Video freezing during playback...

[Jmmsbnd007]

Hey dudes, I'm working on a frag movie, and I'm using MeGUI x264 to encode some clips into x264 (everyone in the frag movie scene is switching over too :P). Anyways, my problem is that I've been seeing some freezing in some of my videos. This is strange, and I'm not sure if it's due to my CPU speed (2.3 ghz 2500+, hovers around 70-80% while playing) or some other underlying problem. At first, I thought it was because I was rendering at 40 fps, but I tried a clip at 30 fps and I have the same problem :< So, if you guys could take a look at the 3 clips below and tell me if they work for you, that'd be great, thanks :D The freezing is video only (audio still plays), so you can mute it if you want to.

http://s87996456.onlinehome.us/public/final_test.mp4 (sometimes hiccups for about a second at 4 seconds, 40 fps)

http://s87996456.onlinehome.us/public/arc_final.mp4 (plays fine for the first second but then freezes for almost the rest of the video; playing it through a second time is smooth, but closing the media player and reopening restarts the cycle, 30 fps)

http://s87996456.onlinehome.us/public/arctest_30_final.mp4 (same as above but 30 fps, still same problem)

I'm using FFDShow and MatroskaSplitter to decode and play these:
http://s87996456.onlinehome.us/public/ffdshow-20050920.exe
http://s87996456.onlinehome.us/public/MatroskaSplitter.exe

I get the same problem both in WMP 7 and MediaPlayerClassic:
http://s87996456.onlinehome.us/public/mplayerclassic.exe

Please help :( I am using faac to encode the audio into m4a, and I'm using MeGUI x264 r372 (I think... it's dated late november, like 11-22). Thanks :o

[dr.schanker]

hi there,

i downloaded and tested your files.
please correct the link for ".../arc_final.avi" - it should be ".../arc_final.mp4".

here my results:
final_test.mp4: video plays fine / very small audio-hiccup @ 5sec. / cpu-load 85-100%
arc_final.mp4: video & audio play fine / cpu-load 97-100%
arctest_30_final.mp4: video & audio play fine / cpu-load 65-90%

so no problems here with your files.

i used mpc 6.4.8.7 (output=overlay-mixer), video decoded by ffdshow version August 3 2005, audio decoded by mpc.
i am runing win xp sp1, dx9, cpu is an athlon64 3400.

good luck and frag on :D

[Jmmsbnd007]

Hmm, this is strange :< That audio hiccup @ 5 sec on final_test is normal btw. But for me, it sometimes freezes the video for 1-2 seconds at that point... very strange... my cpu usage is around 70-80% but once it hits that spot and freezes it goes down to like 6% for a second or two... Same thing on the arc_* series of videos, it's around 70-80% but it drops to like 10% while the video freezes but the audio plays on.

One anecdote that I'd like to mention is that after having installed FFDShow and MatroskaSplitter I can completely uninstall FFDshow and MatroskaSplitter will decode both the video and the audio (??). Could this be causing it? I don't even have FFDShow installed anymore :O This is very perplexing :<

PS: I fixed the link, thanks :)

[Jmmsbnd007]

HAH! I installed FFDShow and that fixed the problem... but this is still interesting: When I play the MP4 file, I get the FFDShow video decoder and audio decoder, but I also have the Haali/MatroskaSplitter icon at the bottom right too... so I uninstalled MatroskaSplitter, but now I get a "Cannot load any source filter" error from MPC.

[Jmmsbnd007]

Hmm... I went ahead and downloaded the lastest MatroskaSplitter (http://haali.cs.msu.ru/mkv/MatroskaSplitter.exe), installed that, and opened an mp4 file and disabled the ffdshow audio decoder. No problems so far :) It seems like the best solution is to use ffdshow to decode the video and MatroskaSplitter to decode the audio...?

EDIT: Okay, I uninstalled all of ffdshow and MatroskaSplitter, logged off and back on again, deleted the remaining .ax files and their respective folders, and installed the latest version of MatroskaSplitter (linked above) ONLY. It plays GREAT in MPC :) So, when I release my full video, should I have people just install this MatroskaSplitter version and view in MPC? I don't see why ffdshow is needed anymore, but you guys know more about this than me, any input? :confused: :o :)

EDIT2: Here's an explanation I found on what ffdshow/MatroskaSplitter do:
For those who want to know, I'll give a simple explanation of what's going on during playback. First the MP4 is loaded and fed into the splitter that can read MP4 files (haali splitter). The splitter then splits the audio and video into seperate streams and feeds those into their respective decoders. The H.264 video is fed into FFDShow video decoder to be decoded, and the audio is fed into the FFDShow audio deocder to be decoded. The directshow compatiple player handles the rest and gives you your media.
But, how can I be playing it with no ffdshow installed then? Also, I remember when I first downloaded a frag movie encoded in 264... I installed JUST ffdshow, and I could play it fine, and the only thing that showed up at the bottom right of my screen was the ffdshow audio decoder. The only thing that didn't work right was seeking, ie, I couldn't click on a part of the time bar in MPC and skip to that part of the video... but installing MatroskaSplitter fixed that. This is confusing as hell. I think I'm just going to direct my audience to install both ffdshow and MatroskaSplitter, however, the release date won't be for a few more months, so... perhaps you guys can help? :)

[Jmmsbnd007]

Okay, I think I found a fix-all
http://packs.matroska.org/
If I have them install that pack, it installs ffdshow and the splitter in one go :)

[bond]

the haali "matroskasplitter" is not called matroskasplitter, but "media splitter", as it not only handles matroska, but also mp4, avi and ogm/ogg

a splitter doesnt do any decoding. obviously ffdshow is not the only audio/video decoder on earth, so others can be used too

what splitter did you use before you used haalis media splitter (showing the problems)?

[Jmmsbnd007]

I was using an older version of MatroskaSplitter.exe (which I assume installs the Haali splitter because on both versions of MatroskaSplitter.exe (the older one I had and the newest, latest one) it shows up at the bottom right when I play an mp4 file. You know, I just realized- will a MeGUI/x264 install also decode x264? I assume so. That explains how I was watching the video fine without ffdshow...? lol, I'm dumb. Anyways, I guess the older Haali splitter I had caused the freezing, as installing the latest MatroskaSplitter.exe (and subsequently a new Haali splitter I assume) fixed it. Anyways, should I just include that Matroska pack when I distribute my movie? I like it because it's a 1-click install for ffdshow and Haali splitter, instead of directing my audience through each install (ffdshow/MatroskaSplitter.exe) individually.