...Is there really any choice?
Now that RO has been publicly released, I hope I can revisit some questions without being branded "impatient." Although I may have some specific technical problems to be resolved, my main interest here is in getting a better understanding of exactly what RO is and how it can best be used. Yes, it's main benefit of providing something that "just works" doesn't require anything further. But I would really like to know how to add things to it or make improvements without wasting hours in fruitless trial and error testing.
A little background: Prior to RO, I had a configuration that "just worked" for me. I used Haali splitter, CoreAVC, AC3Filter and DirectVobSub for most file types. With the introduction of RO, the Windows Merit Based system was broken. Reading this...
Windows Merit Based -- the same as the original Windows DirectShow selection.
In addition, Red October uses its own location and settings for all filters, and we "register" them ourselves, so there is no conflict with other players. Red October also ignores the Windows Merit system (while leaving it in place for other players) and RO has a white list for additional good filters. The Red October system is completely independent of everything else on the PC.
...I might infer it's back, but statements like this...
Something else I should mention... You are certainly free to use the "not-recommended" Windows Merit system. And, in theory, it should work properly for people who need to use it. However, I wouldn't count on a lot of improvements in this area beyond getting it working like it did in MC15. This is essentially now the "deprecated" method in MC for selecting video filters. If you have problems here (beyond actual bugs where it doesn't work the same as it did in MC15), you are likely going to have trouble getting help on this. It is essentially unsupported (again, once we are sure it is back to "normal").
...make me wonder if it's practical to expect it can be used with MC.
I've had no luck whatsoever re-configuring the Merit Based system to anything close to what it was before. Although I don't have an expert understanding of how these things work, I can well imagine my system might get screwed-up in the course of testing RO. But re-installing/registering filters hasn't had any noticeable effect on the outcome—nothing works completely as it did before. It really doesn't seem like the Merit Based system is completely independent of RO. When I do get a file to play, it's graph often includes filters that have nothing to do with the ones I've specified. If the problem is with my system (perhaps from testing RO in early days when it was using system filters), how can I fit it?
It really doesn't seem I have the choice implied. Beyond that, I'm not sure it's even relevant to my needs. The option of "RO with additional filters" sounds much more attractive. But I haven't been able to get anything to work with that either. I realize it can't be as simple as RO "just works" and this is a way to add anything to it and it will still "just work." I understand there's a white list, but I have no idea what's on it. I would expect the program to restrict selection lists to white listed filters, but those lists appear to be the same whether I'm using RO or the Merit Based system.
So, to illustrate the issue...My original configuration included
AC3Filter. I originally used this for getting audio to my receiver via SPDIF. This is no longer essential, but I've come to appreciate the ability to make adjustments to the audio. (I don't know whether it's the original soundtrack, how it was encoded when ripped, or my old ears, but I often find dialog difficult to follow without voice boosted. If there's a way to do the same thing with MC, I haven't figured it out.) How do I know how to add something like this? Is it white listed? Can I just add it using "RO with additional filters"? Or is the Merit Based system the only choice?
All the questions apply to CoreAVC. And LAV CUVID (I have an nVidia card.) Fortunately, I probably don't need these things, but I read here they should work. So I can't help myself—I have to try them out. Each case requires at least an hour of blind testing just to conclude it doesn't work for all files. Should it not be more obvious whether or not something can be added to RO? And if it can't, shouldn't a working Merit Based system be available and supported?