MPEG2's In Movie Maker 2

By Alan O (aka Hitthebongo)

www.hitthebongo.co.uk

With a fresh install of Windows XP to play with and no additional software pollution to give a misleading impression, I’ve been exploring the relationship between MPEG2 video files and MM2 (Movie Maker 2.) For testing purposes I have been using a short one minute mpeg2 video that was created from a ripped vob file. To a lesser extent, various vob and downloaded mpeg2 files, have also been used - all one minute long. My machine is a P4 2.8Ghz, 512Mb RAM, with plenty of spare disk space. The testing has followed absolutely no standard procedure and is only meant to help form a general opinion based on my own observations.

If you're a MM2 user and record movies using a DVD camcorder, you are sooner or later going to wonder how you can introduce the created mpeg2 files in to a MM2 project. The same will go for owners of flash and hard drive based camcorders that use the mpeg2 format. And lets not forget ripped DVD Movie content (the legal stuff of course!) along with all those downloadable mpeg2 movies.

While MM2 supports the mpeg1 format straight out of the box on a fresh Windows XP install, it is unfortunate that the superior mpeg2 format is not supported. This is because the necessary mpeg2 DS (DirectShow) filters are not included. Three filters are required to decode an mpeg2:

• MPEG2 Splitter filter -This cracks open the mpeg2 container to seperate the video and audio streams (this will hopefully already be installed and registered as a microsoft DS filter.)

• Audio filter - This decodes the AC3 audio streams (or other)

• Video filter - This decodes the mpeg2 video stream

These filters are represented graphically using a snapshot from an mpeg2 dragged in to GraphEdit:

Please note that the names of the three filters above will vary depending upon what mpeg2 filters are installed and registered on a system. It will also be dependant on the merit each filter is set at. The above are an example only.

These filters are relevant to all mpeg2 based video files, including DVD's and ripped DVD vob files. WMP (Windows Media Player) also depends upon these filters to decode and play mpeg2 content. If WMP can't play them, then it's a dead cert that MM2 will throw up an ugly error code if you try to import them.

Quite often these filters are installed along with other third party media software such as DVD burning application or a media player. Because DS filters can be shared between applications, MM2 and WMP are able to muscle in on their use and put them to work when confronted by an mpeg2.

So is it enough to just have the mpeg2 filters installed? Unfortunately not! Here are some observations I made while testing various different filters.

• The video displays on the preview screen but turns black when viewed on the timeline.

• The video displays when placed on the storyboard, but not when placed on the timeline.

• The video will only display on the timeline if it is dragged on to the storyboard first.

• There is nothing to indicate video content on the video track, but the audio content is displayed on the audio track.

• Everything works and plays OK until I start transitioning clips and some of the clips turn black.

• Everything works and plays fine on the timeline with effects and transitions, but then when I edit a clip, Movie Maker crashes without warning.

• When I import an mpeg2 it can appear as several clips. At other times it appears as just one.

• I get audio but no video.

• I get video and audio, but I get horrible horizontal lines.

• Everything works OK, but when I restart MM2 it starts playing up.

It's enough to put anyone off! I don't know the exact reasons why these problems are experienced, but it seems fair to say that MM2 either isn't optimized to work with mpeg2 content, or the tested filters themselves are incompatible. It might even be a hardware issue. Potentially these problems could be amplified for a user that has several multimedia products installed on their system. Video, audio, and splitter filters are at least required to decode an mpeg2. If several of each exist on a system, then conflict can occur between filters if they are mismatched - that's how I understand it. So is there a solution or recommended action to make mpeg2 content work within MM2?

Essentially the problem will only be addressed by installing and registering quality filters that happily work with MM2 and each other (There will no doubt be other additional factors.) The filters I will detail on the following pages work OK for me on both a clean XP install and my normal XP system that is loaded with various software.

 

The K-Lite Solution

This solution makes use of the MainConcept mpeg2 filters and AC3 audio decoder that can be installed from the K-Lite Full Codec Pack. This pack contains a very comprehensive range of codecs and tools but to keep things simple and trouble free I will only give instructions for installing only those components that are required for mpeg2 decoding.

The K-Lite Solution works for me, but there are provisos and observations worth mentioning:

• The good results are based on 1 minute mpeg2 clips created from ripped DVD content (DVD Shrink). and converted to mpeg2's using MPEG Streamclip. Longer clips may perform differently.

• Results were very poor for some mpeg2 content downloaded from the Internet. That may be down to the quality of the mpeg2 or other issues. My advice is to be cynical about the quality or type of videos downloaded from the Internet

• IMPORTANT - Mpeg2 content yielded very poor results when imported as clips. When importing content in to a collection the "Create clips for video files" on the import window must NOT be ticked. This is very important!

• The codecs I suggest using may adversely affect other software on a system that makes use of DirectShow filters. They are installed at your own risk. If you think you are experiencing problems related to these filters, simply uninstall the K-Lite pack.

• When editing mpeg2's on the timeline it is important to not do to much to quickly. MM2 and the filters need time to work things out. Aggressive editing might result in MM2 crashing, especially if a users hardware is not a very high specification. Interestingly I have observed that the same holds true for wmv content! Be sensible when editing.

• VOB files can be imported directly in to MM2 simply by altering the extension from .vob to .mpg. The DS filters will still be required.

• The following steps make use of the AC3 audio filter and MainConcept splitter and video filters. On my clean install I did some experimenting with the Cyberlink Splitter and Video filters that are an alternative to the MainConcept filters. I found that their performance was better than the MainConcept pair, but would crash any application that attempted to open an mpeg2 on my normal system. Obviously a conflict somewhere. For that reason I have not detailed the Cyberlink options. However, it might be worth experimenting with the Cyberlink pair as they may not pose problems on a different system set up. I also found that pairing up the Gabest splitter and video filters seemed to work OK. There are other combinations that can be explored in K-Lite but I will just focus on the MainConcept pair.

• The step by step instructions make no allowance for what may already be installed on your system.

• Just because it works for me, does not mean it will work for you!

If you don't think you can live with the provisos and are unwilling to give this method a spin you might consider instead converting your mpeg2 content in to a Movie Maker friendly format. That is probably the most straight forward and perhaps best advice to give. For everybody else that feels compelled to try however, I would suggest reading this entire document before proceeding.

I accept no responsibility if it goes pear shaped !

 

Step 1

Download and commence installation of the K-Lite Full Codec Pack. During the installation process a window like the one below should be observed. Initially all selections should be deselected. The quick way to achieve this is to open the drop down box at the top and choose Deselect all.

 

Next, the three filters highlighted in bold need to be selected:

• DirectShow video filters - MPEG1/MPEG2/DVD - MainConcept (button selection)

• DirectShow audio filters - AC3/DTS/LPCM/ (DVD Audio) (tick box selection)

• DirectShow source filters - MPEG PS Splitter - Main Concept (button selection)

Once all three are selected click Next. The Select Additional Tasks screen can be skipped through without selection, as can all the others until the software installation is complete.

Step 2

With all three filters installed, the AC3 Filter needs to be configured. This is navigated to by clicking: Start - All Programs - K-Lite Codec Pack - Configuration - AC3 Filter

The AC3 Properties window is now displayed. Select the system tab and configure as shown below then click OK

Step 3

In order to force MM2 to use all three filters it is necessary to force it to do so within the compatibility list of MM2. This is navigated to within MM2 by clicking: Tools - Options - Compatibility. Deselect all of the filters that are listed and then select the following:

• Main Concept Video Decoder

• Main Concept MPEG Splitter

• AC3 Filter.

Note - deselecting all of the filters may affect MM2's ability to import other video types that rely on them being selected. It may therefore be wise to Restore All Defaults in the compatibility list after your mpeg2 project is finished.

The only filters that should be ticked within the compatibility list are those shown above.

Once the previous steps have been taken, it should be possible to import and playback an mpeg2 within the limits of the provisos I made earlier. If you are not happy with the results just uninstall K-Lite and restore all defaults in the MM2 compatibility list. Next are a few thoughts that consider tailoring the filter requirements with what may already be installed on a PC.

K-Lite Alternatives

There are several different K-Lite codec packs available from www.codecguide.com . A recent addition and one which was not considered when I wrote this guide is the K-Lite MPEG Pack. This is a smaller download and easier to set up as it is only packaging mpeg2 filters. Because the AC3 Filter is not part of the distribution, it would be nescessary to either download and install it seperately, or select one of the other audio components in the k-lite mpeg pack. The MainConcept Audio component would probably make a good choice if Mainconcept video and splitter components are selected.

 

A more thoughtful approach

The K-Lite method takes no account of what other filters might be installed on a users system. It is quite probable that a user may already have one or more appropriate filters installed to handle mpeg2's. For example, I have Nero installed on my normal system which has a Nero mpeg2 splitter registered as a DS filter. In the K-Llite scenario I would not need to install the mpeg2 splitter filter. It therefore begs the question: "Why install what isn't needed?"

Unfortunately my system set up will be different to that of another PC and so it's impossible to offer a tailored solution for every user. What is feasible however is for a user to do some research on their own system and try and work out what they actually need and what to set in the MM2 compatibility list. On my normal system I forgo using the K-Lite MainConcept filters and instead favour my installed Nero splitter filter, coupled with the following video and audio filters:

 

• GPL MPEG-1/2 DirectShow Decoder
• AC3 Filter (Also included in the K-lite package if selected under tools on installation)

 

It is also OK to use Microsofts own MPEG-2 Demultiplexer filter for splitting the mpeg2. This comes installed with windows XP (I think) and is selected by default if no other splitter is selected within the filter compatibility list of MM2 (this filter does not appear in the compatibility list of MM2.) On my normal system this filter had somehow become unregistered and could not be used (probably caused by other software). To remedy that I used DirectShow Filter Manager to find and register the file mpg2splt.ax which was located in the C:\WINDOWS\system32 directory.

Choosing a tailored approach is a solution that works very nicely for me and one that I am mostly using. Someone else using these filters however, may not have such a positive experience. To get the best out of MM2 some experimentation is really required by users to discover what works best for them, For those interested in digging deeper, I would recommend the following tools to analyse your video files and manage the DS filters:

• GSpot (Also included in the Klite package if selected under tools on installation)
• DirectShow Filter Manager
• Graphedit ( Included in the Klite package if selected under tools on installation)

WARNING ! When using these tools it is possible to make alterations or deletions to installed filters that may have an adverse effect on your system. Make sure you know exactly what you're doing and be careful. This particularly applies to the DirectShow filter manager. For the vast majority of time it is enough to just simply look. You have been warned!

Hopefully, anybody experimenting with what has been written will experience success. If not it may be worth considering other free filters or purchased content (maybe a WMP DVD plugin will work?.) If all else fails there is always the option of converting those mpeg2's to a MM2 friendly format.

 

That's all I've got to say apart from - Good Luck !

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Last Updated - 18 May 2007

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