Vista and MPEG codecs

M

MatiasZ

Regular
Hi everybody, I just had a clean Vista x64 install, and I was wondering which codec(s) should I install for mpeg1-2-4. I used to install DivX directly, but lots of my "older" mpegs would act funny, not allowing me to use the previously working index on the files (so to see them I had to view them from the begining, could not rewind, etc).

Is there a currently "best solution" to use, as far away from "codec packs" as possible? ffdshow perhaps?
 
For MPEG-1, I would use the one that comes with Windows, just because it seeks better even in broken files. The ffdshow MPEG-1 decoders don't seek as well, but they have better support for colourspace conversions.

For MPEG-2, I use PowerDVD, but I guess the ones in ffdshow are fine provided you have the necessary transport/program stream splitters.

For MPEG-4 ASP (xvid, divx), I use libavcodec in ffdshow. I find it to be fast and good quality.

For MPEG-4 AVC, you could use libavcodec but if you have a slow CPU it may not play very well due to the complexity of the decoding. There are many options, though, like PowerDVD and CoreAVC but they do cost money. I seem to remember DivX announcing an AVC codec, but I haven't seen any release yet.
 
Haali media splitter and ffdshow get you a lot of the way there.

Haali has expanded from it's intial role as a Matroska splitter to handle the MP4 container, MPEG-TS, and MPEG-PS files as well.

For MPEG 1 & 2 Vista has built-in decoders for both.

For MPEG 4 and audio FFDShow should support anything you might need.
 
mrcorbo said:
Haali media splitter and ffdshow get you a lot of the way there.

Haali has expanded from it's intial role as a Matroska splitter to handle the MP4 container, MPEG-TS, and MPEG-PS files as well.

For MPEG 1 & 2 Vista has built-in decoders for both.

For MPEG 4 and audio FFDShow should support anything you might need.
Click to expand...

Thank you all for your answers! I'm sorry for my ignorance, but what is a media splitter like Haali supposed to do?

EDIT: on ffdshow's Sourceforge page there are experimental x64 compiles. Should I use these ones or the "regular" ones??
 
I use the CCCP (combined community codec pack) which includes ffdshow, haali, media player classic and a few other things. actually I hate codec packs but this one is light, made from good stuff and is the official Matroska pack.
 
MatiasZ said:
Thank you all for your answers! I'm sorry for my ignorance, but what is a media splitter like Haali supposed to do?
Click to expand...

You need a splitter to split the audio from the video inside the container. Splitters are also sometimes called parsers.

Haali's splitter is the de facto, if not the official, DirectShow Matroska splitter for Windows. The neat thing about it is that it also includes a good renderer (Haali renderer), an MP4 splitter and an MPEG transport stream and program stream splitter. It even has an AVI splitter, but I don't use it as I find the Microsoft one is fine for my use.

So, the splitter lets you playback Matroska files (provided you have the codecs for the streams inside it which can be almost anything), MP4 files (without Quicktime, yay!) provided you have codecs for what can be inside MP4 (MPEG video codecs like MPEG-4 AVC and MPEG audio codecs like MPEG-2 AAC) and it's free.

You can get the same functionality (basically) if you buy PowerDVD or software like it, but who can argue with free? Also the renderer is really great IMHO, I use it all the time.
 
The splitter is typically for .mkv files that you might download online. Within those are primarily hi-def video files. Unless you're downloading video you don't really need the splitter under most circumstances.
 
Anarchist4000 said:
The splitter is typically for .mkv files that you might download online. Within those are primarily hi-def video files. Unless you're downloading video you don't really need the splitter under most circumstances.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that is basically the only thing this splitter is good for.

This is probably one of the most ignorant postings ever on this forum. How can you say that piracy is the only thing this splitter is good for?

If you are encoding your own videos with MeGUI and muxing it to Matroska, of course you need this splitter if you want any DirectShow based player to open the videos. MPC(-HC) and VLC has built-in Matroska splitters, but WMP doesn't, Winamp doesn't, ZoomPlayer doesn't and so on.

Please educate yourself, you are tarnishing the encoding enthusiast community with your ignorant posts. What you just said is like saying you don't need a powerful gaming GPU if you don't download pirated games from the Internet.
 
Bludd said:
Yeah, that is basically the only thing this splitter is good for.

This is probably one of the most ignorant postings ever on this forum. How can you say that piracy is the only thing this splitter is good for?

If you are encoding your own videos with MeGUI and muxing it to Matroska, of course you need this splitter if you want any DirectShow based player to open the videos. MPC(-HC) and VLC has built-in Matroska splitters, but WMP doesn't, Winamp doesn't, ZoomPlayer doesn't and so on.

Please educate yourself, you are tarnishing the encoding enthusiast community with your ignorant posts. What you just said is like saying you don't need a powerful gaming GPU if you don't download pirated games from the Internet.
Click to expand...

Perhaps I'm not reading correctly but I can't seem to find where he made any reference to piracy. ¿?
 
Bludd said:
Yeah, that is basically the only thing this splitter is good for.

This is probably one of the most ignorant postings ever on this forum. How can you say that piracy is the only thing this splitter is good for?

If you are encoding your own videos with MeGUI and muxing it to Matroska, of course you need this splitter if you want any DirectShow based player to open the videos. MPC(-HC) and VLC has built-in Matroska splitters, but WMP doesn't, Winamp doesn't, ZoomPlayer doesn't and so on.

Please educate yourself, you are tarnishing the encoding enthusiast community with your ignorant posts. What you just said is like saying you don't need a powerful gaming GPU if you don't download pirated games from the Internet.
Click to expand...

Where did I say anything about being used solely for piracy? That's like saying if you have AVI files on your computer you're a pirate. You're either making your own .mkv files or you're downloading them. I haven't seen them coming off of DVDs anywhere. And if you're making your own .mkv files you probably already have the required files in place to play them.
 
Anarchist4000 said:
Where did I say anything about being used solely for piracy? That's like saying if you have AVI files on your computer you're a pirate. You're either making your own .mkv files or you're downloading them. I haven't seen them coming off of DVDs anywhere. And if you're making your own .mkv files you probably already have the required files in place to play them.
Click to expand...

They come off DVDs if you make them yourself. Most (all?) encoder software that can output to Matroska does not contain this splitter. You obviously meant downloading copyrighted material, and if you are denying that, you must think we are all naive fools.

Anyway, I'll recommend the Haali splitter to anyone since it contains so much awesome stuff - the obvious Matroska support, MP4 support, a great renderer etc.
 
Tokelil said:
The MPEG2 codec isn't in all Vista options. (Basic, Business and Enterprise)
Click to expand...

Good point. I had forgotten about that.

MatiasZ said:
EDIT: on ffdshow's Sourceforge page there are experimental x64 compiles. Should I use these ones or the "regular" ones??
Click to expand...

The problem with X64 when it comes to media playback is that the entire playback chain from the player application to the splitters to all the individual decoders have to be X64 and as of right now there isn't a lot of support. There doesn't seem to be enough of a performance advantage to X64 to make it worthwhile, IMO. That having been said, you can go here to read about the Alpha X64 version of Media Player Classic and its format support. Using this application with the X64 ffdshow is probably the best you can do right now.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Blazkowicz said:
I use the CCCP (combined community codec pack) which includes ffdshow, haali, media player classic and a few other things. actually I hate codec packs but this one is light, made from good stuff and is the official Matroska pack.
Click to expand...

Not wild about the CCCP version of ffdshow, actually. The tryouts version that I linked to previously is being very actively developed right now and bug fixes are coming regularly. The CCCP development is much more conservative and while I understand their approach I think the tryouts team has delivered a better product.
 
I agree with you, mrcorbo. Also, I feel more comfortable installing each codec myself. I get what I need and use.
 
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