First ever weird playback problem: Fourth Kind

[Marc_G]

The Fourth Kind released this week. I ripped a MKV out with 1.51b. No problems with the rip. Rip is done on a desktop.

Tested it by playing a moment or two with MPC-HC like I frequently do. Worked fine. Moved it over to my viewing queue hard drive on the HTPC.

Went to play it tonight and Windows Media Center 7 (32 bit) went loopy and just sat there with a black screen. Moved the mouse, and the time slider showed up. It registers as a 336 hour and some number of minutes / seconds movie. Guess it was playing really slow.

Tried playing the moved file with MPCHC, and it plays fine as a ~1 hour :38 minute or thereabouts movie. Just fine.

Tried playing it from WMC7-64 bit (the desktop): just a static blue screen.

I'm re-ripping it now as a test to see if I get the same problem. Will post log (would post the original one, but it was erased when I started re-ripping... I renew my request for MakeMKV not to wipe old logs).

I must have jinkxed myself when I told the other guy that I don't have problems playing VC-1 content. This thing is VC-1. The odd thing is that my WMC uses the MCP-HC standalone codec for VC-1 content, and MPC-HC application using that exact same codec plays the file fine. Just it dies in WMC. Nothing unusual seen in GRaphstudio or MediaInfoGUI. Just a 1080p VC-1 file. Meh.

Thoughts for troubleshooting? This is an annoyance, not a real showstopper since it plays fine in the MPC-HC application. But it's the first thing I've had in a long time that didn't play just fine in WMC7 (launched by Media Browser).

Marc

[Marc_G]

For the record I'm not stating the problem is with MakeMKV. I just don't have the ability to rule anything in or out so I leave it to those more knowledgeable than I.
Maybe it's just a bizarre encode, that MC (with VC1 decoded by the MPC-HC codec) has problems with but MPC-HC doesn't.

Here's the log and a picture of what I see on the time bar and graphstudio (from my 64 bit machine).

FK Time.gif

fk GUI.gif

fk graphstudio.gif

Debug log started at Wed Mar 17 02:37:16 2010 , written by MakeMKV v1.5.1 beta win(x64-release)
Using 524544KB for read cache.
001005:0000 MakeMKV v1.5.1 beta win(x64-release) started
001004:0000 Debug logging enabled, log will be saved as C:\Users\xxxx/MakeMKV_log.txt
003007:0000 Using direct disc access mode
DISCID=E1AE41192BBE8F905E7513F0A4A6175A1B312594
003025:0000 Title #00099.mpls has length of 118 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
003307:0000 File 00000.mpls was added as title #0
003307:0000 File 00080.mpls was added as title #1
003025:0000 Title #01055.mpls has length of 118 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
003025:0000 Title #01056.mpls has length of 118 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
003307:0000 File 00010.mpls was added as title #2
003025:0000 Title #00000.m2ts has length of 23 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
003025:0000 Title #00001.m2ts has length of 14 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
003025:0000 Title #00002.m2ts has length of 59 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
003025:0000 Title #00062.m2ts has length of 68 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
003025:0000 Title #00078.m2ts has length of 73 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
003025:0000 Title #50057.m2ts has length of 23 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
003025:0000 Title #50058.m2ts has length of 23 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
003025:0000 Title #00084.m2ts has length of 59 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
003025:0000 Title #00085.m2ts has length of 59 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
003025:0000 Title #50106.m2ts has length of 66 seconds which is less than minimum title length of 120 seconds and was therefore skipped
005011:0000 Operation sucessfully completed
005014:0000 Saving 1 titles into directory C:/Video/The_Fourth_Kind
004001:0000 Forced subtitles track #3 turned out to be empty and was removed from output file
004001:0000 Forced subtitles track #5 turned out to be empty and was removed from output file
004001:0000 Forced subtitles track #7 turned out to be empty and was removed from output file
004001:0000 Forced subtitles track #9 turned out to be empty and was removed from output file
004001:0000 Forced subtitles track #11 turned out to be empty and was removed from output file
005005:0000 1 titles saved
005036:0104 Copy complete. 1 titles saved.
Application exited at Wed Mar 17 03:10:34 2010

Anyone else having this problem?

[mike admin]

What happens if you play it with a latest VLC nightly build?

[Marc_G]

Which file should I grab from here:

http://nightlies.videolan.org/build/win32/?C=M;O=D

Also, my experimental system is x64. Do they have a 64 page hidden somewhere? I don't install stuff on my x32 HTPC out of fear of screwing something up and annoying the wife.

Meanwhile I ripped a .m2ts version of the movie off the disc with another (non-MakeMKV) tool. The .m2TS also fails in Media Center (the x64 version, at least, haven't tested the x32). I don't usually use m2TS so have some trouble interpretting the results... it told me it couldn't find the file (strange!). Not "can't find files required to play this file" but it actually couldn't find the file. Huh. It's right there, silly! MPC-HC played the file just fine.

I'm chalking this one up to bizarre encoded version of VC-1 based on the above info. I'm just gonna watch the movie in MPCHC and move on, though it bugs me not to know why this is happening. I play lots of other VC1 content, and have no problems. I swear I jinxed myself on that other post where I said VC1 works fine for me.

Marc

[setarip_old]

@Marc_G

I just wanted to point out that regarding "The Fourth Kind" BluRay, I tripped across something very unusual in the review by the extremely reliable HiDef Digest. The following is per their review:

Technical Specs
Blu-ray
BD-50 Double-Layer Disc
Region Free
Video Resolution/Codec
1080p/AVC MPEG-4
Aspect Ratio(s)
2.35:1

[NomadCF]

@setarip_old

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Fourt ... -ray/8341/

Plus I just went up the Library and picked this video up and yep it's VC-1.

[setarip_old]

Very unusual regarding "HiDef Digest" Until now, they've been spot-on...

[setarip_old]

@Marc_G

In the realm of experimentation (while your wife is otherwise occupied ;>}), would you please try the following:

1) Change your minimum filesize/time to 2 seconds

2) WITHOUT demuxing, load the MKV file into the most current "MKVMerge" - and simply select "Start Muxing".

3) See if the new resultant, slightly larger .MKV yields better playback performance

[Marc_G]

Will poke around this weekend. Thanks.

[Marc_G]

@Marc_G

In the realm of experimentation (while your wife is otherwise occupied ;>}), would you please try the following:

1) Change your minimum filesize/time to 2 seconds

2) WITHOUT demuxing, load the MKV file into the most current "MKVMerge" - and simply select "Start Muxing".

3) See if the new resultant, slightly larger .MKV yields better playback performance

Hi Setarip, (& Mike)

I loaded the original MakeMKV-outputted (is that a word?) into MKVMerge GUI 3.2.0, and started the muxing. Figured I would try this step first before changing the minimum filesize step.

The MKVMerge output file plays fine in Media Center, at least upstairs on my x64 desktop. I'm copying it down to the x32 HTPC now. Let's assume it works there too unless I post differently.

Why would the MKVMerge output play and the MakeMKV output not? Is there some data I can collect and provide to aid in an investigation of this?

Marc

The resulting

[setarip_old]

@Marc_G

(From "Day one", I've had MakeMKV set to 2 seconds)

It was because your differing results on different software and hardware intrigued me that I too used MakeMKV to create an .MKV of "The Fourth Kind" (I thing the "fourth kind" are program developers ;>}). I discovered that although it played under WMP11(normally plays all other MKVs), the slider could not be used to go to a point in time. So, I tried exactly what I asked you to do - and the resultant MKVMerge-processed .MKV worked properly under WMP11 (as well as several other software players).

I'm sure "mike-admin" will resolve this shortly.

BTW It apparently has nothing to do with chapters, as the original problematic .MKV DOES contain chapter information. I'd sooner guess it's related to timecodes or lack thereof...

[Marc_G]

Thanks Setarip. Good info. I have no doubt Mike will use the detailed input you've given and correct the problem if it lies within the realm of MakeMKV.

Because this is the first time I've ever had an output from MakeMKV not play properly (except 1080i VC1, which is definitely a problem on the player side, not MAKEMKV), and because the file played fine in some players, I was very reluctant to blame MakeMKV.

Thanks for the help.

Marc

[setarip_old]

Thanks for the help.

You're quite welcome ;>}