Unique MP4 video problem

[thefraj]

Hi everyone, this is my first post because it's rather a unique problem.

I have a file with EXT *.mp4 which won't play. Quicktime gives : "couldn't open filename XXXX.mp4 because the filename is bad"

I have mp4 ffdshop codecs for windows, but Windows Media Player gives a black screen and the timer does not progress

I've also tried Core Player and VLC which play sound but no picture. I'm certain that this is a video file (based on size alone).

Anyone have any thoughts? I'd be very greatful for any help!

~Rog

[benbryant]

Hi thefraj,

Please make a copy of your original video file to My Computer, for example. Go to Control Panel -> Folder Options -> View -> untick " Hide extensions for unknown file types". Right-click your video file from .mp4 to .mov or .avi extension (For example: myvideo. mov or myvideo.avi) and then play it with Quicktime player or Media Player Classic. You can also check to see what codec needed to open your video file by using some wonderful free tools such as GSpot, MediaInfo...Please come back and let us know the result

Regards

[thefraj]

Thanks for the help! Media Info gave some useful info:

MPEG4 300 MiB, 25mn 3s
1 video stream: Unknown(0)
1 audio stream: AAC LC

First Video Stream
0*0 at 29.97, Unknown(0)

First Audio Stream
440KBps, 48Khz, AAC LC

Overall BitRate: 1676 KBps

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(MediaInfos a pretty neat bit of kit isn't it?) Anyway, seeing the audio encoding as "AAC" drew my attention to something about the filename (I'd not included until now because I never thought it relevant!) Its:

[AU] Hoshi no Koe - Voices of a Distant Star (H.264-AAC) [5FF5EF77].mp4

So assuming AAC is the audio codec, I looked for H.264, only to find it is Apples new video format. I've downloaded the latest quicktime 7 and get "-37 a bad filename or volume name was encountered" when it is called either ".mov" ".mp4" (makes no difference)
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[edit:] sorry, just a quick one to say: after tracking down "-37" it turns out to be a bug in Apples player that doesn't like some filenames. I've since renamed the file to "test.mov" and "test.mp4" (no spaces or squared brackets changes behaviour of Quicktime) which now gives "-2408 the file is not a movie file" for MOV, and for MP4, gives a blank screen but behaves as though playing (Though the timer counter does not progress)

Anyway, the difference between the audio bitrate and the overall bitrate makes me sure there is video there somewhere.

Thanks so much for the help so far! I appreciate this is not really a DivX/XviD (or even AVI) problem.

~Rog

[anonymez]

H264 is a standard, not 'apple's codec'. it may well be encoded with 'nero digital, or 'x264', a freeware H264 codec. try this:

uninstall ffdshow, download & install the 'october 13 2005' version of ffdshow from http://www.aziendeassociate.it/cd.asp?dir=/ffdshow

play your file in 'media player classic'.

[thefraj]

Thanks!!!

Great! Worked beautifully! Thank you all! Just to let you know the latest set of ffdshow was released 3rd of 11th (in case anyone elses videos stop playing, or start complaining of a similar problem) these are the symptoms!


~Rog

[anonymez]

you're welcome

i recommend you uninstall the latest one, and install the oct 13 one, its the fastest and most stable IMO. latest is not always greatest when builds for a program are released on a daily basis