AC3Filter and Purevideo working, finally! - But had a hard time...

MZWiZard · 2006-11-08, 18:53

I finally got AC3Filter and Purevideo working as they should.

However the process involved was not as I expected. Having installed these DShow filters and set them up in configuration, they wouldnt work as they should. I wanted Purevideo for every type of video, including tv. I wanted AC3Filter for everything but DVD, where Purevideo would be better, I guess. The only thing working correctly was the DVD section, using Purevideo for audio/video.

In other places, MPA, MPV and Dscalar filters was somehow overriding my selections, thereby not taking advantage of my hardware or using my 5.1 analog setup. After a load of trial and errors, I found that I had to unregister all the filters overriding my selections. I also needed to edit mediaportal.xml and change these lines to be empty except in the DVD section, where it worked as it should:

<entry name="audiorenderer"></entry>
<entry name="mpeg2audiocodec"></entry>

Making them empty (between >< ), makes mp use the codecs with highest priority which could finally be AC3Filter.

Why AC3Filter, you may ask? Well, its because a lot of my movies and almost all of my tv programs are either Dolby Surround coded or in stereo, which makes AC3Filter the only filter to handle my speaker setup correct. Like Dolby Surround 2CH decoded to 5.1 and stereo uses the center speaker for a better dialog when watching news and other things.

My setup is PC -> SB Audigy SE -> 5 analog speakers

This now works beautifully, as long as i dont do too much in configuration. Having saved configuration, I now always have to look through mediaportal.xml to see if I have to empty those lines again.

Installing a new SVN brings back the beforementioned filters, without me being able to unselect them; thereby starting this process all over.

My question is, will it be possible in the future NOT having mp doing anything else than select the filters you actually select? And will it be possible to deselect filters from installing with a new SVN or new version of MP?

pierreye · 2006-11-26, 17:27

Great tip. I too had the same problem. Somehow using normal player such as Media Player Classic and ZoomPlayer do run my codec setup correctly. For eg., I'm using fddshow audio codec to decode AAC audio and use AC3Filter to encode 5.1 into dolby digital live stream (I only have a single SPDIF output to my receiver). If I run Media Portal, I can only get 2 channel output. I look at the setup and do manually select either AC3Filter or FDDShow as prefered audio decoder but that doesn't work. Still get 2 channel output. I try your method to manually edit the xml file but didn't get any sound output. Maybe I will need to reboot my machine. Will try again when I hv time.

costp · 2006-11-28, 15:04

Hello, I just wanted to say that you don't need AC3 filter to transcode from AAC/mp3 to AC3 (spdif or coax) . Just use ffdshow. I already wroted a simple explanation on how to do it --> http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/sh...1681#post91681

This trick involve that ffdshow encode in AC3 (yes he can do it) But it will send on pcm . This trick work with my yamaha decoder over spdif... Now, every 2 channel audio are split into 5 different with the voice only in the center and the bass only on the subwoofer. Go to the post and try it...
And, of course, AC3 audio is send as is...
Costp

2006-11-08, 18:53	#1 (permalink)
MZWiZard Portal Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Age: 36 Posts: 48 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country:	AC3Filter and Purevideo working, finally! - But had a hard time... I finally got AC3Filter and Purevideo working as they should. However the process involved was not as I expected. Having installed these DShow filters and set them up in configuration, they wouldnt work as they should. I wanted Purevideo for every type of video, including tv. I wanted AC3Filter for everything but DVD, where Purevideo would be better, I guess. The only thing working correctly was the DVD section, using Purevideo for audio/video. In other places, MPA, MPV and Dscalar filters was somehow overriding my selections, thereby not taking advantage of my hardware or using my 5.1 analog setup. After a load of trial and errors, I found that I had to unregister all the filters overriding my selections. I also needed to edit mediaportal.xml and change these lines to be empty except in the DVD section, where it worked as it should: <entry name="audiorenderer"></entry> <entry name="mpeg2audiocodec"></entry> Making them empty (between >< ), makes mp use the codecs with highest priority which could finally be AC3Filter. Why AC3Filter, you may ask? Well, its because a lot of my movies and almost all of my tv programs are either Dolby Surround coded or in stereo, which makes AC3Filter the only filter to handle my speaker setup correct. Like Dolby Surround 2CH decoded to 5.1 and stereo uses the center speaker for a better dialog when watching news and other things. My setup is PC -> SB Audigy SE -> 5 analog speakers This now works beautifully, as long as i dont do too much in configuration. Having saved configuration, I now always have to look through mediaportal.xml to see if I have to empty those lines again. Installing a new SVN brings back the beforementioned filters, without me being able to unselect them; thereby starting this process all over. My question is, will it be possible in the future NOT having mp doing anything else than select the filters you actually select? And will it be possible to deselect filters from installing with a new SVN or new version of MP? __________________ Friendly wishes, Jesper Last edited by MZWiZard; 2006-11-08 at 19:02.

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2006-11-26, 17:27	#2 (permalink)
pierreye Portal Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 14 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Great tip. I too had the same problem. Somehow using normal player such as Media Player Classic and ZoomPlayer do run my codec setup correctly. For eg., I'm using fddshow audio codec to decode AAC audio and use AC3Filter to encode 5.1 into dolby digital live stream (I only have a single SPDIF output to my receiver). If I run Media Portal, I can only get 2 channel output. I look at the setup and do manually select either AC3Filter or FDDShow as prefered audio decoder but that doesn't work. Still get 2 channel output. I try your method to manually edit the xml file but didn't get any sound output. Maybe I will need to reboot my machine. Will try again when I hv time.

2006-11-28, 15:04	#3 (permalink)
costp Portal User Join Date: Nov 2006 Age: 29 Posts: 4 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Country:	Hello, I just wanted to say that you don't need AC3 filter to transcode from AAC/mp3 to AC3 (spdif or coax) . Just use ffdshow. I already wroted a simple explanation on how to do it --> http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/sh...1681#post91681 This trick involve that ffdshow encode in AC3 (yes he can do it) But it will send on pcm . This trick work with my yamaha decoder over spdif... Now, every 2 channel audio are split into 5 different with the voice only in the center and the bass only on the subwoofer. Go to the post and try it... And, of course, AC3 audio is send as is... Costp