CD plays on XP, but not on ME machines

[Wade G. Pemberton]

I've recently used WMM2 to create a 4 minute video using a Sony TRV900
DV source, and have a smoothly running preview in the WMM2 timeline.
I've saved it to the computer HD in the "best quality (1.7Mbps)" .wmv
format. This file also replays smoothly. Copying this .wmv movie to
CDROM results in the CDROM replaying smoothly on the originating
computer, under Windows XP + Media Player 9, but it will not replay on
other computers, all using Windows ME and version 7x of Windows Media
Player. The audio portion plays, but not the video.

I see on Papajohn's website that the version 9 video codec produced by
MM2 will play on Media Player, version 7 or above, on Windows 98, but
will not play on Macs or Windows NT. Unless I missed it, Papajohn is
silent on Windows ME.

Is there something I need to do to make the MM2 file on the CDROM play
the video on my Windows ME machines?



Wade

 

[Olivier [MS]]

Yes you can play the file on Media Player 7, but you need the CODEC version
9.
You have two options for that:
1- Once you start playing the file, Media Player 7 should automatically
try to download the codec from the web site if the machine is connected to
the internet
2- You can download the codec from http://www.windowsmedia.com by
installing any Windows Media 9 software.

- Olivier

 

[PapaJohn \(MVP\)]

Thanks Wade, I added Windows Me to the Saving Movies page, so it shows up
with Windows 98.

PapaJohn

 

[Cari MS-MVP]

Or Save it as a PocketPC video file which is automatically v7 codecs. I
have plenty of friends on slow dial up connections still using Win98 and the
PPC videos play just fine on their Media Players. Most of them won't update
because they only have like 2% only free on their tiny hard drives! They're
too busy saving for newer PCs!

Cari
www.coribright.com

 

[Wade G. Pemberton]

Thanks Wade, I added Windows Me to the Saving Movies page, so it shows up
with Windows 98.

Yes, but I still got fooled a little by the line still. Per Olivier above,
it will only run under Windows Media Player 7 if it has been upgraded,
something most of my users won't have done, or be willing to do. Most won't
even be online at the time they put the CD into the machine.

Thanks for an informative website, by the way.

Wade

 

[PapaJohn \(MVP\)]

Wade,

Maybe you want to use a custom profile and save your movies using the
version 7 codec. I'm using that for the 30 second clip I have on the Do
Amazing Things - Introduction page, and someone wrote that it plays fine on
WMP version 6.4.

It's the same approach that Cari suggests but you can make your movies any
size you want. The Pocket PC sizes are pretty small.

PapaJohn

 

[Olivier]

Sorry if I was not clear. You basically have three options:
1- As I mentioned earlier, you can use Media Player 7, but you need the
codec version 9 to be installed on the machine (either through web download,
or by installing it through windowsMedia.com) . The player will stay exactly
the same, only the codec will be added to the computer.
2- If people can not add the new codec to their computer, then you can use
the pocket pc profiles. These profiles use the V7 codec.
3- Finally, as PapaJohn mentioned, you can create a custom V7 profile. This
will let you create a video file with higher resolutions (e.g.: 640x480)
that is using the v7 codec.

I hope this help

- Olivier

 

[Wade G. Pemberton]

Olivier (& PapaJohn):

Sorry if I was not clear. You basically have three options:

I understand them all, except for details of #3. See below.

1- As I mentioned earlier, you can use Media Player 7, but you need the
codec version 9 to be installed on the machine (either through web download,
or by installing it through windowsMedia.com) . The player will stay exactly
the same, only the codec will be added to the computer.

Not likely the users will have an updated Media Player 7, and unlikely they'll
update.

2- If people can not add the new codec to their computer, then you can use
the pocket pc profiles. These profiles use the V7 codec.

Yes, but I don't like the size of the images. Remember, I'm not worried about
internet transfer times. I'm creating a CDROM. As long as the file doesn't
exceed ~700 meg, is readable by the majority of more or less modern systems,
and does not have obnoxious audio skips, I'll use it.

3- Finally, as PapaJohn mentioned, you can create a custom V7 profile. This
will let you create a video file with higher resolutions (e.g.: 640x480)
that is using the v7 codec.

I've made the first pass at that, downloading the editor and creating my own.
Unfortunately, PapaJohn's starter .prx file isn't the high resolution sort, and
I don't know the settings necessary to create one at the moment.

My 4 minute movie, when saved to computer using MM2's "best quality for playback
on my computer (recommended)" setting needs 55meg of space, but my newest
creation requires only 12 meg of playback, with of course, a noticable drop in
quality.

If I could have what I wanted, it would be a menu item to use the best quality
for computer playback that maintained compatibility with codec 7 players.

What is the name of the .prx file that is used by MM2 to create the "best
quality for playback on my computer" files? Or, if that file is not availble
for me to edit a copy of to change to codec 7, what are the parameters I'm
looking to enter into a generic starter .prx?

Wade