h.264 oddities

[unkyjoe]

Greetings,

I have been toying with the idea of re-encoding my DVD collection, and I have settled on h.264 as the format as the video looks incredible at the 1500kbs setting.

I have tried using two different approaches.

I am using my MAC with handbrake to do the encoding.

My first test was a scene from Transformers, I encoded to AVC/H.264/AC-3 audio via passthru. I used an avi wrapper.

The video and audio play without fail, this is about a six minute clip.

My next test was the same video using the same encoding settings with an mkv wrapper. It played fine as well.

I am now re-encoding the entire video using these settings above with an mkv wrapper.

My question is, what properties do I need to set for Sage and the new HD extender to play these files properly.

DO I use the sage media player? Do I need to load additional codecs on the server?

Is there a limit on file size? The completed ,mkv or .avi file can sometimes exceed 2gb, could this be causing a problem with sage?

Any insight is appreciated, and of course I will report back on my full video conversion to let you know if it plays properly.

Thanks for the help.

[unkyjoe]

Update:

I did another conversion, this time using the previous mentioned settings, and using mkv wrapper.

THis time it worked like a charm, till I switched back to live tv, then the extender shut down.

Any one else seeing this? Odd that MKV files are playing properly now?

[HawgGuy]

I use Handbrake as well (great program).

I use 'normal' settings with no modification and the output is .mp4 which the extender plays fine. No codecs on the server should be needed for playback on the extender.

[unkyjoe]

HawgGuy,

What is really freaking me out is the fact it seems to be working ok.

The conversions I am doing now are still h.264 with AC3 passthru and an mkv wrapper.

I wonder if it has something to do with file size.

I also have some Lab With Leo programs that come encoded with Xvid video and Mp3 sound, the video works great but no sound. Have you encountered this?

Thanks

[HawgGuy]

Originally Posted by unkyjoe

HawgGuy,

What is really freaking me out is the fact it seems to be working ok.

The conversions I am doing now are still h.264 with AC3 passthru and an mkv wrapper.

I wonder if it has something to do with file size.

I also have some Lab With Leo programs that come encoded with Xvid video and Mp3 sound, the video works great but no sound. Have you encountered this?

Thanks

In the early version of the firmware I saw stuff like that, but not lately. Does it play well on your server? Is you extender connected the TV with HDMI or component? I had some audio issues specific to HDMI usage early on.

[unkyjoe]

HawgGuy,

I am using the Svideo and SPDIF for my connections, I dont have HD content to watch, I wanted this unit to use instead of a PC.

I am happy with that choice so far.

[mohanman]

Hey guys, just wondering... do you think Sagetv will and can correct some of my weird experiences with .mkv files? including blocking and skipping or is it not possible and thus should I convert my files to a .ts file etc? If so, can you recommend a good conversion program, preferably for mac?
Thanks
Mo

[reggie14]

This is kind of a different issue, but the name of this thread still applies. I'm trying to play an H.264 movie in Sage using the Cyberlink decoder. I think I have the merit set up correctly- I know it plays using that decoder in WMP. In Sage I'm not quite so sure. Sage starts up a new process- Sageplayer.exe. CPU usage is still really low, so I'm guessing its still using the Cyberlink decoders with hardware acceleration. Is there a way to figure out what its using? The the main problem I have is that I can't change the volume when playing H.264 videos. The volume slider moves, but the audio level doesn't change. I'm not sure what to try to fix this.

Edit: Well, I just noticed this thread is in the extender folder, so I should probably repost in a different thread in the software folder. But, on the topic of the extender, I'm having some audio synchronization problems with H.264 videos on the HD extender. It seems to be ok until I fast forward or rewind. The files play OK on a PC.

[unkyjoe]

I was told by tech support this will be fixed in the next firmware release "my problem that is"

They are moving a little slowly I guess because of CES.

[Octathorpe]

Originally Posted by reggie14

Edit: Well, I just noticed this thread is in the extender folder, so I should probably repost in a different thread in the software folder. But, on the topic of the extender, I'm having some audio synchronization problems with H.264 videos on the HD extender. It seems to be ok until I fast forward or rewind. The files play OK on a PC.

In the interest of further cross-posting (bad #, bad), I tried to start a thread dealing with the audio sync of H264 videos on the HD extender (see the "Audio sync with H.264/mpeg-4 and AAC" thread), but I don't have any takers yet. It sounds like the problem described here is similar to what I'm seeing. Anyone have any comments? It seems like this is something that could be fixed in firmware.

[unkyjoe]

Octathorpe,

I would suggest enabling debug logging and submit a bug report to sage so they can let you know whether or not this is related.

The more bug reports we send them, the better.

[reggie14]

How much success have you had playing back movies compressed with Handbrake on the extender? I encoded some TV episodes to mp4s with basically the normal preset, and those play fine. But, I just tried a movie with the film preset and an mkv container and it starts playing back, but then freezes. I have to turn the switch off on the back of the unit to get it to reboot.

I think its actually an encoder problem. The same movie doesn't play back correctly on my PC (playback is really choppy).

[unkyjoe]

I have had no luck playing back h.264 files in an MKV container.

I am so pressed for time here lately with the business I havent had time to research it further, and frankly Sage should be testing this not me.

I have decided to simply purchase larger hard drives and give up the idea of re-encoding to h.264. It's cheaper and less time consuming.

I have had success using HB to convert to Xvid at the 2000kbs range and the videos look great, they just take 2hrs to convert

Once things calm down around here I will look into it again.

P.S. They did fix the problem I was having playing Xvid files, they work great now.

[reggie14]

Did you report the mkv problems to Sage?

[reggie14]

I think there might be a combination of mkv-related problems in Sage and Handbrake. There does seem to be something strange going on with mkv files on the extender. None of my mkv files will play. I've taken mp4 files that play, ran them through mkvmerge, and now they won't play on the extender.

But Handbrake is giving me problems too. I can't play back mkv files created in Handbrake properly on my PC. The video is really choppy- it plays back at 15 frames/sec. I can use the same Handbrake settings and create an mp4, run it through mkvmerge, and the resulting mkv file plays fine.

Is there any other container that lets me do chapters and AC3 audio besides mkv?

[valnar]

Originally Posted by reggie14

Is there any other container that lets me do chapters and AC3 audio besides mkv?

No.


Try a different app than Handbrake, like AutoMKV.

Robert

[Taddeusz]

Handbrake doesn't properly support MKV. It doesn't add a cue table to the output file. You need to run the file through mkvmerge for it to playback properly. This is all in the extender FAQ.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

Handbrake doesn't properly support MKV. It doesn't add a cue table to the output file. You need to run the file through mkvmerge for it to playback properly. This is all in the extender FAQ.

I saw the note the FAQ. It only refers to problems with fast fowarding and rewinding. I can't do playback. The video will start playing back, then 2 seconds later it will stop and the extender will freeze up. I have to turn the unit off for it to respond again. I tried running one of the files mkvmerge as suggested in the FAQ. I have the same results.

Have you successfully played back mkv files created in Handbrake and run through that script? If so, what version of Handbrake were you using? I'm using v.92.

[Taddeusz]

I was using Handbrake v0.91. I no longer use it. I now use AutoMKV. Handbrake's reverse telecine engine sucks and can't handle poorly mixed movies such as Mallrats. Even regularly I end up getting an odd frame here and there where it takes it as a progressive frame but it's not.

Anyway, I haven't had any problems with playback of my H.264 MKV files. They all play fine. In AutoMKV I've been using the Main Profile profile. When I was using Handbrake I was kind of using my own which is kind of based on the Main Profile. The only problem I was having was getting stuff to play through Placeshifter. They start out fine from the beginning but if I stop it and then start again from the middle it won't play. But, other than that, no issues. Placeshifter isn't that important to me so I haven't really worried about it.

[reggie14]

I tried running a DVD through AutoMKV and I have exactly the same results. It starts playing back on the extender, then the extender completely freezes up. It doesn't happen with all mkv files. I snooped around Sage's ftp site and downloaded an mkv file. That one plays fine.

I just used the default settings in AutoMKV. I don't think its a codec issue. Its happened with every mkv file I've created- including ones made from working mp4 files. Is there anything I should try before I submit something to Sage support?