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[fermenter]

Hi all, I'm currently getting by on MC12 (hey, it is bought and paid for and I've only ever been an occasional user at best). I'm currently setting up a new PC and a new home theatre, and it might be time to upgrade MC - but before I do, I want to be sure that it will fix the bug I am currently experiencing.

My problem is that a number of my video files don't respond to the transport controls in MC (ie, no pause / fwd / rev etc). However, the same files play perfectly in both Media Player Classic and VLC.

My guess, as a non-technical user, is that MPC and VLC are doing a better job of finding and using the right codecs. I've never really understood codecs, in the past I blindly downloaded whatever codec packs and other media players people were raving about, and it seemed that after a while (and a prayer to the codec gods) MC started working - however I'd like to be a bit more considered with this new setup. So far I've only downloaded MPC-HC, CCCP and iTunes (VLC came preloaded and I am not familiar with it).

Will the latest version itself magically fix this issue, or is there something fundamental to the way MC operates that I am failing to grasp?

[RoderickGI]

I don't think the failure of the pause / fwd / rev functions would be a codec issue. We could try to diagnose the problem, but it just wouldn't be worth it. Do as TAO1857 suggests and download the MC19 trial and test it out.

I know that in earlier versions of MC you need to download codecs and so on, but with current versions you do not. MC downloads what it needs, when it needs it. All the codecs are automatically handled, at least for a normal installation and normal use.

You could do an update installation on your existing PC and MC would probably try to update the MC12 Library. Only the experts who have been around MC a long time could say if it will. But if you do try an installation on the existing PC, make sure you install it in a different directory to the current installation, so that your MC12 installation remains untouched. MC12 and MC19 can be run in parallel.

A new installation on your new HTPC would make sense, and you could take a MC Library backup from the trial you run and restore it on to the new PC, depending on how you handle the media from the original PC.

[glynor]

You are the perfect candidate for Red October.  Video support is dramatically improved since MC12, and no longer relies on any external codec packs for the vast majority of content (in fact, you have to go through some effort to get it to use them if you want it to).

JRiver hired the main developer of the lav decoder about a year ago, which is the main filter used for decoding videos used by most of the still-current codec packs out there.  If you're using a current version of MPC-HC, then you're probably using LAV with it.

The fine gentleman who develops LAV now works for JRiver, so one can be assured, it works with MC quite well.  MC now automatically downloads, configures, and uses a proper set of decoders for the vast majority of common computer video types.  And, it uses them internally only (without registering them on the system generally) so that it never interferes with other players in any way (unlike the codec packs).

I agree with the suggestions above.  They have a full featured free trial.  Try it.  I think you'll be impressed with how far it has come.

[fermenter]

Thanks everyone, and please accept my apologies for the delay in responding - I have been up to my eyeballs in various things.

I have tried MC19, and it does seem to work properly with the problem files. I didn't realise MC was able to run multiple versions side by side, that makes life pretty easy for trying new things without breaking old ones!

Is Red October included in MC19, or is it something I need to add myself?

(I have a few other questions about MC, but I'll start another thread to keep things on topic).

[glynor]

Included, and used automatically. Basically it is the name they gave to their automatic codec configuration system.

[fermenter]

Thanks Glynor, it seems like a great development. Haven't found a file yet that it struggles with.

[glynor]

They really did a great job.

There was a time (it started around MC12, and reached a crescendo with MC15) when the most common confusion here was over dealing with codecs and decoders and settings for video playback.  I even wrote the old DirectShow Playback Guide trying to help people, and distill some of the "best practices" during that time.

It was frustrating.  A bunch of us knew that it could work so brilliantly, but people were constantly having trouble due to various conflicting and misconfigured filters (mostly installed by poorly considered codec packs, or two, or three).  We started to suggest that they solve this somehow.  To make them more integrated (or build their own).

One of the most common suggestions we'd give to people was to install the CCCP codec pack, which often worked, but itself had trouble when other codecs and codec packs were installed.   CCCP itself also wasn't perfect, and didn't always have the best choices for filters, or settings, so even then, some changes were required for optimal playback performance and compatibility (and it tied them largely to ffdshow, which was often flaky and the projects were fragmented with crazy builds coming from people on forums and all sorts of nonsense).  And, even if it worked well, it forced people to use another third-party solution, which we couldn't properly support, to configure settings themselves.  The filter configuration system in MC was a complex beast (it still is, if you put it in fully manual mode), and it confused everyone (even me sometimes).  A few of us, here and again, suggested they build something to fix this.  The name Red October is, I think, an oblique reference to... Well, CCCP itself.  And the quest to escape the problems with CCCP (fleeing the fatherland, if you will)... And the hunt for silence (here, on the forum).   I'll admit, I didn't think they could.  But they did.  And they gave it a clever name.