DivX Tech Preview: MKV on Windows 7

[avivahl]

DivX labs released a new MKV splitter based on the "new" Media Foundation (not DirectShow).
Looks really nice.
Anybody tested it on Windows 7 RC (build 7100)? Any opinions?

http://labs.divx.com/mkvwin7preview

[Stebet]

Since DivX Labs hasn't updated the MKV Media Foundation plugin for months, and it looks like they will only be supporting MKV with H.264 video :( , I'm wondering if someone else in this great community is working on a Media Foundation splitter for MKVs?

A MKV splitter that only supports H.264 isn't much good i.m.o, although I sort of understand that other codecs aren't high on their list considering they are mostly working with H.264.

I'm no guru when it comes to splitters, but as I understand this Media Foundation stuff it seems like all they need to do is make sure the splitter delivers the audio/video streams as well as their metadata (codec used, framerate etc.) and the OS should take care of the rest (figuring out which decoder to use etc.).

Anyone have any more insight into this?

The reason I (and plenty others) are looking for a Media Foundation splitter instead of a standard DirectShow splitter is that apparently it also makes the Xbox 360 able to view MKVs without any transcoding, through the Media Center Extender.

[nevcairiel]

I've been pondering about this subject the last week, while implementing a Proof-of-Concept Media Foundation video player. Its curious that everyone insists on disabling MF on Win7 and forcing WMP in DirectShow mode .. why did no-one pick up the torch and implement a Media Foundation interface for the splitters and codecs instead?

My PoC Player works now, however it can only play a certain subset of media that MS provides a splitter and codec for.

This might not be the best thread to start this discussion, however if anyone is working (or willing to work) on actually using Media Foundation and implementing splitters and codecs using the new APIs instead of DirectShow, just drop me a note, so we don't duplicate too much efforts.

Personally, i was looking into using the MPC-HC (Gabest) MatroskaSplitter to create a Media Foundation MKV Source Filter, but i'm still in the process of understanding the Media Foundation Source Filter layout, and it takes time, especially because the source of the Gabest Matroska Splitter does seem very unstructured to me, oh well. But it was the only open-source MKV Splitter i know of, and i don't really feel like implementing a complete new splitter.

Anyway, i should write up my experience with using MF into a new thread, and encourage some discussions there.

[Stebet]

I don't understand either why there hasn't been more movement towards Media Foundation since it's been in Windows since Vista.

I really hope you manage to create a Media Foundation MKV splitter, especially if it gets the Media Foundation more traction in this community.

If you need someone to test it I'd be all for that also. I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to help much out with development since my experience lies almost exclusively in .NET land and my time is rather limited. I do have pretty good problem solving skills though and would love to help out in any way I can :)

[Keiyakusha]

I guess no movement because mediafoundation is not better than directshow. And it is easier to make directshow to work instead of supporting one more interface since directshow can't be dropped.

[kidjan]

I guess no movement because mediafoundation is not better than directshow. And it is easier to make directshow to work instead of supporting one more interface since directshow can't be dropped.

Although DirectShow has a huge feature list, a lot of it feels like it was bolted on as an afterthought. Example: IVideoFrameStep, AM_MEDIA_TYPE (a struct-based approach to describing media types is painfully stupid), the notion of "pins," the poorly defined IMediaSample (ever try to get a media type from a sample?), dynamic format changes (ugg), deviation from traditional COM rules, B-Frame support (http://blog.monogram.sk/janos/2008/06/08/b-frames-in-directshow/), and so on. DMOs particularly suck (http://goldfishforthought.blogspot.com/2010/03/dmos-considered-harmful.html).

So, from an architectural standpoint I do like a few things about MF over DirectShow. Certainly there are aspects of DirectShow that could be hugely improved, but it's definitely a "dead" API at this point.

[stax76]

The main reason why people don't move to MF might be they don't see great problems with DS, it might be a huge task to move to MF and it might be a big risk since there could be other or new problems.

[Stebet]

nevcairiel: Any update on a MKV media foundation splitter?

[nevcairiel]

I'm working with a developer from XBMC on a splitter based on libavformat, currently as DirectShow, still, but once its a bit more stable, i'll attempt to add a Media Foundation layer on top of it as well. It'll be quite a while, though.