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| Initial D World - Discussion Board / Forums > Computers and Technologies > Best Codecs for Anime / General Purpose |
| Posted by: khat17 May 7 2006, 08:06 AM |
| Good day everyone. Firstly, it's kinda bad to have excessive codecs on your system. From personal experience, it does mess with things over time. You should only install what you need. Most people who only watch anime and don't do encoding of any sort don't really need codecs...........they just need filters. A filter pack differs from a codec pack in one way particularly: - Codecs are used to encode and may be used to decode as well - Filters do not do encoding, just decode for playback purposes As such, in my experience there are three filter packs that I've found and like. In order from most preferred to least preferred are: CCCP - http://www.cccp-project.net/ Satsuki - http://yatoshi.com/en/index.php?p=decoder&PHPSESSID=42b1bfcb0eaeec80d25023d2f43a218f Defilter - http://hellninjacommando.com/defilerpak/ My reasons for the preferences would be: CCCP ------- Always being improved on, works with EVERYTHING (except QT and RM, but if you install REALATERNATIVE and QUICKTIMEALTERNATIVE you can use any player to playback RM and QT files). It also has a beautiful wiki, which I will post at the end for you to read, which shows the differences with filter and codecs in much better detail than I can. Satsuki --------- Actually told to me by my girlfriend. It's very nice, improvements are being made constantly, but is not so much of a minimalist installation. Defilter --------- Defilter is probably the best minimalist installation package, as it only installs one thing mainly, and a few additionals for "just in case". Overall, CCCP is my favourite because it works, it's small, it has a good wiki, and their chatroom is always open to help people who need info on the codec, and they are willing to listen to their users about bugs or glitches. CCCP FAQ ------------ http://www.cccp-project.net/wiki/index.php?title=FAQ Have fun. |
| Posted by: Perry May 7 2006, 01:53 PM |
| Welcome to the forums, khat17. Very nice first post.  But, Feedback and Support is only for issues relating to the forums. This topic will be more appropriate in Computers and Technologies, a subforum inside Off - Topic Stuff. * Topic moved from Feedback and Support -> Computers and Technologies * |
| Posted by: Shonen May 7 2006, 04:48 PM |
| Try the K-Lite Codec Pack, it's everything you will ever need. http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm |
| Posted by: BOZZ May 7 2006, 08:18 PM |
| Well I'd highly recommend CCCP as many anime fansub groups support it... |
| Posted by: Metamorphic May 9 2006, 06:39 PM | ||
word totally agree with you ever since I got the Klite codec pack and media player classic i could play any file I want except the ones that have been corrupted and stuffed up that is |
| Posted by: khat17 May 10 2006, 01:18 AM |
| Thanx to the moderators for moving my post to the appropriate location. RE what others have said, I have tried and used (aside from those listed above) K-Lite, All in One, Cole2K, Nimo, ACE, Codec 7.8h, The Codecs, Microsoft's Windows Media Codecs, and the mainstream codecs (individual install of DivX, Xvid, X264 etc.) and as far as I've seen and tested, those i've listed (in order - CCCP / Satsuki / Defilter) are the best packages. As was stated, and as is in the CCCP FAQ (http://www.cccp-project.net/wiki/index.php?title=FAQ) it is bad to install multiple codecs. I know this from experience. But, as with CPU's and Graphics Cards, it will all come down to personal preference. Granted it may work for some but not for all, do what works for you. My view will still stand. Unless you are doing encoding, I don't see the point of installing codecs, a filter pack works best. Less risk of messing up your machine. Also, if you need to do encoding, install the individual codec you need. Try it, you may like it . Take Care. PeAcE. |
| Posted by: xkhol May 14 2006, 08:50 PM |
| What would be the best pack for a mac? |
| Posted by: xiao May 14 2006, 09:16 PM | ||
http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?p=549398 I'm tempted to switch over as well, might just do it before the fall... let us know how the playback goes once you buy your MacBook. Edit: BOZZY, not to my knowledge. From CCCP's Wiki: MacOS 10.x * Not supported. Sorry, UNIX-based OS's doesn't support DirectShow. We recommend that you use MPlayer instead. Not the MPlayerOSX2 special version, since it's ancient, but the real commandline thing. We might provide a precompiled version of it sometime in the future (and in that case, that'll be the closest thing we ever get to a CCCP for Macs), but for now, you can read http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=28232 on how to compile it yourself. |
| Posted by: BOZZ May 14 2006, 10:01 PM |
| Heh... Macs don't have codes really built for them, do they? |
| Posted by: xkhol May 19 2006, 08:41 AM |
| Dammit, what about Linux then? >_> |
| Posted by: BOZZ May 19 2006, 11:23 AM |
| Well there is a round about way getting codecs to work... It depends on what distro you are running, but you pretty much want to install w32codecs from mplayer's homepage... |
| Posted by: vincentrichter May 20 2006, 09:15 PM | ||
If you're using Gentoo Portage, I believe it would be the win32codecs USEflag. |
| Posted by: PhantomaZero May 21 2006, 10:14 AM |
| K-Lite does all I need, but it doesn't play nice with Half-Life 2. Be warned. |
| Posted by: logan510 May 21 2006, 03:40 PM | ||
This is why I'll never download a codec pack. The above is not the first time I've read about these packs not playing nicely with something on a system. I just download specific codecs as needed, better safe than sorry I feel. Casey |
| Posted by: Lebon14 Jun 5 2006, 02:25 AM |
| If you use VLC media player has the player, you get all the codecs when it's installed. No need to install furtur codecs. Maybe... just the Quicktime one. Oh. It's what I use so... |
| Posted by: khat17 Jul 6 2006, 02:58 AM |
| Well, I'm seeing a lot of strong support for the K-Lite Codec Pack. Honestly, I think it's kinda like the CPU wars, and the graphics card wars. It' not a matter of what the benchmarks may say, it all comes down to personal preference in the end. If you've seen that a particular codec pack works for you, then fine.....run with it. My general argument is though, that unless you do encoding you don't need a codec. If you think that what you have works well for you, then you don't need anything else. But if it ever comes down to a reinstallation of Windows, and you'd like to check for a performance difference, you're welcome to trying any of my suggestions. And they're just that.......suggestions. As is personal preference, they're really just my point of view. If you don't like it, don't try it. If your interest is piqued, then research it and experiment. Hope the info helps, and hope we'll all have our PC's totally clutter free of excess codecs installed. A Jamaican saying is that "cats and dogs don't have the same luck" (puss an' dawg nuh ave di same luck), and what it means is that some of us may install a codec pack and never have a problem ever, while some of us may install it and have a few hitches, and others will install and have many troubles. Whatever works for you, use it. If you think you want to try something else, try it. Personally, I've tried a lot (listed previously in my posts) and as far as I've seen, CCCP is what I'll use. And if you do editing of the different encoded files (VirtualDub, TMPEGENC etc..), all you need to do is open FFDSHOW (installed with CCCP) and set the desired filters to be decoded by LIBACODEC. If you want either MPLAYER CLASSIC or ZOOMPLAYER (both installed by default) to play QUICKTIME or REAL MEDIA files without having to use the bulky Apple Quicktime installer or add another "player of everything" with RealPlayer, just get the REALALTERNATIVE and the QUICKTIME ALTERNATIVE, and go to the options in either program and associate with said formats. Links are below REAL ALTERNATIVE http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm QUICKTIME ALTERNATIVE http://www.free-codecs.com/download/QuickTime_Alternative.htm If you're one that doesn't want to install any codecs at all, you can use the VLC Media Player. It doesn't install any codecs......it has them all built into the program, and I have yet to come across a format that it doesn't play........but I think you'll still have to install the REAL ALTERNATIVE and QUICKTIME ALTERNATIVE in order to get it to play those formats (correct me if I'm wrong here). BSPLAYER is another good app, but as I said, it's all up to you. If it were up to me, I'd either install one of the filter packs listed in the first post, or VLC. VLC PLAYER http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ Oh, and BTW even though I still stand by CCCP - I've seen one occasion where MPC in CCCP would not play one file, and it was a corrupted download of some movie that a friend had, and VLC played it nonetheless.......I think some of the video header information was crapped, and the audio info was totally whacked, and only the video would show........MPC in CCCP just couldn't render the file at all.........but that was only one instance, and my personal preference will let me stay by CCCP. I also have Portable VLC (http://portableapps.com - for anyone with a thumb drive) and I do use it on the road, so if I ever come across something that wont play with CCCP, then I always have VLC as a backup. If it doesn't play in either though.........believe me, it's not good (remembering the NFO about QT and RM). PeAcE. |
| Posted by: khat17 Nov 4 2007, 07:14 PM |
| I would also like to add to the list KMPlayer. http://www.download.com/The-KMPlayer/3000-2139_4-10659940.html http://www.kmplayer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63 http://www.kmplayer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4094 http://www.kmplayer.com/forums/index.php Basically it plays everything. And I mean everything. It even plays FLV!!! It's really nice. The ONLY problem I have with it was with a test file of an anime called "THE SKULL MAN" where - as an MKV - it loaded the subtitles kinda off. At least it didn't overlap them like VLC. This will become my secondary player, since it's fully portable as well. Check it out and post your findings. PeAcE. |
| Posted by: 207 Nov 4 2007, 07:33 PM |
| does k-lite really hav all the formats? i had to dump xvid to install it. i have no problems with it, though im just wondering wat its weakness are (if any). its the only codec on my laptop for a long time. |
| Posted by: khat17 Nov 4 2007, 08:13 PM | ||
This quote is from the CCCP wiki - which is at the top of the posts I made. Note the section in bold.
CCCP's latest version plays FLV off the bat as well, but KMPlayer has a helluva lot of features. As it stands, CCCP is my primary player/pack and KMPlayer is my secondary. Heh, VLC is now on back burner. PeAcE. |
| Posted by: Lebon14 Nov 4 2007, 08:18 PM | ||
It's simply the best video player around! I highly suggest it! |
| Posted by: khat17 Nov 6 2007, 05:45 PM | ||
And KMPlayer has two hands up over MPC in CCCP thus far.
That's from another thread I have about HITMAN. https://idforums.net/index.php?showtopic=32347. MPC wouldn't play the MOV files even with QT Alternative installed. KMPlayer did it just fine. KMP is still my second though - as CCCP still works better IMO for SSA subs in an MKV. PeAcE. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Nov 6 2007, 06:43 PM |
| Kmplayer is Linux and Windows only, or is there a OSX version? |
| Posted by: khat17 Jan 22 2008, 08:40 PM |
| Sorry BOZZY, It doesn't seem like there's an OSX port for the app. It's not totally unfair - you get HANDBRAKE as (one of) the best ripper out there, with only recent ports to Windows. Since KMP is new, a port to OSX may come out in the future. PeAcE. |
| Posted by: vincentrichter Jan 23 2008, 11:22 AM |
| Bozz - wrong kmplayer. You can probably run this through Darwine though. I'll test it on regular WINE and see what happens. |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Jan 23 2008, 11:27 AM |
| Tested KMplayer, hated it. It's basically VLC but with more bloat, not to mention that the normal, basic package only comes in Korean. The Multilanguage installer lacks a lot of the installation options that the original Korean installer has. That's a huge minus. I've gone back and uninstalled it... I was hoping it would be a replacement for Windows Media Player but since it uses its own codecs instead of reaching out to the system, it's just as useful as VLC (and I already use VLC). Now, if someone can link me to a video player that uses the same VMR layer as Windows Media Player but doesn't eat up CPU cycles uselessly, that would be awesome. I've tried every output config I know in Media Player Classic and it still doesn't use the same hardware acceleration layer as WMP. I can't figure it out. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Jan 27 2008, 12:49 PM | ||
It also plays some weird file formats too (kmplayer). I downloaded some video that I was not able to get working in VLC, but it worked fine in Kmplayer. Plus, is the name misleading, or is Kmplayer based on mplayer? |
| Posted by: Lebon14 Jan 27 2008, 12:59 PM | ||
FALSE. The KMPlayer comes in Korean AND English by default. If you check the English Official Website's forum, you can even find some other languages! Also, the translation are probably Korean > English > Other language. But, it has the same features in all languages versions. |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Jan 27 2008, 02:15 PM | ||
Okay, the installer was in English but there was no installation option to have it start up in English. When I installed it, the installer was in English and I got it from an English forum, so I assumed the program would be in English as well. It wasn't, it was in Korean. I'm sorry, but I can't read Korean. So where was the English setting? Was it under adhsaodshaourwefs? Bozz: Mplayer is a single executable, isn't it? KMplayer has a bunch of DLLs for its different supported formats, similar to VLC. So I'm guessing that rather than being based on mplayer, the name means "Korean Media Player." EDIT: And regardless of English setting, the program itself still sucks. Just so Lebon doesn't think that by finding an English setting will make me love it or something.  |
| Posted by: Lebon14 Jan 27 2008, 02:22 PM | ||
Strange bug... Habitually, when you choose English with the installer, the program will be in English if you choose Korean, it'll be korean... strange. Anyway, I'm sticking to my beloved KMPlayer. |
| Posted by: khat17 Jan 27 2008, 07:06 PM |
| I never did an install. I just got the ZIP file and extracted it, then ran it. No problems on my end. I guess due to your dislike (N1) you probably don't care about how it runs, but if you like, I could download the install version and test it out to see what's up. I'm into testing a bit, since I'll be formatting soon anyways. PeAcE. |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Jan 27 2008, 10:09 PM |
| I might like KMplayer if I didn't have VLC, that's all I mean. I really need a player that uses the exact same hardware interface layer that WMP11 uses, but without the CPU hogging and odd bugs that WMP has. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Jan 28 2008, 06:56 PM | ||
Mplayer as a single executable? I am not entirely sure, I do know that you have to install codecs to use it properly under Linux (w32codecs). Apparently the K is from the developer's family name (Kang) and KMPlayer stands for K-Multimedia Player. Seems like it had GPL code within the project, but the developer claimed it had none of it and removed all the visible traces of it. |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Jan 28 2008, 07:06 PM |
| Hmm... I've never used mplayer in UNIX/Linux, only on MacOSX and Windows... and on MacOSX and Windows I recall it was one executable... I guess that's changed since I just checked my copy of mplayer/mencoder and it has a bunch of DLLs. Hrm. Well whatever, doesn't change anything... Anybody know what exactly WMP11 does differently from MPC? If I knew what I was looking for, it'd be a lot easier to find a replacement media player. |
| Posted by: khat17 Sep 23 2008, 07:41 AM |
| I'm guessing you've found a replacement player by now. Heh. N1 pointed me to http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/ recently, and I'm glad to say, it has been integrated into http://cccp-project.net. For your edification: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_player_classic is a compact media player for Microsoft Windows. The application mimics the look and feel of the old, light-weight Windows Media Player 6.4 but integrates most options and features found in modern media players. (Taken from WIKIPEDIA) Now the MPC project has been halted for some time now, by the developer Gabest. http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/ is a continuation of that project by someone else. "This project is based on the original "Media Player Classic" and was created after Gabest, the original author, stopped working on it. Several new features have been integrated in this player" (see the website for details). Now MPC-HC can play video all on it's own with internal decoders, and now integrated with CCCP, I think it was a pretty sweet move. Download and try for yourselves. PeAcE. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Sep 23 2008, 08:37 AM |
| Oh yeah, MPC-HC also has support for EVR rendering which helps for playing HD video (at least that's what I've seem to get from the discussions with Numero Uno Wan). |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Sep 23 2008, 09:12 AM | ||
EVR is for playing video with hardware acceleration in Vista. In XP, hardware acceleration runs under VMR9 Renderless. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Sep 23 2008, 10:25 AM |
| Ah thanks for clearing that up Numero Uno... Actually, did the Air BR video that you posted decades ago... Did it make use of hardware acceleration? |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Sep 23 2008, 02:30 PM | ||
Yes. It was the video khat and I used to prove that the G84+ series nVidia chips did, in fact, have h.264 hardware acceleration. |
| Posted by: khat17 Sep 24 2008, 05:22 AM |
| http://www.sendspace.com/file/q0hu6o There is said video. If it's not downloaded then the link will die automatically. PeAcE. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Sep 24 2008, 06:05 AM |
| Awnnnn... AVI? Was this re-encoded or something? I remember having an MKV version which just plain would not play... >< |
| Posted by: khat17 Sep 24 2008, 08:14 AM |
| Nah. As I recall it was AVI. I had re-encoded it to DIVX so that it looked decent and didn't suck as many resources. I can put that one up as well if you like. PeAcE. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Sep 24 2008, 10:16 AM | ||
It's all good... Can't wait to try this out in Vista... I can't believe I still am using Vista... >< |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Sep 24 2008, 01:09 PM | ||
The original was an AVI, which I then dropped into MKVmerge to create an MKV for. You can do the same, if you like. I don't think any of us are using PowerDVD, though. Not since MPC-HC's decoder does the exact same thing and works with any format that MPC does. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Sep 24 2008, 01:32 PM | ||
Nah mang, the one I downloaded was originally an MKV... Remember we had a conversation about it? I was asking you how come the PowerDVD filter wasn't helping play the MKV? |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Sep 24 2008, 02:33 PM | ||
You downloaded the MKV version of the AVI file first? Interesting. As I said in my previous post, I don't think any of us are using PowerDVD anymore, now that MPC-HC can do the very same thing (but for free, and for any format supported by MPC). |
| Posted by: khat17 Sep 25 2008, 04:17 AM |
| Are you saying that MPC-HC uses VMR9 or some other technique to send the video stream to the graph card to decode? Explain plz. If it does I'm not seeing it. Unless I need to disable CoreAVC to see the results......... PeAcE. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Sep 25 2008, 05:28 AM | ||
I am not too sure, I think it was from a different source. |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Sep 25 2008, 08:59 AM | ||
I think you confused yourself. To allow the render graph to be sent to the hardware decoder on bitstream-capable graphics cards, MPC-HC's output renderer must be set to VMR9 Renderless in XP, or EVR Custom in Vista. While you could set it to just EVR in Vista, this would break subtitles and I don't think anyone wants that. If you have .NET Framework 3 installed on your XP machine, you could also use EVR... but I couldn't get it working, so I just use good ol' VMR9 Renderless. CoreAVC does not support hardware rendering and probably never will, despite its creator saying from the beginning that the professional version would. CoreAVC is, has been, and probably always will be an incredibly efficient software decoder. If you want hardware decoding, block CoreAVC (and any other h.264 decoder you may have) and use MPC-HC's internal decoder instead. |
| Posted by: khat17 Sep 25 2008, 09:52 AM |
I didn't really confuse myself, more like I didn't convey it properly. Now to the matter at hand - OMG! Talk about SWEET!  After changing that setting (enabling DXVA for H264) and unregistering COREAVC as the decoder - I'm getting a WHOPPING 4% CPU USAGE!!!! N1 = GENII So now, I don't really need to use COREAVC - but I'll still get the updates and hope they have the hardware decoding sorted out. Any other suggested settings N1? Waiting for any other tests to be done. PeAcE. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Sep 25 2008, 10:16 AM |
| I'll have to try that... How do you set that up (the DXVA filter) khat? |
| Posted by: khat17 Sep 25 2008, 11:00 AM |
| Open MPC-HC. After it is started, press "O" on the keyboard for OPTIONS, or go VIEW then OPTIONS from the menu. From there, click on INTERNAL FILTERS on the LEFT, and you should be on your way. PeAcE. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Sep 25 2008, 12:14 PM | ||
Ah, so no need to install anything, okay, thanks khat! |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Sep 25 2008, 03:26 PM |
Any other settings? Well, here are the ones I set... Keep in mind, this is XP only. For Vista, use EVR Custom as your renderer (and you might want to disable VMR9 Mixer Mode if using EVR Custom as well).  The second settings page there is because when you use hardware acceleration, you have to disable VobSub. With VobSub disabled, you have to use MPC-HC's internal subtitle filter to display softsubs, which by default has incredibly shitty settings. The settings shown above should work perfectly (tested with [gg]'s release of Code Geass R2). |
| Posted by: BOZZ Sep 25 2008, 03:43 PM |
I got mine running at about 22-30% CPU usage with khat and N1's settings...  That is when playing the Air video... When playing some Gundams... Not so lucky... |
| Posted by: khat17 Sep 25 2008, 06:44 PM |
| If yours is a SINGLE CORE CPU then maybe around those wouldn't be too bad..... PeAcE. |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Sep 25 2008, 08:59 PM | ||
Please confirm/deny that hardware acceleration is coming on. To do this, play an h.264 video in MPC, and while it is playing go to Play->Filters->MPC Video Decoder. First, confirm that "Enable DXVA" is checked. If it is, see if the greyed-out text says "Not Using DXVA" or "H.264 bitstream decoder, no FGT." The former is obvious; the latter means that hardware acceleration is indeed working. If "MPC Video Decoder" is not present, there's your problem. See below. If acceleration is not working for you, one of the following is true: -You have not blocked your other h.264 playback filters; therefore MPC's decoder is not running. Block all other h.264 decoders, and make sure that MPC's is checked. -Your output settings are not correct. Make sure you're using EVR Custom in Vista or VMR9 Renderless in XP. -You have not blocked VobSub and switched to MPC's internal subtitle filter. Block VobSub, and check "Auto-load Subtitles" in the Playback page of MPC's settings. -Your video card does not support h.264 bitstream decoding. -The video you are trying to decode does not comply with the BluRay standard for h.264. You can confirm this with MediaInfo; look for the number of reference frames. THORA releases, for instance, have a uselessly large amount of reference frames which do not comply with BluRay standards and therefore do not work with hardware acceleration. Please remember that hardware acceleration was designed with DVDs and BluRay discs in mind, not files on your computer. Therefore, the files on your computer need to comply with either the DVD or BluRay standards for hardware decoding to work. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Sep 26 2008, 06:13 AM |
| I'll try that when I get home... MPC settings are not global, right? I can have 2 different versions installed with different settings and they won't interfere with each other, am I right? |
| Posted by: khat17 Sep 26 2008, 10:19 AM |
| I believe that the settings in one will affect the other. This is from having an older CCCP installed with MPC, and downloading and extracting MPC-HC. MPC-HC had all the settings of MPC even though it was my first time running it. I'd suggest you get rid of one. PeAcE. |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Sep 26 2008, 02:05 PM |
| Khat is correct. MPC settings are global. Please get rid of any version of MPC you may have except for MPC-HC, and then use the "Reset All Settings" feature within MPC to reset the registry. To further prevent interference, you could also use the "Save Settings to .ini" feature. |
| Posted by: khat17 Sep 27 2008, 11:56 AM |
So - open up your video and while it's playing, go here: Then look for this:  And ensure that this is enabled:  Short video on where to go: http://s162.photobucket.com/albums/t263/khat17/CCCP-Settings/?action=view¤t=Test.flv PeAcE. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Sep 27 2008, 10:23 PM |
| Okidokie, will videos which don't use hardware acceleration, such as this set of BR-rips I have that don't adhere to BR encoding specifications (or something of the sort), would they play extremely slow? |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Sep 27 2008, 11:52 PM | ||
Those videos will simply not trigger hardware acceleration. If your CPU is beefy enough it won't make a difference. If it's not (for instance, my poor little single-core Athlon 64), then it'll be choppy to the point where it'll be unwatchable. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Sep 28 2008, 12:12 AM |
| I must be missing something... I followed everything said so far, and also a note from N1 about how to switch to MPC Video Renderer, yet some videos, well, no longer have any video... |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Sep 28 2008, 01:19 AM |
| I'm honestly not sure what's going on on his end. I'd have to actually be there to figure it out, probably. Some ATi conflict or something? Dunno. Works fine on my end with only those directions. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Sep 28 2008, 01:22 AM |
| Well I switched to an earlier version of HC, not the one packed with CCCP, and it seems to work fine now. |
| Posted by: khat17 Oct 10 2008, 04:44 AM |
| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DXVA For those who want to read up more on what DXVA is and whatnot. +99 Kudos to N1 for doing his research and keeping us up to date. Has anyone tested this with an ATI card as yet? Results? Difference in settings? On another note - asking anyone or N1 (hehe) to tell me what the results of this pic is all about.  And why it says DXVA 1.0 for some, and not DXVA 2.0 for all of the settings. PeAcE. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Oct 10 2008, 07:54 AM |
| I've got an ATI 3650 which has AVIVO (which is supposed to include hardware acceleration, but I am not sure), however I don't think I have quite the right setup or files to test it. |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Oct 10 2008, 02:37 PM | ||
That's actually a very simple answer, and I'm glad you asked.  FOR SCIENCE!There are two types of DXVA calls, and they are not universal. Some calls can be handled either way, but others will require using DXVA1 or DXVA2. Most raw decoding operations are handled with DXVA1 calls (ModeMPEG2_C, ModeMPEG2_D, ModeH264_VLD_NoFGT), whereas post-processing calls are more typically handled by DXVA2 calls (Inverse Telecine, Motion Compensation, General Post Processing). All I can tell from your screenshot, really, is that your card doesn't support VC-1 decoding (which makes sense; as I recall this functionality is only in the newest 9-series and 2XX series cards). I'm also going to wager a guess that the "Unknown" DXVA function is actually the decoder for WMV9. |
| Posted by: khat17 Oct 11 2008, 05:50 AM |
| http://www.sendspace.com/file/zfzo6q Could someone with an ATI card post a screeny so we can see what the difference is? Mine is from a 8800GTS. PeAcE. |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Oct 11 2008, 07:41 AM |
| Just to note, my DXVA Checker results are exactly the same as Khat's; makes sense considering both our cards use the G92 core logic. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Oct 11 2008, 08:39 AM | ||
http://img227.imageshack.us/my.php?image=02io0.pnghttp://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php http://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?image=01va5.pnghttp://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php Mine is an ATI 3650HD. |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Oct 11 2008, 11:33 AM |
| Damn you ATi and supporting VC-1 decoding on even older cards! |
| Posted by: khat17 Oct 11 2008, 04:25 PM |
| The ATI cards seem to be getting better tho - not surprising considering AMD. But I'm wondering if it's worth making a switch............like to a 4xxx HD series from my 8800 GTS. Those ATI cards are going for sub USD$100 now. PeAcE. |
| Posted by: khat17 Sep 18 2009, 07:00 AM | ||
Going to have to expand a little more on this, and update the settings page. But so you know - this is from the CCCP IRC.
I had no idea that MPLAYER does this as well - will have to test this on Linux. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Sep 18 2009, 09:22 AM |
| Funny enough apparently CCCP has finally gotten a new update on their site (from last week, it just came to my attention now). |
| Posted by: khat17 Sep 18 2009, 09:27 AM | ||
| Yep - new update is very nice. Also, doesn't have two players - just MPC-HC. Additional Info -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Acceleration_API Also, someone from the channel FINALLY helped and confirmed that the settings work with ATI cards.
So we are confirmed. CCCP = WIN. MPC-HC = WIN. PowerDVD = PHAIL. LOL. We don't need to pay USD$100 to get hardware acceleration/decoding. And - with ATI - it can be done without AVIVO. Excellent! |
| Posted by: BOZZ Sep 29 2009, 10:38 PM |
| Yeah, I didn't notice that zoom player was removed in the update until I manually set MPC-HC as the player for the file types displayed in CCCP. Now I wish there was something like this for Linux and/or Mac... As it stands I use this home media player called Plex to play 1080p MKV videos. |
| Posted by: khat17 Oct 1 2009, 07:17 AM | ||
What about that? It doesn't work out? |
| Posted by: BOZZ Nov 11 2009, 11:06 PM |
| So I got around to installing CCCP under Windows 7 and for some reason it required Direct X 9. Do you guys might know why? I installed it in the end but was surprised since 7 ships with a newer version of Direct X (I assume 11?). |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Nov 11 2009, 11:36 PM | ||
DirectX is from a different group than the Windows team. DirectX receives no updates via Microsoft/Windows Update. Therefore, it has to be manually updated. The version installed on your system doesn't guarantee that all your components are up to date. I've stopped using CCCP for anything except video editing now. The latest version of Media Player Classic Homecinema (standalone, not the one in CCCP) covers all my video/audio playback needs on both my desktop and netbook. CCCP's filters are literally only used when I need to call DirectShowSource in an AVIsynth script. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Nov 11 2009, 11:41 PM | ||
So is the new, non-CCCP MPC HC similar to VLC in that all the "codecs" are contained within? |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Nov 12 2009, 12:06 AM | ||
Correct, but unlike VLC, it supports DXVA and is slightly more lightweight. It can also be run portably right out of the box. Once VLC properly supports DXVA, the matter will become more of a preference issue. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Nov 12 2009, 12:12 AM |
Interesting... I wonder if it would still need Direct X 9... I will look into downloading it...  How is it for playing 1080p btw? VLC is pretty choppy (32 and 64-bit) for me. |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Nov 12 2009, 12:25 AM | ||
Again, VLC does not support DXVA for hardware acceleration of HD video. MPC-HC does. I have played the 1080p rip of Star Trek on my netbook over HDMI to Pikachu_Fragger's HDTV and it ran flawlessly. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Nov 12 2009, 12:32 AM |
| Oh snap... Was that HDMI port include audio out? |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Nov 12 2009, 12:39 AM | ||
Yes, shockingly. I was worried because I'd heard horror stories about nVidia HDMI audio, but the audio from my ION was perfect. I just plugged in the cable, switched the audio over to HDMI, and bam done. |
| Posted by: ThaSaint Nov 26 2009, 12:10 PM |
| K-Lite's latest pack allows you to choose if you want h264 DXVA for MPC during installation. |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Nov 26 2009, 08:08 PM |
| My issue with codec packs is that they're worthless though. So what if it lets you pick between MPC-HC's or not? I can literally play every file I want through MPC-HC's own internal filters, flawlessly. Why do I need to install a codec pack at all? The only reason I can see is for video editing purposes, where you need DirectShow filters and/or VfW filters for processing. But even then, there are better choices than the ones bundled with codec packs designed for playback. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Nov 27 2009, 12:16 AM |
| The only rationale I could see is if MPC-HC had some issue like what I encountered (on Mac and Linux) with subtitles in MKV files being played in VLC player. |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Nov 27 2009, 02:54 AM | ||
Except that it doesn't (and to be fair, VLC fixed the subtitle issue as of 1.0.0, and we're on what, 1.0.9 now?), so yeah, I just don't see any rationale. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Nov 27 2009, 10:15 AM | ||
Err... I have no idea what I meant to say in the previous post... I think I was trying to infer why bother with anything but MPC-HC if it does everything fine? VLC is at 1.0.3 last time I checked... I haven't actually gotten around to seeing if there is still issue of some subtitles overlapping since I tend to use VLC for AVIs and dual audio MKVs/OGMs and Mplayer for any other non-720p+ MKVs. |
| Posted by: khat17 Nov 27 2009, 06:42 PM |
| I've had issues with VLC overlapping on OGM files. Don't recall it doing so on MKV. Or did it? Not sure. Anyways, KMP did the trick that time. And so did MPC at the time. |
| Posted by: BOZZ Nov 27 2009, 10:57 PM |
| Well for me it happened with a non-dual audio MKV, but that was maybe a year or two ago. |
| Posted by: khat17 Feb 17 2011, 11:08 AM |
| Digging up the old thread, I'd like to add that there are a lot of new players on the market including Splash and SPLAYER - both of which I find very nice. CCCP has somewhat dwindled as the updates are not coming out as fast and I've found that it has some minor issues with Win7 64bit (not sure about 32bit). To get rid of all problems I've been using SATSUKI of late. Really easy to install and the MPC-HC settings stay the same, with just one thing to be changed to enable GPU deciding of H264 and VC1 streams.  Image size reduced, original size: 687 x 329. http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t263/khat17/CCCP-Settings/screenshot73.png to view the image in its original dimension.  Image size reduced, original size: 657 x 180. http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t263/khat17/CCCP-Settings/screenshot74.png to view the image in its original dimension.  Actually - all I did was install SATSUKI and then open that setting - then set MPC-HC to play all files (you can set it to whatever you like) and that was it. I was decoding H264 streams immediately after. Only issue I've had - which may be some setting - is getting Satsuki to work with EVR on H264 files after uninstalling CCCP.........not sure what went wrong - but it works with VMR9. Again the websites are below for reference. And the setting for VMR9 is within the options of MPC-HC.  http://cccp-project.net/ http://yatoshi.com/en/index.php?p=decoder http://www.splayer.org/index.en.html http://mirillis.com/en/products/splash.html Maybe N1, Apex or another videophile can help with some troubleshooting on why Satsuki has issues playing back the H264 video while CCCP doesnt for me..... *EDIT* It seems like the problem may be with the build of MPC-HC that's bundled with the new version of Satsuki (Satsuki.Decoder.Pack.4.3.0.10.64bits). The version in this bundle is 1.4.1.2860 - MPC-HC Compiler: MSVC 2010 SP1 - FFMPEG Compiler: MinGW GCC 4.5.3. I tried with 1.3.1249.0 MPC-HC Compiler: VS 2008 - FFMPEG Compiler: GCC 4.3.3 and the video played back fine with EVR. The latest version of MPC-HC available is 1.5.0.2827 from http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/ so maybe I'll reinstall without MPC-HC and then install this latest version which should have the issue fixed, or use the older version that I have which I know works. |
| Posted by: Saint Feb 17 2011, 11:36 AM |
| I'm using CCCP on Windows 7 32bit. It can't play rmvb files with Classic like how it worked on XP. The pictures and the srt subs aren't fluid as well (bad resolution?). :/ But it works fine with WMP. Dunno what's wrong with it. |
| Posted by: khat17 Feb 17 2011, 11:58 AM |
| I've noticed that CCCP is sluggish with the subs - probably the MPC-HC build or something with FFDSHOW. Try with SATSUKI (don't install bundled MPC-HC) and the latest MPC-HC and let me know how it goes. |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Feb 17 2011, 03:27 PM |
| I've stopped using CCCP entirely. Or rather, I simply have it there for times when I need to use VirtualDub's DirectShowSource filter. On my Win7 x64 desktop I use MPC-HC (latest stable build) by itself, only using its internal filters. Works perfectly, though there have been a few MP4 files (mostly from NicoNico Video) which don't play nice. On my WinXP laptop I do the same, though I do have the latest CoreAVC installed as for whatever reason it has higher compatibility with the ION chipset than MPC-HC's internal AVC filter. Saint, I would wonder if your 'CCCP' (that is to say, MPC-HC) is set to use its internal subtitle renderer or if it's using VSFilter. If it's using its internal subtitle renderer you might want to peek into the settings and up the resolution as well as uncheck the "round to power of two" box. That'll sharpen the subtitles. |
| Posted by: Saint Feb 17 2011, 06:56 PM |
| I appreciate everything here, guys. I'll try SATSUKI when my Internet's back to its normal speed again. Regarding the settings, it didn't seem to change anything. To illustrate the problems: MPC-HC with unchecked 'round to power of two'  Image size reduced, original size: 1022 x 442. http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv317/IDW_Saint/MPCHC-Unchecked.png to view the image in its original dimension. MPC-HC with checked 'round to power of two'  Image size reduced, original size: 1023 x 442. http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv317/IDW_Saint/MPCHC-Checked.png to view the image in its original dimension. Don't look very different, but its default was already unchecked and it uses DirectVobSub. And no matter how I changed the Resolution setting, it didn't change anything either. It didn't give me the same problem with WMP:  Image size reduced, original size: 1024 x 449. http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv317/IDW_Saint/WMP-Usual.png to view the image in its original dimension. Note the resolution difference between WMP and MPC-HC; the former being more smooth with the images (i.e. the lines don't look choppy). Not just the subtitles, but also the picture itself as a whole. Edit: Not so obvious with the shrunk images here. Need to view in full resolution to see it. |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Feb 17 2011, 10:15 PM |
| Please confirm which filter is actually in use when using WMP and when using MPC-HC. WMP should be using VSFilter (there would be a green arrow icon in your taskbar by the clock). MPC-HC, check by going to Play->Filters. If MPC-HC is using VSFilter as well, it may not be interpreting it correctly. Try excluding VSFilter from MPC-HC's external filter options so it'll be forced to use its internal renderer. |
| Posted by: Saint Feb 17 2011, 11:29 PM |
Both use VSFilter (just realized it's DirectVobSub...  ) with the green arrow. There's no subtitle at all when I disabled it.But then again, thanks to your mention regarding filters and settings, I somehow 'tweaked' it based on random meddling with the settings. Not sure which exactly did the trick, but I think it's the 'doubled resolution' part. Play -> Filter -> DirectVobSub (auto-loading version) -> Properties -> General -> Doubled resolution The subs now:  Image size reduced, original size: 1023 x 441. http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv317/IDW_Saint/MPCHC-Fixed.png to view the image in its original dimension. Now the subtitles are fine (or even better than I used to have in XP days). The pictures are still the same, though. |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Feb 18 2011, 12:20 AM |
| What do you mean by "the pictures?" Are you talking about the video itself? |
| Posted by: Saint Feb 18 2011, 01:18 AM |
| Yeah the video. The pictures from the video. You know, like when you watch 50MB show compared to 300MB version of the same show, the picture/image/what-you-see when-the-video-runs quality would differ rather significantly. Sorry for the confusion. The one in MPC is choppy while WMP is smooth. Not the way the video moves (not the frame problem), but the picture/image in the video; the lines aren't smooth as illustrated in the screenshots earlier. Resolution issues perhaps? I'll look around on the settings, maybe the solution's the same with the previous sub problems. |
| Posted by: khat17 Feb 18 2011, 08:38 AM |
| After a reinstall Satsuki works fine after a full install. Must have been Windows being it's usual self. Anyways - not sure why you're experiencing that issue Saint. Can you screenie and post your settings in MPC-HC? |
| Posted by: khat17 Jan 16 2012, 02:44 PM |
| Looks like my wifi card has issues - just BSOD after typing a LONG string of stuff.........*sigh*. Anyways - again - Happy Christmas and Merry New Year to the IDW family. Posting about a new player on the market called PotPlayer. http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=148745 http://www.videohelp.com/tools/PotPlayer http://portableapps.com/node/27285 I'm thinking of making the switch to that. Tried with a test file (currently uploading) and 64bit versions of PotPlayer vs MPC-HC. Both using DXVA. Idle PotPlayer = ~30MB Idle MPC-HC = ~5MB PotPlayer - Playing Test File = ~30MB MPC-HC - Playing Test File = ~180MB After the file is uploaded I'll edit and post the link for you to test yourself. But I like what I see so far. http://mirillis.com/en/products/splash.html was another that looked promising, but PotPlayer is fully free and much better IMO. PotPlayer is developed by the same person who did KMPLAYER. The development is halted on KMPLAYER and the focus is now PotPlayer. So as it stands now, unless I need something to be a VFW decoder I don't install any codecs or even filters. For regular playback I just use MPC-HC (may be switching to PotPlayer after more tests). The video editing software that I use can open most encoded videos and if they have problems then I can use a free app like http://www.formatoz.com/ to do a codec or container change. Hope the info was helpful to you all. Have a good 2012. *EDIT* Link to test file. http://www.sendspace.com/file/26ztlk |
| Posted by: Nomake Wan Mar 23 2012, 10:54 PM |
| VLC 2.0.1 just got pushed to VLC users and it's quite nice. It apparently has a ton of updates including multi-core support, GPU decoding improvements and 10-bit h264 support. Good times! So how does it stack up? Well first off, it seems that the GPU decoding stuff still needs a little work. I ran a 1080p video I downloaded from YouTube through it and it nearly locked up my machine (albeit this was because the program was allowed a higher-than-normal priority by me). Disabling the GPU decoding does mean it uses more CPU but it's only really a 15% difference. That's still 30% or less while playing 1080p files so I don't hardly notice it. It should also be noted that running VLC as higher priority (now an option in VLC's own settings page) is not recommended, not only because it has the possibility of locking up your machine if something goes horribly wrong but also because increasing the program's priority inexplicably forces it to use only one CPU core. Returning it to normal settings restores full CPU load-balancing. I'm not sure if this is VLC's fault, Windows's fault, or a strange side-effect of using an AMD FX 4100 chip that uses the Windows 8 scheduler engine. However, once I went back to mostly default settings (GPU decoding disabled, standard program priority, frame skip to default in both FFmpeg and Video) the program runs flawlessly. It has no problem whatsoever decoding any 1080p files I throw at it--including ones with softsubs and fancy subtitle effects like Bakemonogatari or Nyoro~n Churuya-san--and most importantly, it has no trouble at all playing 10-bit h264 files. Even files that arguably cause my usual media player to chug (looking at you, THORA's release of REDLINE) play fabulously even in the most intense visual areas (full-screen static/pixelation effects). So honestly, while it's still not perfect--I really hope they get GPU decoding right soon--it's really, really, really good. Hell I'd easily recommend the current version of VLC for viewing any modern series. It's much simpler to install VLC than it is to install and configure something like MPC-HC with all its external filters to make things work nicely (Haali, MadVR, LAV, FFDshow, the list goes on). For ease of installation and use, and because it has not failed to play any series or clip I've thrown at it, I have to recommend VLC. If you wanna do something fancy and external codecs/demuxers/renderers are the way to do it, then by all means spend hours tweaking MPC-HC. For the rest... give VLC a try. It really is quite nice. |
| Posted by: Lebon14 Mar 23 2012, 11:05 PM |
| The KMPlayer v3.2 is all I need right now. Once using external subtitle processing, it's awesome |
| Posted by: khat17 Feb 10 2016, 05:01 AM |
| Bringing this thread back to life to include some information about Smart TV's and how to stream your files there. Get this program called UMS (http://www.universalmediaserver.com/) which seems to be based of PMS (http://www.ps3mediaserver.org/) and set it up. Share your folders. If you want to watch something and it just won't play here's something to try.......... Some video files may be encoded using 10bit which won't readily play back. These have to be transcoded on the fly for you to see. As such, there is a folder that you may see in the folder you've shared called TRANSCODE. Enter that folder and play the files from within there. You may see some files with prefix/suffix added saying FFMPEG or MENCODER - this denotes which filter will try to transcode the file for you to view on your TV. Simply play the file with the different prefix/suffix and see which one works for you. With this info, nothing will stop you from playing your videos on your SmartTV for yourself, family or friends to view your things on a larger screen. If you don't want this hassle (and you're the one doing the encoding from BD) then use any profile that's at H.264 - 1080p or lower. Also - I'd like to add information about the players I'm using now. MPC-HC - https://mpc-hc.org/ VLC - http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html PotPlayer - https://potplayer.daum.net/ Here are the reasons. MPC-HC Media Player Classic - Home Cinema has evolved from a simple player into something much more. It can play just about everything. It even plays RMVB now, which previously you needed programs called RealAlternative along with QuickTime Alternative in order to play those formats. And it supports hardware decoding. Good stuff. Persons who recall the days of H.264 when hardware decoding with your GPU saved single core CPUs from going to 100% will know how good this was. Anyways - let me not get too into kissing the backside of MPC-HC. I love it. Greatly. Has portable versions also - so no need to install. VLC I actually hate VLC. Not because it's a bad player, but because it has spoiled a lot of people. Then again - that's not entirely a bad thing. People would just be like "if your PC/laptop can't play it just install VLC" and it would just work. VLC has a large amount of decoders and filters built-in similar to MPC-HC. Portable versions are available. And it does one thing better than MPC-HC which is stream video from a seedbox. PotPlayer This is basically the updated version of KMPlayer. From what I recall it was sold and the developer started working on PotPlayer. Both are similar and KMPlayer may still be worth looking at - but I'm following the developer of the original app. You can find portable versions online, but not at the original site. You could also just extract the setup and then run the EXE for the version you downloaded - PotPlayer64.exe or PotPlayer.exe. Similar to VLC but has one thing over the others - will play broken files. Maybe not perfectly, but it will do so far better than the others. Hopefully that helps! |