Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Brian B]

So, I've been currently using XBMC and wanted to try JRiver to see (hear?) if the sound on music was any better and/or try it on TV shows (that I watch often) to see if the picture is any better.

My questions...

1) Does JRiver allow for multi-channel PCM output?  I read through the audio section of the wiki and it seems that if I don't turn on bitstream the answer is yes, but it wasn't 100% clear.  I need this due to my setup (which takes in multi-channel digital over PCM only).

Initial tests with some multi-channel files seem to point to this working fine.

2) In XBMC I can click a checkbox and only display unwatched TV shows.  This is a fantastic feature and one of the reasons I dropped my Dune player with Zappiti.  After I watch something it gets marked "watched" and it disappears.  I can click on an episode and easily mark it watched too.  I can't seem to find an easy way to do this with JRiver.  Am I missing something?  It would be a huge shame if this is not possible.

Solved, see below.

3) I just started to mess with the music, but is there a way to show the picture of an artist in the artist listing?  So far, all I get are pictures of albums that artist recorded.  I don't have pictures of the artist on the drive.  XBMC uses the name and loads a picture of the artist--it isn't that accurate, but I can then just click on the icon and save a picture I prefer to use.  Does JRiver have something like this?

Solved, see below.

I'll probably have more questions about the music, but if I can't do 2) above, then I don't know how excited I will be about changing over.

Thanks!
Brian

[adamt]

Welcome to the forum!

1.) MC should work fine on that setup.
2.) With JRiver's expressions it's possible to organize your shows in any way you'd like. Search for "unwatched expression" or something similar. 
3.) Select the files you'd like to have artist images for and go to [Tools > Cover Art > Get Artist Images From Last.FM]

[glynor]

Here's how I modify the default watched/unwatched behavior, and it works extremely well:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=85974.0

The best way to use this to hide previously watched episodes is probably to make a customized Media View in Theater View which excludes videos you want excluded.  If you use my custom Watched system described in the link above, you could just exclude anything where Watched contains a checkmark.

I haven't ever gone back and finished it, but this should give you an idea of the kinds of things you can do with the Media Views in Theater View:
https://vimeo.com/80925331

[Brian B]

Here's how I modify the default watched/unwatched behavior, and it works extremely well:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=85974.0

The best way to use this to hide previously watched episodes is probably to make a customized Media View in Theater View which excludes videos you want excluded.  If you use my custom Watched system described in the link above, you could just exclude anything where Watched contains a checkmark.

I haven't ever gone back and finished it, but this should give you an idea of the kinds of things you can do with the Media Views in Theater View:
https://vimeo.com/80925331

Wow...what an endeavor!  Well, I copied your expressions and created played, % watched and % completed and this all seemed to work fine.

(1) I went into Tools>Theater View
(2) Highlighted "Shows" under Items To Show
(3) Selected "Set rules for file display..." on the right.
(4) Clicked "Add New Rule" button
(5) Selected "Watched" from the pulldown carrot
(6) Changed "is" to "is not" from pulldown carrot
(7) Selected (check mark) in last selection and hit apply button

Seems to work like I want.  Thanks much for taking the time to help.

B.

[glynor]

Glad it is working for you.  There is a built-in system for Watched/Non status, by the way.  It just isn't as nice or flexible as mine.  It probably works for most people, though.  The main difference is that with the built-in one, a show doesn't "trigger" that it has been watched (even partially) until you've watched at least 50% of it.  And, it resets itself too easily if you rewind back before that point.

But, part of the beauty of MC's flexible database and Media View system is that if you don't like quite how something works, you can almost always tweak it to solve the problem!

[Brian B]

Welcome to the forum!
 
3.) Select the files you'd like to have artist images for and go to [Tools > Cover Art > Get Artist Images From Last.FM]

Ok, so this, aside from locking up J River for a while this worked really well!

3a. All the imported pictures have a white border around them.  How do I get rid of this?

Solved.
(1) Select Tools-> Options> Tree & View
(2) Click on Thumbnails
(3) Uncheck "Draw frames on image thumbnails"

4. What is the proper tagging for multiple artists?  For XBMC I use Artist1 / Artist2.  Obviously, this is not correct for JR and it gives me an artist called "artist1 / artist2".

Per Glynor ";"  Not tested as of yet.

5. Also, I have compilations tagged with "Various Artist" under Album Artist and then the Artist under Artist (for the song).  These are all lumped under a single artist called "Various Artist."  What is the proper tagging or can JR be set to pull all these artists out separately?

Changed from Album Artist Auto --> Album Artist and fixed display to separate artists.

Slowly getting there...

B.

[glynor]

4. What is the proper tagging for multiple artists?  For XBMC I use Artist1 / Artist2.  Obviously, this is not correct for JR and it gives me an artist called "artist1 / artist2".

They're semicolon delimited.  All List Type fields are semi-colon delimited in MC, including [Artist], [Genre], and [Keywords] (as examples).  I think there's actually a "standard" about this somewhere...

In the weeds discussion (read only if you care about the details):

As an aside, [Artist] and [Genre] are somewhat special cases.  They're treated as List Type fields when displayed in the application, but they are treated as regular old string fields when they're edited.  That's why you don't get the same List-Type field editor in the Tag Action Window when you edit those particular two fields.

They're kind of a hybrid.  [Keywords] works like a regular List-Type field.  One of the main differences is if you use the Panes to do tagging.  For [Artist] and [Genre], if you want to change a tag from "Greatful Dead" (misspelled) to "Grateful Dead" (or "The Grateful Dead" if you prefer) then you can just select the mis-named files and check the box for the right name in the Artist pane.  If you do the same with [Keywords], you have to also uncheck the previous one, as the tagging process is additive, rather than replacing.

I hope all this makes sense.  It is kinda getting into the weeds, but you seemed like a pretty experienced user (just not of MC).

The rest of your questions are probably addressed by others who know more about the Album Artist system in MC.  I turn it off and just use Artist, because I don't care about compilation albums, and I'm weird.  You can also search for Album Artist and Album Artist (Auto) on the forum and wiki, as I know it has been discussed ad nauseam in the past here.  I might try to re-read them and see if I know more, but I knew this one.

[glynor]

Ok, so this, aside from locking up J River for a while this worked really well!

Yeah... They should probably put that in the Action Window with a progress bar.  I think most of the time when it is used, it is only for a handful of files (all of which have the same Artist since you just ripped a disc), but... Yeah.

5. Also, I have compilations tagged with "Various Artist" under Album Artist and then the Artist under Artist (for the song).  These are all lumped under a single artist called "Various Artist."  What is the proper tagging or can JR be set to pull all these artists out separately?

Read the stuff about Album Artist and Album Artist (Auto).  You may want to use it.

The default views they give you in MC all do use it.  So where the column says "Artist" at the top, it isn't actually the [Artist] field it is showing, it is showing the [Album Artist (Auto)] field, which is calculated using the combination of [Artist] and [Album Artist] and other factors.  You can change them though, to use just the regular [Artist] field, if you want.

Lots of people seem to like the Album Artist system, though, so you might want to check it out.  I think it is pretty flexible.

[glynor]

3a. All the imported pictures have a white border around them.  How do I get rid of this?

Found it:

Tools > Options > Tree & View > Thumbnails > Draw frames on image thumbnails.

Turn it off.  Close the View and re-open it (switch elsewhere in the Tree and back) to see the results.

[glynor]

They're semicolon delimited.  All List Type fields are semi-colon delimited in MC, including [Artist], [Genre], and [Keywords] (as examples).  I think there's actually a "standard" about this somewhere...

By the way, select the files, and do Right-Click > Library Tools > Find and Replace.  You should be able to make short work of converting the slashes to semicolons.

[Brian B]

That's good to know, but before I start altering my library I'm going to install the software on the HTPC and see how well it goes after a week or so of listening and watching.

B.

[glynor]

That's good to know, but before I start altering my library I'm going to install the software on the HTPC and see how well it goes after a week or so of listening and watching.

MC uses its internal database (called the Library) for all operations.  The Library (again, the database, not the files) is The Truth.  MC keeps the file tags in sync, but doesn't actually use them for anything at all, once the files have been imported (that's exclusively for backup and interchange with other applications).

While evaluating MC, you can "protect" your files from any changes by disabling Tag Writing:
Tools > Options > General > Importing & Tagging > Update tags when file info changes

With that unchecked, MC will not, under any circumstances, write tag changes to the files.  But otherwise, it will work identically, and you can make any changes you want without impacting the files.

After you've finished evaluating, you can turn this back on, and then batch update the files to match any changes you've made by selecting them and doing Right Click > Library Tools > Update Tags (From Library).  This "pushes" the tags from MC back into the files, wherever they don't already match.

[Brian B]

So...my excitement at getting this up and running soon turned to frustration.

6. Gizmo and the display on the computer are not in agreement about what is watched and what isn't.  I went into the controls for Gizmo and set the same rule I did at the computer, but it just shows everything.

Solved.  As suggested below, after J River was reset this was consistent.

7. Ok, so I plodded on and got into the Theater View mode and selected an episode to play and there is no picture.  I can tell that its playing because I hear the sound, but no picture.  When I tried to get out the program locked up and required a restart.  I restarted and tried a different show but the same thing happens.  The video is fine otherwise--the menus, etc. all work.  Any ideas?

8. I tried the music and although it plays fine, the interface seems problematic.  
a) There is no easy way to get back to the queue from other places (ex. Artists, Albums, etc.)
b) It is too easy to accidently start a song playing rather than adding it to the queue.
c) In the Theaterview mode the tablet changes to a simple display--it would be nice to use the tablet as normal.

Ahhh, well that's it for me for the evening at least.

B.

[glynor]

6. Gizmo and the display on the computer are not in agreement about what is watched and what isn't.  I went into the controls for Gizmo and set the same rule I did at the computer, but it just shows everything.

The settings for Media Network custom Views don't take effect until you close and re-launch MC.  This includes closing the Library Server (running in the system tray) if you use that option.

7. Ok, so I plodded on and got into the Theater View mode and selected an episode to play and there is no picture.  I can tell that its playing because I hear the sound, but no picture.  When I tried to get out the program locked up and required a restart.  I restarted and tried a different show but the same thing happens.  The video is fine otherwise--the menus, etc. all work.  Any ideas?

That's no good, and certainly not normal.  Something was borked up.  Possibly GPU drivers?

Can you describe a bit more what machine you're running it on?  And, is video playback set to Red October Standard or HQ?

8. I tried the music and although it plays fine, the interface seems problematic.  
a) There is no easy way to get back to the queue from other places (ex. Artists, Albums, etc.)
b) It is too easy to accidently start a song playing rather than adding it to the queue.
c) In the Theaterview mode the tablet changes to a simple display--it would be nice to use the tablet as normal.

I'm not entirely sure I follow here, but I'll try to assist.

a) Do you mean from in Theater View?  F11 cycles between Current Location in the Views, the root View of Theater View, and fullscreen Display View (assuming something is playing).  Is that what you mean by "queue"?  Or do you mean Playing Now inside Theater View?

b) Theater View remembers the last two most-recently-used Play Modes, and allows you to quickly select them.  So, select a file, and instead of just hitting enter twice, go to the More Play Options menu.  Select a different mode (such as one of the Add modes).  Once you've done that once, this now becomes the "default" (and the next-most-previously used mode is in the top roller only one "notch" away).

c) No idea what you mean.  Theater View is a fullscreen Direct3D application, like a game.  Is that what you mean?  Standard View works like a normal windowed application, and Alt-Tab still works fine from within Theater View (as does the Windows 8 switcher bar thingy).

[Brian B]

Before I detail the stuff in 8 ) I'll get the info to you for 7) re: no picture when I have time later tonight.

Thanks,
Brian

PS If you weren't here to answer these questions I'd probably just give up.  Did I miss the quickstart guide that would help new users to get this set up and working quickly?

[BryanC]

PS If you weren't here to answer these questions I'd probably just give up.  Did I miss the quickstart guide that would help new users to get this set up and working quickly?

There is a detailed wiki with a "Getting Started" page.

[Brian B]

There is a detailed wiki with a "Getting Started" page.

Just for kicks I looked at the link--it's barely a page.  I don't even think that is enough information to get the program working!

B.

[JimH]

The Getting Started page is just that.  It's not a guide to the universe.

If you have specific questions, search is a good method.  Most questions have been asked and answered.

Topics that include multiple questions don't get optimal attention.  They're hard to read and hard to answer.  A better approach is to post a topic with a single question.

[glynor]

The link Bryan gave was to the home page of the wiki, not directly to the getting started page (which is intended as an overview).  There is a lot of good info on there, though.  I know, as I've written a ton of it!

[Brian B]

The Getting Started page is just that.  It's not a guide to the universe.

If you have specific questions, search is a good method.  Most questions have been asked and answered.

Topics that include multiple questions don't get optimal attention.  They're hard to read and hard to answer.  A better approach is to post a topic with a single question.

To address your post:
I did read the Getting Started page, but it should really be called a J River "Intro."  It is not a quickstart guide.  It is way too light for that.

Re: "It is not a guide to the universe"  I'm not sure why I deserve the sarcasm when I am a new user, trying to make a "go of it," and deciding whether I should give you $50 of my money.  I can't believe the questions I'm asking are so "odd" but when I go through the wiki I can't find the answers, what is there is either incomplete or overly dense--and searches did not help either.

Here are some examples for you:
Under User Manual, Setting up media Center, Options--is the Audio section.  It is empty.  If you instead go to MAIN TOPIC INDEX you can find a few sections related to audio.  None of them expressly state that decoding is taking place to linear PCM--but I can make that assumption.

Under the tree and view settings is the place to turn off the border around thumbnails.  Here is the manual section:http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Tree_%26_View_Settings.  Guess what?  It doesn't even mention this.

So, to answer your suggestions:  Searching was useless.

Posting to multiple topics would just clutter the forum even more and make it difficult to get back to my threads and find the answers.  It seems there are a bunch of people who can't seem to figure your out your software either.

However, if you want me to post a bunch of single topics I can.  You are the mod after all.

B.

[Brian B]

The settings for Media Network custom Views don't take effect until you close and re-launch MC.  This includes closing the Library Server (running in the system tray) if you use that option.

That's no good, and certainly not normal.  Something was borked up.  Possibly GPU drivers?

Can you describe a bit more what machine you're running it on?  And, is video playback set to Red October Standard or HQ?

I'm not entirely sure I follow here, but I'll try to assist.

a) Do you mean from in Theater View?  F11 cycles between Current Location in the Views, the root View of Theater View, and fullscreen Display View (assuming something is playing).  Is that what you mean by "queue"?  Or do you mean Playing Now inside Theater View?

b) Theater View remembers the last two most-recently-used Play Modes, and allows you to quickly select them.  So, select a file, and instead of just hitting enter twice, go to the More Play Options menu.  Select a different mode (such as one of the Add modes).  Once you've done that once, this now becomes the "default" (and the next-most-previously used mode is in the top roller only one "notch" away).

c) No idea what you mean.  Theater View is a fullscreen Direct3D application, like a game.  Is that what you mean?  Standard View works like a normal windowed application, and Alt-Tab still works fine from within Theater View (as does the Windows 8 switcher bar thingy).

With Red October STandard and Hardware acc unchecked and videoclock unchecked I get picture.  (This was after restarting--lock up and then program said it was not shutdown properly.)  There is bad tearing in the center of the picture.  I tried with HW acc and with Videoclock.  Red October HQ results in no picture.  I can get the GUI to come up but J River locks up.  With both Videoclock and HW acc on the system locks up when I try to hit stop.

With XBMC these files played fine with no tearing.

System has an Intel Graphics HD 4400

Any more info that would help?

B.

[glynor]

Here are some examples for you:
Under User Manual, Setting up media Center, Options--is the Audio section.  It is empty.  If you instead go to MAIN TOPIC INDEX you can find a few sections related to audio.  None of them expressly state that decoding is taking place to linear PCM--but I can make that assumption.

Under the tree and view settings is the place to turn off the border around thumbnails.  Here is the manual section:http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Tree_%26_View_Settings.  Guess what?  It doesn't even mention this.

I'm not going to make any claim that the Wiki is awesome.  It has a lot of great stuff, though it can certainly be hit-or-miss.

I will say, however, that almost the entire section under User Manual (which is linked in the left-hand nav) is very old and mostly useless.  That was from an effort done to migrate from the old online help manual they used to do way back in the old days, I think.  It should be removed or marked as deprecated (or fixed).  Someone has been working on it lately, but it looks like it is only certain specific sections (and even that was over a year ago).

The Main Topic Index is where the current stuff is located.

Posting to multiple topics would just clutter the forum even more and make it difficult to get back to my threads and find the answers.  It seems there are a bunch of people who can't seem to figure your out your software either.

Generally, I agree with Jim.  I mean... We're kinda going here, and I'm trying to help you, so I've been reading this topic.  However, I will say that... If the topic had just been "New to J.R. - I need help" (and hadn't included the other stuff), I might very well not have ever opened the topic.  I explain why here:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=90262.msg619879#msg619879

It does work best if unrelated things aren't lumped together, generally.

System has an Intel Graphics HD 4400

Intel Graphics HD 4000 series parts are too slow for Red October HQ without modifying the defaults (not for the feint of heart).  Hendrik did include in a thread somewhere for MC20 that one of his goals is to make additional profiles for ROHQ (or a RO Medium Quality or something similar).  Targeting HD 4000-class hardware would probably be the main goal of this effort.

So, that should get better (and if you buy now, it is a license for MC20 that also works with MC19 that you receive, so no worries there).

For now, Red October Standard is a similar decoding system to what you'd get with XBMC and most other players.  It isn't bad at all, just not as crazy-nice as ROHQ.  I'd go with that, and get that working first.

It should really work out of the box, though.  The tearing, Hardware Acceleration failing, and fact that it was locking up the system all leads me to believe that your GPU driver is borked up in some way.

To be clear, MC cannot (as in, Windows does not give any user-land application the power to) lock up the entire system.  If that happens it MUST BE: drivers, core OS, or hardware.

Also, given that I know Intel GPU drivers to be OFTEN troublesome (not just with MC, with a wide swath of things), I think you need to update, or remove and reinstall, your Intel GPU drivers.  I have the link in the Troubleshooting Guide here:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_Drivers

So, try that.  If you haven't updated them recently, or especially if you're using Microsoft-provided ones from Windows Update, then that is likely the issue.

[glynor]

Re: "It is not a guide to the universe"  I'm not sure why I deserve the sarcasm when I am a new user, trying to make a "go of it," and deciding whether I should give you $50 of my money.

I don't think he intended to be sarcastic.  Tone is hard to read on forums.  I find it is best to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Jim also has an... Odd, dry style.  It is an acquired taste, I guess, but you get used to it.  

I'd also note that... Well, with the video failing, you have something oddball.

With the rest though, I think you were looking for some fairly specific information, and most of them were things I haven't heard asked before (or, at least, not often).  The PCM thing, yes, but it certainly does handle that.

Again, though... I agree completely that the documentation could be much improved.  There are two problems there:

1. MC evolves very rapidly.  They release new builds often essentially once a week publicly, and the beta group gets one almost every weeknight.  Often these include a whole swath of new stuff.  Keeping the Wiki up-to-date is an unbelievably massive task, and it is even more difficult to keep it updated for older versions.

2. The Wiki is largely community-driven.  Jim contributes a lot, but he tries to target "simple" things without too much detail.  Most of the rest is us forum trolls, and we have our own little pet projects and interests.  The Dev section is awesome because MrC does it and stays right on top of it, for example.  I did a whole bunch for Troubleshooting.  But other stuff (and often basics, which are boring to write about, and we all know the stuff by heart) gets left behind.

I've had it on my list for a LONG time to re-do the Media Views section, for example, but I never seem to find the time.  But, you know, I have work and a kid and whatnot.  So... Meh.

The forum is very active, though, and as long as you put in a little effort (as you're doing here) we can be pretty darn helpful.  It is also WONDERFUL that the actual honest-to-god developers all come here and read a ton of the threads.  I can't count the times when Matt has chimed in on a thread and said: Next Version: Issue X is Fixed. Thanks for the report. (And then that version comes out that night or the next day.)  You ask for a feature and it is well explained, possible, and makes sense?  They do it, a whole bunch of the time.  Not always, of course... People don't always agree, and sometimes things are out of scope (cough...Intercom...cough) but... More than any other software I've ever seen, they listen to us.

And that's something.

[Brian B]

Intel Graphics HD 4000 series parts are too slow for Red October HQ without modifying the defaults (not for the feint of heart).  Hendrik did include in a thread somewhere for MC20 that one of his goals is to make additional profiles for ROHQ (or a RO Medium Quality or something similar).  Targeting HD 4000-class hardware would probably be the main goal of this effort.

So, that should get better (and if you buy now, it is a license for MC20 that also works with MC19 that you receive, so no worries there).

For now, Red October Standard is a similar decoding system to what you'd get with XBMC and most other players.  It isn't bad at all, just not as crazy-nice as ROHQ.  I'd go with that, and get that working first.

It should really work out of the box, though.  The tearing, Hardware Acceleration failing, and fact that it was locking up the system all leads me to believe that your GPU driver is borked up in some way.

To be clear, MC cannot (as in, Windows does not give any user-land application the power to) lock up the entire system.  If that happens it MUST BE: drivers, core OS, or hardware.

Also, given that I know Intel GPU drivers to be OFTEN troublesome (not just with MC, with a wide swath of things), I think you need to update, or remove and reinstall, your Intel GPU drivers.  I have the link in the Troubleshooting Guide here:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_Drivers

So, try that.  If you haven't updated them recently, or especially if you're using Microsoft-provided ones from Windows Update, then that is likely the issue.

I see above where I wrote "system" locked up.  I believe I meant "software."  In any case I upgraded the graphic driver per your suggestion.  It was a year old.

Same problem.  Tearing across the center with horizontal motion and sometimes above center as well.  XBMC does not have tearing.

Time to throw in the towel?

B.

[Brian B]

I don't think he intended to be sarcastic.  Tone is hard to read on forums.  I find it is best to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Jim also has an... Odd, dry style.  It is an acquired taste, I guess, but you get used to it.  

I'd also note that... Well, with the video failing, you have something oddball.

With the rest though, I think you were looking for some fairly specific information, and most of them were things I haven't heard asked before (or, at least, not often).  The PCM thing, yes, but it certainly does handle that.

Again, though... I agree completely that the documentation could be much improved.  There are two problems there:

1. MC evolves very rapidly.  They release new builds often essentially once a week publicly, and the beta group gets one almost every weeknight.  Often these include a whole swath of new stuff.  Keeping the Wiki up-to-date is an unbelievably massive task, and it is even more difficult to keep it updated for older versions.

2. The Wiki is largely community-driven.  Jim contributes a lot, but he tries to target "simple" things without too much detail.  Most of the rest is us forum trolls, and we have our own little pet projects and interests.  The Dev section is awesome because MrC does it and stays right on top of it, for example.  I did a whole bunch for Troubleshooting.  But other stuff (and often basics, which are boring to write about, and we all know the stuff by heart) gets left behind.

I've had it on my list for a LONG time to re-do the Media Views section, for example, but I never seem to find the time.  But, you know, I have work and a kid and whatnot.  So... Meh.

The forum is very active, though, and as long as you put in a little effort (as you're doing here) we can be pretty darn helpful.  It is also WONDERFUL that the actual honest-to-god developers all come here and read a ton of the threads.  I can't count the times when Matt has chimed in on a thread and said: Next Version: Issue X is Fixed. Thanks for the report. (And then that version comes out that night or the next day.)  You ask for a feature and it is well explained, possible, and makes sense?  They do it, a whole bunch of the time.  Not always, of course... People don't always agree, and sometimes things are out of scope (cough...Intercom...cough) but... More than any other software I've ever seen, they listen to us.

And that's something.

First of all, I appreciate your time and your effort.  As I said, if it hadn't have been for your help I would have bailed already.

I have many thoughts on what you've said, but you've most likely heard them 100 times before...Maybe I'm old-school, but I just don't think there is an excuse for poor documentation for something you sell.  I realize it has become the norm for software, but it rubs me the wrong way.

Having a good user forum is of course great, but not really a substitute in my opinion.

Anyway, I'm looking for something stable that I can watch TV episodes and manage a good-sized music library with a sleek, easy-to-use interface and great sound and picture quality.  And, easy to set up!

B.

[mwillems]

I see above where I wrote "system" locked up.  I believe I meant "software."  In any case I upgraded the graphic driver per your suggestion.  It was a year old.

Same problem.  Tearing across the center with horizontal motion and sometimes above center as well.  XBMC does not have tearing.

Time to throw in the towel?

B.

For the tearing: try enabling desktop composition in windows display settings (which forces vsync), or manually turn vsync on in your video driver settings. 

I had a similar problem and it was caused by my disabling desktop composition which had the unintended side effect of disabling vsync.

[Brian B]

For the tearing: try enabling desktop composition in windows display settings (which forces vsync), or manually turn vsync on in your video driver settings. 

I had a similar problem and it was caused by my disabling desktop composition which had the unintended side effect of disabling vsync.

Already enabled.

B.

[glynor]

Maybe I'm old-school, but I just don't think there is an excuse for poor documentation for something you sell.

Just for the record, I don't work for JRiver.

I see above where I wrote "system" locked up.  I believe I meant "software."  In any case I upgraded the graphic driver per your suggestion.  It was a year old.

Same problem.  Tearing across the center with horizontal motion and sometimes above center as well.  XBMC does not have tearing.

Bummer.  It was a guess, but I thought a good one.  That's oddball, for sure.  I've used MC for years on a wide swath of systems, and Red October Standard works without issue on all of them I've ever seen.  Even if you're giving up (which is too bad) you mind telling us exactly what kind of system you're trying it on?

[JimH]

I do work for JRiver, but the problem isn't one I'm familiar with.

Antivirus?

[Brian B]

I do work for JRiver, but the problem isn't one I'm familiar with.

Antivirus?

Only Microsoft Security Essentials.

[Brian B]

Just for the record, I don't work for JRiver.

Bummer.  It was a guess, but I thought a good one.  That's oddball, for sure.  I've used MC for years on a wide swath of systems, and Red October Standard works without issue on all of them I've ever seen.  Even if you're giving up (which is too bad) you mind telling us exactly what kind of system you're trying it on?

What sort of information about the system?  You mean the computer specs?  Audio/Video system?

B.

[JimH]

There is a benchmark option under Help.  Please paste the result here.

[Brian B]

=== Running Benchmarks (please do not interrupt) ===

Running 'Math' benchmark...
    Single-threaded integer math... 5.089 seconds
    Single-threaded floating point math... 3.126 seconds
    Multi-threaded integer math... 3.591 seconds
    Multi-threaded mixed math... 2.214 seconds
Score: 1355

Running 'Image' benchmark...
    Image creation / destruction... 0.197 seconds
    Flood filling... 0.435 seconds
    Direct copying... 0.600 seconds
    Small renders... 1.545 seconds
    Bilinear rendering... 2.042 seconds
    Bicubic rendering... 1.325 seconds
Score: 3580

Running 'Database' benchmark...
    Create database... 0.311 seconds
    Populate database... 1.764 seconds
    Save database... 0.455 seconds
    Reload database... 0.082 seconds
    Search database... 1.285 seconds
    Sort database... 0.988 seconds
    Group database... 0.887 seconds
Score: 3724

JRMark (version 19.0.158): 2887

B.

[JimH]

It's a reasonable machine.  It might not be enough for Red October HQ, but it should be fine for Red October Standard.

In video settings, did you try toggling options like hardware acceleration?

And did you try updating the video driver?

[Brian B]

It's a reasonable machine.  It might not be enough for Red October HQ, but it should be fine for Red October Standard.

In video settings, did you try toggling options like hardware acceleration?

And did you try updating the video driver?

Yes, mentioned above.

[Brian B]

Problem turned out to be Windows Aero.  Ran the fix, checked that an Aero theme worked.  After that, no more tearing.

B.

[JimH]

Thanks for reporting the solution.