Womble MultiMedia Out Of Business?

[Seeker47]

You should check your system.
Download this: https://files.videohelp.com/u/292773/Dism-Gui_1.2.9.7z
Use the right version for your OS (x86 or x64).
Start the program and click on SFC Scan

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Wait until is finished. if errors are found, run it one more time.
If no more errors are found, then click on Restore and then Online.

[Attachment 64166 - Click to enlarge]
Again, wait until everything is finished and then restart the computer.

This Dism-Gui_1.2.9 file has been removed from here. Reason ? Superseded by a later version, generally available elsewhere ?

[ProWo]

Here you go
https://files.videohelp.com/u/292773/Dism-gui.zip

[Seeker47]

Thanks ProWo !

I was just looking thru some old files storage, and it seemed to me that VRD (VideoRedo) started out as a Womble product ? But that must have diverged at some point, because Womble has been gone a lot longer, and VRD's future going into limbo is a much more recent development.

[Seeker47]

MPEG Video Wizard is a brilliant tool. I hope I can learn where these designers/programmers have moved; maybe they are still doing similar work in some other situation. I'd watch that Company and those products with interest.
Thank you again for your help.
OF

I always hesitate to dispense with something that could prove useful somewhere down the line, even if the odds on that may be remote. Because you never know. (I mean, I still have occasional uses for programs like DVDVob2MPG.) In that spirit, I wanted to reinstate this program onto a software-rather-well-equipped Win-10 system. And to see if I could get it operational again. I went searching thru old storage, encompassing a few old out-of-service computers and backups from them. I found a couple iterations of this Womble MPEG Wizard DVD. One was in the form of an installed folder of program files, which I transferred to this computer. Now in my admittedly hazy recollection, this little maneuver almost never works. There may be things that had to get put into the OS Registry at time of install -- or Who knows What. But I clicked on the program executable, and to my great surprise the program launched ! However, that iteration turns out to be version 4.

But I also found a couple installer files for version 5. One was from an old GiveAwayoftheDay promo. Those are nearly always time-limited to the duration of the giveaway, so > 90% of the time they will not work thereafter. That is to say, the given Regkey for it. Finally, I found what must be a copy of the Version 5 Trial installation file, which I think is probably the same one that Baldrick just re-linked. But I have no Regkey for it. Back in the day, I might have found this online, but my 'Go To' sites for that are no more. Seeing as the product and the company are defunct, I think this ought to render copyright issues null and void. (?) At least, that's how I see it. If anyone has a valid version 5 key they'd like to share, please PM me. Otherwise, I'll just have to settle for that apparently still working version 4.

[EDIT: I also found a folder of installed files for an earlier, "Junior" product from the Womble lineup: Easy VCR (?) It could be that that one still launches too, though I've not tested it. Just out of curiosity, did that program do anything useful that was not later adopted and incorporated into their MPEG Video Wizard DVD ?]

[EDIT #2: Incidentally, what I use that DVDVOB2MPG for: I sometimes have VRO files from DVD-RAM discs, used to get material off of my Pio DVDRs, and then need to convert them to MPEG. It may be that some other software I have can also do this -- maybe something like Cyberlink Director or the Nero suite ? -- but if so I either never knew it, or have forgotten. DVDVOB2MPG is itself the successor to some prior program, but works quite well for this. A lot of past programs have some capacity or other that can still come in handy. Which can be where a software repository like the one here on VH becomes so valuable.]

[Seeker47]

Womble was gone much earlier than 2019.

It was on auto-pilot as far back as 2013. Most of the software had issues starting with Windows 8, and those were never fixed.

As far as Windows 10 issues, did you run the software in a compatibility mode?

I'm running Win 10 x64 at latest 22H2 level, and not seeing problems so far on the restored-from-old-storage MPEG Video Wizard DVD. Except that a couple of the buttons at left on the "floating bar" keep flashing, and don't seem to be operable -- whatever they were supposed to be for. Haven't had to resort to Compatibility Mode to launch the program though. If / When there were problems, I thought that effective workarounds had been published in threads here ?

[ridibunda]

I love this program, very easy to use. First I used it in Windows 7, still using with Win11.

If only we had its source code and someone continued to develop it!

[Seeker47]

There are more than a few programs -- in various categories -- that had some unique feature(s) &/or ease of use, which have never been surpassed or replaced with an equally-good alternative. So we have the incentive to keep them available for use for as long as possible. If that requires running them in compatibility mode, or running them in the VM of an earlier OS, then so be it.

[ridibunda]

I use 64 bit Win 11 Pro with LAV Filters installed, with D3D11 video acceleration enabled in LAV's settings.

Using the latest Womble release 5.0.1.112 - set to start in Windows 7/8 compatibility mode.

I get black screen for H264 videos. How to fix it?

I have no problem with VP9, H265, AV1 encoded files:


[Attachment 85889 - Click to enlarge]

I only have problem with H264 encoded files. I get no preview for them on the second preview window, on the right side:


[Attachment 85890 - Click to enlarge]

[Seeker47]

I use 64 bit Win 11 Pro with LAV Filters installed, with D3D11 video acceleration enabled in LAV's settings.

Using the latest Womble release 5.0.1.112 - set to start in Windows 7/8 compatibility mode.

I get black screen for H264 videos. How to fix it?

I have no problem with VP9, H265, AV1 encoded files:

I don't know the answer to this, but as a practical matter you might be forced into the solution I use for playback on some of the many varied video format files that I work with. My preferred playback device balks at playing certain files, for codec support reasons. So, if I want to view them via that playback device (feeding the bigscreen tv), I'll have to first convert the file to another video format. This generally works. The converters that I have liked are Win-X Converter from Digiarty, and the fairly parallel one from Wonderfox. But there are others to choose from. Possibly even others that are free.

[ProWo]

I use 64 bit Win 11 Pro with LAV Filters installed, with D3D11 video acceleration enabled in LAV's settings.
Using the latest Womble release 5.0.1.112 - set to start in Windows 7/8 compatibility mode.
I only have problem with H264 encoded files. I get no preview for them on the second preview window, on the right side:

1. With Win11 Pro you don't need to start it in Windows 7/8 compatibility mode. It works fine with normal start.
2. Could be this particular h264 video. Remux it first an retry with the remuxed one. You could also try to disable the D3D11 video acceleration.

[ridibunda]

I don't know the answer to this, but as a practical matter you might be forced into the solution I use for playback on some of the many varied video format files that I work with. My preferred playback device balks at playing certain files, for codec support reasons. So, if I want to view them via that playback device (feeding the bigscreen tv), I'll have to first convert the file to another video format. This generally works. The converters that I have liked are Win-X Converter from Digiarty, and the fairly parallel one from Wonderfox. But there are others to choose from. Possibly even others that are free.

To be more clear: The second window/output window on Womble is where you can watch your edited video before extracting it, where you can see if your new audio is synched with your video, etc, etc... So, if you can't get a preview there, you can't do any video/audio editing (not talking about the window on the left/input window, every file can be opened there but it is not used for editing processes)

I tried everything on LAV Filters video configuration: Disabling HW acceleration, choosing DXVA2, choosing D3D11, choosing NVIDIA, it didn't matter.

I tried a program called Win7DSFilterTweaker ; I chose "LAV Video" instead of "Microsoft" for the decoding of H264 files, it didn't matter again.

There was always black screen on H264 previews! And sometimes, crashes and shutting downs for H264-encoded files (in MP4 container).

Finally, I tried changing file extension, renaming those "mp4" files as "mpg" files. And it is solved! Now, previews are active and no crashes.

As far as I understand, this is not a decoding issue but a container issue. A problem about LAV Splitter, but I see no setting to solve it.

It's very weird to experience it with an old video format-H264, not with the newer formats like HEVC or AV1.

For H264-encoded files, changing the MP4 extension to MPG solves the problem:


[Attachment 85896 - Click to enlarge]

[ridibunda]

1. With Win11 Pro you don't need to start it in Windows 7/8 compatibility mode. It works fine with normal start.
2. Could be this particular h264 video. Remux it first an retry with the remuxed one. You could also try to disable the D3D11 video acceleration.

If I set "LAV Video" as H264 decoder instead of "Microsoft" (using Win7DSFilterTweaker) and if I change the file extensions from "mp4" to "mpg" or "mkv", I get no errors on such files... If I don't change MP4 file extensions, Womble crashes!

Very interestingly, I saw no problem for H264-MKV files, just for H264-MP4 files.

I see, the issue is not related with compatibility mode or anything else. An interesting container problem.

[ProWo]

1. With Win11 Pro you don't need to start it in Windows 7/8 compatibility mode. It works fine with normal start.
2. Could be this particular h264 video. Remux it first an retry with the remuxed one. You could also try to disable the D3D11 video acceleration.

If I set "LAV Video" as H264 decoder instead of "Microsoft" (using Win7DSFilterTweaker) and if I change the file extensions from "mp4" to "mpg" or "mkv", I get no errors on such files... If I don't change MP4 file extensions, Womble crashes!

Very interestingly, I saw no problem for H264-MKV files, just for H264-MP4 files.

I see, the issue is not related with compatibility mode or anything else. An interesting container problem.

No issue here by me, works fine with mp4 too.

Edit: instead of Lav Filters i've installed K-Lite Codec Pack 18.8.0 Basic.

[ridibunda]

No issue here by me, works fine with mp4 too.

Edit: instead of Lav Filters i've installed K-Lite Codec Pack 18.8.0 Basic.

What is your graphics processor? Installing K-Lite Codec Pack Basic didn't change anything for me. It is just a combination of LAV Filters package, Codec Tweak Tool and Direct Vob Sub anyway.

And, even I get the preview I mention, if I fast forward the video, the audio gets out of synch. I never experienced these issues before on Windows 7 and Windows 10 with older processors. Very weird.

[ProWo]

What is your graphics processor?

Intel HD Graphics 630

[ridibunda]

Intel HD Graphics 630

That was also my previous graphics which I had no problems. Now I have Arc graphics (the latest driver installed).

I don't know what's really going on inside, I guess there's something wrong about splitter or/and renderer, as a result I can't properly play videos on Womble's output window. Even I manage to get previews, audio gets out of synch if I skip video just a little bit forward.

Edit... Today's efforts:
1- Checked all of the recommended "use MERIT" options in "preferred decoders" section in Win7DSFilterTweaker
2- Converted MP4 containers to MKV with MKVToolnix (I understood that changing the file extension directly causes those sync problems)
3- Saw that preview errors and synch errors are gone.

But now I have the exporting problem. I can edit my video via Output window but Womble crashes when I try to export my edited file.

[ridibunda]

I installed x264vfw codec, same result again, Womble crashes before exporting.

Does anyone know a very similar, basic and functional program?

I'm not interested in confusing programs like Adobe Premiere.

[ridibunda]

As I experienced in my case (with Intel Arc graphics), Womble can only be used for standard definition video files like VOB/MPG/MPEG formats for which Womble offers a direct stream copy option.

But it can't be used with AVC or HEVC videos. Womble does not offer a direct stream copy option for those and it won't re-encode your edited video - you have a crash in the end (doesn't matter which codec pack you install)

No problem with audio files.

Yes, Womble works but without a full functionality. So, I made a search (nobody helps in this forum) and decided to use OpenShot Video Editor, the most similar program to Womble.

From now on, I'm using Openshot for HD videos, Womble for the rest (Because of Womble's no-reencode options).

Openshot does not offer a direct stream copy option but my processor does very fast encoding, like 200-250 frames per second for HD videos, so that's not an issue for me.

Good luck to everyone facing the same problem. I couldn't find any better solution.

[usually_quiet]

As I experienced in my case (with Intel Arc graphics), Womble can only be used for standard definition video files like VOB/MPG/MPEG formats for which Womble offers a direct stream copy option.

But it can't be used with AVC or HEVC videos. Womble does not offer a direct stream copy option for those and it won't re-encode your edited video - you have a crash in the end (doesn't matter which codec pack you install)

There are reasons for all of that.

For one thing, the final version of Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD was released in 2015. That is why Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD only supports importing MPEG-2 and a few other older video formats that were popular up until the mid-2010s. In 2015 AVC was becoming known to the general public but was mostly used for high definition resolution video so Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD's support for it was poor. The first HEVC encoder was released in 2013 but the general public knew nothing about it in 2015. Plus, watching HEVC video was nearly impossible at that time.

Also, since Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD's purpose was to export DVD-compatible video, it exports standard definition MPEG-2. (The DVD standard only supports MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video but MPEG-2 had greater popularity.)

You have to move on to a new editor to get the features that you want. Videohelp has a software section with information about many video editors. If you must use free editing software, I don't have enough experience with that to provide recommendations for you. However, if you are willing to pay, most of the paid editors have a free trial period so you can try before you buy. TMPGEnc MPEG Smart Renderer might be worth a look.

[Alex_ander]

...Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD only supports importing MPEG-2 and a few other older video formats...

Luckily, it supports AviSynth scripts, therefore almost anything for importing. No direct stream copy then, of course.

[ridibunda]

There are reasons for all of that.

For one thing, the final version of Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD was released in 2015. That is why Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD only supports importing MPEG-2 and a few other older video formats that were popular up until the mid-2010s. In 2015 AVC was becoming known to the general public but was mostly used for high definition resolution video so Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD's support for it was poor. The first HEVC encoder was released in 2013 but the general public knew nothing about it in 2015. Plus, watching HEVC video was nearly impossible at that time.

Also, since Womble MPEG Video Wizard DVD's purpose was to export DVD-compatible video, it exports standard definition MPEG-2. (The DVD standard only supports MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video but MPEG-2 had greater popularity.)

You have to move on to a new editor to get the features that you want. Videohelp has a software section with information about many video editors. If you must use free editing software, I don't have enough experience with that to provide recommendations for you. However, if you are willing to pay, most of the paid editors have a free trial period so you can try before you buy. TMPGEnc MPEG Smart Renderer might be worth a look.

The thing is, Womble works perfectly with Intel HD and UHD graphics, but not with the newer Intel Arc graphics.

In my case, I see that Womble does not even support hardware video acceleration/decoding. When I load a HEVC UHD video to Womble's output window and look at my LAV Video screen, I see "avcodec" in charge without HW acceleration (It should have been "dxva2" or "d3d11" active codec with a graphics acceleration)

In other programs, like SmartDVB, I see Dxva2 HW acceleration enabled in LAV's screen, but not with Womble... Some people say "Arc has a different engine", maybe that's why it is unable to recognize Womble, I don't know... I can play 20 year-old video games but I can't use a Womble from 2015, very weird.


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