XCD: automatic media detection and licensing

[Koepi]

Hm, a file with a list is easy top do:

just use fstream (ifstream / ofstream) to create/read the file, don't open it binary (it defaults to text) and then just used the built-in readline /writeline functions to paste the strings.
You could add a+ in front of a string to indicate it's a new directory.

or think about something clever like:

m2cdmfile 0.1
+this_is_one_dir
any_file_i_want.suffix
+this_is_two_dir
any_file_i_want.suffix
++this_is_two_and_one_dir
any_file_i_want.suffix
+++this_is_below_the_last_as_well_dir
any_file_i_want.suffix
+this_is_three_dir
any_file_i_want.suffix

so the numbber of + shows the directory-level.

Just a suggestion, don't know if it is this what you meant.

Regards,
Koepi

[Chibi Jasmin]

Originally posted by DeXT
@Chibi: thanks for your nice tests with SVCD. ;)

Thanx for helping in making this happen...I personally are only interested in the riff cdxa parser for svcds, because I prefer burning data-cds to be able to recover the full stream without flaws...but it all still is a great project, of course...

BTW: I guess, the SVCDs which did not work without remuxing (with bbmpeg) have been muxed with TMPGEnc at first...at least, I never got an SVCD I muxed with TMPGEnc seekable under DShow (PowerDVD etc. work), not even from hd.

[Koepi]

@chibi jasmin:
My test-SVCD is encoded using tmpgenc and works flawless. I wouldn't blame it on the program...
But I didn't take the SVCD project settings but read the SVCD specs some times and fiddled around with the settings myself, this might be the difference.

Regards,
Koepi

[avih]

i did a 35 mins svcd on a single cd, using tmpgenc, and burned with nero.
seeks and plays fine with test6 of the filter.

what filters do u use when playing svcd?
can u try to use graphedit and use the mpeg2 splitter and the fraunhofer audio and video filters (both from freedvd)? let us know your result.

cheers
avi

[Sygma21]

Hi folks,

Just burned 790MB OGM/Xvid with 2x64kbps OGG in mode 2 and 2 Vobsub files in mode 1 .Works fine with WMP 6.4 and ZoomPlayer. Vobsub subtitled displayed perfectly

m2c 1.3 -l -a and riff test 6

Regards

[DeXT]

@Koepi: yes this is more or less what I mean, simple & effective ways of entering new subdirectories either through the command line or an external list file.

The problem with list files is that they are more suitable for automated tools such as the GUI, where it should be generated automatically, since it's a pain if every user has to manually edit a list file everytime he is going to burn a XCD.

Your idea seems simple & smart, I think it's a good model for a list file. I will try to implement it this way, although I need to identify a Form2 file someway (perhaps adding "@" at the line start?).

About the command line I've received a modified build from a guy called Martin which adds subdirectories through the following syntax:

-f readme.txt pics\photo.jpg util\player.exe player.ini

This would take all files from the current dir (i.e. the mode2cdmaker dir) and put readme in root, photo.jpg in \pics and player.* in \util on the CD. The big disadvantage with this method is that it does not allow entering absolute paths (because any path before a file name is considered to be a subdir in the CD) and thus requires every input file being in the current directory. This also makes it unsuitable for a GUI usage. So I've suggested the following method:

-f readme.txt pics\ photo.jpg util\ player.exe player.ini

I.e. subdirs are entered just like any file but ending with a dir slash (pkzip also used the same method). This allows entering absolute paths for input filenames. I did not put the backslash at the beggining because this can be used to enter an absolute path in an input filename, too (i.e. \movie.avi means movie.avi in the root directory of the current drive).

The -d option won't be removed to maintain backward compatibility. This is just a simpler method of entering subdirs.

Martin's build also adds wildcard support, which is nice. I will add this to the next release, too.

Please tell me what do you think. And of course any other suggestion is welcomed. I just want to make it as user friendly as possible.

[Koepi]

I think your suggestions are good.


For the structure-file I still think we should use signs which are forbidden for normal filesystem names, e.g. + and @ seem to be allowed in windows.

So signs like ' indicating mode2 file, ° indicating a directory...

Regards,
Koepi

[arty_sin]

Originally posted by DeXT

@arty_sin: well seems there are some problems with the new install script in Win9x systems, probably due to REGSVR32.EXE not being in the default PATH (weird?). I guess I'll have to make separate install scripts for 9x ad NT class OSes :(

Please confirm me if changing the following lines from the install.bat script solves the problem (unregister it first just to be sure):

copy /y xcdsrc.ax %WINDIR%\SYSTEM32\xcdsrc.ax
regsvr32 %WINDIR%\SYSTEM32\xcdsrc.ax

for

copy /y xcdsrc.ax %WINDIR%\SYSTEM\xcdsrc.ax
%WINDIR%\SYSTEM\regsvr32.exe %WINDIR%\SYSTEM\xcdsrc.ax

Thanks for the note about the "RAW" switch in CDR-WIN, I don't need it with my burner, but I'll recommend to turn it on when burning in the readme.
[/B]

Thanks for getting back. You're right, I'm running Win98. I modified your .bat file modification to: -

copy /y xcdsrc.ax %WINDIR%\SYSTEM32\xcdsrc.ax
c:\windows\system\regsvr32 %WINDIR%\SYSTEM32\xcdsrc.ax

I did this because the location of the regsvr32 file is not on the path in my machine.

Still no joy. So then I did a search for regsvr32; and guess what; I had another one (as it happens in C:\Program Files\Mystik Media\AudioEdit Deluxe\BACKUP\regsvr32.exe). When I put THIS path in your bat file all worked fine. This could explain some other difficulties I've had registering filters. At some point I had obviously installed audio edit deluxe from Mystik media and the ****ing thing replaced my regsvr32 file. Now I'd already uninstalled it but the uninstall didn't roll back to the backup.

So then I checked file versions. The one that works is 5.00.1586.1, the one that DOES NOT work is 5.1.2600.0 (XPClient.010817-1148). Naughty naughty Mystik Media. I wrote to them at info@mystikmedia.com though I doubt it'll do anything.

But the point is, it's worth checking the version of the regsvr32.exe file...

[Chibi Jasmin]

Originally posted by Koepi
@chibi jasmin:
My test-SVCD is encoded using tmpgenc and works flawless. I wouldn't blame it on the program...
But I didn't take the SVCD project settings but read the SVCD specs some times and fiddled around with the settings myself, this might be the difference.

Regards,
Koepi

I am not too much into encoding SVCDs... I meant simply muxing with TMPGEnc versus BBMPEG...

[DeXT]

Hi again. I have just uploaded to my web a new filter release (test6b) which only adds new install scripts which are compatible with Win9x/Me (tested on Win98).

Hope this time everything works fine. Please test it and tell me if it works as expected.

http://webs.ono.com/de_xt

[kxy]

DeXT,

Is the wild card support in this version?

[DeXT]

Well wildcards are being added to the mode2cdmaker tool, and not the filter as you can figure out :) This is just a filter release.

[kxy]

Doh!

Sorry, just get excited for a sec. :P

[ccw23a]

Originally posted by DeXT
Hi again. I have just uploaded to my web a new filter release (test6b) which only adds new install scripts which are compatible with Win9x/Me (tested on Win98).

http://webs.ono.com/de_xt

hi, this version is able to register without copying regsvr32.exe
however, i still face with problem with DS filter. here is my test:

1. setup new win98se partition, original (dx7), test mode2 mp3, sync problem.
2. installed riff6/6b filter, mode 2 mp3 runs perfect!
3. installed dx8/8.1, sync problem coming back!
4. reinstalled riff6/6b filter, still sync problem.
5. any suggestion? this is not my main concern anyway since XCD may not be compatible with current format + i'm going to update to winxp soon!

i only tested mp3 coz they are smaller file size and i know if it work, then the rest will work.

andy.

[avih]

filters 6 and 6b are the same (and so is theoretically test 5 is you don't use vcd or svcd). the only change is the install script and some media detection. but if it installs ok and plays ok, then versions 5-6b are all the same.

regarding the skippy playback: it's probably due to lack of bufferring, but i didn't encounter such problem myself with mp3/ogg streams. can u pls give us some more info? like: 1. do u play from cd or daemon drive, 2: size of the clip. 3. detailed description of the problem (as much as u can). 4. use graphedit, and let us know what filters are used (insert filter -> dshow->RIFF/CDXA source. then select your media file, and then right click on the output pin and select 'render').

avi

[DeXT]

I understand that skippy playback == our filter is not being used. This is what happens when you try to play a MP3 written in Form2 using DShow without having the CDXA filter installed.

I did my own tests under Win98 and found the following behaviour (all within the expected):

- played MP3 without our filter -- skippy
- installed test6b filter -- nice
- installed DX8.1 -- playback skippy again
- reinstalled filter -- nice again

DX8 setup restores the MS VCD Source key thus uninstalling our filter so the skippy playback is back, as expected. Reinstalling the filter puts our key instead so it returns to normal playback.

However, there is a situation where this does not happens and that is if you choose to use *.MP3 extension for Form2 files (instead of DAT). Since this extension is registered in the system with the default file source filter, our filter is not being chosen so the playback remains skippy. Please confirm if that was the case or not.

Hope this helps.

[Koepi]

I think it would be the best and easiest solution to not support custom extensions.

Just my oppinion.

Regards,
Koepi

[DeXT]

Yes surely this would solve the problem, but I originally added this option because I wanted the tool to be usable with any custom format (MCD and XCD are two examples) which may or may not use the DAT extension for Form2 content. I know the situation has changed since then, XCD has chosen DAT as the default extension and MCD will probably merge with the former, but in any case I feel that limiting the tool may negatively affect its usability in future.

So currently I see putting the warning notice in the readme the best choice. People not following the suggestions in the readme will act at their own risk.

On the other side, I received a really nice mode2cdmaker GUI from ubik29, I'll put it on my homepage later today but I'm attaching it here too for your testing pleasure. I also received two NSIS installer/uninstaller scripts for the CDXA filter, one of them from this same guy and the other from ffortanet, I've sent them to avih so he can test and publish them.

Thanks to all the nice contributors to this project.

[Emp3r0r]

this GUI is much better IMO. It is exactly how I was about to program it. :D

[ccw23a]

thank a lot to avih and DeXT, win98se will now runs smoothly on mode2cd under dx8.1 only if in appropriate extension "DAT". my mistake b4 is usig mp3 extension. i have learnt my leason. sorry and thanks to all that help.

[avih]

all the credit should go to dext, as he's responsible for all the registry and installation scripts ;)

cheers

[Oletros]

About the GUI, it doesn't makes the image, it launches de dos window and says Image created but actually it doesn't make nothing.
I don't know if could it be because the name of the moviw has spaces, but I deleted them and nothing happens.

any idea?

Thanks

[DeXT]

Yes there is a bug in the way ubik29's GUI generates the command line, it should enclose any path or file name containing spaces between quotes, but it doesn't do so. This is needed for both the input files and the output image name/path.

As an example the GUI generates the following command line:

mode2cdmaker -m c:\my movies\movie file.avi -o d:\output image\image

While it should do the following:

mode2cdmaker -m "c:\my movies\movie file.avi" -o "d:\output image\image"

So to make it to work you have to add files that do not contain spaces neither in the name or the directory where they lay, and you have to click on the "..." button near "Save image to" to select an output image path/name without spaces, too. Once you do this it will work like a charm.

I'll have to report this to ubik29 so he can fix this small bug.

[Oletros]

Thanks for the answer DeXT, I tryed and everything worked fine.

[kxy]

Another suggestion for ubik29 for his gui, make view command copy and pastable.

[arty_sin]

Just one other thought. I normally prefer to use DivX Player 2.0 alpha to play my
DivX avis. As far as I can tell this doesn't use the DirectShow filters, but includes
the necessary decoders/filters in its' own code. Thus it cannot use the RIFF/CDXA
filters presented on this page. This is a pity because, at least on my system it
gives a better picture. This is particularly true in low light scenes, and is most
easily seen in the credits where bitrates are lower too. WMP, Sasami and BSPlayer
all show the same artefacts, and all seem to use DirectShow. What I see is
'contour lines' around the changes in shade, or 'paint runs' down from the titles,
and I don't get these effects with DivX Player 2.0 alpha. I am using a 1.33 gig
Athlon and NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS with 32 meg of ram. The system has nearly a gig
of RAM.

Any chance of a patch to the DivX Player :) Any ideas why it seems to perform better :)

[DeXT]

Ubik29 did a quick fix and sent to me a new GUI version which solves the paths-containing-spaces bug, I uploaded it to my page but for some stupid reason my ISP do not want to update its cache from several days ago. I found that writing the full adress including the html file gives the actual page so if you want to view the updated page please go to the following link:

http://webs.ono.com/de_xt/index.html

I also set up a mirror in Geocities since I'm tired of all these problems with my ISP, the page above contains a single frame pointing to the Geocities mirror. Hope this solves the problems once for all.

BTW I've attached the new GUI here too in case you have any troubles downloading it. Hope you like it.

@arty_sin: well unfortunately there's nothing we can do about this, only DirectShow-aware tools are compatible with the format right now and if these guys have chosen not to use DS (I guess they have a really good reason to do it this way) then this player cannot be used for XCD, sorry. Patching it would be too complicated and not worth the pain I'm afraid.

[jurij]

HEy you all can you keep us updated to the status of mode2cdbackup tool or whatever the program is called?
how much is left to release it?
Great, and thanx you all!

[DeXT]

Well the new features which will be ready for the next release are: subdir support for Form2 files (this needed a lot of changes), keep original Form2 file extension in the file name (like in Nah's GUI) and wildcards support. I've added/deleted some stuff while doing tests and before releasing I would like to re-add the alternate way of adding subdirectories (i.e. ending with a slash).

The last days I was not able to do a lot of work on the tool because I wanted to update my old project (cdirip/cdi2nero) to support DJ4 images, since I received some requests about it. But yesterday I finished it so today I've been working on this, did some tests, fixed bugs etc. I want to release a rock-solid tool because CD imaging is a major task and you don't want your files to be corrupted or somewhat when burning to the CD, right? This is why I only release fully tested code and not daily builds. This also gives some time to the GUI authors to keep in sync with the current version.

BTW I found out something, I was trying the wildcard stuff done by Martin (which was compiled using MSVC++) and it behaved strangely... then I found out it was due to the MinGW/GCC runtime which does all the wildcard expansion for me... so I just had to add a small piece of code to detect and discard directories, and it's working out of the box! So it's a pity I finally won't use Martin's code, but with GCC it's simply not needed (in fact I cannot use it unless I disable the wildcard expansion and I don't know how to do it).

[TheXung]

but what about the status of the backup tool? Right now it seems that XCD isn't useful for making any permanent burns because there isn't a way to backup the headers. The impression on this thread is that the tool is nearly finished for at least the ogg format, but it has been a couple weeks since we have heard anything. And if it is a matter of testing for compatibility, then releasing it would allow for the whole of the internet to be the testing playground.

If a status update is not possible, then is it at least possible to tell us how much the space the secure backup would take? whether it would be a fixed size or if it has to be a percentage of the filesize or number of frames? Basically I've found myself delaying dozens of rips because I don't know how much space afterwards I will have to work with.

[nah]

Hi,

Cool, the new GUI is simple and quick. Mine is little complex ;)
Thanks DeXT to add the form2 file extension :)
And as TheXung said, hope that the header backup doesn't take too much space. I've bought new HDD to store my 800Mb movies :p
And,yeah, give these coders time to do the job ...

[Koepi]

Avih and DeXT should have my latest backupcreator version.
It works for ogg and shouldn't be problematic with future spec versions since the idea was to store the first 2kb or so of any stream in a backup header - from an ogg we store the first 64kb...

But it's not good to release this as ogg-only since this would be not nice to all the MCF people out there. And they made MCF backup really hard to understand - i still don't know how their code works, it's done somewhat recursive and made for another bakup system...

I still need to know what to backup from an avi since I didn't find too much useful info... nothing about indexes at the end of the file and so on, only some header stuff which is within the first few hundreds bytes (up to a few kbyte)...

Regards,
Koepi

[avih]

i have koepi's latest backup creator. however i'm too busy with rl problems atm. i don't forget xcd. and it WILL make progress. it's a promise. i'm doing my best to get back working on it again asap.

cheers
avi.

[ChristianHJW]

Originally posted by Koepi
But it's not good to release this as ogg-only since this would be not nice to all the MCF people out there. And they made MCF backup really hard to understand - i still don't know how their code works, it's done somewhat recursive and made for another bakup system...

koepi, thank you very much for your will to help MCF here, but i dont think you can wait with releasing your tool until MCF is ready. We just started a very interesting discussion with the people from mplayer dev team about a cooperation.

These guys are extremely skilled ( they reverse engineered Tobias' ogm fornat to be able to play it on Linux ) and we are getting a lot of precious input from them on MCF and how to make sure its best x-platform compatible ( there is a 1st alpha of mplayer running on MacOS ;) ), so it may take a little while longer until MCF hits the daylight.

Thanks again for your offer to wait with XCD release for Ogg, but i assume you just give it to the community as soon as you feel its ready for that. MCF will be used anyways if its better than other formats, and we are convinced it will be the best A/V format in the end.

BTW : mplayer people set up a new mailing list for mcf cooperation :

mcf-mplayer-coop@mplayerhq.hu

If you'd like to subscribe goto : http://mplayerhq.hu/mailman/listinfo/mcf-mplayer-coop

So, if we succeed in convincing the guys MCF is good, at least we have the Linux users on our side we hope :D !

[TheXung]

Ahh, so it only takes 64kb more space. Thanks a bunch.

[raistlin2k]

BTW, anybody knows something about tobias himself?

Because besides the XCD, OGM has a little problem, it can't use post-gain asserted by besweet or any other tool.

Does someone know if TObias will add this, and when?

Or is it possible for the guys of mplayer to do this for windows user and linux users as well?

Raist

[jurij]

@koepi:
quote "But it's not good to release this as ogg-only since this would be not nice to all the MCF people out there"

I believe that a beta is a beta so why do we all have to wait for the mcf part to be complete while many of us are ogg and do not care for the moment about mcf?
I don't think that it would be an offence for the mdf people, we wouldn't care if you could have released the mdf beta first!
And why you don't care for the avi people also then?
I just don't get the point why if the ogg part is complete to come out as ogg-beta! it is not such a big deal, we won't hurt mcf people feelings i think.

Don't you all agree with me???
Please everyone, reply :))

[kxy]

I am with ChristianHJW and jurij on this. Please give it to the community as soon as you feel its ready, and have another release when mcf is ready.

[avih]

releasing the backup creator without the filter that can read the backups (and the testing that everything's working as expected and no further modifications has to be made to the backup creator/filter) is not a wise decision imo. and since i was the one that wrote the core/parser filter code, and right now it's a bit hard for me to find the time to get back to it again, i'm the one that's causing the delay. sorry. as i said, i'm doing my best to get back working on the filter/core asap.

thanx for your understanding
avi

[kxy]

avih,

I jumped with the mob without looking at the whole situation. I apologize. Please take your time to work on the filter. You, Dext and Koepi have already done an amazing job. :)

[The People's Elbow]

maybe this issue isn't new to you xcd developers, but it is making me headaches right now and it's pretty late for me :)
I'm using the actual riff-cdxa-filter-test6b and stored my .ogm file in mode2 form2 on a nice 80mins cd-r using mode2cdmakergui10.
If I choose .ogm as file extension, i can't play back the file(s)
If I use DAT instead everything works... any help regarding this? :)
THX anyway, even if this question has been answered already and I'm too tired now and have to take some sleep, no time for forum searches :o

greetz, Elbow!

[avih]

you are right. it has been answered. the extension selection is NOT for xcd usage. for 800M (and in the future for xcd) the extension MUST be .dat. simply because the file on the CD is NOT an ogm file, it's different, and has to be stripped first. if you burn with ogm extension, the test6 filter is NOT used, and instead ogg dshow filter is used. but it CAN'T strip the file. so it doesn't play.

buttom line: for mode2 files: ONLY .DAT extension is supported. period. if you choose to use other extension, don't expect it to work. it might work, but we can't promise that. stick to .dat.

avi

[The People's Elbow]

THX for the quick reply and sorry for asking lame old questions ;)
... I'm like a noob in this thread :D

greetz, Elbow!

[DeXT]

I start thinking seriously in removing this feature from next version as Koepi suggested, because seems everyone is using it the wrong way and even Doom9 made this mistake in his updated guide (I already sent him a fixed guide).

This will surely limit the program's scope, but I can re-enable it once the filter or some app supports it in future (very unlikely though). This is not my usual line since I like letting everyone do whatever they want, but this is giving more headaches than advantages I think.

You can put your oppinion here of course, before I release the next version.

[Kyo]

Kill the *.* Bring us the .Dat :D

Just my $$2c

[kxy]

Yes, we can call the rename of the extension an "abuse". I think one of the main reasons that some users and release groups do that is because windows has very friendly support towards *.avi. Play all, preview, autoplay, auto add all the files to the play list, vobsub etc. A dirty and quick hack is change those extension to avi, then everything works fine.

For example a couple post back, People's Elbow asked, "If I choose .ogm as file extension, I can't play back the file(s)". I think that might be the cause of the play list implementation in the Wimp. Try it out yourself if you have WinXP and WiMP 8, once your have wimp opened, try to drag some files with extension dat or ogm into it. It won't work. But dragging avi files into WiMP 8 play list works fine. Well this shouldn't be a problem for most of the people who hangs out in doom9. But we are just a small scale, for a lot general users out there it is a nightmare! Shift+click will set the player to recognize the file extension but it won't have the above mentioned features.

In conclusion, the possible work around; well at least I think it might be the best is: looking for a way to make a reg filter for dat and ogm that is equally "friendly" as *.avi.

[avih]

your point is indeed valid. however the mode2 file is NOT ogm or avi or mp3 etc. it HAS to be modified (=stripped) to get the original file. therefore a 'familiar' extension will be decieving.

if you have good suggestion regarding this issue, you're welcome to post them here.

cheers
avi.

[kxy]

Yes, it is confusing. And 'Familiar' extension is deceiving! Right now this quick and dirty way is quite popular, simply it is very easy and "user" friendly. Where most the users out there like Joe blow simply don't care what format their files are in or how they are being made, as long as it works. So an image file that is made with mode2cdmaker with "fake" extension namely avi is supported by all the windows features.

I am trying to understand why a lot of people out there would do such a thing. And to see how easy it is, I did a quick and dirty test, and hey, it works! I popped the cd that I just made with mode2cdmaker with avi extensions. The auto play feature came right up, and I clicked on play. The WimP 8 automatically loads up all the files in the cd, including movie files in the sub-folders. (//OT WOW, Anime people can watch all their episodes within one click!) Easy, huh?

Well I am not sure how to implement this. Did the registry has some kind of special way of treating the avi extension where other extension s does not? Or does this involves direct show implementation? Will look into it....

[Kyo]

I know that this seem like a stupid questions/answers around a simple problem but i don´t like that this end in a similar problem
like the !Stop using .OGM¡.

Another solution:
Change the last letter for a BIG X (I go with avih, it's not an avi not a mp3 not a ogg) like mpX ogX :)
The problem of couse the more archives more extension more crap in the register but may be a solution....


/Crap English, I know :o /

[avih]

that is a good suggestion but poses a problem.

but 1st a small explanation. when xcd is working (remember this mode2 cd usage is only a proof of concept, and still not ment for real archiving), the original file name WILL be there, inside the header file. i.e. let's say the media file is called 'TheMatrix.avi', and that after making an XCD image, it will be converted to <name>.dat (the form 2 mode 2 media file), and <name>.xch (for 'XCD header') which is the header and the backup sections for 'TheMatrix.avi', then the xch file DOES contain inside it the original file name of 'TheMatrix.avi'.

it's just that the method for storing files don't have it as the file name. similar to svcd or vcd where the filenames are hardcoded, but with the advantage that xcd DOES hold the original name as well, and svcd doesn't.

we decided on this scheme since it's easier for stand alone players to follow, and makes it more compliant with iso 9660 standard (8.3 naming convention).

on top of that, what will happen if tomorow there's a new formal called abc? i.e. 'TheMatrix.abc' . what will we call the mode2 file then? we need a convention for xcd. remember xcd is a storage system. it does remember the original file name, but it put it inside one of the files, and not as the actual file name.

if you want to read the specifications of xcd, to have a better understanding, please go to http://xcd.sf.net

suggestions are still welcome of course ;)

cheers
avi.