Video Players - Need recommendations

I have been using Windows Media Player for years. I have a large amount of codecs and it never fails to load a file.

However, I have run into a problem with it. The volume automatically turns down a very tiny bit every few seconds. After a full 10 minutes of watching something, the volume is at a level that I realize was much quieter than the starting level. Keep in mind this has nothing to do with the volume level my computer is at. It's a bug or something with WMP.

I must have recommendations, as many as possible, to decide on a new player to use from now on.

Thanks!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I use Media Player Classic, via the CCCP. I've yet to come across something I couldn't play (that wasn't an invalid file to begin with).

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Seconding Media Player Classic. Although, I have no clue on any codec pack. Any recommendations?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Sosei

I use Media Player Classic, via the CCCP. I've yet to come across something I couldn't play (that wasn't an invalid file to begin with).

Quoted for truth.

Media Player Classic is the best, and CCCP is perfect for general playback needs.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

media player classic is my favorite, but i opt for the K-lite codec pack

might try CCCP though

I was speaking idiomatically.

I was using media player classic with CCCP about a year ago but now I found the VLC media player to be just as good (if not better!) Check it out here: http://www.videolan.org/
The neat part is the VLC player can handle just about any format I could throw at it.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I also enjoy the novelties of the great VLC.

FELIPE NO

One of them being, that it does not rely on external codecs. Yes, VLC is pretty much as good as it gets on Windows.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

MPC is best one

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I recently discovered VLC, and I've not looked back since. You should give it a try.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

VLC is perfectly decent. It has a few issues with ASS/SSA softsub rendering, and a few bugs here and there, but it's a perfectly decent player. My own favourite codec/player solution is CCCP though. It's made of win.

The reason it is so great is because it is minimal. Some of the other codec packs will give you a full installation of almost every codec under the sun. That can lead to incompatibility problems. The thing is, unless you need to encode video, you can just use ffdshow. It's a playback-only solution, but it can play back most common video codecs. CCCP just consists of ffdshow, Media Player Classic, VSFilter for subtitles, and Haali's Media Splitter for Matroska/Ogg files.

It's better because it is simpler.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

VLC is pretty much good for everything, if you need an end-all solution.

I use Media Player Classic and DefilerPak, myself.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

i second CCCP (along with nVidia PureVideo, Real Alternative, Quicktime Alternative)

with those four, i can playback nearly anything i come across on the internet

I was speaking idiomatically.

To all the people that recommend VLC:
Keep in mind that VLC is currently stuck at version 0.8.5, that is quite old to say the least. It includes an even older version of ffmpeg (and various other decoding libraries). At current state I don't recommend using that special version of VLC. Especially if you want to watch H264 encoded material.

Then you better use a nightly SVN build of the VLC or even better: A win32/64 compile of the MPlayer + MPUI - includes a more recent ffmpeg version that has increased H264 decoding and now native WMV3/9 decoding.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

If you're on a mac then your choices are VLC or MPlayer with varied success depending what you're trying to run. If it's MKV or OGM be prepared to deal with some frustration.

If you're on Windows then you should be using Media Player Classic with some form of codec pak, either Defiler Pak or CCCP. Media Player Classic with the right codecs will play all media and play it best especially when it comes to fancy subtitles in MKV or OGM. VLC for Windows isn't too much different from it's Mac counterpart with the exception of it being a bit more friendly. It still sucks at subtitles for MKV and OGM.

I have no idea what you would use for Linux. Probably MPlayer. It's probably better on Linux than it is on OSX but that's just a guess. Oh, I forget that VLC is cross-platform for just about everything so that will work too.



I'm curious how MPlayer is for Windows so I'm going to try it out.

..............

Well so far it's alright but it has its aspect ratios all screwed up. It can't figure out how to do a correct 4:3 at all. It always looks stretched. No clue why.

Here's a comparison between it and good ol' Media Player Classic.





Also, I tried out MKV for it and while it will play the video and audio it won't display subtitles at all. Maybe I'm doing it wrong but I went through the settings and I see jack.

Also going into fullscreen in MPlayer is rather cumbersome as you can't double click like most media players (MPC and VLC) and you either have to right click and select it or click on a small unlabeled button on the "snazzy" control window.


Oh and for those scratching their heads wondering "what the hell is this guy babbeling about subtitles for?" as mentioned earlier let me show you.

VLC and MPC:





VLC uses a default font while Media Player Classic can do all kinds of crazy business with fonts.


Oh and here's a great example of VLC just completely fucking up subtitles because it sucks like that.




Oh yeah another note on VLC. By default it generally has subtitles turned off. Not good when a lot more fansubbers these days are releasing their subtitles using softsubs in MKV.

Oh and taking screenshots for VLC sucks ass. You have to turn off video overlay. Buh. Whatever. Also the fact that subtitles fade out if you press pause so you have to take screenshots as it plays.


I'm going to guess that Mplayer sucks at MKV subtitles for Linux and Mac as well so I'd recommend using VLC for those. Unfortunate but that's probably your best option. Although I'm unsure for Linux as I've no experience there.

If you use Windows do the smart thing and use Media Player Classic.

Most amazing jew boots

Originally Posted by AcerBandit

I'm going to guess that Mplayer sucks at MKV subtitles for Linux and Mac as well so I'd recommend using VLC for those. Unfortunate but that's probably your best option. Although I'm unsure for Linux as I've no experience there.

Actually... that has been the case for some time, you are correct. However in the latest release candidate, the MPlayer team have finally added support for SSA/ASS subtitles, which means that the problems you've been having with MKV files will just disappear. All that said...

Quote:

If you use Windows do the smart thing and use Media Player Classic.

I do agree entirely with Acer on this point. All I am attempting to do is to clarify the situation in regards of MPlayer. Since I use XBMC on my XBox, and MPlayer is a core component of XBMC, I like to keep up to date with developments. If I'm watching video on my computer, though, nothing other than MPC will do.

As for the ongoing VLC debate, I simply would have to maintain that it is far from the best player, and equally far from the worst. What it has going for it is simplicity. Some people like that. There's only one thing to install, and no configuration.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I downloaded the latest release for their GUI for Windows and subtitles did not work for MKV. I did noticed that the download for the one for Windows without a gui was larger in size but since it has no gui it is unusable to me. Perhaps you could shed some light on the situation.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I really didn't encounter any subtitle problems with the linux build of mplayer (currently 1.0rc1). Also no problems with matroska containers.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Ever since I found GOM Player, I haven't gone back. VLC, MPC, forget em. This is definitely the one download ever video player.

I would link but it seems I don't have a proper post count. I had a pretty active account before the crash or whatever and I'm sorry if I've moved on to other communities but I still like this one damn it... (sorry for digression...)

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I think we had this "VLC sucks because it doesen't display SSA/ASS like players using VSFilter" discussion before. Bottom line is, that the words "otaku" and "coder" do not belong into the same sentence, at least until some people from that vast fansub scene get their heads out of their ASSes (pun intended) and port this filter for use with non-DirectShow/Windows players. It's even GPL software, so there is really no trouble.

How ya doing, buddy?

If that's all that needs to be done then I wish someone would do it. Until then I will tell you to use MPC for Windows and suck it up if you're on OSX or Linux.

Oh and I'm testing GOM Player right now. It's alright but is pretty choppy compared to MPC. Also it's another player that hasn't figured out that the easiest way to do fullscreen is not a keyboard press but double click. Groan. The subtitle support for MKV is good and bad at the same time. It takes a while for subtitles to kick in when you go into fullscreen and some of them don't even display. Oh and it does a default font like VLC too but at least it doesn't garbage the subs like VLC sometimes will. It's not a terrible media player but I'd definitely say that MPC is better. It's not a bad alternative if you're getting tired of VLC though.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Cyrus XIII

I think we had this "VLC sucks because it doesen't display SSA/ASS like players using VSFilter" discussion before. Bottom line is, that the words "otaku" and "coder" do not belong into the same sentence, at least until some people from that vast fansub scene get their heads out of their ASSes (pun intended) and port this filter for use with non-DirectShow/Windows players. It's even GPL software, so there is really no trouble.

And for the time being until that happens, sub groups should stop being so retarded.

While I'm fine with SSA/ASS subtitles, fansub groups should also package a standard SRT file in the MKV/OGM (because holy shit it supports multiple subtitle tracks,) minus all the bullshit positioned shit. Instead of wasting space just because you can, package a fucking PDF file with the notes.

Fansubbers aren't programmers, so I won't expect them to work on an OpenGL SSA/ASS renderer, but they're not absolutely retarded. They can practice some concern for non-Windows users.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

unlikely to happen.... since their argument is that "we're doing this for free, so stfu"

but it would be nice if they released files like that

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by ShadowVlican

unlikely to happen.... since their argument is that "we're doing this for free, so stfu"

That's one of the single most annoying things to read on the web. Shit remains shit, even if it's free. When it comes to anime, I stick with hardsubs - much more convenient and the typesetting by many groups these days is just awesome.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by ShadowVlican

unlikely to happen.... since their argument is that "we're doing this for free, so stfu"

but it would be nice if they released files like that

Even that wouldn't be a good excuse. Converting a script to SRT is a one-button operation, pretty much.

In any event, now that I have an Intel-based Mac I'm going to see what the SSA/ASS subtitle realm is like w/ specialized builds of mplayer.

Jam it back in, in the dark.