Hacking Windows7 MediaCenter

Sometimes you just need a single Directshow filter, say an MKV splitter to use with the default Windows 7 codecs. Should you install a codec pack when all you need is a single splitter? Absolutely not! Maybe you just need an x64 video decoder capable of hardware acceleration. There’s no reason to download something you don’t need to get the functions you want from your current filter setup.

What you do need, is to get acquainted with a little resource on Sourceforge where you can download stand alone filters used in the popular Media Player Classic – Homecinema media player. This resource includes practically any splitter or decoder you might need in single serving sizes. No need to download that complete codec pack to get a single filter!

Finding the right filter for your needs can be slightly cryptic but not too difficult. First you should choose the correct platform, x86 or x64, or be sure to download and register both versions for maximum compatibility on x64 systems. You should be able to discern the type of filter from the filename of each download (especially if you’re looking for something specific). For instance, MPCVideoDec is the video decoder used in Media Player Classic which is capable of DXVA (GPU hardware acceleration).

Getting your filter registered can be slightly more difficult. You will need to extract the file to a location on your hard disk then open an elevated command prompt. To get an elevated command prompt simply open your start menu and type “cmd” then press ctrl-shift-enter. Once inside type the following: “C:\Windows\system32\regsvr32 FILELOCATION”, replacing FILELOCATION with the location of the extracted file. For registering x64 filters do the same except use: “C:\Windows\sysWOW64\regsvr32 FILELOCATION”.

To uninstall a previously installed filter follow the same steps to launch an elevated command prompt then enter “C:\Windows\system32\regsvr32 /u FILELOCATION” or “C:\Windows\sysWOW64\regsvr32 /u FILELOCATION” depending on the version.

Those are all the steps to download and install individual filters from the Media Player Classic – Homecinema project for use in your DirectShow setup. As long as no errors occurred during the process the filters should be installed and ready to use.

Need more? Take a look at Clearing Up the Codec Confusion for a more complete guide to setting up your codecs and filters!

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Tagged As: codec, graphstudio, install

Continuing to get your movie collection in order you may find yourself wanting to change order encodes such as AVI or MP4 files into an MKV format. For instance, the easiest way to bypass the new Windows Media Foundation framework inside of Media Center is to use a non-native format such as MKV. Of course, this will also break support on Media Center Extenders as most often they will not support the MKV format.

Converting each movie from it’s current format to another using traditional means can be a task that many would give up before even starting. The idea of converting each file one by one can be daunting for those with large collections. That’s where these files and guide can come in handy. This will enable you to do a batch processing of AVI and MP4 files into MKV files.

Get the tools

Before we get started you will need a couple of items downloaded and installed. The first of which is MKVToolnix, this set of tools will provide the command line program used by the .bat file to convert any AVI or MP4 files which don’t include WMA audio. Install the program using the installer provided on the MKVToolnix website.

Second, this zip file, which includes a .bat file and a directory which should be placed in your movies directory. Also, these files are marked “Hidden” by default and necessity, you’ll need to enable hidden items which you can find instructions for here.

Getting Started

Once you have installed MKVToolnix and extracted the zip file to your movies directory you will need to move all your AVI and MP4 files to the main directory if they aren’t there already. The simplest way to accomplish this is to enter a search in Windows Explorer for .avi/.mp4 and cut/paste into the main directory.

This is done due to the fact that the .bat file doesn’t use recursive directory codes. There are four different versions of the batch file included in the zip.

1. Just Convert – Will convert any AVI and MP4 files to MKV
2. Convert and Move - Will convert to MKV then move to a directory with the same name as the file's name
3. Convert and Delete - Wil convert to MKV then delete the original AVI/MP4 files
4. Convert, Move and Delete - Will convert to MKV, move to folders then delete the originals

During conversion, if the file is able to be converted by MKVToolnix’s MKVMerge it will be. This is the fastest method of converting the files to the MKV format as it simply re-muxes the file into an MKV. If the original file uses WMA for audio, however, the conversion will not occur with current versions of MKVToolnix. Support for these files is planned for later versions.

Also, included is a version named simply “avitomkv.bat”. This version includes the ability to convert files encoded with WMA audio by using the HandbrakeCLI from Handbrake.fr. This version is the most robust as it will re-encode all files, however, during this process the original files are deleted. This isn’t optional in this version and is irreversible, use with extreme care!

Stick with Hack7MC

Hopefully, this guide will get anyone looking to do a batch conversion of their media where they need to go. This little .bat file saved me much time recently converting a sizable collection of AVIs to MKV in order to circumvent Windows Media Foundation in Media Center.

Check out more Tips to Organizing Your Movie Collection on Hack7MC!

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Tagged As: codec, matroska, mkv, movie library, windows media foundation

Windows 7 introduces some additional functionality to a feature that was added in Windows Vista, Windows Media Foundation. The goal of the Windows Media Foundation is to ease control of media playback for developers. The idea is to remove the need for individual codecs and instead rely on a single Windows package for media playback, much like DirectX does for game platforms.

In Windows 7, as noted on Microsoft MSDN, there have been some additional changes made to the Windows Media Foundation framework.

What's New in Windows 7

Microsoft Media Foundation was introduced in Windows Vista as the replacement for DirectShow. Of course, DirectShow is still supported in Windows 7, but developers are encouraged to use Media Foundation in their new digital media applications.

The improvements to Media Foundation can be summarized as follows:

• Better format support, including MPEG-4
• Support for capture devices and hardware codecs
• A simplified programming model
• Improvements to the platform

We are all fairly well aware that Windows 7 includes native support for certain formats, such as H.264, and it does this through the use of Windows Media Foundation. Media Center and Windows Media Player have both been updated to use this new framework in Windows 7. The benefit is added support for a number of codecs out of the box.

There is, however, a downside to this new implementation. The protected pipeline used in this new framework doesn’t allow outside access to user installed codecs for native formats by default. For instance, if you wanted to use FFDShow to decode avi files, which are natively supported by WMF. This means much like the (often indefinite) wait for x64 codecs and splitters users will once again be put to the sidelines to wait for updated decoders that use WMF.

Current work-arounds for this situation have led users to renaming system files and other chicanery in order to get their favorite codecs working through Media Center. In more recent versions of Windows 7’s beta, however, the ability to accomplish this hack has been crippled. The consensus seems to be that as of beta 7057, the rename hack no longer works.

It seems that once again users may be forced to wait on new solutions to the codec problem that have already been hard suffered for Windows Vista Media Center users. It seems we may once again be at the whim of those gracious programs who take it upon themselves to better Microsoft’s meager implementations and give us a little more control of our media.

Expect updates on Windows Media Foundation and Windows 7 Media Center in the near future. Keep up to date on the situation by subscribing to the Hack7MC RSS Feed or by following on Twitter.

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Tagged As: ac3filter, codec, ffdshow, windows 7, windows media foundation

Although programs like GraphStudio can help us find out what’s going wrong during the playback of our media files, it isn’t really the easiest way to fix the problems.This is where a program like Radlight’s Filter Manager can come in handy. Unfortunately, this tool is no longer in development so no x64 version exists but an x86 version can be found for download here.

Using Filter Manager we can set the merits of DirectShow filters allow us to control what filters are loaded for certain file types. Each time a media file is loaded Windows will search for the filter with the highest merit capable of playing the file. Windows will then use that filter to playback the file. In the case of video files it will do this for both the video and audio streams. Using Filter Manager we are able to set the video stream to one codec such as FFDShow and the audio to another such as AC3Filter.

Once you’ve downloaded Filter Manager, simply extract the zip file to a folder on your hard disk. Running Filter Manager for the first time can be a little overwhelming with so many options. The main thing to look for is the section under the General tab for DirectShow Filters. This will provide a list of all the DirectShow filters installed on your machine.

From here setting the merit values of the DirectShow filters on the system is easy. Locate the filter that needs to have the merit level changed and select it in the list. Below the list of filters is a number of options including a dropbox with available merit values. Select the proper value from the list and press “Set Merit Value”. A system restart may be required before settings will take effect but many time simply restarting the media player will do the trick.

Here we also see that Filter Manager can provide a number of other options for customizing the codecs on the machine. Registering of new DirectShow filters is also extremely easy using Filter Manager, just press the “Register” button and select the file to register. Selecting a filter from the list and pressing “Unregister” will do the opposite, unregistering the selected filter. You can even access the particular codec settings by pressing the “Property Page” button.

It may take some effort but using Filter Manager in combination with GraphStudio you’ll be able to get your codecs straightened out to perform just the way you’d like them to.

For even more on codecs in Windows 7 and Media Center check out this article on Clearing Up The Codec Confusion.

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Tagged As: codec, graphstudio, install, programs, windows 7

The sheer number of media formats and codecs available today is enough to make anyone just turn around and walk away from Media Center for good. Luckily there are a few guides on Hack7MC that can help steer you in the right direction.

Ripping Your DVD Collection

The first step is choosing how to rip your DVDs from those annoying plastic donuts that get scratched up, banged up and lost. The MKV file format is one of the most popular for HTPC users. One of the best programs around for ripping your DVDs to MKV is Handbrake. Handbrake is a free open-source program that will never cost you a dime but is priceless to those of us ripping large DVD collections. Check out the Hack7MC guide on Bringing Your DVDs To Media Center to get started.

The MKV format isn’t playable through extenders however and if you plan to use one you may want to look at another option. Although Handbrake can encode in a number of popular formats, BitRipper can encode your movies into any format you have a codec installed for. This can make it one of the most valuable tools in your arsenal, giving you the ability to encode in any number of formats while future-proofing itself as well. This guide to Ripping DVDs with BitRipper should get you going.

Playing Your Collection – What Codecs?

Once you’ve chosen your ripping method, however, you still need to get those files to play nice with your HTPC setup. Finding the right codecs can be even more difficult than finding the right ripping software. The sheer number of choices is unbelievable. Fortunately, there a few that stand out above the rest.

For people looking for the simplest solution, generally they are looking for a codec pack. Shark007’s Codec Pack has become one of the most popular solutions for HTPC users. The benefit of this solution is that it just works. There is little to configure after installation and it plays all the most popular codecs right out of the box. To get started read the article on Playing MKVs in Media Center and your setup will be running in no time.

Many enthusiasts are adverse to using codec packs however, due to the lack of control over what is being installed. Many less worthy codec packs are bloated and can severely impact performance. The most popular solution to the bloated packs is to use FFDShow Tryouts. These small packages can play nearly every format and you have precise control over what is used. Installing these compact codecs is covered in MKVs for Minimalists on Windows 7. 

Configuring Your Codecs

The next step can be just as daunting as the first two for beginners. Configuring your codecs to perform properly is just as important, if not more so, than choosing the correct codecs.

For those that chose the FFDShow route, there are a few guides here on Hack7MC to get you going. This guide on Simple FFDShow Audio Settings can get your audio playback up to par. After looking that over you can move on to video settings with this guide on Using FFDShow Video in Media Center.

But what if something goes wrong? Well you should Check Your Codecs Using GraphStudio and if that doesn’t work you can always post a comment on Hack7MC!

As Always, Subscribe to the RSS Feed or Follow on Twitter to guarantee you stay on top of the latest tips, tricks and hacks for your Media Center setup.

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Tagged As: codec, dvd, programs, settings, windows 7

This is the second part of a guide on using AC3Filter in Media Center to control SPDIF volume. A common problem among Media Center users with an external digital receiver using SPDIF for output. AC3Filter can solve this problem by controlling the gain on the SPDIF stream before sending it through to the receiver. Now that we have AC3Filter working in Media Center by following this guide, lets get AC3Filter settings ready to control the volume level.

Access AC3Filter’s configuration from the start menu. The first setting to change will be the number of speakers in your setup. Using the drop down box select the correct speaker setup for your system. Then enable SPDIF output to enable AC3Filter to output a digital stream via SPDIF.

Next go to the “Mixer” tab and in the options box make sure that Auto Matrix is selected. Expand Stereo will enable stereo streams to be output as full surround. Normalize Matrix and Voice Control will balance volume output among all the channels and during large volume changes in the stream. You can also control the Bass Output Cutoff from this panel.

Finally, we have to allow the AC3Filter to output a modified SPDIF stream. To do this go to the SPDIF tab and uncheck all SPDIF pass-through options. Pass-through tells AC3Filter to send an unaltered stream directly to the receiver, turning these off allows AC3Filter to alter the gain which will simulate volume changing. If this doesn't work you can try to send a PCM signal through your soundcard or disabling the AC3 Encoder, though in many situations this can break DD and DTS encoding depending on your hardware. Differences in sound card hardware and recievers will alter the viability of this hack.

That should be all there is to enabling your Media Center to control the volume of SPDIF output using AC3Filter! If you experience any problems make sure that AC3Filter is the preferred codec using this GraphStudio guide. More options on enabling AC3Filter to be the preferred codec can be found under the System tab in the AC3Filter configuration.

Troubles, successes, or experiences with AC3Filter you want to share? Leave note in the comments below!

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Tagged As: ac3filter, codec, graphstudio, spdif, windows 7

One of the main problems encountered by those who use SPDIF output on their Media Center is the inability to control volume through the PC. The most common solution is to control the volume through the receiver but this means using a different remote (or worse getting up to turn the knob!). A solution to this problem is to use AC3Filter to control the gain of the SPDIF output. This will allow you to artificially change the volume of the digital output through Windows.

The first step to using AC3Filter to control SPDIF volume is to download and install the latest version of AC3Filter from ac3filter.net. Unfortunately, AC3Filter doesn’t currently support x64 operating systems and only comes in an x86 package. Next we need to follow the same steps as for installing FFDShow to work with Media Center and Media Player.

You will need to have the “Take Ownership” registry hack we’ve used before in changing our Media Center theme. You can download the registry file to enable this menu here. Once you have the .reg file downloaded double-click to install the registry fix and permit it to change the registry when prompted.

To enable AC3Filter in Media Center/Player for music, open Windows Explorer and navigate to “C:\Windows\system32\” and locate the file name “MP3DMOD.DLL”. Right-click to bring up the menu and choose “Take Ownership” then rename the file “MP3DMOD.DLL.bak”.  This will disable the native filter and can be reversed by changing the file name back at any time.

To enable AC3Filter for live television and other formats using the MPEG2 codec inside of Media Center there is also a registry entry that needs to be changed. First we need to find the CLSID for AC3Filter. To do that download Radlight’s Filter Manager right here. Extract the files to any location and run the exe file inside. Inside this program expand DirectShow Filters and scroll down to AC3FIlter. Right click the entry and select “Copy CLSID to Clipboard”.

Next, open regedit in Administrator mode: using the start menu type regedit then press ctrl-shift-enter. Then navigate to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\MediaCenter\Decoder”. Inside there should be two strings, right-click “PreferredMPEG2AudioDecoderCLSID” and choose “Modify..”. Then enter the CLSID that you’ve copied from FilterManager in the box and press ok

Media Center will need to be restarted before the changes will take effect but that should set your music, live television and most anything in Media Center to use AC3Filter instead of the native codecs included in Windows 7. The stability of this hack has not been tested outside of systems using purely Media Center as the user interface and may carry unintended consequences, perform at your own risk.

If you have any trouble (or success!)  getting this hack to work be sure to post a comment below!

Written by MHealy | 16 comments

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Tagged As: ac3filter, codec, spdif, windows 7

There are many choices in the world of codecs (used to play back video and audio on the pc). One of the most popular is FFDShow. While there is already a guide on using FFDShow Audio in Media Center there is the other half to consider as well: FFDShow Video. While we are able to get FFDShow audio to work in all parts of the Media Center including live TV, FFDShow Video isn’t quite as forgiving.

While you can’t use FFDShow Video in live or recorded TV on Media Center, it is possible to use it for just about anything else. The video side of FFDShow offers a wide range of compatibility for playing back the most popular video file formats. It also offers the ability to fine tune and adjust the video output to get the best quality picture.

Getting FFDShow to play your movies in Media Center is relatively simple. Just download the latest FFDShow tryouts (and x64 SVN if you’re running Windows 7 x64) and install the package(s). If your movie collection includes MKV files, follow the directions in this guide for MKVs with FFDShow.

Once installed FFDShow should take over playing your media back in most situations. You can double check using this guide on checking codecs with Graphstudio. If for some reason FFDShow has not taken over playing your video files, increase the merit of the codec from the video decoder configuration in the start menu. Slide the control all the way to the right, apply the settings and recheck Graphstudio to confirm this worked.

Once FFDShow Video is handling the video output it’s time to tweak the settings from inside the video decoder configuration. This can be found in the start menu under FFDShow and FFDShow64, choose the appropriate one for your system. Configuring both is a good practice to normalize playback all around for your system if you run an x64 version of Windows. Once inside you can see a slew of available options.

Some of these options can use quite a bit of processing power (cpu) and currently FFDShow doesn’t support video hardware acceleration (and likely never will). If you have the horsepower to handle it, however, you can improve the quality of all your compressed videos to some extent.

The settings in the video portion of FFDShow will, to some degree, be subjective. Each user will have to adjust settings to find what works best for their preferences and hardware. Typically, users will focus on post processing, picture properties and blur & noise reduction. These three settings pages can improve the sharpness and contrast of videos in many cases.

Post processing can be used to decrease the amount of blocking (the appearance of pixilated areas) by selecting the checkbox in the navigation pane or the top of the settings page. This filter will require a lot of processing power, however, with the amount of power required being dependant on the resolution of the video. Using post processing on high definition content is recommended only for the highest spec’d machines.

Picture properties can be used to do basic color correction. You can increase or decrease the gamma, brightness and contrast as well as correcting the colors of your output. Adjusting luminance gain and offset can refine the contrast and brightness respectively improving the output quality of videos that seem washed out or dull. Adjusting the gamma can improve the brightness of the video. There is also a full compliment of controls for adjusting the color output.

Blur and noise reduction can help to clear up any unwanted noise or static in the picture from compression.  You can also find controls to soften the picture which can be helpful if the video has pixilation around the edges of objects. If the opposite is the problem and the video isn’t clear enough, enabling the settings under the sharpen option can clear it up.

Hopefully this short guide has gotten you on your way to using FFDShow Video for your movies and videos in Media Center. Much of the process will be fine tuning each setting to get the best picture from your hardware and also suited to your tastes. Look for more on FFDShow and other codecs in the future on Hack7MC.

Have any tips on FFDShow settings? Let us know in the comments below!

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Tagged As: codec, ffdshow, graphstudio, matroska, mkv

Setting up your Windows 7 Media Center is easy, making it your own can be easy too. Here are 10 simple steps you can take to make your Media Center experience more complete, more personal, more enjoyable.

1. Add ClearQAM to Your TV Listings
2. Add Custom Apps to Your Extras Library
3. Do It Better – Add Apps with Custom Icons and Details
4. Add MKVs to Your Movie Library
5. Use A Better Movie Library – Media Browser
6. Expand Your Sound from Stereo to Surround
7. Play Your Music in FLAC
8. Check Your Local Weather
9. Listen To Online Radio through Shoutcast
10. Add Boxee Streaming TV to Your Media Center

These 10 simple hacks will create a better Media Center for you and your family to enjoy. Don’t forget to check back to Hack7MC to get the latest hacks for your Windows 7 Media Center.

Keep in touch: Bookmark Hack7MC on Del.icio.us, subscribe to the RSS Feed or even Follow along on Twitter.

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Tagged As: boxee, clearqam, codec, extras library, featured, ffdshow, matroska, mkv, movie library, music library, plugins

Finding the right application to move your movie collection from the shelf to your Media Center can be a difficult decision. Sometimes the best solution is to just keep it simple. There are plenty of applications that will deluge you with various options and settings. BitRipper is another beast altogether.

BitRipper’s interface is minimalistic, showing you just what you need to get the job done. It doesn’t skimp on anything important though. You can still fine tune your encoding to suit your particular needs, whether it be high quality non-compressed transfers or something a little more compact.

Once you’ve got your disk inserted and BitRipper has detected it, you can select the track you wish to copy off the disk from the drop down box. This can be convenient for multi-episode content such as TV series. Typically, single part disks will be the longest track listed.

Entering the settings area, you are presented with the option to encode your files using any of the encoding codecs found on your system. One of the most popular codecs for encoding video files can be downloaded for free at DivX.com. For this encode the latest version of DivX, DivX 7, was downloaded and only the base codecs have been installed.

The default DivX settings provided very good results for this encoding but you can edit the encoder properties by selecting “Configure..” to the right of the codec selection. Each codec will have different settings and you might need to refer to the codec’s website for further instructions. Also, for this run the audio codec was set to “Uncompressed Audio”. Audio won’t take up much room compared to the  video stream so compression isn’t necessarily a big concern.

Once you’ve finished tweaking the codec settings to your heart’s content, return to the main window. After the initial setup simply choose the track, set the output file name and then start ripping. This simple little application has been streamlined to provide a fast and easy interface.

Once the process has completed you’re ready to view your fresh video encode. If the results of your encode are less than you expected you can go back and tweak the codec settings. Using the default DivX settings output very good results on this test file and shouldn’t need much tweaking.

Using BitRipper was a fast and streamlined experience that would be easy for even the most novice of users. The simple interface lends itself to ease of use, with just a few clicks you’re on your way to moving your movie or TV series collection over to your Media Center.

Its hard to go wrong with BitRipper but if you’re looking for something with a few more options and settings you can also check out this guide on Handbrake, another freeware option. Handbrake provides a few more options in a bit more complicated interface.

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Tagged As: codec, dvd, programs

Sure there’s nothing wrong with codec packs, Shark007 and CCCP are wonderful products, but there is something to be said for keeping it simple as well. This guide will take you through the minimum steps to install a nice clean setup with the minimum software required to play MKVs and many other less popular codecs as well. For this setup we are going to install only FFDShow and Gabest’s MKV splitters for x86 and x64 if that’s what your running.

Step One: Download a copy of FFDShow Tryouts from here. Those running an x64 version will also need the x64 SVN here. Install the right ones for your system, the latest versions will work.

Step Two: Download Gabest’s Matroska Splitters. There is a version of Gabest’s with an installer for x86 here and x64 here. To install simply extract to your C:\ root drive and right-click to run “gabest_splitter_enable.cmd” as administrator. You should receive one confirmation on x86 and two for x64 versions.  To uninstall simply run “gabest_splitter_remove.cmd” as administrator.

Step Three: Enable viewing of MKV files in Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center by downloading either the x86 registry file or x64 registry file and double-click to add it to your registry. Allow it to be added when prompted. Restart your machine.

That’s all there is to it, this will take you from a clean install to playing MKVs and more in no time at all. For details on using FFDShow Audio settings for your live TV and DVDs in Media Center check this article.

If you have trouble viewing your MKVs in Windows Media Center or Windows Media Player, try deleting your “C:\Users\YOUR-USERNAME\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Media Player\CurrentDatabase_371.wmdb” file. To enable this file to be deleted you will need to stop the WMPNetworkSvc service from the task manager (ctrl-alt-delete).

Written by MHealy | 14 comments

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Tagged As: codec, featured, ffdshow, matroska, mkv, movie library, windows 7

Following up on this article on getting Media Center to use FFDShow Audio instead of the default Windows 7 codecs let’s take a look at some of the settings available in FFDShow Audio Decoder.

Let’s start with how to check if FFDShow is in fact being used or not.  The simplest way to check is to enable the system tray icon which will appear any time the FFDShow Audio Decoder is being used and also allows easy access to configuration options. To enable this feature enter the properties for FFDShow Audio Decoder from the start menu and select “Tray, dialog and paths”. Here you should see an option to set no icon or a choice of two different styles of icon to be displayed while FFDShow is running.

FFDShow has a large number of settings editable from this properties window. Most of them will be a matter of taste per user but there are a few common tweaks that most people are interested in. The first is expanding stereo audio in surround audio for files that don’t natively support surround such as MP3. To do this select the Mixer settings on the left and in the Output speakers configuration dropdown box select your speaker setup.  If you have a subwoofer you should also enable the LFE checkbox. At the bottom there are two checkboxes to “Expand stereo to center” and “Expand stereo to surround”. Checking these options will enable surround sound for any audio file encoded in stereo format.

In this window it is also possible to do what is called “normalization” across the channels.  This will even out the output of each of the channels to an equal level so one channel is not drastically louder than the others at any point.

Another popular feature is the ability to normalize the overall volume output, similar to what some televisions are capable of.  This can reduce louder portions of a movie or a change in volume between commercial and show. To enable this select “Volume” from the left, make certain the volume box is checked and also check the “Normalize” checkbox. The Max. amplification box allows the setting of the maximum difference in volume, anything outside this range will be altered.

Also included is a built in equalizer similar to what can be found in many audio applications or home theater systems allowing the level of certain frequencies to be raised or lowered.  This can take some experimentation and always dependant on the preference of the user.

The last feature to be covered here is another simple one, allowing the swapping of channels between speakers. This setting allows for the permanent reassignment of a channel to a certain speaker. This is similar to the options set in the mixer, however these settings don’t detect the original audio channels and always assign the change.  The mixer will only up mix from stereo audio sources.

FFDShow is a powerful tool that can provide anyone with the best listening experience but this is a subjective decision so it requires everyone to tweak the settings a little differently. With a little time and playing anyone can find the right sound for them. With these tips and this guide on using FFDShow Audio Decoder in Media Center you’ll be on your way to a better sounding Media Center in no time.

Written by MHealy | 2 comments

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Tagged As: codec, ffdshow, programs

Warning: This hack modifies system files and may cause instability in certain Windows applications under atypical situations. It has been tested to the extent described in the article but not beyond.

When you’re done setting up FFDShow Audio check out this guide on setting up FFDShow Video as well.

Many enthusiasts prefer the ability to set their favorite codec for use in Media Center rather than the defaults. Unfortunately, this is more difficult than simply installing the chosen codec as you normally would. Windows 7 Media Center will default to the native codecs regardless of codec settings.

The fix for this situation is to install the desired codec, in this case FFDShow, then rename a system file to disable the native codec. First, download a copy of FFDShow Tryouts from the Sourceforge site right here. Follow the basic installation steps but make sure to enable FFDShow to be used for all available codecs when the option is presented. Windows 7 x64 users should download and install both the latest beta and the 64-bit SVN.

Enabling FFDShow for all audio codec types will lower the chance of instability in Windows 7 default applications such as Media Player. If you are confident in your codec setup you can most likely skip this and use your desired codecs.

Next you will need to have the “Take Ownership” registry hack we’ve used before in changing our Media Center theme. You can download the registry file to enable this menu here. Once you have the .reg file downloaded double-click to install the registry fix and permit it to change the registry when prompted.

To enable FFDShow to play your mp3 files in the music section, open Windows Explorer and navigate to “C:\Windows\system32\” and locate the file name “MP3DMOD.DLL”. Right-click to bring up the menu and choose “Take Ownership” then rename the file “MP3DMOD.DLL.bak”. Windows 7 x64 users will need to repeat this step for the C:\Windows\SysWOW64\" folder as well. This will disable the native filter and can be reversed by changing the file name back at any time.

To enable FFDShow for live television and other formats using the MPEG2 codec inside of Media Center there is also a registry entry that needs to be changed. First we need to find the CLSID for FFDShow. To do that download Radlight’s Filter Manager right here. Extract the files to any location and run the exe file inside. Inside this program expand DirectShow Filters and scroll down to FFDShow Audio Decoder. Right click the entry and select “Copy CLSID to Clipboard”.

Next, open regedit in Administrator mode: using the start menu type regedit then press ctrl-shift-enter. Then navigate to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\MediaCenter\Decoder”. Inside there should be two strings, right-click “PreferredMPEG2AudioDecoderCLSID” and choose “Modify..”. Then enter the CLSID that you’ve copied from FilterManager in the box and press ok.

Media Center will need to be restarted before the changes will take effect but that should set your music, live television and most anything in Media Center to use FFDShow Audio instead of the native codecs included in Windows 7. The stability of this hack has not been tested outside of systems using purely Media Center as the user interface and may carry unintended consequences, perform at your own risk.

Check out this article for more detailed information on using the FFDShow codecs to tweak your sound and video settings in Media Center, including enabling surround sound for your stereo music files. Stay in touch using the Hack7MC RSS feed or follow along on Twitter!

Don't forget to check out this guide on setting up FFDShow Video in Media Center once you're done here!

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Tagged As: codec, featured, ffdshow, music library, programs

At times installing codecs for all your music, movies and what have you seems to be 30% science, 70% voodoo. Fortunately, there is a way to double-check our brew to make sure it’s running the way we originally intended.

GraphStudio will allow you to load your media files and show you the codecs being used to render it. It will show your every DirectShow codec, filter and post-processor in-between you and your files. Best of all it’s free and available for download in both x86 and x64 versions on RadScorpion’s blog.

Using GraphStudio is fairly straight forward for basic checking of your codec settings. Load your media files by going to the menu “File > Render Media File..” After a few moments you will receive a graph displaying all the processing your file is undergoing between execution and being rendered.

You are also able to adjust the properties of your codecs, simply right click on the codec you wish to adjust and select properties. If there are any properties that are able to be edited you can adjust and save them from this window. This properties window will also display the input and output variables before and after the selected codec which can be good for troubleshooting things such as audio channels.

Through the basic controls on the menu strip you can even view the before and after results of your settings changes. This gives you the perfect opportunity to fine tune your codec’s settings until you get the best picture and audio results for your setup.

Unfortunately, as of this point GraphStudio doesn’t add an easy way to edit which codecs are used for your media files, just the properties of the currently assigned codecs. Though you can edit filter merits through the “Filters > Manage Favorites” dialog it’s certainly not convenient or intuitive. Other programs like Filter Manager offer a much better interface for editing which codecs are loaded for each file type and will be covered in future articles.

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Tagged As: codec, graphstudio, matroska, mkv, programs, windows 7

Works with Windows 7 Play To on extenders!

Currently Windows Media Player and Media Center don’t include native file support for a number of lossless audio codecs including FLAC, OGG, and basically anything other than Microsoft’s own WMA files. There is a cure for this minor omission though so no worries.

First, as always, we have to make sure we have the proper codecs for windows to play back these files. Codecs for both x64 and x86 versions of windows can be found at Xiph’s open source site. The files linked above are the latest versions available at the time of this post but you should check Xiph’s page to check for updated versions.

Once you have the proper codecs installed it’s time to get them to show up in the Music Library. The most convenient way to manage your Music Library in Media Center is through Windows Media Player 12. Changes made to your Music Library in WMP will be reflected in Media Center and it provides a relatively simple GUI for manipulating your files.

If you have already established your WMP Music Library it may be necessary to clear your Music Library before this fix will take effect. The most effective way to clear your WMP libraries is to remove your albums from inside WMP by selecting them and pressing delete. Be sure when prompted you select the option to “Remove from Library only” so you don’t lose all your songs! There is also and option under “Tools > Options > Library Tab” that should be unchecked before clearing your library inside of WMP.

Close WMP and navigate Windows Explorer to “C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Media Player” then delete the file “CurrentDatabase_371.wmdb” contained inside. You may need to stop the WMP Network Sharing service by going through Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services and selecting the service and stopping it in order to delete the main WMP database.

Now, one more step before we reopen WMP to check our new Library for FLAC files, download and install the WMP Tag Support Extender plug-in. This will enable files with FLAC (and other) extensions to be picked up by the Library. Next we can finally reopen WMP.

Once you’re back inside WMP go to “Tools > Plugins” and ensure that the WMP Tag Support Extender plug-in is enabled. Once it has been enabled select your Music Library. Your music should begin to repopulate the Music Library, this may take some time to complete. Once you’re sure the process has finished, find your artists that you have FLAC files under and verify they are indeed there. Once you can see your newly supported files inside WMP they should also be included in your Media Center Library as well, have fun!

Note: Certain aspects of these files will still not be displayed properly, such as the length of the files. Also, Check out our guide on playing MKVs in Windows 7 Media Center!

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Tagged As: codec, featured, flac, windows 7

Hard drive space isn’t necessarily expensive, that is until you consider the amount of disk space required to archive your 300+ disk DVD collection to your Media Center pc. With each regular DVD clocking in at around 4gb, let’s not even mention bluray disks, the cost can add up quickly.

So what we need is a way to compress those movies while keeping the quality but saving some space (and cash!). This is where a little program called Handbrake comes in. Handbrake is an open-source program free to download from their site for a variety of platforms.

At first glance the user interface may seem slightly confusing but it’s actually quite a simple affair to get started with some basic DVD ripping (DVD encryptions are not circumvented by Handbrake and will require a separate program such as AnyDVD from Slysoft).

Step one after you’ve inserted your original DVD is to set Handbrake to the appropriate source. To do this simply click the source button located at the upper left hand corner of the interface and select your DVD from the dropdown menu that appears.

Handbrake will then scan the disk for track information and select what it believes is the main track containing the movie. If you believe for some reason it has selected incorrectly you can adjust the selection under the drop box labeled “Title.” Then under “Destination” hit the browse button to set the location you want your compressed DVD file to be located.

Next we set our video and audio settings, including the amount of compression we want on our disk. These settings will effect the quality of the file we get back, more compression means a lower quality file being output. Picture settings can typically be left at their default settings unless you have a particular reason for changing a setting such as deinterlacing or noise reduction. Selecting the Video tab will bring up the options for video compression that we will be looking at first.

Here we can set either the output size or the average bitrate of the output file we want. Typically a 1/4 compression will result in minimal picture loss, for a typical DVD 850mb-1gb is generally a good range for the target output size. Entering a target size in MB will tell the program to automatically calculate the average output bitrate making our task a little simpler on us. Then we can move on to the audio settings.

On this tab you can select your audio encoding preferences, high quality audio isn’t a problem when encoding DVDs to your hard disk as the audio will only add a few megs to the output size. Selecting AC3 under the Audio Codec drop box will set the output audio to a format that will lose no data from the original DVD and is an optimal setting.

Finally, hit the Start button located at the top and the conversion process will start. A cmd dialog will appear and show you the status of your encoding. This process can take anywhere from an hour to several depending on how powerful your pc and the settings you’ve chosen. Once the dialog has closed your encoding is complete and you can navigate to your destination directory to give it a play and be sure the output is to your liking.

There are a large number of additional options in Handbrake not covered here that you are free to play around with including a number of presets on the right hand side. At this point, however, that is up to your own experimentation, have fun!

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Tagged As: codec, dvd, handbrake, movie library