Thanks for your time
Should I use ffdshow?
Moderator: Ken Berry
Should I use ffdshow?
Hi - When I start a new project, insert a video clip, and play the clip using the updated VS 11 Plus, I get a message that says "VS has made an attemt to load ffdshow." I have options to allow it or not. I have not allowed it yet and wonder if I should.
Thanks for your time
Thanks for your time
Hi MailTruck,
I get that message too, after I installed ffdshow as part of another encoding program. I've experimented with allowing VS to use it, and it appears to make no significant difference, either beneficial or detrimental. I haven't done any thorough comparisons of results, however. I'm sure that somewhere there's a checkbox or setting that can prevent the prompt from appearing - it does get a bit tiresome.
You could uninstall ffdshow, but if you're like me, you may need it for other stuff.
I get that message too, after I installed ffdshow as part of another encoding program. I've experimented with allowing VS to use it, and it appears to make no significant difference, either beneficial or detrimental. I haven't done any thorough comparisons of results, however. I'm sure that somewhere there's a checkbox or setting that can prevent the prompt from appearing - it does get a bit tiresome.
You could uninstall ffdshow, but if you're like me, you may need it for other stuff.
JVC GR-DV3000u Panasonic FZ8 VS 7SE Basic - X2
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ffdshow is an MPEG4 Codec.
Further details here
Further details here
If VideoStudio uses ffdshow to read your source mpeg2 video files instead of it's own ulead mpeg codec who knows what the results can be.
I think you can disable ffdshow without having to un-install it.
These codecs do usually crash VS or can also prevent VS from launching.
Instructions for ffdshow
If you don't have MPEG2 decoder, then try this steps below with ffdshow.
Setting ffdshow video decoder:
1. Download and install ffdshow (http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow)
2. In start menu open "ffdshow" -> "Video decoder configuration"
3. Choose "Codec" tab
4. Find in the table, under "Format" column, "MPEG2" row.
5. In "Decoder" column choose "libavcodec" for "MPEG2".
6. Choose "Apply" and "OK"
Setting ffdshow audio decoder:
1. In start menu open "ffdshow" -> "Audio decoder configuration"
2. Choose "Codec" tab
3. Find in the table, under "Format" column, "MP1,MP2" row.
4. In "Decoder" column choose "mp3lib" for "MP1,MP2"
5. Choose "Apply" and "OK"
I think you can disable ffdshow without having to un-install it.
These codecs do usually crash VS or can also prevent VS from launching.
Instructions for ffdshow
If you don't have MPEG2 decoder, then try this steps below with ffdshow.
Setting ffdshow video decoder:
1. Download and install ffdshow (http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow)
2. In start menu open "ffdshow" -> "Video decoder configuration"
3. Choose "Codec" tab
4. Find in the table, under "Format" column, "MPEG2" row.
5. In "Decoder" column choose "libavcodec" for "MPEG2".
6. Choose "Apply" and "OK"
Setting ffdshow audio decoder:
1. In start menu open "ffdshow" -> "Audio decoder configuration"
2. Choose "Codec" tab
3. Find in the table, under "Format" column, "MP1,MP2" row.
4. In "Decoder" column choose "mp3lib" for "MP1,MP2"
5. Choose "Apply" and "OK"
No. I was inserting avi's captured from my Sony MiniDV camera. I don't have Xvid or DivX installed yet, but may soon. FFDShow was installed to be used by WinAmp for receiving streaming video.vidoman wrote:Let me guess at what type of file you're attempting to insert... uhhh DivX or Xvid correct?
Do you have Xvid or DivX installed on your PC? If you have DivX, you don't need the FFDSHOW codec. FFDSHOW is codec used for VFW, DiretShow, as well as DivX and Xvid.
I thought that ffdshow might provide a benefit if I used it with VS, but I'd rather not risk it. So far, everything seems to work fine, with no real codec conflicts.
Thanks to you all for the help.
A confusion of codec packs
From my tests thus far, no apparent difference, either of benefit or disbenefit.etech6355 wrote:If VideoStudio uses ffdshow to read your source mpeg2 video files instead of it's own ulead mpeg codec who knows what the results can be.
I think it would be more accurate to say that many people get confused with codecs, and that having these codecs CAN cause problems, possibly due to mis-configuration. I have ffdshow and DivX 6.7, amongst others, installed on my pc, and experience no problems - other than that annoying prompt relating to the use of ffdshow.etech6355 wrote:These codecs do usually crash VS or can also prevent VS from launching.
There are undoubtedly bogus codec packs out there on the net, however, and they seem to be a favourite tool for introducing malware to pc's, using a "honeytrap" scheme. I think it would be unfair to compare ffdshow with the codecs offered by, say, a pop up box from a XXX website. People should only download codecs from a reputable site, such as sourceforge.net.
I would agree, however, that it's best not to install large collections of codecs onto a pc, such as the K-Lite pack, for example.
The above seem to be instructions for enabling ffdshow. Not sure what you're trying to say!etech6355 wrote:I think you can disable ffdshow without having to un-install it.
Instructions for ffdshow
If you don't have MPEG2 decoder, then try this steps below with ffdshow.
Setting ffdshow video decoder:
1. Download and install ffdshow (http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow)
2. In start menu open "ffdshow" -> "Video decoder configuration"
3. Choose "Codec" tab
4. Find in the table, under "Format" column, "MPEG2" row.
5. In "Decoder" column choose "libavcodec" for "MPEG2".
6. Choose "Apply" and "OK"
Setting ffdshow audio decoder:
1. In start menu open "ffdshow" -> "Audio decoder configuration"
2. Choose "Codec" tab
3. Find in the table, under "Format" column, "MP1,MP2" row.
4. In "Decoder" column choose "mp3lib" for "MP1,MP2"
5. Choose "Apply" and "OK"
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Enable ffdshow as video decoder for ulead
Hi:
I was wondering how I may perhaps use ffdshow as a video decoder for ulead. I'm trying to edit a quicktime H.264 file and export it as mpeg-4. The resulting mpeg4 file is good but some portions of the file are jerky (especially when there is movement in the scene). In the source file the movement is smooth. In fact, I still get this jerkiness using other output formats as well (avi, wmv). So I was thinking of trying a different video decoder!!??
In Ulead 11+, under File > Preferences > Edit Tab, I set the Resampling Quality to "Best" but that didn't help. So, now I'm wondering how I may perhaps use ffdshow.
Based on what was posted before, I tried to configure ffdshow (beta4) which I already had installed. In the ffdshow video decoder configuration, under the Codes tab, there is no "Quicktime" under the format column, and the H.264/AVC format line already has libavcodec set as the Decoder. Under the "DirectShow control" tab I tried to add the Videostudio executable as one of the programs that can use ffdshow, but I didn't notice any difference when I tried to run VideoStudio afterwards.
Does anyone know the correct approach?
Thanks.
I was wondering how I may perhaps use ffdshow as a video decoder for ulead. I'm trying to edit a quicktime H.264 file and export it as mpeg-4. The resulting mpeg4 file is good but some portions of the file are jerky (especially when there is movement in the scene). In the source file the movement is smooth. In fact, I still get this jerkiness using other output formats as well (avi, wmv). So I was thinking of trying a different video decoder!!??
In Ulead 11+, under File > Preferences > Edit Tab, I set the Resampling Quality to "Best" but that didn't help. So, now I'm wondering how I may perhaps use ffdshow.
Based on what was posted before, I tried to configure ffdshow (beta4) which I already had installed. In the ffdshow video decoder configuration, under the Codes tab, there is no "Quicktime" under the format column, and the H.264/AVC format line already has libavcodec set as the Decoder. Under the "DirectShow control" tab I tried to add the Videostudio executable as one of the programs that can use ffdshow, but I didn't notice any difference when I tried to run VideoStudio afterwards.
Does anyone know the correct approach?
Thanks.
Hi cek333,
you won't find "Quicktime" listed in the codecs because it's not a format - though it's associated with a couple of formats. For instance. many digital cameras shoot video clips in Quicktime .mov format - but that uses frame based mjpeg compression.
H.264 uses long groups of frames, and is not well suited for editing. It may well be that you just can't get decent results whatever you do.
You can try setting the default codec for H.264 to be libavcodec, and it sounds like you've already done that - but with no noticeable benefit. That seems to correlate with my experiments with setting the mpeg-2 codec to use the libavcodec - I found no visible (or audible) difference in test encodes using VS.
What are the file properties of your source H.264 video? If it uses standard fame sizes, eg 720x480 etc, you might be able to try encoding it to, say, DV avi, doing you edits, then encoding the project back to H.264. It could possibly give better results, but ANY re-encoding will result in a loss of picture quality.
That's why I'm so disappointed to see that the DV25 format seems to be being phased out in camcorders - all the hard drive and flash card camcorders use a compressed format, less suited to editing. Current SDHC cards come in up to 16GB capacity, with sufficient write speeds to enable DV25 (miniDV avi) to be written to them - yet there appear to be no camcorders on the market with that capability.
you won't find "Quicktime" listed in the codecs because it's not a format - though it's associated with a couple of formats. For instance. many digital cameras shoot video clips in Quicktime .mov format - but that uses frame based mjpeg compression.
H.264 uses long groups of frames, and is not well suited for editing. It may well be that you just can't get decent results whatever you do.
You can try setting the default codec for H.264 to be libavcodec, and it sounds like you've already done that - but with no noticeable benefit. That seems to correlate with my experiments with setting the mpeg-2 codec to use the libavcodec - I found no visible (or audible) difference in test encodes using VS.
What are the file properties of your source H.264 video? If it uses standard fame sizes, eg 720x480 etc, you might be able to try encoding it to, say, DV avi, doing you edits, then encoding the project back to H.264. It could possibly give better results, but ANY re-encoding will result in a loss of picture quality.
That's why I'm so disappointed to see that the DV25 format seems to be being phased out in camcorders - all the hard drive and flash card camcorders use a compressed format, less suited to editing. Current SDHC cards come in up to 16GB capacity, with sufficient write speeds to enable DV25 (miniDV avi) to be written to them - yet there appear to be no camcorders on the market with that capability.
JVC GR-DV3000u Panasonic FZ8 VS 7SE Basic - X2
If you right-click on the video while it's on the timeline and select "Media Properties" or "Properties" see if there is any fielding information. Many times the video can be fielded/interlaced and VS may not know this, therefore treating the video as if it's frame_based/progressive format (no fielding).he resulting mpeg4 file is good but some portions of the file are jerky (especially when there is movement in the scene).
You may have to experiment with this when exporting.
Usually your best bet for Mov files is buying "QuickTime Pro", load the Mov into quicktime pro and export it out to an editable format that's compatible with VS.
The video is not standard size and after some experimenting it seems to be frame based. As 2Dogs mentioned, it's probably not suitable for editing. I'll take a look into Quicktime Pro.
I was thinking of picking up a camcorder sometime later this year. I wasn't aware the DV format was being phased-out. That's a shame.
Well thanks for your feedback. Just in case I don't make any more posts this year, Happy New Year greetings to all.
I was thinking of picking up a camcorder sometime later this year. I wasn't aware the DV format was being phased-out. That's a shame.
Well thanks for your feedback. Just in case I don't make any more posts this year, Happy New Year greetings to all.