INTERACT FORUM

More => Old Versions => JRiver Media Center 25 for Mac => Topic started by: tyler69 on December 20, 2019, 02:51:23 am

Title: Some questions regarding video playback
Post by: tyler69 on December 20, 2019, 02:51:23 am
Hello there,

I do have some questions regarding video playback when connecting from outside the LAN (server: MC on Windows, client MC on macOS).

1. Are embedded subtitles supported? It does not seem like it to me.
2. Is seeking the video supported? I tested a few times and while the playback bar jumps to the point I click at and also the duration continues, MC locks up and I get the beachball.
3. Where does the conversion (for audio or video) take place? On the server or on the client?

Thanks!
Title: Re: Some questions regarding video playback
Post by: bob on December 27, 2019, 10:28:59 am
In general you can't seek over the network from a Mac client with most formats since the Mac internet reading code doesn't support time based seeks.
You might however be able to seek if you select the client option to convert the video and choose one of the streaming formats like mpeg4-ts.
Title: Re: Some questions regarding video playback
Post by: tyler69 on December 31, 2019, 05:14:05 am
Thanks bob! Good to know. Are there any ambitions to "automize" conversions based on the user need? Going through tons of conversion settings in order to be able to seek through the video seems not user friendly to me.

Do I need to select also a special conversion for the subtitles to appear or are subtitles not supported at all when playing over internet?

Does the client or the server do the conversion? 
Title: Re: Some questions regarding video playback
Post by: bob on January 01, 2020, 09:04:55 pm
Thanks bob! Good to know. Are there any ambitions to "automize" conversions based on the user need? Going through tons of conversion settings in order to be able to seek through the video seems not user friendly to me.

Do I need to select also a special conversion for the subtitles to appear or are subtitles not supported at all when playing over internet?

Does the client or the server do the conversion?
One way to do this is to create a second DLNA server instance with conversion enabled for those. You could even create a custom tag field and tag the files that require it and customize the view so on those show un in the converting server.

The conversion is done on the server end.

IIRC subtitles (i.e. .srt) are compiled into the conversion.
Title: Re: Some questions regarding video playback
Post by: tyler69 on January 06, 2020, 12:36:37 pm
Thanks, I actually meant to ask if JRiver has any ambitions to make this functionality more user friendly. I do have two zones on my client already and with a separate instance of a "server" on a different hardware, it already becomes messy to use, especially for people not acquainted with JRiver's idea of a server/client architecture. I do not want to add up to the complexity.

FWIW, I just tested which transcoding options work on a MacBook with 10.15.2 installed (please see attached screenshot). Almost all lead to a crash (marked red), however one seems to work fine also with seeking through the video (marked green). I did not test the options that are not marked. However, not a single option gives me the possibility to see subtitles.
Title: Re: Some questions regarding video playback
Post by: bob on January 07, 2020, 10:36:20 am
Thanks, I actually meant to ask if JRiver has any ambitions to make this functionality more user friendly. I do have two zones on my client already and with a separate instance of a "server" on a different hardware, it already becomes messy to use, especially for people not acquainted with JRiver's idea of a server/client architecture. I do not want to add up to the complexity.

FWIW, I just tested which transcoding options work on a MacBook with 10.15.2 installed (please see attached screenshot). Almost all lead to a crash (marked red), however one seems to work fine also with seeking through the video (marked green). I did not test the options that are not marked. However, not a single option gives me the possibility to see subtitles.
Of course it shouldn't crash, are you using the latest build?
If so can you attach a crash report?
Thanks.
Title: Re: Some questions regarding video playback
Post by: tyler69 on January 07, 2020, 10:48:56 am
Sure, attached you'll find both logs for transcoding option "H264-TS 720p AutoFPS".
Title: Re: Some questions regarding video playback
Post by: bob on January 07, 2020, 01:50:28 pm
Sure, attached you'll find both logs for transcoding option "H264-TS 720p AutoFPS".
Ok, thanks, can you try to do a in place conversion (right-click on the file and do Convert Format) and see if that crashes as well?
Title: Re: Some questions regarding video playback
Post by: tyler69 on January 07, 2020, 11:29:33 pm
"Convert Format" is greyed out.
Title: Re: Some questions regarding video playback
Post by: bob on January 09, 2020, 09:39:09 am
"Convert Format" is greyed out.
I think I misunderstood what's going on here.
The PC is doing the conversion and your Mac is crashing during playback of the converted file, is that correct?
Title: Re: Some questions regarding video playback
Post by: tyler69 on January 09, 2020, 11:18:05 am
The files are stored on a server with MC (running as a server) installed. I connect via wifi to that server on a MacBook (using MC as a client).  If I understood your correctly, the conversion is set on the client but takes place on the server (it was one of my initial questions).
Title: Re: Some questions regarding video playback
Post by: bob on January 09, 2020, 11:41:07 am
The files are stored on a server with MC (running as a server) installed. I connect via wifi to that server on a MacBook (using MC as a client).  If I understood your correctly, the conversion is set on the client but takes place on the server (it was one of my initial questions).
Yes, that's correct.
I'll test that scenario here.
Title: Re: Some questions regarding video playback
Post by: bob on January 10, 2020, 12:13:12 pm
Yes, that's correct.
I'll test that scenario here.
Looks like that's been broken forever on linux and Mac. Looking into it...
Title: Re: Some questions regarding video playback
Post by: tyler69 on January 10, 2020, 04:17:25 pm
Great, thanks!
Title: Re: Some questions regarding video playback
Post by: tyler69 on May 10, 2020, 03:50:10 am
Will there be a fix for MC25?
Title: Re: Some questions regarding video playback
Post by: Awesome Donkey on May 10, 2020, 06:05:59 am
MC25's development ceased some time ago, so I wouldn't expect it.