hardware mpeg decoder for scenarist

[Gorr]

when i start scenarist i have a warning:

Warning Quadrant or Sigma Design MPEG decoder is not present or the driver is not installed.

I have a proper installation of H+ decorder from sigma.
What is wrong?

Thanks

[Pulver]

Unfortunately, the hollywood + card doesn´t work with Maestro or Scenarist - it´s really strange - I know it says they do.
I had the same problem.
Install Cinemaster 2000 drivers and preview the movie in software instead - unless you have a REALLY slow computer it will work fine.:)

[Gorr]

Where to get those drivers?

Thanks

[Sequoyan]

That hardware decoder does not work with Scenarist. Do some research, I think you'll find that Scenarist uses an older Cinemaster Hardware MPEG decoder. If you can find one of those and the right drivers you should be able to get hardware preview from Scenarist.

Good luck

- The Sequoyan

[Doom9]

hmm.. I recall preview working in scenarist 2.0 on w2k using the first beta h+ drivers. Since then I've banned the h+ from my comp (too many crashes). but it once worked for sure

[Sequoyan]

I'm in no position to say if it ever worked. I just know I read somewhere that the hardware decoder sold with Scenarist was a Cinemaster (untill they switched over to the $300 Sigma netstream).

Anyway, just trying to help out.

- The Sequoyan

[Jestorius]

a very easy to install(copy to) dll only solution can you finde on :

h--p://groups.yahoo.com/group/dvdmaestro/files/Utils/

it works with Maestro and Scenarist

[EiGuscheMa]

Jestorius, they seem to have removed that dll. Do you know where to get it?

[sebus]

"Installed the Matrox DVD Player with Cinemaster Codec. (picked install codec only)"

"I managed to find CineMaster 2000 after spending the entire morning searching the web.

Now Real Preview works fine"

So search the Net for Matrox player or Cinemaster 2000

sebus

[EiGuscheMa]

sebus,
just to make sure we are talking about the same thing:
You have a sigma hollywood+ hardware decoder card installed and you made hardware decoding work with maestro using that codec?

[sebus]

Did I mention Sigma in my message? I can not find it!
I did give you advice on making software codecs working OK with Maestro.

sebus

[EiGuscheMa]

sebus,
thank you for your reply. I just came along because this thread is named
"hardware mpeg decoder for scenarist" and Jestorius seems to have found a solution for the H+.
Software decode works fine for me, but I would like to have my PVM monitor connected to a hardware decoder like the H+. I know that the card was not designed for this but now I know it is possible, though.
cu

[EiGuscheMa]

Originally posted by Jestorius
a very easy to install(copy to) dll only solution can you finde on :

h--p://groups.yahoo.com/group/dvdmaestro/files/Utils/

it works with Maestro and Scenarist
Hi!

I still can not find that dll anywhere on the net.

Anybody out there to help ?

Or does anybody know another solution for making the H+ work with maestro and scenarist?

cu

[sebus]

Jestorius seems to have found a solution for the H+.

No, he did not. He only made Maestro display the preview with Cinemaster 2000 dlls

sebus

[BBQmyNUTZ]

***UPDATED***

These are the DLL's you need.

cinemres.dll - ver. 1.0.2.0027
cinmhook.dll - ver. 1.2.1.0047
cinmst32.dll - ver. 2.38.1.6609
dvdpld32.dll - ver. 3.18.2.1672

This is the last generation Ravisent/Quadrant Cinemaster dvd decoder that will work with Scenarist & Maestro.

Here's how to get the files you need easily & legally.

Download the Elsa player from Elsa's FTP:

ftp://ftp.elsa.de/FILES/GRAPHICS/EMOVIE/UP2000_E.ZIP

Not having an Elsa card means you can't install it, but no worries, this can be gotten around.

Once you have the file, unzip it, then extract the files of the installer. For this you need winzip, winrar, or any other decompression utility. Just right-click on the file and choose "extract files" from the menu.

You should now have the installer & cab files extracted. The .cab files are in the installshield format, so you need "i6comp" to decompress them. Get it here:

http://www.myplc.com/sony/bin/i6comp.zip

Decompress it, and copy the i6comp.exe binary from the "release" folder to the directory you extracted the Elsa movie player files to. i6comp is a command line utility, so bust out a dos box, get to the directory you're working in, then type:

i6comp e data2.cab

All the cab files will be decompressed, then just pick out the ones from the list above and copy them to your \windows\system32 directory. There you go.

Kai

[BBQmyNUTZ]

BTW, here's a nice resource site with lots of info on the different generations of the Cinemaster decoder, it helped me alot when I was digging around.

http://www.pennskog.com/cinemaster/

Kai

[EiGuscheMa]

Many thanks to all.

So it looks like I will have to go for a Netstream if I want hardware-decoding...:D

[BBQmyNUTZ]

I updated my post with instructions on how to get the most current decoder which works with both scenarist & maestro. The decoders are very fast, so to be honest unless you're trying to author on a Pentium-II 300mhz ghetto PC, the software decoders should be perfect for previewing your project.

Kai

[kaitsuburi]

@BBQmyNUTZ -- thanks a bunch for the info!

Installing this (http://forum.doom9.org/forum-rules.htm) package will also work for previewing in DVDMaestro, IIRC.

But the dlls to which BBQmyNUTZ links above are more recent, so it's better to use them.

-kaitsuburi

[mpucoder]

@kaitsuburi: That site is a warez site, and Cinemaster, PowerDVD, and WinDVD are not free programs.

[kaitsuburi]

Originally posted by mpucoder
@kaitsuburi: That site is a warez site, and Cinemaster, PowerDVD, and WinDVD are not free programs.

Apologies! I didn't realize the site was warez. I will be more careful. Thanks for editing my post.

-kaitsuburi

[BBQmyNUTZ]

Originally posted by BBQmyNUTZ
I updated my post with instructions on how to get the most current decoder which works with both scenarist & maestro. The decoders are very fast, so to be honest unless you're trying to author on a Pentium-II 300mhz ghetto PC, the software decoders should be perfect for previewing your project.

Kai

No problem at all. I've had the DLL's for a while, but I had actually forgotten how I originally gotten them until this thread came up. Kinda sucks to have to download a 12meg zip to get 4 little dll files, but at least its legit. =P

Kai

[EiGuscheMa]

Well, here´s why I still prefer a hardware-decoder:

Adjusting subpicture colors, transparency and palettes is getting somewhat tedious if I want to produce some of that "hats off" effects.

Previewing on a computer monitor will never show the same colors and shadings as the final product will: played by a standalone connected to a TV.

Even the TV-out of a computer-graphics card will not produce predictable results.

So for now I will have to compile the DVD and watch it using the Y/C-out of the H+ on a TV-monitor.

If colors do not match my expectations I will have to turn over again and again...

A long time ago there have been some experiments: trying to use the Netstream-drivers with the H+.
But that seems to be history, too.....:)

[SplinterMgs]

Thanks BBQmyNUTZ for the DLL installation instructions as I'm trying to get previewing to work in DVDMaestro.

Unfortunately, it still complains about no RT preview available as decoder not detected. However, I've found that if I startup CinePlayer and actually playback a DVD before I startup DVDMaestro, RT preview works!

Anyone has any ideas as to why and a possible solution to this problem? Is there something else besides installing those 4 DLLs?

Any feedback most welcomed, many thanks in advance.

[sebus]

SplinterMgs, please finally understand that there is NO hardware playback solution for Maestro using H+ card

No point asking the same question on & on & on...

sebus

[DIggedy]

Wonder if theres a way to create a 'wrapper' driver file to allow current Nvidia and ATI cards to act as a hardware decoder in Scenarist. I'd love to be able to use my Radeon 9700 for this purpose.

[auenf]

no nvidia or ati graphics card does the full decoding of MPEG2, they help the mpeg2 decoders thru DXVA or VMR.

Enf...