ffdshow - new user help

[fultro]

I have spent the better part of two days going through various threads and searches trying to understand ffdshow.
Please be patient here if I have missed something right in front of my nose, but as per the new user instructions I really did search around and read many other posts - many quite informative I must say. But I have finally reached the point where I must ask what for what might seem very basic to everyone else here :
- Is there decent documentation about ffdshow usage (not developer stuff) but real basic "how does it work" in applications stuff?
-- My specific questions are about how specific apps like VirtualDub, Recode, etc. use ffdshow codecs for encoding -- and how ffdshow affects what codecs those apps use - for instance the thread about using the Snow codec left me wondering how the actual encoding was initiated - does ffdshow do it somehow that i am missing, or is it done from within some app like VirtualDub (though I could not see anything about ffdshow from within the save/as dialog in VirtualDub
--What is the difference between the "Configuration" sheet and the VFW sheet? - they both have a decode tab that seems to do the same thing
-- for individual decoders I see the choices i.e. lbvacode, xvid and disabled - how do these affect what other apps - like Vegas use to decode
needless to say I am fairly clueless about this - but I want to learn so even if you don't want to give a tutorial on this here can some one please point me in the right direction
Yes I have the latest versions of all these
Many thanks -- fultro

[Shinigami-Sama]

ffdshow is a decoder/post-processer not an encoder amte
all hte setting opn it are fairly self explaintory if you atke a little while to learn them

[fultro]

then what is the Encoder tab in the VFW Configuration app for?
fultro

[Soulhunter]

Actually the ffdshow installer contains 3 things...


1.) ffdshow video decoder
Decoder for various video formats + countless post-processing filters...
http://img167.exs.cx/img167/9728/video7sw.png (http://www.imageshack.us)

2.) ffdshow audio decoder
Decoder for various audio formats + countless post-processing filters...
http://img167.exs.cx/img167/3159/audio7wy.png (http://www.imageshack.us)

3.) ffvfw video encoder
Encoder for various video formats + countless pre-processing filters...
http://img167.exs.cx/img167/136/vfw3hq.png (http://www.imageshack.us)


Bye

[fultro]

yes I have seen that - so the question remains.....How to use it all...
Not so much the filters - I have already gotten them to work on playback through Mplayer 6.4 -
My question is about how the ffdshow codec is used with other apps, how it affects other apps - what the diff is between the VFW sheet and the Configuration sheet.... and what the Encode Tab does
fultro

[Soulhunter]

Originally posted by fultro

My question is about how the ffdshow codec is used with other apps...

The decoder or the encoder ???

The decoder is used via media-players to decode/filter videos...

The encoder you can use in vfw based encoding tools like VirtualDub !!!


Originally posted by fultro

...what the diff is between the VFW sheet and the Configuration sheet

With the ffvfw config you can setup the encoder...

With the ffdshow config you can setup the decoder !!!


Originally posted by fultro

...and what the Encode Tab does

Thats the ffvfw config...

Think the options are pretty much self explaining, no !?!


Bye

[Tommy Carrot]

You can use the encoder part of ffdshow like any other codec, for example in virtualdub, go to the video menu/compression option. From the opening list select "ffdshow video codec". FFdshow contains many codecs, you can choose from them in the "encoder" pull-down menu on the upper left corner. After that you can configure the codec settings. The most important ones are on the "Generic" and "motion estimation" tabs.

There are many options, which can be confusing, but most of them are self-explanatory, and if you don't know what does an option do, just leave it alone.

[fultro]

going backwards here - knowing that I will eventually go forward with your help--I uninstalled ffdshow which had originally been installed with Gordian Knot - I then installed the latest version of ffdshow.
Now VirtualDubMod (and NanDub) will not open any .AVIs complaining that it cannot locate decompressor for 'dvsd' format and needs a VFW codec for decompression.
I am not able to get to the video/compression option in VDub.
And I have enabled everything in the ffdshow codecs tab to use libavcodec which did not help.
GSpot indicates that everthing is rendering properly, that the 4cc is DVSD or dvc (I don't fully understand 4cc terminology) and that the driver is qdv.dll
WMP and Vegas both play these files but VirtualDub is dead for avi now - which I take it to mean that some how access to VFW is screwed up
Also what is the dif between the VFW sheet and the Configuration sheet of ffdshow?

fultro

[Shinigami-Sama]

Originally posted by Soulhunter
Actually the ffdshow installer contains 3 things...
1.) blah
2.) blah
and
3.) ffvfw video encoder
Encoder for various video formats + countless pre-processing filters...
[picutre removed for space]
Bye
wow
sorry
I never saw that
I wonder ho I missed it..:confused: :confused: :confused:

[marcellus]

Also what is the dif between the VFW sheet and the Configuration sheet of ffdshow?
VFW (video for windows) and dshow (DirectShow) are two diferent technologies (VFW being older) that windows use to manipulate video information. So a codec is built and seen by windows aplications either as a VFW codec or a directshow one. Some encoding or decoding applications use/see only VFW codecs (for example VDub) or only directshow, so for a larger compatibility ffdshow (which can act as a VFW and a dshow codec) can be configured diferently on these 2 branches to suit everybody needs.

[fultro]

thank you for your clear explanation of this
please bear with me on this as I think you can help me get to the heart of the matter here.....After installing the Gordian Knot rip pack and codec pack with ffdshow I am no longer able to open AVIs in Virtual Dub and - it says that it needs a vfw codec which I now understand more from your explanation - these files did open before ffdshow installation - and even after uninstalling ffdshow I still couldn't use VDub.
So before I go changing too much stuff in ffdshow I want to be sure what I am doing
I have tried changing the merit in the Configuration sheet to Do Not Use, and I have tried disabling the libavcodec for the codec that GSpot says the file needs to play - GSpot says that it is using a DV Video Recorder , which I understand now is a Direct Show decoder - (Can I assume that in the Decoder tab if "disabled" is used with a specific codec rather than the "libavcodec" - that that doesn't mean that the file will no longer play but only that the libavcodec is not being used - that the file will use whatever other codec is on the system that can play it...)

So in a nutshell- I really need Virtual Dub to work - any ideas what I need to dd to get it to use a VFW codec?
Many thanks fultro

[marcellus]

If you want ffdshow decode a kind of file you have to tell it to use for that fourcc a decoder (libavcodec or other from dropdown list).

If you want ffdshow to ignore that kind of file (or fourcc) you choose "disabled". That way ffdshow will let any other valid decoder present in your system to decode that file.

If you set "disabled" and your file doesn't play (like I assume it used to) then your other codec (that used to play your files) is somehow screwed, I think. Did you try to set DV decoding to libavcodec in VFW too (not only in dshow)? At least that way you can (in theory) use libavcodec to decode your files instead your previous decoder.

I never used Gordian Knot or DV files so my help here is limited, maybe somebody else can help you more.

But why are you relating your troubles to ffdshow since I guess ffdshow wasn't the only codec installed with that rip pack?

Anyway, Good Luck!

[fultro]

actually- I found the answer to getting VDub working again with a comment by Celtic_d in the Afterdawn forums at the bottom of the page

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=622502#post622502

--it has to do with a registry edit - so I would think this could be considered a programming error on the part of ffdshow
Anyway , if my effort to solve the problem has a silver lining it is that I at least have gotten to know more about ffdshow, my system and how codecs are handled - especially thanks to the help of responsive people on these forums such as yourself

[marcellus]

Your link points to this very thread...
But, anyway, I assume you are talking about an old ffdshow issue that made it not show in VFW codecs dialogs (such ad VDubs's one). But this thing was solved some time ago, so I assume you don't really have the latest ffdshow version. Did you try here (http://ffdshow.sourceforge.net/tikiwiki/tiki-index.php?page=Getting+ffdshow) ?

[fultro]

woopps - wrong url
here it is
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/1/166257#875856
yes I have the latest and greatest

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/1/166257#875856 (http://)