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Author Topic: Incorrectly imported mpg files  (Read 3602 times)

SeaDrive

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Incorrectly imported mpg files
« on: October 14, 2008, 01:03:08 pm »

I've noticed that 13.054 has been importing my mpg files as a media type of 'data' rather than 'video'. Once imported I am unable to play the file in MC and attempting to sync with an iPod produces an 'Unsupported File Type' error. If I manually change the Media Type to 'Video' it works fine. I tested the same files in MC12 and they import properly.
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Daydream

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Re: Incorrectly imported mpg files
« Reply #1 on: October 14, 2008, 05:46:11 pm »

I second this observation! Same 13.0.54. There is no rule of thumb for what gets imported as "data": MPEG-2 from DVB sources, from TIVO, from DVD (cleaned up for any other streams but audio and video), SD or HD. Out of many thousands of files I've thrown at MC, almost 350 got imported as data.

Once the media type is changed manually, MC plays them fine. The biggest upset is that these video files get no thumbnails, but the "icon file" sign. Nothing I tried afterwards was successful in forcing MC to build thumbnails for them. It's impossible to do it manually because I'm talking 350 files out of 5000 or more, scattered around.

Any help would be much appreciated.
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raym

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Re: Incorrectly imported mpg files
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2008, 06:43:43 pm »

This is something that I've observed for quite some time - starting way back (v12). I guess MC can have trouble analysing certain video formats every now and then for whatever reason. There could be many factors. At a minimum though, what I think MC should do under these circumstances is at least look at the file extension to determine the file type. This would at least avoid the files importing as DATA and not building thumbs (possibly).

Thanks
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JimH

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Re: Incorrectly imported mpg files
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2008, 06:56:23 pm »

This is related to the DirectShow filters installed on each PC.  If MC can't open the file with them, it puts the file in a "data" category.

To solve the problem, you need to narrow it down to a specific file type and report what DirectShow filters are in use.
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Daydream

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Re: Incorrectly imported mpg files
« Reply #4 on: October 14, 2008, 08:05:50 pm »

I have my doubts. If MC can play it (once Media Type is set right) why can't it scan it and identify it correctly? Is there a difference between scanning a file at indexing time and actually playing it? Since it makes thumbnails out of video files I would say no, since it has to decode some frames into the files.

And then there is the reversed situation: there are video files classified correctly (Video) that won't play in MC, after being indexed. So what does MC do actually with the DirectShow filters at its disposal? Paint me confused.

Maybe these helps: I have PowerDVD 7.3 installed to deal with MPEG-2 files and that alone, on purpose, just to see how indexing finishes. Let's hear what the other guys are using.
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JimH

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Re: Incorrectly imported mpg files
« Reply #5 on: October 14, 2008, 08:16:27 pm »

Update to the latest version from our download page.  Then delete a couple of files and try reimporting.  Report the details of what you find.
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Daydream

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Re: Incorrectly imported mpg files
« Reply #6 on: October 14, 2008, 09:47:42 pm »

Was already on 13.0.54 but made a new install on top of the current one just for the heck of it. Deleted some files, ran the import again, came right back at me, still no thumbnails (remember I've already set them manually to Media Type Video).

After that I went a bit further. I've wrote down some files that were originally imported as data, created a new library, and start importing the folders that had some of these "trouble" files. The result? I'm more surprised then ever.

Some files that were imported as data in the original library, now came in just fine, Media Type Video, thumbnails, everything; some files that were reported as data, still came through as data, and new files, that were imported fine in the original library now were reported as data, in the new library...! Besides what was described so far nothing changed regarding filters, settings, merits, etc.

I can easily tell when something goes wrong: a normal import, with Media Type correct is fast, takes 2-3 seconds per file; incorrect import takes up to 20 seconds per file (and then the file gets dumped as data). Other things I noticed (can't tell if it's helpful or not) is that during the whole import process there are 5 JRWORKER instances running, of which only any 2 at once use the CPU.
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Daydream

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Re: Incorrectly imported mpg files
« Reply #7 on: October 17, 2008, 06:17:26 pm »

Anybody else has feedback on this?
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JimH

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Re: Incorrectly imported mpg files
« Reply #8 on: October 17, 2008, 06:34:14 pm »

As I said above, I think this is DirectShow related.  Please check the wiki (link above).  Try installing CCCP.
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Daydream

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Re: Incorrectly imported mpg files
« Reply #9 on: October 18, 2008, 12:05:50 am »

Thank you Jim. I am sure that, from experience, checking the DirectShow setup it's the best way to start.

However in this case I have my doubts. I was mainly asking if anybody else have ran different scenarios, noticed the same symptoms, and if yes, in what configurations. My impression was that there are others - hope there are a few people that don't run MC just for their massive audio collection, but also for their massive video collection. If it's just my problem, I will track it down to the cause and kill it sooner or later. If it's something else...

Following your advice, I did give it a try to CCCP (although I hate codec packs, even if, I admit, CCCP is the most useful). I have uninstalled every filter, PowerDVD, Haali, ffdshow, and install whatever comes with CCCP, let it to register its things, the works. Meaning for MPEG-2 now it uses the MPEG-2 demultiplexer from Microsoft and Gabest MPEG-2 filter for decoding. Filterchains get build up fine (Graphedit) everything (other players) work.

The problem in MC 13 persists. MPEG-2 files get imported as data, tens after tens.

Keeping the same system setup I went back and made a separate install of MC 12.0.534 and thrown at it the most problematic set of files (>1800 video clip files, from various sources, SD, HD, etc). Everything got imported fine, no files imported as data. Anything else I should test?
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JimH

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Re: Incorrectly imported mpg files
« Reply #10 on: October 18, 2008, 08:06:48 am »

Check how DirectShow is set in MC12 for the filetypes you're having trouble with.

I do not think that MC13 has a problem.  We would see more than one report.
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