Print

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

[JustinChase]

So, I wiped my hard drive, and reinstalled XP pro, and all my software, including MC.  i don't really want to install a video player if I can avoid it (software bloat issues), since I can just play DVD's in MC.  However, MC needs the codes to play the DVD's.

Can anyone suggest the best/easiest way to install the minimal codecs I will need (not necessarily just for DVD playback) without having to install full-blown players?

The player that came with the system is Cyberlink PowerDVD 5.5, so that disc is available if necessary.

This is a laptop, which is not anticipated to be connected to a TV for "high-end" viewing or listening.  Just for the occasional diversion.

thanks in advance for your help!

[glynor]

Read: http://wiki.jrmediacenter.com/index.php/DirectShow_Playback_Guide#DVD_and_MPEG-2_Playback

[Mr ChriZ]

Do you need to do any configuration once you've installed CCCP?

[glynor]

In most cases, only this: http://wiki.jrmediacenter.com/index.php/Dolby_AC3

That's to enable FFDSHOW to decode AC3 audio.  You should also make sure to set the FFDSHOW Audio Settings to match how many speakers you have in the CCCP Settings Wizard (and I like to uncheck AC3 and DTS Dynamic Range compression because I'm no fan of those features).  This wizard comes up during the CCCP install process and can be accessed at any time via Start --> Programs --> Combined Community Codec Pack --> Settings.

One note though, CCCP does not enable DVD Playback in Windows Media Player or in Windows Media Center Edition.  This works for ZoomPlayer, MC, MPC, and many other DirectShow players, but Microsoft intentionally broke the DirectShow playback interface for WiMP.  In order to support WiMP, you have to pay for a commercial package (Microsoft charges a very large licensing fee, which the free software obviously can't afford to pay).

[Mr ChriZ]

That's worth knowing, cheers!

[JustinChase]

Read: http://wiki.jrmediacenter.com/index.php/DirectShow_Playback_Guide#DVD_and_MPEG-2_Playback

Thanks glynor!!

If I remember correctly, you wrote that wiki.  EXCELLENT work.  very thorough.  I'll be going through it in detail later when I install what I need, and let you know if I find anything confusing, but a quick (somewhat thorough) read through showed no confusion.

I didn't realize that the wiki has gotten so useful, so I forgot to look at it.  I just did a search through the forums before posting.

Thanks again.

[glynor]

If I remember correctly, you wrote that wiki.  EXCELLENT work.

Others helped... Especially Yaobing.  Thanks though.  Someone needed to do it!   

[JustinChase]

So I just finished reading the whole wiki, and I'm impressed.  Very thorough.  Thanks again!

I have downloaded and was about to install the CCCP to get started, and realized that I have the option to NOT install a media player.  I'm guessing that is the option I want, as MC should be able to handle all my needs (after installing of course), but I don't want to miss out on something by not installing the media player if necessary.

Thoughts?

[glynor]

You can easily uncheck the players in the install wizard.  In fact, they give you a preset "no players" drop-down option.

I'd probably install at least one of the two included (I'd pick MPC if I were only going to pick one, but it's mostly personal choice).  They're small and they can be useful for troubleshooting if nothing else.