Music in videos needs a "kickstart"

madbunny · Post by **madbunny** » Mon Apr 12, 2004 5:16 pm

The sound works.. but seems to need a "kickstart" to get going.
It works if you click on any part of the timeline, either forward or back of the scrub, thereafter works fine on that video.

I've seen this in several videos. What causes this?

Qyot27 · Post by **Qyot27** » Mon Apr 12, 2004 6:07 pm

Usually I seem to get this problem when the decoders for the video are outta whack, or if the version of the decoder is only meant to include support for a particular earlier version of the codec or an alternative form of the codec. For instance, I get that problem a lot when playing DivX 3.11;) or XviD files 'cause I use the DivX 5.0.5 decoder and I think the files I'm trying to play weren't properly encoded or had some screwy setting on them that only the decoder version that matches the encoder version could playback right.

I also get this problem with MPEG-2 files occasionally. I think that's because sometimes the computer would mess up the proper decoding filter...kinda like it is right now, and now I can only watch SVCD-format MPEG-2 files from the beginning; I can't skip around 'cause the audio will freeze and the screen'll go black. DVD-format MPEG-2 files work fine though. Maybe it has something to do with the AC-3 audio as opposed to MP2.

Unlimited Rice · Post by **Unlimited Rice** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 7:09 pm

know of anyway to fix it? or... something better than LAME MP3 ?

Qyot27 · Post by **Qyot27** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 9:10 pm

TheUnlimited wrote:know of anyway to fix it? or... something better than LAME MP3 ?

Lame's MP3 codec shouldn't be a problem. Especially if you have the newest version. For most purposes, Lame's ACM doesn't even invade the video files, it's just added to the possible ways to compress it inside a WAV file using Sound Recorder, dBPowerAMP, etc.

I think a big part may be incompatibility between the media splitter and the video codec. If the video's playback isn't correct, but is still supported, the audio can't be decoded properly either, since the splitter is the one in charge of making sure the two are synced properly (and that they even play back together-at least, this is what I gather)

The only thing I could suggest is to make sure you have the proper playback filters to correspond to the encoder the video was processed by. As far as I know, DivX 5 has no such problem, and 5.1.1 supports generic MPEG-4 playback, so I think that would take care of it, as far as DivX stands. It's always a safe bet to have the newest XviD build on there too, just in case.

madbunny · Post by **madbunny** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 9:31 pm

Qyot27 wrote:
TheUnlimited wrote:know of anyway to fix it? or... something better than LAME MP3 ?
Lame's MP3 codec shouldn't be a problem. Especially if you have the newest version. For most purposes, Lame's ACM doesn't even invade the video files, it's just added to the possible ways to compress it inside a WAV file using Sound Recorder, dBPowerAMP, etc.

I think a big part may be incompatibility between the media splitter and the video codec. If the video's playback isn't correct, but is still supported, the audio can't be decoded properly either, since the splitter is the one in charge of making sure the two are synced properly (and that they even play back together-at least, this is what I gather)

The only thing I could suggest is to make sure you have the proper playback filters to correspond to the encoder the video was processed by. As far as I know, DivX 5 has no such problem, and 5.1.1 supports generic MPEG-4 playback, so I think that would take care of it, as far as DivX stands. It's always a safe bet to have the newest XviD build on there too, just in case.

So you think it's probably something on my end then. Like maybe the video was done up in the latest version of xvid, and I have a previous version sort of thing? I would imagine that the inverse would be a non issue.

I was thinking along the lines that using the 'interleaving' function in v-dub might be a possible error. ( I have zero experience with that, and don't understand it.)

Unfortunately I can't get a project to duplicate the effect on my own machine. I'm sure that there are settings that force this error, but can't figure them out.

thanks for looking into it, if you or someone else reading this can figure it out, I'd sure like to know.

B

Qyot27 · Post by **Qyot27** » Wed Apr 14, 2004 12:28 am

madbunny wrote:So you think it's probably something on my end then. Like maybe the video was done up in the latest version of xvid, and I have a previous version sort of thing? I would imagine that the inverse would be a non issue.

I was thinking along the lines that using the 'interleaving' function in v-dub might be a possible error. ( I have zero experience with that, and don't understand it.)

Unfortunately I can't get a project to duplicate the effect on my own machine. I'm sure that there are settings that force this error, but can't figure them out.

thanks for looking into it, if you or someone else reading this can figure it out, I'd sure like to know.

B

What I mean is that XviD and DivX 3.11;) in particular (you could probably throw DivX 4 into the mix also-it's really buggy) have some peculiar encoding routines and special encoding bugs and/or odd add-ons that only they have, and sometimes if those settings aren't used right when the file is being encoded, it can result in really weird output files or files that do utilize those specialized settings, but a newer version or older version of the codec may not have support for it, therefore it would make the video screw up.

DivX 4 (and DivX 5, which stabilized the code and removed the major bugs) was made from scratch using fully standard-compliant MPEG-4 source code, whereas DivX 3.11;) was based from a hacked version of Microsoft's MPEG-4 V3 codec. XviD is also based on the same source code that produced DivX 4 and 5, but veered off in a seperate direction. So if certain settings are set in any of these codecs that contradicts or otherwise gets in the way of the best possible encoding routines, then bad frames, improper interleaving or audio sync, and a number of other visual problems can result. I've tried playing around with XviD before, and done those sorts of things. Using the DivX 3.11;) decoder would solve any problems with DivX 3.11;)-encoded video, because all those little quirks are native to that version, likewise with XviD. Newer builds like XviD and DivX 5 have all these quirks supported for playback, so most of the time, it doesn't screw up if the right codecs are installed. I'd suggest getting a hold of either DivX 5.0.5 or 5.1.1 and the latest of Koepi's XviD builds (I can't remember the website, but doing an AOL or Google Search will bring it up) and seeing if those fix the problem. Just make sure to uninstall all the DivX or XviD codecs present on your computer before putting in the new ones.

If those don't solve the problem, it might be Vdub's interleaving, but I can't imagine why it would do that, unless the person who encoded the video messed around and screwed up those settings. Worse comes to worse, it could always be a problem that the video lost some background data when it was uploaded to the website or server it's on. In any case, processing the video through Vdub will correct the problem and you can adjust any quality settings on the video to try to clean it up, depending on what your purpose is (if it's just to watch it, Direct Stream Copy will do the trick most of the time).

I mean, if your encodes don't seem to have this problem, then it would have to be the other end of the equation, as far as the encoding is concerned, and any decoding issues basically would be the fault of the one who encoded the video in such an odd way.

It's always best not to try to duplicate the error, or you might mess up your encodes as well (my safe-or-sorry mentality for you), but it is nice to know what causes it so it can be corrected when something like that shows up.

Kiyoshimiko · Post by **Kiyoshimiko** » Fri Aug 27, 2004 12:43 pm

Hmm, I just discovered this problem too. I am able to load my .wav file into VirtualDub fine, and I set both Video and Audio on "Full Processing" and use LAME Mp3...44,100, 320...everything seems correct...but when the .avi is saved, the sound doesn't play unless you click on any part of the timeline, and then it works for the rest of the video.

Maybe someone knows what settings I need to change, etc.? I'm afraid of exporting my video because people who download it will probably have the same sound problem.

Zero1 · Post by **Zero1** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 5:37 am

Could it be that the source was encoded with MP3Pro? I know playback of that with the standard Fraunhofer (and perhaps Lame) codecs can have the odd issue.

Unlimited Rice · Post by **Unlimited Rice** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 7:19 pm

woah.. this old post huh? well.. i remember solving this back then...

these options here have taht kind of effect

44100 hz, 320kbps CBR Stereo
44100 hz, 256kbps CBR Stereo

so I used

44100 hz, 224kbps CBR Stereo *hinthint* anything above this by kbps makes the video need a kickstart

Zero1 · Post by **Zero1** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 6:39 pm

excellent find, I shall remember this in case I have the problem.

AnimeMusicVideos.org

Music in videos needs a "kickstart"

Music in videos needs a "kickstart"

Ack