"An ornithological production" or "Something

[CityK]

What we have here are direct download links to a very recent Apple HD movie spoiler featuring birds (and other critters and nature). The 720p version of this 2 min video weighs in ~90MB. I am uncertain of the 1080p version's mass proportions:

http://images.apple.com/movies/us/hd_gallery/gl1800/720p/cornell_720p.mov

http://images.apple.com/movies/us/hd_gallery/gl1800/1080p/cornell_m1080p.mov

The video is meant as a showcase of Apple's implementation of AVC/h.264. Personally, I think the QT AVC stuff is not nearly as good as some of the other AVC offerings, but nonetheless I quite enjoy the video content and subject matter.

For playback, you will need something that can play it back (both hardware and software wise) Assuming you have a system that can handle the relatively taxing demands of h.264 decoding, the only real stumbling block is the software. From a Windows OS point of view:

Option 1: is installing the standalone version of QT7 (eeewww yuk :evil: ). I suggest you avoid this option like as if it were the plague.

Option 2: is to rename the downloaded file's ".mov" appendage to ".mp4". You will then need the appropriate mp4 fillters for playback. For a splitter/parser I suggest Haali's (make sure you enable mp4 support during installation) and for decoding ffdshow is my choice. Alternatively you could also use Nero Digital's, Mainconcept's etc etc... Any Direct Show media player shall now be equipped to handle all your mp4 playback needs... I strongly suggest using Media Player Classic (which has no relation to MS).

- Option 3: is to install a recent build of Quicktime Alternative and use it in conjunction with Windows Media player (yuk! :evil: ) or, much better, with Media Player Classic ... actually it will probably work with any DS media player

- Option 4: install VideoLan Media player ... I don't use it (always had difficulty with it in the past) so I'm not certain what other hoops are required

- Option 5: use Mplayer (yes, its not only for linux!) .... its a standalone that doesn't require installing...but its a cmdline only (although there are some gui's for it floating around) .... but it should work (>mplayer "locationile") ... I just tested, and the video lagged way behind the very nice accompanying music ... don't know why my frame rate fell behind, but fluid nonetheless.... anyways, this might be the most "least intrusive" option

Enjoy

 

[CityK]

It appears my post got a bit borked (received a boolean error??) and the title got trunicated. It should have properly read:

"An ornithological production" or "Something for Tannin"

 

[Tannin]

Love birds.

Can't stand Quicktime.

Dilemma!

 

[CityK]

I just made a visual comparison:

- QT's decoders are definitely the least appealing

- Mplayer seems to produce the best picture --> incidents of macroblocking are less noticeable (especially evident in the froggy scene, which is horrid with QT) and the colours are more vibrant

- ffdshow is somewhat in between the QT and Mplayer decodes

 

[CityK]

Tannin, just download one of Celtic_druid's recent builds of Mplayer for windows then (~3.5MB). Extract to a folder, drop to cmd line and then use the cmd:

mplayer "path\filename.mov"

Its a very nice vid and music.

 

[Mercutio]

I downloaded a HD video a few weeks ago. "Island Fever 3", starring Tera Patrick, Jesse Jane and Devon. 720p, and I don't think I have even one computer that can play it back smoothly.

Perhaps I should try one of those other players. Media Player Classic certainly isn't doing it.

 

[CityK]

What codec (and bit rate) is used for this, no doubt, PG-13 rated wholesome entertainment

 

[Mercutio]

6.8Mbps WMV9.
I get about 20 fps on my 3800, about 15 on a 3200.

 

[mubs]

I should try these on my p-3 900 / Radeon 9000 system :mrgrn:

 

[Handruin]

mplayer worked fine on my xp 2200+ with the 720P file. It looks very good and the playback was smooth. The CLI complained about my system being too slow:

Opening video decoder: [ffmpeg] FFmpeg's libavcodec codec family
Selected video codec: [ffh264] vfm:ffmpeg (FFmpeg H.264)
==========================================================================
Building audio filter chain for 44100Hz/2ch/s16le -> 0Hz/0ch/??...
AO: [dsound] 44100Hz 2ch s16le (2 bps)
Building audio filter chain for 44100Hz/2ch/s16le -> 44100Hz/2ch/s16le...
Starting playback...
VDec: vo config request - 1264 x 720 (preferred csp: Planar YV12)
VDec: using Planar YV12 as output csp (no 0)
Movie-Aspect is undefined - no prescaling applied.
VO: [directx] 1264x720 => 1264x720 Planar YV12
A:  20.4 V:  19.9 A-V:  0.495 ct:  1.540 598/598 89%  6%  1.2% 455 0

           ************************************************
           **** Your system is too SLOW to play this!  ****
           ************************************************

I also tried the 1080P, and that played OK, but wasn't nearly as smooth as the 720P version.

 

[CityK]

mplayer worked fine on my xp 2200+ with the 720P file. It looks very good and the playback was smooth. The CLI complained about my system being too slow

I'm pretty sure mplayer is rendering every frame, however, just not at the intended 24 or 29.97 fps (or whatever the source was) ... hence why the audio is finishing well before the video is finished.

 

[CityK]

6.8Mbps WMV9.
I get about 20 fps on my 3800, about 15 on a 3200.

You should, in theory, have no problems playing this back. WMV9/VC1 is not as taxing as AVC....however, it does seem to mysteriously present some challenges to some systems which should be way more then adequate...there has got to be some low level software conflict in its code going on, as that's about the only reason I can think of that some people can't get it to work well despite running the latest nucleator 8000 hardware

Anyways, just a couple of suggestions:

- if you're not using it yet, there is an ati patch for accelerating wmv decodes ... although I hear its a bit buggy visually (green artifacts in some incidences)

- despite what you may have heard about them, fast writes can make a big difference (first hand experience)

 

[Mercutio]

Actually, as I think of it, all WMV files play like ass on my machines. Not just playbacks, but seeks within the files are exceptionally slow, even when I'm comparing 5MB wmv files to 5GB mpeg2s.

I'll also say that I avoid updating Windows Media stuff, because I despise all versions of the player after 7, but the machines I'm dealing with have Server 2003 Web edition installed, and therefore WMP10.

 

[sechs]

Perhaps it's a lack of acceleration?

 

[Mercutio]

Well, I found a Microsoft patch that turns on DX9 acceleration for WMV files, but interestingly, it can't be installed until this little gem is in place.

Better WMV = carrot, more DRM= stick.

No thanks.

 

[CityK]

I found a Microsoft patch that turns on DX9 acceleration for WMV files, but interestingly, it can't be installed until this little gem is in place.

Sorry, I wasn't aware they had a DRM prerequisite in order to obtain acceleration ... I guess that goes to show how much interest I have in WMV

Better WMV = carrot, more DRM= stick.

No thanks.

Completely agree .... but unfortunately there are hoards of jackasses in the world that will go for the carrot

 

[Mercutio]

OK, I downloaded a real H.264 MPEG file. 1280x720, 9.5Mbit/sec; 20 minutes of Cindi er... sitting on a couch.

And it plays PERFECTLY on even my XP2500 and everything else I have, even over my LAN.

I thought the problem was just the resolution of the video. Now I'm thinking the problem is just %^$#ing .WMV.