Sudden problem with CoreAVC

[Thronsen]

Hi everyone-

At the suggestion of some of the experts on this site, I installed the CoreAVC decoder. And I have to say I absolutely loved it. It worked perfectly, silky smooth on MPC even running MTS files, and great on MP4.

A few days ago, it slowed way down. It can still handle simple things, but anything with a lot of movement will cause it to start stuttering.

My question is, how do I go about finding what caused the problem? The only things I installed in the interim were Lightroom and whatever crap a friends Flip puts on your PC (which I have since banished but the damage was done). Does anyone have any suggestions, or a link to a website with suggestions, on how to determine the problem and ideally the steps to fixing it. Is it a codec issue, and if so how do I find the bad codec and what codecs are necessary? etc.

I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the following already: Lightroom, Quicktime and CoreAVC. I cant find the Flip stuff (it crashed halfway in) to uninstall it.

I know Im a total babe in the woods here, any points though to places I can educate myself and get up to speed (so I can at least ask intelligent questions) would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[Eugenia Loli-Queru]

Flip probably installed another h.264 decoder, and so CoreAVC is not the default h.264 decoder anymore. Never install software from cameras, usually what you need, you already have it on your PC (in terms of decoders or management software).

If you can't find a way to disable these other decoders (it's not easy to do that on Windows, I haven't seen any utility that can let you select the order of preference on decoders of specific formats), then you might have to re-install Windows.

[racer-x]

Before you go re-installing windows or restoring to a previous state, give CodecSniper a try. I've never used it, but it looks like it should do the trick. Be carefull what codecs you remove.

Good luck!

[jabloomf1230]

Go into the CoreAVC setup/configuration program and click the check box that says "Use tray icon":

http://www.coreavc.com/index.php?opt...id=35&Itemid=1

When you access an h.264 file, if you don't see the icon in the Windows System Tray, CoreAVC has been "usurped", as Eugenia stated previously, by some other h.264 decoder. Sometimes checking the check box "Preferred decoder" fixes the problem.

Another program that you can use to fix this problem is Filmerit:

http://paul.glagla.free.fr/filmerit_en.htm

It's freeware and it allows you to change the DirectShow filter merit. The filter merit determines which codec is used, if more than one codec claims they can handle the request (in this case, decoding an h.264 file). Filmerit also makes a backup of your system setup via a restore point, so in case you goof up, you can have Windows roll back to the restore point.

As others have stated, don't install codec packs or any other extraneous video software unless you really need it. All this does, is pile on DirectShow filters until you finally break something.

[Thronsen]

Thanks everyone, I think I finally managed to sort it out. I still had 1 machine that hadnt been 'infected' by Flip, and just went through line by line making sure everything matched. The culprit was actually the audio, which I wouldnt have guessed was making the video (I guess the whole file) stutter.

Does anyone know if the minefield of codecs etc will continue in Windows 7? Ive been counting the days till that is released so I can get my new I7 PC. Between the processor speed and ideally a better OS Im hoping I dont need to blow entire work days sorting these things out anymore.

[Eugenia Loli-Queru]

I don't think anything changed regarding codec management. You just need to be careful what you install. Don't install things you don't need. If a piece of hardware works with your primary piece of software for it, then there's no reason to install any CDs it came with.