WINMM.dll 6.0.6001.18000
RASAPI32.dll 6.0.6001.18000 thumbcache.dll 6.0.6001.18000 MSVFW32.dll 6.0.6001.18000
wmpnssci.dll 11.0.6001.7000 MFPlat.DLL 11.0.6001.7000 VERSION.dll 6.0.6001.18000
upnphost.dll 6.0.6001.18000 audioeng.dll 6.0.6001.18000 OLEAUT32.dll 6.0.6001.18000
slc.dll 6.0.6001.18000 AUDIOSES.DLL 6.0.6001.18000 ole32.dll 6.0.6001.18000
rasadhlp.dll 6.0.6000.16386 MMDevApi.dll 6.0.6001.18000 AVRT.dll 6.0.6001.18000
wshbth.dll 6.0.6000.16386 SAMLIB.dll 6.0.6001.18000 uxtheme.dll 6.0.6001.18000
winrnr.dll 6.0.6000.16386 NSI.dll 6.0.6001.18000 comctl32.dll 6.10.6001.18000
mdnsNSP.dll 1.0.3.1 WS2_32.dll 6.0.6001.18000 SHLWAPI.dll 6.0.6001.18000
pnrpnsp.dll 6.0.6001.18000 WLDAP32.dll 6.0.6001.18000 PSAPI.DLL 6.0.6000.16386
napinsp.dll 6.0.6001.18000 NTMARTA.DLL 6.0.6001.18000 r3hook.dll 7.0.0.125
NLAapi.dll 6.0.6001.18000 PROPSYS.dll 7.0.6001.16503 USP10.dll 1.626.6001.18000
wship6.dll 6.0.6001.18000 SETUPAPI.dll 6.0.6001.18000 LPK.DLL 6.0.6001.18000
msxml3.dll 8.100.1048.0 MSIMG32.dll 6.0.6000.16386 msvcrt.dll 7.0.6001.18000
shdocvw.dll 6.0.6001.18000 urlmon.dll 7.0.6001.18148 MSCTF.dll 6.0.6001.18000
wshtcpip.dll 6.0.6001.18000 WMASF.DLL 11.0.6001.7000 IMM32.DLL 6.0.6001.18000
mswsock.dll 6.0.6001.18000 iertutil.dll 7.0.6001.18148 GDI32.dll 6.0.6001.18023
apphelp.dll 6.0.6001.18000 Normaliz.dll 6.0.6000.16386 USER32.dll 6.0.6001.18000
wmdmps.dll 11.0.6000.6324 WININET.dll 7.0.6001.18148 Secur32.dll 6.0.6001.18000
dnsq.dll 7.0.0.125 SXS.DLL 6.0.6001.18000 RPCRT4.dll 6.0.6001.18051
dhcpcsvc6.DLL 6.0.6001.18000 rsaenh.dll 6.0.6001.18000 ADVAPI32.dll 6.0.6001.18000
WINNSI.DLL 6.0.6001.18000 tempfile.ppl 7.0.0.125 kernel32.dll 6.0.6001.18000
DNSAPI.dll 6.0.6001.18000 pxstub.ppl 7.0.0.125 ntdll.dll 6.0.6001.18000
dhcpcsvc.DLL 6.0.6001.18000 params.ppl 7.0.0.125
IPHLPAPI.DLL 6.0.6001.18000 prkernel.ppl 7.0.0.125
Audio Codecs
Type Name Format Binary Version
ACM Microsoft IMA ADPCM CODEC 0011 imaadp32.acm 6.0.6000.16386
ACM Microsoft CCITT G.711 A-Law and u-Law CODEC 0007 msg711.acm 6.0.6000.16386
ACM Microsoft GSM 6.10 Audio CODEC 0031 msgsm32.acm 6.0.6000.16386
ACM Microsoft ADPCM CODEC 0002 msadp32.acm 6.0.6000.16386
ACM Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 Codec (decode only) 0055 l3codeca.acm 1.9.0.401
ACM Microsoft PCM Converter 0001
DMO WMAudio Decoder DMO 0160, 0161, 0162, 0163 WMADMOD.DLL 11.0.6001.7000
DMO WMAPro over S/PDIF DMO 0162 WMADMOD.DLL 11.0.6001.7000
DMO WMSpeech Decoder DMO 000A, 000B WMSPDMOD.DLL 11.0.6001.7000
DMO MP3 Decoder DMO 0055 mp3dmod.dll 11.0.6001.7000
Video Codecs
Type Name Format Binary Version
ICM Microsoft RLE MRLE msrle32.dll 6.0.6000.16386
ICM Microsoft Video 1 MSVC msvidc32.dll 6.0.6001.18000
ICM Microsoft YUV UYVY msyuv.dll 6.0.6000.16386
ICM Intel IYUV codec IYUV iyuv_32.dll 6.0.6000.16386
ICM Logitech Video (I420) i420 lvcodec2.dll 11.5.0.1145
ICM Toshiba YUV Codec Y411 tsbyuv.dll 6.0.6000.16386
ICM Cinepak Codec by Radius cvid iccvid.dll 1.10.0.12
DMO Mpeg4s Decoder DMO mp4s, MP4S, m4s2, M4S2 mp4sdecd.dll 11.0.6001.7000
DMO WMV Screen decoder DMO MSS1, MSS2 wmvsdecd.dll 11.0.6001.7000
DMO WMVideo Decoder DMO WMV1, WMV2, WMV3, WMVP, WVP2, WMVR, WMVA, WVC1 wmvdecod.dll 11.0.6001.7000
DMO Sonic AVC Decoder DMO Ëq-�, 8û8ð, AVC1, VSSH, H264 sonich264dec_dmo.dll 1.0.60219.0
DMO Mpeg43 Decoder DMO mp43, MP43 mp43decd.dll 11.0.6001.7000
DMO RTJpeg decoder RJPG rtjpg.dll 0.11.0.0
DMO Mpeg4 Decoder DMO MPG4, mpg4, mp42, MP42 mpg4decd.dll 11.0.6001.7000
MPEG/DVD Filters
Type Name Binary Version
video "MainConcept (Adobe2) MPEG Video Decoder"
video Microsoft MPEG-2 Video Decoder msmpeg2vdec.dll 11.0.6001.7000
video roxio DCFilters Mpeg I/II Decoder DCFilters9.dll 9.1.2.81
audio Microsoft MPEG-1/DD Audio Decoder msmpeg2adec.dll 11.0.6001.7000
audio "MainConcept (Adobe2) MPEG Audio Decoder"
Plug-ins
Type Name Binary Version
Background Bluetooth Headset Plugin BtWmpPlugIn.dll 6.1.0.5200
Services
Name Key Binary Version
audible.com Audible
FaroLatino Music and Video FaroLatino11_EN
Media Guide MediaGuide
PayPlay.FM PayPlay.FM
VidZone VidZone
Content Partner

None Found



I just got the latest Vista Code Pack (v5.0.4), installed it, and got WMP to list the codecs again:

Windows Media Player
Version 11.0.6001.7000
Operating System
Version: 6.0.6001 System Locale: en-CA
Service Pack: 1.0 User Locale: en-CA
Build Lab: 6001.vistasp1_gdr.080917-1612 Geo ID: Canada
Type: Workstation DRM Version: 11.0.6001.7000
Architecture: x86 Indiv Version: 2.5.0.0
Processors: 2
Media Player Binaries
Name Version Name Version Name Version
wmp.dll 11.0.6001.7000 wmlaunch.exe 11.0.6001.7000 wmpshell.dll 11.0.6001.7000
wmplayer.exe 11.0.6001.7000 wmpband.dll 11.0.6001.7000 wmpsyncmgr.dll 11.0.6000.6324
wmploc.dll 11.0.6001.7000 wmpcm.dll 11.0.6001.7000 wmpconfig.exe 11.0.6001.7000
wmpps.dll 11.0.6000.6324 mpvis.dll 11.0.6000.6324 wmvcore.dll 11.0.6001.7000
wmpeffects.dll 11.0.6001.7002 wmpdxm.dll 11.0.6001.7000 mf.dll 11.0.6001.7000
Other Binaries
Name Version Name Version Name Version
drmv2clt.dll 11.0.6001.7000 cewmdm.dll 11.0.6001.7000 USERENV.dll 6.0.6001.18000
msnetobj.dll 11.0.6001.7000 FirewallAPI.dll 6.0.6001.18000 prloader.dll 7.0.0.125
MSOXMLMF.DLL 11.0.8164.0 mswmdm.dll 11.0.6001.7000 MSVCP80.dll 8.0.50727.1434
schannel.dll 6.0.6001.18000 mcicda.dll 6.0.6000.16386 prremote.dll 7.0.0.125
credssp.dll 6.0.6001.18000 midimap.dll 6.0.6001.18000 MSVCR80.dll 8.0.50727.1434
sensapi.dll 6.0.6000.16386 MSACM32.dll 6.0.6001.18000 klscav.dll 7.0.0.125
rtutils.dll 6.0.6000.16386 msacm32.drv 6.0.6001.18000 jscript.dll 5.7.0.18068
TAPI32.dll 6.0.6000.16386 imagehlp.dll 6.0.6001.18000 scrchpg.dll 7.0.0.125
NETAPI32.dll 6.0.6001.18157 MSASN1.dll 6.0.6000.16386 CLBCatQ.DLL 2001.12.6931.18000
rasman.dll 6.0.6001.18000 CRYPT32.dll 6.0.6001.18000 gdiplus.dll 5.2.6001.18065
RASAPI32.dll 6.0.6001.18000 WINTRUST.dll 6.0.6001.18000 dwmapi.dll 6.0.6001.18000
wmpnssci.dll 11.0.6001.7000 ksuser.dll 6.0.6000.16386 dbghelp.dll 6.0.6001.18000
upnphost.dll 6.0.6001.18000 wdmaud.drv 6.0.6001.18000 SHELL32.dll 6.0.6001.18062
slc.dll 6.0.6001.18000 thumbcache.dll 6.0.6001.18000 OLEACC.dll 4.2.5406.0
rasadhlp.dll 6.0.6000.16386 MFPlat.DLL 11.0.6001.7000 WINMM.dll 6.0.6001.18000
wshbth.dll 6.0.6000.16386 audioeng.dll 6.0.6001.18000 MSVFW32.dll 6.0.6001.18000
winrnr.dll 6.0.6000.16386 AUDIOSES.DLL 6.0.6001.18000 VERSION.dll 6.0.6001.18000
mdnsNSP.dll 1.0.3.1 MMDevApi.dll 6.0.6001.18000 OLEAUT32.dll 6.0.6001.18000
pnrpnsp.dll 6.0.6001.18000 SAMLIB.dll 6.0.6001.18000 ole32.dll 6.0.6001.18000
napinsp.dll 6.0.6001.18000 NSI.dll 6.0.6001.18000 AVRT.dll 6.0.6001.18000
NLAapi.dll 6.0.6001.18000 WS2_32.dll 6.0.6001.18000 uxtheme.dll 6.0.6001.18000
wmdmps.dll 11.0.6000.6324 WLDAP32.dll 6.0.6001.18000 comctl32.dll 6.10.6001.18000
msxml3.dll 8.100.1048.0 NTMARTA.DLL 6.0.6001.18000 SHLWAPI.dll 6.0.6001.18000
shdocvw.dll 6.0.6001.18000 PROPSYS.dll 7.0.6001.16503 PSAPI.DLL 6.0.6000.16386
wship6.dll 6.0.6001.18000 SETUPAPI.dll 6.0.6001.18000 r3hook.dll 7.0.0.125
apphelp.dll 6.0.6001.18000 MSIMG32.dll 6.0.6000.16386 USP10.dll 1.626.6001.18000
wshtcpip.dll 6.0.6001.18000 urlmon.dll 7.0.6001.18148 LPK.DLL 6.0.6001.18000
mswsock.dll 6.0.6001.18000 WMASF.DLL 11.0.6001.7000 msvcrt.dll 7.0.6001.18000
dnsq.dll 7.0.0.125 iertutil.dll 7.0.6001.18148 MSCTF.dll 6.0.6001.18000
dhcpcsvc6.DLL 6.0.6001.18000 Normaliz.dll 6.0.6000.16386 IMM32.DLL 6.0.6001.18000
WINNSI.DLL 6.0.6001.18000 WININET.dll 7.0.6001.18148 GDI32.dll 6.0.6001.18023
DNSAPI.dll 6.0.6001.18000 SXS.DLL 6.0.6001.18000 USER32.dll 6.0.6001.18000
dhcpcsvc.DLL 6.0.6001.18000 rsaenh.dll 6.0.6001.18000 Secur32.dll 6.0.6001.18000
IPHLPAPI.DLL 6.0.6001.18000 tempfile.ppl 7.0.0.125 RPCRT4.dll 6.0.6001.18051
SSDPAPI.dll 6.0.6000.16386 pxstub.ppl 7.0.0.125 ADVAPI32.dll 6.0.6001.18000
WINHTTP.dll 6.0.6001.18000 params.ppl 7.0.0.125 kernel32.dll 6.0.6001.18000
upnp.dll 6.0.6001.18000 prkernel.ppl 7.0.0.125 ntdll.dll 6.0.6001.18000
Audio Codecs
Type Name Format Binary Version
ACM Microsoft IMA ADPCM CODEC 0011 imaadp32.acm 6.0.6000.16386
ACM Microsoft CCITT G.711 A-Law and u-Law CODEC 0007 msg711.acm 6.0.6000.16386
ACM Microsoft GSM 6.10 Audio CODEC 0031 msgsm32.acm 6.0.6000.16386
ACM Microsoft ADPCM CODEC 0002 msadp32.acm 6.0.6000.16386
ACM Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 Codec (decode only) 0055 l3codeca.acm 1.9.0.401
ACM Sipro Lab Telecom ACELP.net audio codec 0130 sl_anet.acm 3.2.0.0
ACM DivX WMA Audio Compressor 0161 divxa32.acm 4.2.0.0
ACM Microsoft PCM Converter 0001
DMO WMAudio Decoder DMO 0160, 0161, 0162, 0163 WMADMOD.DLL 11.0.6001.7000
DMO WMAPro over S/PDIF DMO 0162 WMADMOD.DLL 11.0.6001.7000
DMO WMSpeech Decoder DMO 000A, 000B WMSPDMOD.DLL 11.0.6001.7000
DMO MP3 Decoder DMO 0055 mp3dmod.dll 11.0.6001.7000
Video Codecs
Type Name Format Binary Version
ICM Microsoft RLE MRLE msrle32.dll 6.0.6000.16386
ICM Microsoft Video 1 MSVC msvidc32.dll 6.0.6001.18000
ICM Microsoft YUV UYVY msyuv.dll 6.0.6000.16386
ICM Intel IYUV codec IYUV iyuv_32.dll 6.0.6000.16386
ICM Logitech Video (I420) i420 lvcodec2.dll 11.5.0.1145
ICM Toshiba YUV Codec Y411 tsbyuv.dll 6.0.6000.16386
ICM Cinepak Codec by Radius cvid iccvid.dll 1.10.0.12
ICM Xvid MPEG-4 Codec XVID
ICM ffdshow Video Codec FFDS
DMO Mpeg4s Decoder DMO mp4s, MP4S, m4s2, M4S2 mp4sdecd.dll 11.0.6001.7000
DMO WMV Screen decoder DMO MSS1, MSS2 wmvsdecd.dll 11.0.6001.7000
DMO WMVideo Decoder DMO WMV1, WMV2, WMV3, WMVP, WVP2, WMVR, WMVA, WVC1 wmvdecod.dll 11.0.6001.7000
DMO Sonic AVC Decoder DMO Ëq-�, 8û8ð, AVC1, VSSH, H264 sonich264dec_dmo.dll 1.0.60219.0
DMO Mpeg43 Decoder DMO mp43, MP43 mp43decd.dll 11.0.6001.7000
DMO RTJpeg decoder RJPG rtjpg.dll 0.11.0.0
DMO Mpeg4 Decoder DMO MPG4, mpg4, mp42, MP42 mpg4decd.dll 11.0.6001.7000
MPEG/DVD Filters
Type Name Binary Version
video ffdshow Video Decoder ffdshow.ax 1.0.5.2370
video "MainConcept (Adobe2) MPEG Video Decoder"
video Microsoft MPEG-2 Video Decoder msmpeg2vdec.dll 11.0.6001.7000
video roxio DCFilters Mpeg I/II Decoder DCFilters9.dll 9.1.2.81
audio AC3Filter ac3filter.ax 1.3.1.0
audio ffdshow Audio Decoder ffdshow.ax 1.0.5.2370
audio Microsoft MPEG-1/DD Audio Decoder msmpeg2adec.dll 11.0.6001.7000
audio "MainConcept (Adobe2) MPEG Audio Decoder"
Plug-ins
Type Name Binary Version
Background Bluetooth Headset Plugin BtWmpPlugIn.dll 6.1.0.5200
Services
Name Key Binary Version
audible.com Audible
FaroLatino Music and Video FaroLatino11_EN
Media Guide MediaGuide
PayPlay.FM PayPlay.FM
VidZone VidZone
Content Partner

None Found



It looks like the only addition is ffdshow and ac3filter. I don't see anything about DV in either list. However, I did notice that Premiere said it was using a Microsoft DV codec, but I don't know where it got that.

Is there any other way to find out what codecs are installed, and what formats they handle, and then find out which codecs WMM6 is using (assuming there is some overlap between installed codecs)?

Thanks for all the help so far. This is both frustrating and fun

-Paul

[paulmedynski]

Hallelujah!

I just tried playing my AVIs with WMP after installing Vista Code Pack 5.0.4 and yippie, it renders them at the proper AR. I also loaded up some of my WMM6 projects, and it too is now playing all the clips at the proper AR.

JohnnyMalaria - pops to you for suggesting a codec issue!

Thanks to all for the comments and suggestions. I'll let you know how my DVD creation goes

Thanks,
-Paul

[zoobie]

Lawdy Halleluuuuuuuuuuuuuuujah, brother!
You is saved :P

[JohnnyMalaria]

I'm not sure what comes in the codec pack you used but there are two flavors of codec - Video for Windows (VfW) and DirectShow (DS).

With VfW, there can only ever be one codec in use for a given video format. This makes it easy to determine whose codec is being used. When you list audio and video codecs in Windows (via Sys Info), it shows you the VfW codecs. This isn't terribly helpful because most modern video apps use the DS type instead (including WMM and WMP).

With DS codecs, there can be multiple ones on the system for a given format. e.g., you may have three DV decoders. Each one is listed in the registry and has a "merit" value associated with it - essentially a priority number. When an app such as WMM determines that it needs a DV decoder, it asks Windows to provide one. Windows looks in the registry for all the decoders (with DS, decoders and encoders can be separate files, unlike with VfW). It selects the one with the highest merit. So, simply changing the merit value of the standard MS DV decoder can result in it not being used by most apps. Some apps, though, specifically look for a given decoder rather than relying on Windows to choose the "best". We have a DS-based DV decoder that replaces the MS one by using a higher merit value.

If you know for certain that an app is relying on Windows to find the decoder with the highest merit, you can work out from the registry which it is (though it is very convoluted!)

One final thing that can happen - DS encoders/decoders (filters) can become unregistered - i.e., all the information in the registry that is needed to make them visible to apps is removed. It can readily be restored. Since Premiere reports that it is using the Microsoft DV codec then it is properly registered.

BTW, the report from WMP is quite unhelpful(!) - like Sys Info, it only lists the VfW video codecs. None of the DS ones show up (unlike the DS DVD stuff etc). Another Microsoft 'feature'

[paulmedynski]

Thanks for the explanation Johnny.

This tool looks promising for listing DS filters:

https://www.videohelp.com/tools/DirectShow_Filter_Manager

I'm at work right now, and it's reporting qdv.dll is handling DV Muxer, Splitter, and Video Decoder. I'll run it at home to see what it reports since I've installed that Vista Codec Pack.

I'll also boot up Premiere and find out what DLLs it loads. That might tell me which DV codec it is using.

Thanks,
-Paul

[JohnnyMalaria]

qdv.dll is the standard MS component for a number of DS filters including the ones you mention. However, it is possible for another third-party filter to replace just one of them. i.e., qdv.dll is a conglomerate of a number of separate filters.