🔒 Locked

codecs

Started by AndreTheGiant Apr 18, 2004 at 5:21 PM 6 replies 750+ views

Original Post

AndreTheGiant

179

AndreTheGiant

Apr 18, 2004 at 5:21 PM

I have a movie (mpeg file) that I want to watch. The video plays, but I get a warning that the sound is encoded in an unrecognizable format or something. I tried to update my windows media player, and it told me I have the latest verstion. Ditto for my Divx Player. So How come I cant get sound? Is there such thing as an audio codec as well as a video codec? Even if there is, wouldnt that be included when they say this: --------------------------- Windows Media Configuration Manager --------------------------- You have the latest version of Windows Media Player 9 Series and all its components. No update is available at this time. --------------------------- OK --------------------------- ? What can I do?

Michalson

177

Michalson

Apr 18, 2004 at 5:31 PM

First, yes there are audio codecs. Did we just suddenly get mp3 compression for audio tracks out of the blue several years ago?

Second, just because Mediaplayer has all the updates Microsoft has available for redistribution does not mean it has all codecs in existance. DivX and Xvid are perfect examples of codecs that are not sent to Microsoft with the licencing for redistribution (with DivX it's for commercial reasons - if you never discover that the video uses DivX because of automatic downloading there isn't much chance you'll buy the full thing. Xvid is an opensource fork of DivX 4, and it doesn't even have official binary builds, let alone the setup needed to be testing, sending and verifying new versions with Microsoft).

Your file is likely encoded with some vague third party codec, perhaps even something proprietary to a particular piece of software or hardware (for instance old, old versions of the Ati AiW capture card used "vcr1" and "vcr2" video codecs when making AVIs, rather then allowing any codec [this was due to CPU constraints; the encoding had to hardcoded into the capture card because there just wasn't enough bandwidth to get it to the CPU, let alone encode it in real time]).

Download VirtualDub and use File->File Information to see whatever info there is about the audiostream. MPEG is a pretty limited format (it *is* a video codec essentially, unlike AVI which is simply a stream container). Standard MPEG file audio is MPEG Layer II encoded at 44Hz 224kps.

[edited by - michalson on April 18, 2004 6:33:49 PM]

Run_The_Shadows

107

Run_The_Shadows

Apr 18, 2004 at 5:33 PM

Install the Defiler Pak

Use Media Player Classic

Problems should get solved.

Yes, audio codecs exist and most people know about them, even if they don''t attach the name ''codec'' to what they are. The most popular, of course, being MP3. Most audio streams in movies are either MP3, OGG, or AAC.

- It''s a life''s work

40% Off ALL Hosting Plans
-ryan@lecherousjester.com

Michalson

177

Michalson

Apr 18, 2004 at 5:37 PM

quote:
Original post by Run_The_Shadows
Install the Defiler Pak

Use Media Player Classic

Problems should get solved.

Yes, audio codecs exist and most people know about them, even if they don''t attach the name ''codec'' to what they are. The most popular, of course, being MP3. Most audio streams in movies are either MP3, OGG, or AAC.

- It''s a life''s work

40% Off ALL Hosting Plans
-ryan@lecherousjester.com

He is using an MPEG file. I doubt the above will work - the codec pack is only for AVI (avi/asf/wmv) type streams and is just as likely to screw up his system if he has conflicting codecs already installed (in particular the Xvid and Vorbis components). Using Mediaplayer Classic will not solve his problems either - an unstable clone of MediaPlayer 6.4 (which is still available via mplayer2.exe) won''t magically add support for rare MPEG1 audio streams. Its only recently that MP Classic has actually got proper MPEG1 video decoding right.

Run_The_Shadows

107

Run_The_Shadows

Apr 18, 2004 at 6:23 PM

quote:
Original post by Michalson
quote:
Original post by Run_The_Shadows
Install the Defiler Pak

Use Media Player Classic

Problems should get solved.

Yes, audio codecs exist and most people know about them, even if they don''t attach the name ''codec'' to what they are. The most popular, of course, being MP3. Most audio streams in movies are either MP3, OGG, or AAC.

- It''s a life''s work

40% Off ALL Hosting Plans
-ryan@lecherousjester.com

He is using an MPEG file. I doubt the above will work - the codec pack is only for AVI (avi/asf/wmv) type streams and is just as likely to screw up his system if he has conflicting codecs already installed (in particular the Xvid and Vorbis components). Using Mediaplayer Classic will not solve his problems either - an unstable clone of MediaPlayer 6.4 (which is still available via mplayer2.exe) won''t magically add support for rare MPEG1 audio streams. Its only recently that MP Classic has actually got proper MPEG1 video decoding right.