DivX Episode won't play - NOT a noob question!

[rorypyro]

Don't dismiss this as a noob question!

Its a full episode of Lost, 357mb. It plays perfectly through VirtualDub.

When I try to play it in windows media player, or media player classic, it says the vid is 30 seconds long, and it only shows a green rectangle in the middle of the screen.

But whether I trim a bit off the start and end to rewrite the file headers, it still won't play in media player or media player classic. I've done everything short of re-encodnig it, including reinstalling the codecs and mplayer classic.

any ideas anybody?

[Doom9]

Technically speaking, you have a DirectShow problem (Virtualdub plays using the VfW codec).
Commercially speaking I'd be very interested in which store is already selling the Lost DVDs - to the best of my knowledge, the first worldwide release is scheduled for next month, and how can you create a DivX rip from a DVD that is not out yet?

Oh, and how the heck can you reinstall MPC when it's just an exe file?

[xDrJx]

September 6, 2005 as I recall.

@rory:
If all fails just reinstall your windows, not only MPC ;)
A fresh Win is always nice and slove most of those problems in a matter of an hour (or so)

[Paulcat]

Try re-saving the avi (under another name of course) with direct stream copy set for both audio and video. I had this issue with an avi that played with only audio, and after I re-saved it, it played fine.

[xDrJx]

...trim a bit off the start and end to rewrite...

I think he'd done that

[hellfred]

Commercially speaking I'd be very interested in which store is already selling the Lost DVDs - to the best of my knowledge, the first worldwide release is scheduled for next month, and how can you create a DivX rip from a DVD that is not out yet?

Hey, Doom9, there is something like analog capture cards out there, too. Would a copy of a captured clip in Germany, recorded by myself, handed over from me to my friend, still be condsidered illegal, when my friend comes to ths board and asks for help playing the file? What if someone I do not know gets the file from my friend?
This is not supposed to be cirtic, i really wonder about the status of analog captured material from broadcast.

Hellfred

[rorypyro]

Technically speaking, you have a DirectShow problem (Virtualdub plays using the VfW codec).
Commercially speaking I'd be very interested in which store is already selling the Lost DVDs - to the best of my knowledge, the first worldwide release is scheduled for next month, and how can you create a DivX rip from a DVD that is not out yet?

Oh, and how the heck can you reinstall MPC when it's just an exe file?

I was of course referring to the 2001 reality tv show Lost (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0292816/) , not the hugely popular ABC drama show of the same name. =)

Apologies for that.

And you can reinstall MPC using the QuicktimeAlt package.

had a feeling it was a diresctShow prob, but I thought reinstalling the codecs would fix things.

[rorypyro]

September 6, 2005 as I recall.

@rory:
If all fails just reinstall your windows, not only MPC ;)
A fresh Win is always nice and slove most of those problems in a matter of an hour (or so)


Yeah, I usually reinstall windows every 4 months or so, but getting all my fave apps back can be a pain in the neck, and I still haven't got the hang of the XP deploy tool that lets you preinstall apps with the OS.

However in this instance, I'm in the middle of a really important video editing project, with about 20-30 gigs of DV on my drive, so reinstalling is not an option! Although, if its the only way, divx viewing can wait.

[Doom9]

This is not supposed to be cirtic, i really wonder about the status of analog captured material from broadcast.Perhaps you've read my bit about TV broadcasting in the news.. I really think stations should just broadcast over the Internet so the whole legality thing will quickly become moot, and they will make more money than they're doing now. Recording a TV program, analog or digital is certainly okay, but as far as sharing goes it depends on your country's legislation.

Personally I think that whomever is entitled to receive a certain program, should be entitled to get it via any means he deems fit - including P2P. But that's my personal opinion and not the way things are handled around here. Our stance on downloaded files is not necessary the legal position we have to take on, but other factors, like people not having done their own rips generally have a lower knowledge and don't bother reading up, and the fact that converting an already lossy source twice in a row isn't such a smart thing to be done, all that plays a role, too. So your friend should ask you for help. That way, we can make sure that it's all fair use (the way I understand German legislation there should be no problem in you recording something for a friend)

[rorypyro]

Perhaps you've read my bit about TV broadcasting in the news.. I really think stations should just broadcast over the Internet so the whole legality thing will quickly become moot, and they will make more money than they're doing now. Recording a TV program, analog or digital is certainly okay, but as far as sharing goes it depends on your country's legislation.

Personally I think that whomever is entitled to receive a certain program, should be entitled to get it via any means he deems fit - including P2P. But that's my personal opinion and not the way things are handled around here. Our stance on downloaded files is not necessary the legal position we have to take on, but other factors, like people not having done their own rips generally have a lower knowledge and don't bother reading up, and the fact that converting an already lossy source twice in a row isn't such a smart thing to be done, all that plays a role, too. So your friend should ask you for help. That way, we can make sure that it's all fair use (the way I understand German legislation there should be no problem in you recording something for a friend)

I absolutely agree. If episodes of shows are broadcast for free over the airwaves, why not over the net too?

[hellfred]

Thanks for your answere, doom9. Broadcasting over the net may be seen as a thread to income by comercials, as the quality of a dumped file is perfeced and would be most probably prefered by most people over waiting for the next broadcast of the material in question. Less audiance for the next boradcast -> less audiance for the comercials -> no good for the stations

[SeeMoreDigital]

I absolutely agree. If episodes of shows are broadcast for free over the airwaves, why not over the net too?Because "the net" extends worldwide... and broadcast content is designed to extend to a specific area (or country) in order to conform to copyright, royalties and general purchase agreements made with the content provider at the time of purchase ;)


Cheers

[rorypyro]

Because "the net" extends worldwide... and broadcast content is designed to extend to a specific area (or country) in order to conform to copyright, royalties and general purchase agreements made with the content provider at the time of purchase ;)


Cheers

I suppose that does make sense. but I think there'll always be people who watch things on Tv and people who don't. I'd happily pay to DL episodes of things in divx if they were available. I love having things on the PC, it sucks having to buy DVDs then rip them, and throw the DVDs in a corner somewhere never to be used again. You pay a fortune on shipping, packaging, etc, and then you have to spend hours converting each episode to save space!

[Doom9]

If I pay a fee to receive TV broadcasts (which I do.. it's quite a bit of money), it really shouldn't matter where I get the material from. As stated in the news, TV broadcasters would make more money with me if they broadcasted over the net with ads. As it is now, neither local nor international brodcasters make any money off me because I don't watch TV, period. The only money to be made here is to sell a boxed set of DVDs, or the rental fee for such a set. However, international radio broadcasters can flood me with ads as I'm always tuned in to some non local radio station.. at the local broadcaster's loss obviously because I don't get to listen to their ads.

Either way, the entertainment industry is known to not realize there's money to be made until a very late point. In the last century, records, tapes, CDs, TV, VHS and DVD was seen as the devil, and each of those techology turned out to make the industry even more money than previously known ones.

[SeeMoreDigital]

There's no denying there's a lot of people who would prefer to download and watch episodes of their favourite shows and movies..... But the ugly quesion of payment will at sometime have to come into effect!

Personally, I think that most (if not all) of the "newish" content will only ever be available on a rental basis (complete with encryption and time limited expiry). Meaning a "Fair Use" policy (ie: backing up/converting to another format) would not apply!


Cheers

[Keyper7]

Em, sorry for cutting in but has the original question been answered? Can rorypyro now play the file? Because if not then it is somewhat similar to a problem I have and just posted (that's why I saw this thread). From my (very) recent experience it could be because the wrong codec handles the decoding. It could be that the file has the wrong FCC code (meaning it infact isn't DivX or the correct DivX version). Are you using ffdshow for the decoding or a different decoder for every format? You could try opening it with Nero Show Time, it will use it's own decoders no matter which are set to be used in DirectShow and it was the one that played my file correctly before finding the correct FCC.

[xDrJx]

Yeah, I usually reinstall windows every 4 months or so, but getting all my fave apps back can be a pain in the neck, and I still haven't got the hang of the XP deploy tool that lets you preinstall apps with the OS.

However in this instance, I'm in the middle of a really important video editing project, with about 20-30 gigs of DV on my drive, so reinstalling is not an option! Although, if its the only way, divx viewing can wait.

Thats why I have 2 second partition with those apps, but I see this is realy not an option for you right now :(

[rorypyro]

Thats why I have 2 second partition with those apps, but I see this is realy not an option for you right now :(


I used to do that, but things like photoshop, flash etc need to be reinstalled to work, even if all the files are still there. Which means it doesn't really save me any time in the long run, and partitioning a drive does affect its performance.

[netterpaladin]

Just a quick discursion... Why do you guys always reinstall windows and all progs, instead of making an image of a PERFECT, clean copy of windows with ALL your installed progs? Use Knoppix and some shell commands, or buy a windows program to do it for you? In the university, we have a server with an image and just copy the installation over the network. I think this should save time.

netterpaladin

[xDrJx]

Just a quick discursion... Why do you guys always reinstall windows and all progs, instead of making an image of a PERFECT, clean copy of windows with ALL your installed progs? Use Knoppix and some shell commands, or buy a windows program to do it for you? In the university, we have a server with an image and just copy the installation over the network. I think this should save time.

netterpaladin

but where's the fun ;)

[rorypyro]

Just a quick discursion... Why do you guys always reinstall windows and all progs, instead of making an image of a PERFECT, clean copy of windows with ALL your installed progs? Use Knoppix and some shell commands, or buy a windows program to do it for you? In the university, we have a server with an image and just copy the installation over the network. I think this should save time.

netterpaladin

Its a commendable idea alright, but by the time I have all my apps installed I'm usually too tired to go making images of things.