Crash with Power DVD 4 and Divx 5 - can anyone help?

[jimbokoz]

I am trying to get Power DVD 4 to play back some Divx 5 encoded content in AVI format. I am doing this, as the Divx files I have contain audio encoded in Dolby Surround stereo, and I'd like to use Power DVD's Dolby Pro-Logic II filter to supply 6 channel output to my speaker system. (SB Audigy + 6 analog outputs). Unfortunately, my amplifier does not process Dolby Surround.

Unfortunately, power DVD seems to choke any time I try to run a Divx 5 or Divx 3.11 file through it. If I de-multiplex the mp3 file out of the avi, the mp3 file plays no problem, and sounds GREAT with 6 channel surround. Has anyone else had problems with similar crashes? Are there any workarounds?

If Divx files cannot be played directly through powerdvd, is there any way to access it's audio filter through another program. I have tried playing around with Graphedit, without much success...

Here's hoping... jk

[jimbokoz]

I'm posting this reply to the above question, in the hope that anyone out there with a similar problem may find this of some use. This technique *should* allow a person with a 6-speaker sound system, but no hardware Dolby Pro-Logic decoder to have full 6-channel surround sound, from all the Dolby Surround encoded Divx's floating around out there.

This has been tested so far only on my system:
Athlon 1400 + Abit KT7a. 256 MB
Geforce 2 GTS
SB Audigy Digital Entertainment 5.1 soundcard.
Abit SP-50 5.1 speaker set (using 6 x analog output connection).
Windows XP Pro.

Software required: Power DVD v4 with Pro-Logic II audio pack. Graphedit. Microsoft Media Player 6.4 or 8 (tested).

The basic idea is simple. I set up my Audigy card for 5.1 speaker mode in Audio HQ, setting up bass redirection with a crossover of 180hz (suited to my speakers). I also installed Power DVD v4, with the latest .1329b patch on the website.

Make especially sure that you setup the audio settings within Power DVD, so that 6 channel output is selected, LFE decoding is off, and Dolby Pro-Logic II is selected for Movie output. You cannot alter these settings through any other method than through the Power DVD interface.

After this, open Graphedit, and select File / Render Media File. Open the divx avi file you would like to watch.

Once the window has opened, select the "default direct sound device" filter and delete it from the graph.

Now, add a filter: Graph / Insert Filters. From the list that comes up, select Direct Show Filters / Cyberlink Audio Effect, and insert the filter.

Draw a pin to connect the output from the MP3 decoder to the input on the Cyberlink Audio Decoder.

Next add another filter for your soundcard. In my case, I used: Audio Renderers / Direct Sound: SB Audigy Audio. Link the output from the Cyberlink Audio Effect, to the input on the Direct Sound driver.

Once this is done, save the graph file under an appropriate name and exit graph edit.

Now, to play your divx, right click on the .GRF file and choose: Open With. Open the file with any version of Windows Media Player you choose.

Assuming all goes well, your Divx should play normally, except the Cyberlink filter will be outputting some nice 6 channel surround sound, thanks to Dolby Pro-Logic II.

Note: this has been tested with files containing VBR MP3 audio, and there were no synch issues.

Please reply to this thread - I want to see how successful this is on other systems. Don't ask about where to get Power DVD - that should be obvious!

[jimbokoz]

A quick response before anyone flames me....

The above method does NOT do anything. I actually found that I was getting some form of Dolby Pro-Logic decoding from turning on CMSS in Playcenter. It actually worked while playcenter had quit. So much for scientific method. And - so much for accessing the Dolby Pro-Logic II filter of Power DVD. For now...

Hopefully I haven't raised any hopes unduly...