4 replies to this topic

[jeanrosenfeld]

I have encountered a problem with Videowave, but I think it may be due to my (relatively) limited system specs. Could someone confirm this or advise.

Problem:

In Videowave, if I set to hardware acceleration and try to load high resolution (1440 by 1080 pixels or greater, 24 bit 24 fps) HD .wmv files downloaded from


http://www.microsoft...ntshowcase.aspx


Videowave stops responding and I have to end it in Taskmanager.

However, using software acceleration, the file loads and although the preview is very jerky, converting to mpeg 2 high quality works fine and the mpeg 2 file is smooth (though of course a lower resolution).

The high resolution 1440 by 1080 pixels HD .wmv files play smoothly in WMP 11 beta 2 or PowerDVD 7.

HD .wmv files 1280 by 720 or smaller load without problems in Vodeowave with hardware acceleration and preview is smooth, and I have not had problems using hardware acceleration with any other video clips of various types, but they are all lower resolution. Doing the graphics test, Videowave is happy to have hardware acceleration (render only: 690fps render and copy, 105 fps, 167 Mb/s video to memory).

I should perhaps point out that I am using these video clips to learn how to use Videowave functions, not as part of a real project.

System specs:

Dell Dimension 8300 BIOS version A07 (latest available)
P4 3 GHz, Hyperthreading on
Sapphire Radeon X800GTO 256MB AGP 8x (with all 16 pipelines active out of the box, I got lucky) ATI cat 6.8 drivers (latest available)
1024 MB RAM
120GB SATA hard drive (C:\ OS partition 64 GB, 44GB free; F:\ data partition 50 GB, 30GB free)
Dell 1800FP LCD monitor, DV-I connected. Screen set at monitor's native resolution 1280 by 1024, 32 bit colour depth, 60Hz refresh.
Liteon LTD 163 DVD-ROM
Nec ND-3100AD DVD+RW
XP home SP2 all updates; IE 7 RC1; WMP 11 beta 2. EMC 9 complete install +contents (all components registered; installation and registration done under IE 6)

Edited by jeanrosenfeld, 20 September 2006 - 10:27 AM.

[ggrussell]

Which one did you download?  I tried a few, but I think they were all 1280X720.

I just downloaded Alexander 1080p and Videowave 9 loaded it fine.  I was able to edit, cut, etc.  Your machine is more than capable. Must be a codec issue or something.  Does the file play in WMP?  BTW, your video card is much faster than mine so I don't think having Videowave set at hardware is the problem unless it's a driver compatiblity issue.

Edited by ggrussell, 20 September 2006 - 08:23 PM.

[jeanrosenfeld]

Thanks.


As luck would have it, you chose the one file (Alexander_trailer_1080p.wmv (1920 x 1080) that actually won't play in WMP11 beta2 although it does in WMP10 :-). It generates an error (WMP must close) that points to a fault in WMVideo Decoder DMO version that comes with wmp 11 beta 2 (which I've reported to the MS WMP team and was told they were doing more work on the decoder; WMP11 beta 1 actually failed on several other of the Windows HD showcase files that were OK in WMP 10 and are in WMP 11 beta 2, so beta 2 did show some improvement over beta 1).


I had therefore not tried that one in Videowave. But doing so now, with hardware rendering I get the opening screen showing in the Preview screen, but the rest of the preview window (below the picture) does not load and Task manager shows Videowave not responding. If I first set Videowave to software rendering it loads and works, although the preview is very jerky (the sound is smooth but only some of the frames show in the preview); conversion works fine.


That aside, the others that cause Videowave to hang if I use hardware rendering are the 1440 x 1080 pixel ones, such as Corel_Reef Adventure_1080, Amazon_1080, Amazing Caves_1080. These all play smoothly in WMP11 beta 2.


Since you assure me that my system should be able to use hardware rendering for those files I'll try uninstalling WMP 11 beta 2 and revert to WMP 10, to see if it is the v 11 of the WMVideo decoder DMO that is at the root of the problem. I'll report back on what I find. That's what beta testing is about, I suppose.

Edited by jeanrosenfeld, 21 September 2006 - 03:49 PM.

[jeanrosenfeld]

Success! After rolling back to WMP10, all the windows HD showcase files (including Alexander trailer 1080) that previously caused Videowave to hang with hardware rendering now load and play perfectly, and all functions such as trim, split also work.

I'll report it in the WMP 11 beta forum.

I'll stick with WMP 10 for now; the next released build of WMP 11 should have improved codecs.

Many thanks for pointing me in the direction of codec issues.

Edited by jeanrosenfeld, 21 September 2006 - 03:49 PM.

[ggrussell]

I don't like the idea that Microsoft's WMP 11 could affect the codecs used in my video editors.  Sounds like they are messing with the merit values  Microsoft's really batting 1000 with their betas. LOL