Moving Pictures 1.5: Now with GUI Importer (2 Viewers)

[RoChess]

Actually MediaInfo doesn't use anything from the DirectShow (where the codecs etc. are) but instead it uses the internal media file parsing code.

LAV for some reason doesn't play well when the same file is accessed at the same time. Symptoms are: video plays, but audio is behind; audio plays, but video is behind; or some other weird stutter/etc behaviour. So if MediaInfo does not use the codecs/splitters to get the info (to me it made sense if it did), then the LAV codec/splitter usage by MediaPortal for playback while at the same time the file is read with another method must be enough then. Switching to MPC-HC standalone filters has fixed it for me on a few boxes I've helped fix. On my own system I do not notice it, except when I'm concurrently accessing the same mediafile via RDP, when the HTPC is in full use. The symptoms are extremly noticable during startup (which I always assumed was due to MediaInfo), with video catching up to audio for sometimes 20 seconds, but also during playback eventually short stuttering will occur when the buffers run out. Sometimes all I have to do is select the media file inside Windows Explorer via RDP, as the thumbnail generator kicks in then.

If it is MediaInfo related then changing codecs wont help in any way. If changing codecs helps then it is either a bug in the DS filter or MP itself that causes the issues. Also more threading in the DS filter / codec side won't help with any playback issues like freezed images.

Nothing ever shows up in the log files that clearly indicate what is going 'wrong', so I've had to make a lot of indirect assumptions. Renaming MediaInfo.DLL to disable it, solves it for a lot of users that I've helped with this issue. Switching from LAV to MPC-HC solves it for the ones who do not want to disable MediaInfo.

 

[RoChess]

I'm getting closer!
It seems that there are several characters in my .nfo files that cause the problem!
Right now i'm not sure wich, but it seems like "" or <> or something like that causes the trouble. All my nfo Files were made with ember MM zhey begin with !<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>"

...

Files are detected as UTF-8 and/or UTF-16 by a few pre-leading characters saved into the binary file area. The tech term for this is "Byte Order Mark" aka BOM. When software does not support the BOM, or it was saved incorrectly, it will indeed show in ASCII as: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTF-8#Byte_order_mark

 

[tourettes]

LAV for some reason doesn't play well when the same file is accessed at the same time. Symptoms are: video plays, but audio is behind; audio plays, but video is behind; or some other weird stutter/etc behaviour. So if MediaInfo does not use the codecs/splitters to get the info (to me it made sense if it did),

MediaInfo is multiplatform library so it cannot rely on DS.

then the LAV codec/splitter usage by MediaPortal for playback while at the same time the file is read with another method must be enough then. Switching to MPC-HC standalone filters has fixed it for me on a few boxes I've helped fix. On my own system I do not notice it, except when I'm concurrently accessing the same mediafile via RDP, when the HTPC is in full use. The symptoms are extremly noticable during startup (which I always assumed was due to MediaInfo), with video catching up to audio for sometimes 20 seconds, but also during playback eventually short stuttering will occur when the buffers run out. Sometimes all I have to do is select the media file inside Windows Explorer via RDP, as the thumbnail generator kicks in then.

I find it odd that disabling MediaInfo would help to the playback since it should be accessing the file before the playback starts (if it doesn't then we have a bug in MP)

• Does it help if you change the splitter only?
• Does the same issue happen under My Videos plugin?
• Can you reproduce the issue in GraphEdit?
• Does it happen on networked media only?
• What kind of CPU load you see?

It would be good that we can track down the real cause and if it is in LAV then we have a change to get it fixed in case we provide enough information. It is probably LAVs splitter that has different buffering behavior than MPC-HC splitter and as result of it OS then prioritises the MediaInfo access (which shouldn't happen in the playback time!) over it.

Nothing ever shows up in the log files that clearly indicate what is going 'wrong', so I've had to make a lot of indirect assumptions. Renaming MediaInfo.DLL to disable it, solves it for a lot of users that I've helped with this issue. Switching from LAV to MPC-HC solves it for the ones who do not want to disable MediaInfo.

Logs hardly show any issues / causes for such kind of errors. But they could show what MP is doing (like running mediainfo at wrong time etc.).

...this should be moved to a separate topic.

 

[joEhSuper]

• Does it help if you change the splitter only?
• Does the same issue happen under My Videos plugin?
• Can you reproduce the issue in GraphEdit?
• Does it happen on networked media only?
• What kind of CPU load you see?

• It happens on local and network media. Also if the media is available or not (External HD on/off)
• YES - the same issue does happen under MyVidoos Plugin
• CPU usage is very high (80-90%)

I'm nearly sure that it has nothing to do with filter or things like that... I think it's a problem with the imported .nfo files. I mean, it will be some work to make these nfo-files new - but if I have to - I will


If anyone ist interested, I added some of these "bad" nfo files. They were createt with Ember MM.

 

[Bernard]

• Does it help if you change the splitter only?
• Does the same issue happen under My Videos plugin?
• Can you reproduce the issue in GraphEdit?
• Does it happen on networked media only?
• What kind of CPU load you see?

For what it is worth, I had this problem, and it disappeared after disabling Video plugin and changing my skin/theme. If I have time I will reverse this and see if the problem is back. But if anyone else has this problem they can always test this theory.

I'm nearly sure that it has nothing to do with filter or things like that... I think it's a problem with the imported .nfo files. I mean, it will be some work to make these nfo-files new - but if I have to - I will

I thought that this information is stored by MovingPictures in the SQLite db when it imports the movie and then only read from there? Does .nfo files play a role even after the import process?[DOUBLEPOST=1374430275][/DOUBLEPOST]

...this should be moved to a separate topic.

so true!

 

[joEhSuper]

I thought that this information is stored by MovingPictures in the SQLite db when it imports the movie and then only read from there? Does .nfo files play a role even after the import process?

You are right - I imported the nfo Information to the SQLite db - so they don't play a role after importing - but they were the basic reason of my problem
I also could have edited the db. But if I did so, I would have had the Problem again if I had to make a new import (after crash or so )

Meanwhile I solved the problem by editing the wrong nfo files (deleted chars like — “ ”) and everything is OK again.
Thanks for all your help!

 

[Bernard]

@joEhSuper: What plugin do you use (or tool) to get the nfo files with the scraper details? I see your point and I'm wondering if I should not take the same path. Then you also have the added advantage of being able to view the details of a movie while you browser your file directly (like in Win Explorer)

 

[joEhSuper]

@joEhSuper: What plugin do you use (or tool) to get the nfo files with the scraper details? I see your point and I'm wondering if I should not take the same path. Then you also have the added advantage of being able to view the details of a movie while you browser your file directly (like in Win Explorer)

Hi Bernard,
I'm using EberMM or Film Info! Organizer http://filminfoorganizer.blogspot.de/
My nfo's are OK now and I can use them with MyVideos as well as with Moving Pictures - and I'm not afraid of crashing movingpictures.db anymore

 

[Bernard]

@joEhSuper: Haha, they are both in German

Thanks for helping, I think I did see something about a "nfo" generator plugin for MePo, but I haven't done my googling yet. I will when I have time to play again, just thought I will ask because I thougth you used a plugin for this already.

 

[RoChess]

@joEhSuper: Haha, they are both in German

Thanks for helping, I think I did see something about a "nfo" generator plugin for MePo, but I haven't done my googling yet. I will when I have time to play again, just thought I will ask because I thougth you used a plugin for this already.

MovPicNFO is available as MPEI now and ties in direct with your Moving-Pictures library. It can generate XBMC compatible NFO files containing the IMDb tt-ID reference, but also all the textual info on a movie (title, plot, crew, etc) and save a copy of your artwork. This will allow for a full off-line import of your entire collection if you adjust MovPic to prioritize the build-in XBMC scraper-script. You can also adjust it to rename the cover into "folder.jpg" if you have all your movies in their own folder.

Moving-Pictures has a build in rename system that you can use to create the folder structure and place all the files in it, based on advanced settings configuration.

There are also a ton of 3rd party solutions for this. CouchPotato for example has an awesome manage system that can rename folders+files, obtain trailers, obtain missing artwork, obtain subtitles and even upgrade the mediafile itself to a higher quality.