New Matroska Packs released

[Nibor]

Finally the new Matroska Packs are released!
They install all the filters which are useful for playback of Matroska files... :)

The new packs completely replace "Matroska Playback Pack" and "Matroska MP4 Pack" which are outdated.
These new packs will be updated regularly.

For now you can get them from this link, but they will be added to the Matroska Download page:
http://packs.matroska.org

There are 3 packs which can be combined with each other.
This means you can install two packs in the same directory (for example 'Matroska Pack') and there's one uninstaller for both.

So, let's see which components the packs exactly contain:
(bold components are pack-specific, non-bold are standard and in every pack)

Matroska Pack MPEG4 v1.0.0:
- MatroskaSplitter v1.0.1.9
- MatroskaMuxer v1.0.0.7
- VSFilter v2.30
- MMSwitch v0.99 (modified Matroska Edition)
- CoreAAC v1.0b8
- CoreVorbis v1.0b5
- MatrixMixer v0.30b
- ffdshow alpha 2003-05-23

Matroska Pack RealMedia v1.0.0:
- MatroskaSplitter v1.0.1.9
- MatroskaMuxer v1.0.0.7
- VSFilter v2.30
- MMSwitch v0.99 (modified Matroska Edition)
- CoreVorbis v1.0b5
- MatrixMixer v0.30b
- RealMediaSplitter v1.0.0.7

Matroska Pack Full v1.0.0:
- MatroskaSplitter v1.0.1.9
- MatroskaMuxer v1.0.0.7
- VSFilter v2.30
- MMSwitch v0.99 (modified Matroska Edition)
- CoreAAC v1.0b8
- CoreVorbis v1.0b5
- AC3Filter 0.70b
- MatrixMixer v0.30b
- ffdshow alpha 2003-05-23
- RealMediaSplitter v1.0.0.7


If you have any suggestions, comments or wishes just let me know and we'll see :)

Cheers!
.:: Nibor ::.

[ssjkakaroto]

thx a lot for these packs Nibor :)
would it be possible for you to put a txt file on your page with links for the filters individually?

tia

[Sirber]

Hi

Could you add MPC and a MP3 filter? Thx!!! :D

[Tuning]

Can this pack include all components of Matroska prop 2.3?

Thanks.

[Atamido]

Everyone should be aware that AC3Filter 0.70b can have some issues with AC3 SPDIF passthrough. If you install it and AC3 is no longer passed through to your receiver, then just downgrade to 0.68b.

[cweb]

I've been using Matroska since the beginning.
With this latest pack, I don't have ogg vorbis sound somehow...
What could be the problem?
Do I need to reboot after installation? (I haven't tried this)

[Atamido]

I don't have any problems with it. Check in the properties of the filter to make sure the latest filter was properly registered. If it is the latest version, try this Vorbis 5.1 Audio Test (http://www.jkfanclub.com:81/vorbis5.1-small.mka)(83KB). I had to check "16 bits decoding" in the filter properties to hear all of the channels, but it works fine for me.

[bond]

great, i already updated the FAQ :)

[Hiro2k]

Why are you using such an old build of ffdshow alpha? In the Xvid forum they have a large thread about ffdshow development. Here's the thread http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48511
The newer versions since then have improved alot of playback bugs concerning Xvid.

The newest version of FFdshow is found on the 19 page of that thread.

[Assault]

@ Hiro2k

I think in the newer ffdshow builds the overlay mixer doesn't work properly. You need the overlay mixer for anamorphic encodes. Otherwise ffdshow won't resize your video automatically during playback.

Assault

[Nibor]

Originally posted by ssjkakaroto
would it be possible for you to put a txt file on your page with links for the filters individually?
What do you mean, something like this?
"CoreVorbis: http://corevorbis.corecodec.org"

Originally posted by Sirber
Could you add MPC and a MP3 filter?
MPC = Media Player Classic or MPC = MusePack? :)
As for the MP3 filter, is it really needed? I mean isn't there one included in windows already?

Originally posted by Tuning
Can this pack include all components of Matroska prop 2.3?
Hmmm, you know, the packs contain components which are all DirectShow Filters for playback of Matroska Files and MatroskaProp isn't!
Also it has already its own installer.
What do others think about it?

Originally posted by bond
great, i already updated the FAQ
Thank you :D

Originally posted by Hiro2k
Why are you using such an old build of ffdshow alpha? ...
Yes, I know that there are newer builds.
But they're not on the SourceForge page for reasons, Assault mentioned one!
A new version will be included as soon as it's 'stable' again...


Thanks for your feedback guys!
.:: Nibor ::.

[Droppo]

Originally posted by cweb
I've been using Matroska since the beginning.
With this latest pack, I don't have ogg vorbis sound somehow...
What could be the problem?

I have the same problem... I used" OggDS0995" and it worked, now I installed the one included in the pack and I don't have sound...

can you explain to me this?

Thnxs

Droppo.-

[Atamido]

Originally posted by Droppo
I have the same problem... I used" OggDS0995" and it worked, now I installed the one included in the pack and I don't have sound...
Did you try playing to Vorbis file linked above?

[Sirber]

Originally posted by Nibor
MPC = Media Player Classic or MPC = MusePack? :)
As for the MP3 filter, is it really needed? I mean isn't there one included in windows already?MPC = Media Player Classic, and about MP3, you might be right :)

[K-Dash]

Nice, keep it up! :D

[[Toff]]

About vorbis playback, can you guys (Droppo, cweb) give more details.
Here's the things you can try:
Try to unregister CoreVorbis to see if playback works with the OggDS decoder : regsvr32 /u CoreVorbis.ax
Re-register CoreVorbis using : regsvr32 CoreVorbis.ax
Use 16bits decoding : Check the checkbox in the propertie page.

You can also provide a sample to see if others have problems with this particular file.

[Nibor]

@Sirber

I tested it and it seems that at least WinXP includes a MP3 DSF!
(No, I didn't set up a fresh WinXP just to check that ;), had already installed it on an older PC...)

Adding Media Player Classic to the pack? Hmm, I don't think that I will do this..
Both versions would have to be included and that makes the pack at least 1 MB bigger!
Another point is that the components can be used on every DirectShow player. MPC has many of the components built in, which then would make the filters obsolete in this case... Do you know what I mean?
(It's not that I don't like MPC, I love it, it's my favourite player! (thanks to Gabest :D))

[ssjkakaroto]

Originally posted by Nibor
[B]What do you mean, something like this?
"CoreVorbis: http://corevorbis.corecodec.org" yes exactly :)

[Sirber]

@Nibor

VSFilter makes producer to fail to encode AVI files. I had very hard time with it (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65300).

[edit]

The only thing to change to get it ok is to remove "overlay mixer" by default. vsfilter is OK and MMS also.

[ermannob]

Hi.
I just landed on Matroska world, and I'm very pleased about big possibilities of this container (I'm testing it with XviD and HE-ACC, 6ch on a single cd rip!).

Matroska packs are very good and complete, but I think they are too complete for playback only. :)

I would like to suggest to release a lighter edition of packs, to be put on cd with movie. In particular I'd remove ffdshow (if the movie is compressed with XviD, Xvid-dec.exe is enough, and it is only 150KB), VSfilter (I don't use subtitles in movies), MatroskaMuxer (is it necessary for playback?).

This is only my suggestion, and it's based on my wishes. I understand that not everybody could share my opinion.

What do you think?

-ermanno

[Sirber]

What's great with ffdshow is that it supports very well multiple codecs and filtering. If you want a custom pack, you can always build one based on your needs :)

[cweb]

Originally posted by Droppo
I have the same problem... I used" OggDS0995" and it worked, now I installed the one included in the pack and I don't have sound...

can you explain to me this?

Thnxs

Droppo.-

I don't use that one - I use CoreVorbis for vorbis audio in mkv files...

[Nibor]

@ssjkakaroto
Ok, your wish is my command :D. It's almost ready!

@Sirber
So it's only possible to use Producer when 'use overlay mixer' is disabled? Hmm, that's not good.
I've enabled it because ffdshow does the automatical resize of anamorphic encodes with this switch :/
Maybe I'll remove this in the next packs, but I'm not sure about this yet!
Wait, I could add this option to the 'ffdshow - enabled codecs' in the installer. Yes, that will do :).. Ok?

@ermannob
Hello and welcome to the Matroska experience :p
I also thought about creating a 'Lite' pack.
But which components should be included that's the big question...
For the audio filters and ffdshow installers already exist, so they could be put on CD separately if needed...
So the 'lite' pack could probably contain:
- MatroskaSplitter
- VSFilter
- MMSwitch
That would result in an installer size of 1.1 MB which is acceptable to put on CD...

@cweb
So you used CoreVorbis already before you installed the pack and it worked?
Was it the same version as in the pack or an older one?
Did you try to uninstall the pack and install it again?
Reboot shouldn't be necessary, but who knows!

[Sirber]

Originally posted by Nibor @Sirber
So it's only possible to use Producer when 'use overlay mixer' is disabled? Hmm, that's not good.
I've enabled it because ffdshow does the automatical resize of anamorphic encodes with this switch :/
Maybe I'll remove this in the next packs, but I'm not sure about this yet!
Wait, I could add this option to the 'ffdshow - enabled codecs' in the installer. Yes, that will do :).. Ok?[/B]Yes, could be cool :) Enablerd or disabled by default?

[Nibor]

Originally posted by Sirber
Yes, could be cool :) Enablerd or disabled by default?
Enabled, with comment like 'If you use Producer, turn this option off'!
Or I could detect if Producer is installed and set the default according wether it is or not!
Could you tell me a registry key from which I could detect that?
The uninstall key would be ok, you can find it in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\<Name of Producer>

[Sirber]

on my comp I have at least 4 producer installation :) Let it enabled by default with a warning. It suits me at 100% :D

[Nibor]

@Sirber
Done (in the next versions). Thanks for pointing that out Sirber!

[ermannob]

Originally posted by Sirber
What's great with ffdshow is that it supports very well multiple codecs and filtering. If you want a custom pack, you can always build one based on your needs :)

It's not a bad idea, I started to practice with NSIS. (hey, how do you register the filters with the script editor? do you use batch file? thanx!:) )

[Nibor]

@ermannob

No, there's a command called 'RegDLL' and the opposite 'UnRegDLL'..
I can recommend the NSIS Documentation (http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Docs/). Also have a look at the samples (especially for the Modern_UI :))!

Cheers!
P.S.: PM will follow soon..

[Sirber]

NSIS looks cool, I'll have to try it :D

[Defiler]

Just thought I'd mention that I now also support the latest Matroska filters and whatnot in the DefilerPak (http://hellninjacommando.com/defilerpak), though I haven't passed CoreAAC through my Windows 9x acceptance testing yet. (Storing Unicode and non-Unicode versions of everything is such a hassle. When will 9x die?) Thanks for all the hard work from everyone involved in Matroska. I love it.

[Nibor]

@all
As soon as possible, there will be a new release of the packs:
- new version of VSFilter 2.31
- remove the TimeManager which isn't needed anymore -> smaller!
- Matroska Pack Full includes CoreFLAC
- up to date to new NSIS version
- :)

@ssjkakaroto
So, finally I made a list of the contents!
http://packs.matroska.org

Cheers!
.: Nibor :.

[DKDIB]

Nibor wrote:
> - remove the TimeManager which isn't needed anymore ->
> smaller!

Great! :D
... but why? :confused:

[ChristianHJW]

Originally posted by DKDIB
> - remove the TimeManager which isn't needed anymore ->
... but why? :confused: .... that was my fault, i decided to include DaveEL's timestamp manager filter into the distro to prepare the systems of the users for future native MPEG4 playback with current ffdshow, but i forgot that this was only necessary for the old mkxds.dll , Gabest's matroskasplitter filter has the timestamp handling already built in and doesnt need that, so we can safely remove it from the packs.

BTW, no need to uninstall timestamp manager, its using very special MEDIATYPE for connection and wont do your system any harm, so it can safely remain on there ....

[Tuning]

Originally posted by Pamel
Everyone should be aware that AC3Filter 0.70b can have some issues with AC3 SPDIF passthrough. If you install it and AC3 is no longer passed through to your receiver, then just downgrade to 0.68b.

Hi Nibor,

What do you think on Pamel's post. Are you going to include 0.70 or 0.68 version ac3filter ?

[DKDIB]

Christian wrote:
> [...] Gabest's matroskasplitter filter has the timestamp
> handling already built in and doesnt need that [...]

Thanks for the explanation! ^__^

[mfluder]

@Nibor
I don't know if you are aware of this but starting November 25 nightly NSIS builds include a new compression algo, lzma (7-zip - which is known as one of the best compressors out there) which improves compression up to 30%. I'm using it for my own pack that I give to people when giving them my rips. For example when using bzip2 compression the size of the pack was 1042K and now with lzma it's 700K. I'd say that's a really nice improvement. You should consider using it for your new Matroska packs ;)

mfluder

[Nibor]

@DKDIB
Like ChristianHJW said :)

@Tuning
Hmmm...
I could include both versions until a new comes out which fixes the problem. Or simply stick to the older version...
Does anybody know if the problem is also present in 0.69b?

@mfluder
Thank you for the good hint!
I did notice that there was a new compression algo in the development versions, but I didn't know that it's the algo which 7-zip uses!
Wow, 30%, what an improvement!! :)
Is this feature already stable / safe (enough) to use?

[DAvenger]

Originally posted by Nibor
Is this feature already stable / safe (enough) to use?

I wanted to test the new compression option but it freezes here :( Maybe you'll be more lucky.

[Atamido]

You could just have all of the files in a Matroska file and use the built in compression options. Then you would just.... oh wait...

[Nibor]

Originally posted by Pamel
You could just have all of the files in a Matroska file and use the built in compression options. Then you would just.... oh wait...
Seems like we finally found something you can't do with Matroska :p ;)

[mfluder]

Originally posted by Nibor
@mfluder
Thank you for the good hint!
I did notice that there was a new compression algo in the development versions, but I didn't know that it's the algo which 7-zip uses!
Wow, 30%, what an improvement!! :)
Is this feature already stable / safe (enough) to use?
From my limited testing, it's very stable. I haven't had any problems so far. I didn't get any freezes that DAvenger mentioned though I use a very simple script and I use a plain old NSIS look, not the Modern one. I think you won't have any problems with it but hey, everything is possible.

Let us know if it works and how much compression you gain.

mfluder

[Nibor]

:eek: I just did a test with the LZMA compression and here are the results:

bzip2: 2'536 KB
lzma: 1'643 KB
-> the file with LZMA is 35% smaller!!

It takes longer to compress, but hey, that's definitively worth it :D
A decompression delay when you run the installer isn't even noticeable, well at least not on my system :)

Yeah, B..E..A..UTIFUL :p

[Tuning]

Hi Nibor,

Yea, LZMA compression is giving smaller size. Wonderful!

BTW, I think no one likes downgrading. Keep 0.70 ac3filter. ( Just a suggestion )

I still feel, it would be better if matroska prop is included - making a universal matroska pack. I think not everyone is downloading matroskaprop along with matroska pack and they don't know what is it actually. What do you think ?

I have a small question too : How to add your name in installer, like "Nibor 30-11-2003", I could not find it where in documentation.

Thanks.

[Defiler]

Originally posted by Tuning
I have a small question too : How to add your name in installer, like "Nibor 30-11-2003", I could not find it where in documentation.You should experiment with three commands: "Name", "Caption", and "BrandingText"

[Nibor]

Sorry for my long absence but I was ill some time :/

Well, back to work now :)


@Tuning

Ok, I changed my mind about including MatroskaProp..
It _will_ be included in the next release!
(Of course only if jcsston agrees ;))

Also I think I should add a start menu folder for 'Matroska Pack', with subfolders e.g. MatroskaProp, ffdshow...
Maybe a small readme file would be nice too...

And yes, as Defiler stated, the command to change this 'branding text' is "BrandingText" ;)

- Nibor -

PS: Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition! :D

[Tuning]

Thanks Nibor,
Hope jcsston agrees..!:)
Also I think I should add a start menu folder for 'Matroska Pack', with subfolders e.g. MatroskaProp, ffdshow...
A weblink to matroska download site would be nice.

Btw, thanks Defiler, i was waiting to read from Nibor's post.:D Thanks.

[Rash]

Can I ask something for this pack? :) I know it may sound stupid but I think it will be great for newbies. The pack installer could register the extensions .mkv, .mka and .mks to a player, like Windows Media Player (you could choose wether you want or not). This would be great for newbies that don't know any other program besides Windows Media Player.

For us, we could stick to our BSPlayer, Core Player or MPC and I believe all of them can register the matroska types, right? ;)

[Nibor]

Originally posted by Rash
Can I ask something for this pack? :)
Of course you can :)
I added it to my ToDo list!
So they would be registered to 'wmplayer' or 'mplayer2', hmm...
I personnaly prefer 'mplayer2' over the two, but I think for newbies it's better to use 'wmplayer'... (hell, ffdshow's automatic resizing doesn't work with WMP!??)
It could be checked if the file types are already registered and if they are, they don't get reregistered, if they aren't -> register.
Have to look into it to see if it is possible, if it isn't I'll just add an option in the installer!
Ok, I know there are MKV and MKA, but what is MKS?


@Tuning
Have you ever installed MatroskaProp and tried to install it again into the same folder (so the files get overwritten) ?
You know the problem is, the files are in use because they get loaded with explorer, so they only can be deleted if you restart windows (or kill the explorer process and delete them and restart the process) :rolleyes:
If I add it to the packs, a quick installation over an older build isn't possible anymore, you'd have to restart every time! (and as an user of eMule, I hate restarting ;))
So how would it be if it is included but disabled in the 'default installation type' ?
Again, I think it's a bit ugly if a component of a pack is disabled by default :/
Or can you imagine a better way of doing the whole thing? :confused:

[Atamido]

Originally posted by Nibor
Ok, I know there are MKV and MKA, but what is MKS? A matroska file containing only subtitles.