Problems playing MPG - two computers

[MikeKirkland]

I'm trying to play some video from meetings, recorded as videos and converted by a colleague. I'll post a second question about converting in a bit, but I'm not sure if the two issues are related.

I believe that the video was converted using the Sony PlayMemories Home software. My colleague told me that the process was a bit involved because the software creates individual files for the chapters that aren't well labeled making it hard to organized to combine. But ultimately, he ended up with files with .mpg extension that seem to work for some people. But not for me.

All computers running Windows 7 64 bit.

Computer One.

When I play the file from the preview area in Windows Explorer it plays properly - video and audio.

When I try to play the file with Windows Media Player (default on this laptop right now), I see the video, but the audio is not there - instead I get machine gun staccato noises.

When I play the file with RealPlayer it works perfectly.

When I play the file with WinAmp I see a static image, but the audio plays properly.

Computer Two. Same as computer One.

Computer Three is a fairly recent Windows 7 installation, and doesn't have much software installed. Windows Media Player plays the file properly. RealPlayer plays video, but there is no audio. WinAmp isn't installed.

I'm pretty confused about all of this - particularly why Preview in Explorer works and yet Windows Media Player doesn't. How can I clear this up? There appears to be nothing wrong with the file.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Mike

[aedipuss]

download vlc or mpc-hc and use one of those media players. the others you mentioned are not among the better ones.

[MikeKirkland]

Thanks aedipuss. For this project, I'm not particularly bothered about quality (if that's what you mean). I need to make sure that the files are usable by other people who'll almost certainly be using default WinMediaPlayer or RealPlayer. So I need to be able to check that I can play them too. And when I create files from the other meeting DVDs I need that too. Even if the standard players aren't high quality, they should still be able to play properly without the problems.

Mike

[El Heggunte]

Seems those .MPGs were muxed improperly/incorrectly, which would explain why they work fine in some players and badly in others.
MAYBE remuxing or/and patching the elementary video streams can fix the problems, you'll have to try and see if this works or doesn't work, otherwise just ask your friend to redo the conversion job again.

Sony PlayMemories Home software

Had never heard or read of such monstrosity until now

[mike20021969]

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

It might be a missing codec issue. Some players have the codecs built in, others players may be missing some, and require external codecs to be installed.

Post Media Info for one of the problematic files.

Get MediaInfo Lite here: http://download.cnet.com/MediaInfo-Lite/3001-2248_4-75118685.html?spi=70bc0d4401982fe2c9064b4ebcf304a6 &dlm=0

[aedipuss]

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

It might be a missing codec issue. Some players have the codecs built in, others players may be missing some, and require external codecs to be installed.

Post Media Info for one of the problematic files.

Get MediaInfo Lite here: http://download.cnet.com/MediaInfo-Lite/3001-2248_4-75118685.html?spi=70bc0d4401982fe2c9064b4ebcf304a6 &dlm=0

why would anyone click on and install an unknown "mediainfo lite" from cnet when they can get the real mediainfo program here by clicking on the highlighted name

[mike20021969]

why would anyone click on and install an unknown "mediainfo lite" from cnet when they can get the real mediainfo program here by clicking on the highlighted name

There's no need to imply it's somehow dodgy.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with MediaInfo Lite I linked too.
It's just a standalone version that K-Lite Codec Pack installs (K-LCP is also available on VideoHelp).

It just doesn't have all the bells and whistles and adware of MediaInfo - Free software/Adware.

[MikeKirkland]

Seems those .MPGs were muxed improperly/incorrectly, which would explain why they work fine in some players and badly in others.
MAYBE remuxing or/and patching the elementary video streams can fix the problems, you'll have to try and see if this works or doesn't work, otherwise just ask your friend to redo the conversion job again.

@El Heggunte - thanks. I have all the original DVDs so I was able to create new files that worked - using Handbrake. The only slight oddity is that a couple of files worked only after I changed the extension from MP4 to M4V.

Sony PlayMemories Home software

Had never heard or read of such monstrosity until now

It's certainly an oddity, but I don't know about a monstrosity. The software came with a video camera. My colleague was recording videos as part of a research project, which is why he ended up using it. I have a similar camera, and have (until now) just used it for downloading videos from presentations. Handbrake (or something similar) looks like the way to go in future. The videos that were the reason for my original question came as DVDs from two different focus group facilities.

@Mike20021969 - MediaInfo looks like a good tool - thanks. I didn't track all the files in all the messing around, so I don't think it helps much for this last situation. But for future issues, or when I start trying to access video as files from my new Denon receiver I'm sure looking at file details will help much.

Thanks all
Mike