Virtualdub not opening AviSynth file from directshowsource

[nick1977]

Hi all

I upgraded my PC with and did a fresh install a few months ago. I thought I'd checked everything was working but now I've come to resume a project I'm hitting a wall.

I used to be able to open an mkv ripped from a bluray by using DirectShowSource in my script followed by converttoyv12()

Now when I try to open it in virtualdub it is giving me an error message for both the audio and the video streams, saying

"Directshowsource could not open file c:\xxxxx : Cannot play back the file. The format is not supported."

It says that for both audio and video streams.

I've been using MPEG2SOURCE with d2v files without a problem so I know Virtualdub is able to read the avs files.

Any idea what's wrong? Am I missing a setting or something more signficant?

Again, to confirm, this was working fine with my old setup so it's not the video file.

Many thanks for any advice.

[poisondeathray]

You can try LSmash or FFMS2 instead - they are better source filters

DirectShowSource is usually a last resort, not necessarily frame accurate, but you probably need a directshow decoder such as Lav filters installed if you want to go that route

[jagabo]

Now when I try to open it in virtualdub it is giving me an error message for both the audio and the video streams, saying

"Directshowsource could not open file c:\xxxxx : Cannot play back the file. The format is not supported."

DirectShowSource uses Windows DirectShow A/V system to open the video. That error message means Windows is not set up to handle the container or codecs used in the file. This also usually means Windows Media Player will not open the file. You will need to install a Reader/Splitter for the container and/or DIrectShow codecs for the video and audio.

DirectShowSource is often not frame accurate so you should avoid using it anyway.

[nick1977]

Thanks guys.
I've installed lav filters so now my original method is working.

I am however interested in trying LSmash. When I try running with that it says "Module not found. Install missing library?"
The dll is definitely in the plugins folder and it does the same even when I loadplugin in the script.
I think this is referring to C++ but how do I know what exactly is missing?

Sorry for all the questions - if this is too much trouble I might just stick with directshowsource as it worked to a standard I was happy with before.

[poisondeathray]

https://github.com/HomeOfAviSynthPlusEvolution/L-SMASH-Works/releases

[jagabo]

I am however interested in trying LSmash. When I try running with that it says "Module not found. Install missing library?"

64 bit vs 32 bit AviSynth? If you're opening the script with a 64 bit editor/encoder you need 64 bit AviSynth and 64 bit filters (dlls). If you are using a 32 bit editor/encoder you need 32 bit AviSynth and 32 bit filters.

[nick1977]

Thanks again. Everything is 32-bit as far as I was aware. I really just took everything from my old PC saved files and migrated to the new one.

Tried again with LSmash and got a different error after installing the newest version.
It says "failed to read an input file". Could well be that it's because I'm running an old avisynth but as it works for everything else I need I'm reluctant to start tinkering too much!

I have however got LWLibavVideoSource working - not sure if that's any better than directshowsource but it's an alternative to use.

[jagabo]

LWLibavVideoSource() is much better than DirectShowSource().

[jagabo]

Also start VirtaulDub. Then use Help -> About to see if it's compiled as AMD64 (64 bit) or X86 (32 bit). Or use Task Manager to determine whether it's 32 bit or 64 bit (32 bit is explicitly indicated, 64 bit doesn't mention the bitness).

I would recommend using 64 bit unless you require some old filter that's only available as a 32 bit version.

[nick1977]

Thanks. I will use LWLibavVideoSource() moving forward.

Everything is definitely 32 bit but I have a avisynth plugins folder I "inherited" from someone else that has around a hundred filters. It would be a lot of work (and no doubt a headache) to migrate to 64 bit so I'll stick with it as it is unless something comes a long that requires it.