Ongoing saga of the lost MP4 thumbnails

[terrypin]

I'm back for help again on how to get most of my MP4 thumbnails displayed in my XP folders please. I've been trying to get to the bottom of this frustrating problem for ages, but I'm outside my technical depth.

BTW, I've become confused about a side issue. It seems that GSpot and Mediainfo report different info about the video codecs. It's almost certainly down to something basic I haven't grasped, but I'd really appreciate an explanation please. Are they consistent? And why does GSpot never know the codec 'status'?

Here are some examples:

NO THUMBNAILS
=============
Example #1 No thumbnail
-----------------------
Mediainfo says:

Format                           : MPEG-4
Format profile                   : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID                         : mp42
File size                        : 5.23 MiB
Duration                         : 27s 840ms
Overall bit rate                 : 1 575 Kbps
Movie name                       : 121639-AsBeforeButDS.MP4
Performer                        : created with SUPER(C).v2008.bld.30
Encoded date                     : UTC 2009-07-22 09:20:09
Tagged date                      : UTC 2009-07-22 09:20:13
Writing application              : eRightSoft
Comment                          : 2009-07-22  10:20:15

Video
ID                               : 1
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                         : 20

GSpot says:
Video Codec Type                 : mp4v              
Video Codec Name                 : MPEG-4 Video              
Video Codec Status               : Codec Status Undetermined    


Example #2 No thumbnail
-----------------------
Mediainfo says:

Format                           : MPEG-4
Format profile                   : Base Media
Codec ID                         : isom

Video
ID                               : 1
Format                           : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile                   : Simple@L4a
Format settings, BVOP            : Yes
Format settings, QPel            : No
Format settings, GMC             : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix          : Default (H.263)
Codec ID                         : 20

GSpot says:
Video Codec Type                 : mp4v              
Video Codec Name                 : MPEG-4 Video              
Video Codec Status               : Codec Status Undetermined 


Example #3 No thumbnail
-----------------------
Mediainfo says:

Format                           : MPEG-4
Format profile                   : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID                         : mp42
File size                        : 16.6 MiB
Duration                         : 33s 514ms
Overall bit rate                 : 4 166 Kbps
Encoded date                     : UTC 2011-06-23 18:12:15
Tagged date                      : UTC 2011-06-23 18:12:15

Video
ID                               : 1
Format                           : AVC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                   : Main@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC           : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames        : 3 frames
Format settings, GOP             : M=4, N=33
Codec ID                         : avc1
Codec ID/Info                    : Advanced Video Coding

GSpot says:

Video Codec Type                 : avc1              
Video Codec Name                 : H.264/MPEG-4 AVC              
Video Codec Status               : Codec Status Undetermined 

THUMBNAILS OK
=============
Example #4 Thumbnail displayed
------------------------------
Mediainfo says:

Format                           : MPEG-4
Format profile                   : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID                         : mp42

Video
ID                               : 1
Format                           : AVC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                   : Main@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC           : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames        : 3 frames
Format settings, GOP             : M=4, N=33
Codec ID                         : avc1

GSpot says:

Video Codec Type                 : avc1            
Video Codec Name                 : H.264/MPEG-4 AVC              
Video Codec Status               : Codec Status Undetermined

Example 5 Thumbnail displayed
-----------------------------
Mediainfo says:

Format                           : MPEG-4
Format profile                   : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID                         : mp42
Writing application              : Sorenson Squeeze 4.5

Video
ID                               : 2
Format                           : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile                   : Advanced Simple@L3
Format settings, BVOP            : Yes
Format settings, QPel            : No
Format settings, GMC             : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix          : Default (H.263)
Codec ID                         : 20

GSpot says:

Video Codec Type(                : mp4v              
Video Codec Name                 : MPEG-4 Video              
Video Codec Status               : Codec Status Undetermined

Can anyone help me isolate and fix this please?

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

[Ai Haibara]

BTW, I've become confused about a side issue. It seems that GSpot and Mediainfo report different info about the video codecs. It's almost certainly down to something basic I haven't grasped, but I'd really appreciate an explanation please. Are they consistent? And why does GSpot never know the codec 'status'?

GSpot hasn't been updated in a while. Aside from that, however, its support for containers other than AVI/.divx and MPEG is limited (whether intentional or work-in-progress, I don't know), so you'll see behavior like that "Codec Status Undetermined" message. (For me, it usually has that consistently for WMA/WMV, and inconsistently for the others.)

I'm not saying that you should get rid of GSpot - I still use it in addition to MediaInfo - but for the 'other' containers, I'd feel more inclined to trust MediaInfo's analysis over GSpot's.

[terrypin]

Thanks, understood.

One advantage of Gspot is that I have it setup to automatically append the results to a text file GSpot-Filedata.txt, so that I can quickly inspect that, or use it for copy/paste.

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

[terrypin]

I have my MP4 thumbnails displaying again (which, as mentioned in a separate post, appears to have happened directly after associating MP4 with VLC). But many are clips from work in making family DVDs, and have a fade-in from black at the start. So they are just uninformative black rectangles.

Is there any way to set the 'thumbnail frame' to some other position please?

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

[terrypin]

This 'now you see them, now you don't' scene really irritates me. I thought I'd sorted it by re-assigning VLC as the associated program but that always proves only temporary. When I add a new MP4 to a folder, usually the MP4 thumbnails then get replaced by the VLC icon.

However, if it offers any kind of clue, a routine that does appear to get them back is as follows. I open up the File Types dialog, and for the MP4 type click Advanced:




I then go through the charade of changing the default from VLC, correctly shown, to some other choice, clicking Set default, and then changing it back to VLC again. That then seems to bring back the thumbnails.

Anyone know what's going on here please? And a more satisfactory fix?

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

[Baldrick]

Can you you please STOP make a new threads for this issue. I have merged your last mp4 thumbnails threads now.

Just reply to add new info.