reference avi problems

[ryoken]

when i try to play reference avi files in windows media player, i only see a grey screen with dots spread out in a symmetric grid-like manner, but the audio is fine. if the same reference avi file is opened in procoder as a source file and i click on advanced to see the preview, the same grey screen with dots appear - i believe the converted file will look the same.

however, when i try to play the same reference avi file in edius (and storm edit), everything is fine and i can see the video properly (both on the computer screen & external monitor) and hear the audio too. can anyone explain what is going on??? this is driving me nuts!!!

also, there does not seem to be any problems with non-reference avi files. i really cannot afford to lose the capability to play/use reference avis.

FYI, here are some system details:

windows xp sp2
windows media player 11
dvstorm 2 card w/ dvstorm applications (eg. storm edit)
edius 3.61 + 3.61 hotfix
procoder 2.04

yes, everything is a clean install.

[SRsupport]

Why do you still use reference avi?

[Rusty]

Still using FAT32 discs? I'm not sure there is a reason any more!

Welcome to the Forum ryoken!

[SRsupport]

he he .....that's why I asked.
At one point there was a misconception that they where smaller. But people where looking at the reference info not the actual data. It was funny.
A few of us had to explain over and over that you had to look at all the references to see actual size.

Reference avi has served its purpose but is really a thing of the past.


Steve

[ryoken]

thanks for your quick replies!

we don't use fat32 - all disks are ntfs. but we have some legacy systems here which can only spit out reference avi files (they dont have edius on them, just storm/rex edit). at times, we may use these legacy systems to capture video onto a shared storage drive (eg. SAN), so will need to be able to open these reference avis on the newer system. hence i need to ability to view/use these reference avi files.

also, the reference files have not been moved in any way and they play fine in windows media player on the legacy systems. so the grey screen im seeing on the newer system when playing reference avis in wmp/procoder is not caused by the files being moved. and as i stated earlier, these files play fine on the newer system within edius and storm edit.

[GrassValley_BH]

Sounds like lack of overlay. Try switching resolutions and/or refresh rates.

[SRsupport]

If I am not wrong once the storm is installed you can use dvcapture which will remove any need of reference avi in your workflow. So legacy systems with dv capture = no reference avi. :)

Steve

[ryoken]

if i remember correctly, immediately after installing the storm applications (eg. storm video, storm edit), windows media player did not have any problems playing the reference avis. the resolution and refresh rate was set to [email protected], 32bpp - this has not changed even after installing the edius, procoder and the rest of the programs. but after all that was installed reference avis stopped playing correctly. so i doubt its an overlay issue.

am i correct in assuming that the directshow filter has somehow corrupted or been replaced by a newer version (perhaps from installing edius??) which doesn't completely support legacy reference avis? i noticed there was a canopus codec option v2.00 readme inside the edius 3.61 patch - would installing this patch have changed something (yes i am poking in the dark here)?

i would still like to use the legacy systems for editing, so would like to stick with ref. avis if at all possible. i don't think non-reference avis catpured in dvcapture would work properly in storm/rex edit (please correct me if im wrong).

is this problem just too hard to be worth investigating/fixing? is not using ref. avis the only solution?

[GrassValley_BH]

The gray with symmetric dots sounds like a codec problem...
If you had a DVRex I'd tell you to check the decoding properties and change it to use software decoding.

You might want to try uninstalling the Canopus DV Driver application from Add/Remove Programs, then reinstall it.

[ryoken]

i previously tried doing a repair (in add/remove programs) on the canopus dv driver, but the grey screen is still there :( im still open to suggestions!

FYI, im using the Canopus DV Unified Driver v2.01h (the latest one).

[GrassValley_BH]

FYI, im using the Canopus DV Unified Driver v2.01h (the latest one).

Where are you getting this driver version number from?

[ryoken]

the version information is from the Canopus website and also in the readme file.

i agree it does appear to be a codec problem. so how do i fix it?? i'm starting to pull my hair out! the last thing i want to do is reinstall the whole machine and test playback of ref avis after installing each piece of software. surely i can't be the first person to have stumbled across this problem...

Just so that we're on the same page, here's a screen cap of the grey screen with symmetric dots (i used windows media player classic just to confirm its NOT an issue specific to microsoft windows media player):

[ryoken]

ive done some further testing. interestingly, after uninstalling nero, the grey screen changes to a funky multi-colour screen:



it would be much appreciated if anyone can demystify this problem...

[GrassValley_BH]

Your first shot looks like a bus/bandwidth problem. I've seen it a few times on some server boards, and on occasion on a system after something graphics-related has crashed.

The second shot looks like trying to decode corrupt DV data. This can happen if your DV codec is in PAL mode and you're trying to decode NTSC. It can also happen if the data simply doesn't reach the CPU in time - in the case of a badly fragmented hard drive.

[SRsupport]

Maybe it is an Idea to run gspot and post the results.
And dowload vlc and try if it can play the files.


Steve