Rendered MPG files not playing on WMP or Media Center

[GoHerdIBG]

I posted the following back in July:

"I have VideoStudio 10 Plus and an HDR-HC3 HDV camcorder. I also have 3 different HP Media Center computers throughout my home. A Z545, Z555, and an m5753c. After capturing video off of the HC3, an .mpg file is created. If I share (render) the original file as either an .avi, .wmv, or .mpg file, the video is very "choppy" and is not smooth. It is clearly high definition, but is very "jumpy". However, if I play the original captured .mpg file on the m5753c, it is perfect....about as good as hooking the camcorder up to the TV and playing it. Impressive video qualities.

But....I can not play the original captured .mpg file on the other two Media Center computers. I get no errors but the video never plays. I usually have to power down the computers because they are locked up pretty hard. I have tried to play the video using Windows Media Player and the videos do not play again. However, the status bar of the WMP indicates it is attempting to download a codec (or something else). All three computers are running MCE 2005 and have all updates applied. Is it possible that the manufacturer of the video card in the m5753c supplied a codec that was not supplied by the manufacturer of the video cards on the other two systems. If that is a possibility, how can I determine what codec is being downloaded? Does anyone know of a specific codec needed to play the original captured file? More importantly, should I even be able to play the original captured file?"

jchunter recommended the following settings:

"Compression: Mpeg2, bitrate variable= 25Mbps, Frame Size =1440x1080, Field Order = Upper Field First, Audio Datarate - 384 Mpeg Layer 2 @ 48Khz."

The above settings work perfectly to get a smooth video. However, I just rendered my 2nd tape and once again it will not play on my Z545 or my Z555. It will play, however, on my m5753c. All three systems are at the same patch level.

Is there a specific codec I need to install to get a rendered .mpg file to play?

Thanks again for any assistance.

[frantid]

I posted the following back in July:

"I have VideoStudio 10 Plus and an HDR-HC3 HDV camcorder. I also have 3 different HP Media Center computers throughout my home. A Z545, Z555, and an m5753c. After capturing video off of the HC3, an .mpg file is created. If I share (render) the original file as either an .avi, .wmv, or .mpg file, the video is very "choppy" and is not smooth. It is clearly high definition, but is very "jumpy". However, if I play the original captured .mpg file on the m5753c, it is perfect....about as good as hooking the camcorder up to the TV and playing it. Impressive video qualities.

But....I can not play the original captured .mpg file on the other two Media Center computers. I get no errors but the video never plays. I usually have to power down the computers because they are locked up pretty hard. I have tried to play the video using Windows Media Player and the videos do not play again. However, the status bar of the WMP indicates it is attempting to download a codec (or something else). All three computers are running MCE 2005 and have all updates applied. Is it possible that the manufacturer of the video card in the m5753c supplied a codec that was not supplied by the manufacturer of the video cards on the other two systems. If that is a possibility, how can I determine what codec is being downloaded? Does anyone know of a specific codec needed to play the original captured file? More importantly, should I even be able to play the original captured file?"

jchunter recommended the following settings:

"Compression: Mpeg2, bitrate variable= 25Mbps, Frame Size =1440x1080, Field Order = Upper Field First, Audio Datarate - 384 Mpeg Layer 2 @ 48Khz."

The above settings work perfectly to get a smooth video. However, I just rendered my 2nd tape and once again it will not play on my Z545 or my Z555. It will play, however, on my m5753c. All three systems are at the same patch level.

Is there a specific codec I need to install to get a rendered .mpg file to play?

Thanks again for any assistance.

You need to install a dvd codec for windows media player to play mpg files. I'm not sure but if you install windvd from the bonus pack, windows media player will use that codec to display the files. Personally I bought the nvidia pure video dvd decoder, but I've got an nvidia graphics card.

[DVDDoug]

My guess is that you need to install the HD Sony codec on all 3 computers. In order to do that, you may have to install the software package that came with the camera.

I'm not going to guess about the jumpy video... I have no idea.

[GoHerdIBG]

I downloaded a codec analyzer and here is what I found:

All three MCE systems are using WinDVD 5 as the DVD software. The two system where the video does not play have Intervideo codecs os version 5.0.11.776 and the newer MCE system (which plays the video) has a version 5.0.11.896 codec. I can't believe that the codec is the issue - expecially when the first video I create back in August plays on all 3 MCE systems now. Is it possible to upgrade the codec only?

Does MCE use WinDVD or WMP to play .mpg files? How can I determine? When I open an. mpg file from the OS, it uses WMP. Can I correctly assume MCE uses the OS selection also?

I am baffled at this point.

I created this latest HD video using the same parameters as I did for the HD video that DOES play (as recommended by jchunter in one my other posts).

When I capture the video, I do not set any preferences. I simply allow the raw video to determine the capture settings. Is this ok?

When I do try to play this new video using WMP (not MCE), it simply hangs with the status bar showing "Connecting...." and my network bandwidth utilization hits about 35%. It is attempting to download a codec?

Like I said before, I am lost to what to try. So far, I have punted and decided to uses Windows Movie Maker to rip the video as a Standard Definition AVI file so at least I can view using MCE.

In response to DVDDoug, all three systems are relatively the same. The newer MCE system (which plays the video) does NOT have the sony codec installed - just like the other two.

Thanks in advance for ANY advice or suggestions.

[frantid]

WMP and MCE usually use the last installed codec. Can you play standard dvd discs? If so it might be the audio codec. I would try to load the nvidia codec, there is a trial for it and it is designed for MCE.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/dvd_decode ... trial.html