ffdshow & LAV filter together

[anon2243]

I had this working before I reinstalled Windows, now I can't seem to figure out what I did.

I'm trying to use LAV Video and also ffdshow (for the extra filters) in MPC-HC. Using MPC-HC, I set LAV Video merit to "prefer" in the external filters setting dialog, and the ffdshow video merit to "normal" inside of ffdshow settings. The only external filter MPCHC shows right now is LAV Video in the settings box.

Whenever I play a video, LAV Video will start, but ffdshow is not shown in the filters list nor is there an icon in the taskbar. I can get ffdshow to start by setting the LAV video to a lower merit, but then LAV video will not start.

[anon2243]

Ah, I stumbled across my problem. I had to set the FFDShow setting for "raw video" to "all supported." Hope this helps someone else.

[clsid]

A better solution is to add "ffdshow raw video filter" as external filter in MPC-HC. Enabling raw video in the regular decoder will affect all applications, which may be undesirable.

[GCRaistlin]

Originally Posted by clsid

A better solution is to add "ffdshow raw video filter" as external filter in MPC-HC.

It seems not to be enough for video to be processed with both ffdshow and LAV. For me, if "Raw video" set to "disabled" ffdshow video isn't being loaded at all - no matter whether it is before LAV Video in MPC's External filters list or after it. That's something I can't understand.

Another question: if "Raw video" set to "all supported" and hardware deinterlacing is performed by LAV, does it have any sense to enable deinterlacing filter in ffdshow video?

[clsid]

Then you did it wrong (hint: you used regular ffdshow video filter, not the RAW filter).

ffdshow will only deinterlace video when it is flagged as interlaced. Unless you force deinterlacing of pregressive frames, of course. So if you have already deinterlaced with LAV, ffdshow should just skip that step.

[GCRaistlin]

Should I add to External filters list ffdshow raw video filter and remove ffdshow video filter? But I did some changes in ffdshow video filter ("wmv9" for "VC-1" in Codecs).
Can you please explain the difference? Or where can I read about...

[clsid]

Yes, you need to add the RAW one.

The RAW filter must be manually loaded (using for example external filters in MPC-HC) and only processes raw video.
The regular video filter is loaded automatically. If you enable raw video in there it will get loaded by all applications that use DirectShow, including certain games. That is usually a cause of troubles.

[GCRaistlin]

1. The regular ffdshow video filter is loaded regardless of its state (and state of ffdshow raw video filter) in External filters list. I'm just wondering - is there a way to make it not loading? I thought that ffdshow video and LAV video are similar, but LAV Video is easy to disable, while ffdshow is not.
2. If both LAV Video and ffdshow raw video are enabled, video is first being decoded with LAV video, then passed to ffdshow raw video, then passed to ffdshow video?
3. Does the order of LAV Video/ffdshow raw video/ffdshow video in Extrenal filters list matter?

[clsid]

You need to disable raw video in the regular video decoder. Better yet, disable all formats that you don't want to decode with ffdshow. That way things are configured properly for all players, not just MPC-HC. Alternatively, you can block the decoder using the external filters in MPC-HC. But that doesn't stop it from loading in other applications.
The order in the list does not matter since LAV and ffdshow RAW are handling different formats.

[GCRaistlin]

Thank you, things became clearer now. But new questions:

1. As long as I understand, ffdshow video, LAV Video and ffdshow raw video should be included to External filters list (with raw video disabled in regular decoder). ffdshow video / LAV Video takes demuxed videostream and decodes it to raw video. Then ffdshow raw video takes this raw video and processes it.
   Should I customize ffdshow raw video in the same way as I customized ffdshow video - profiles, post-processing filters, output - and return all settings in ffdshow video to defaults? If yes is there a way to export settings from ffdshow video?
2. If I disable all external video filters (ffdshow video, LAV Video, ffdshow raw video) and play a video in MPC-HC ffdshow is being loaded. Why?
3. Is placing LAV Video before ffdshow video the same as disabling in ffdshow video all formats that I don't want to decode with it?

[clsid]

• MPC-HC will automatically use DirectShow filters that are installed on your computer whenever needed. You do not need to add them to the external filters list, except if you want to override their merits!
• If you have multiple filters installed that can handle a specific format, then the player will try to use the filter that has the highest merit first. If that filter can not be used for whatever reason, then the one with the second highest merit is used. And so on.
• Example: you have both LAV and ffdshow video decoders installed. Both can decode H.264 video. Of these two, ffdshow has the highest merit, and thus will be used by default. If you disable H.264 in ffdshow settings, then LAV will get used.
• A special low merit value exists for filters that are not supposed to be used automatically. Filters that have that merit (MERIT_DO_NOT_USE) are supposed to be manually loaded by applications.
• ffdshow RAW video filter is an example of a filter with such special low merit.
• If you enable an internal filter in MPC-HC, then that filter is given a higher merit than the filters that you have installed.
• With the external filter settings you can adjust the merit of a filter. You can set it to a specific value, prefer, or block it. Setting a filter to "Prefer" will give it a super high merit, even higher than the internal filters. Setting it to "Block" will assign MERIT_DO_NOT_USE.

The proper way to configure things:

1. In ffdshow video decoder settings, enable only those formats that you actually want to decode with ffdshow. In your case, you probably want to disable everything.
2. In LAV video decoder settings, enable only those formats that you want to decode with LAV.
3. Disable any unwanted internal decoders in MPC-HC.
4. Add ffdshow RAW video filter to the external filters list, and set it to prefer.
5. Configure the desired post-processing settings in ffdshow RAW video filter.

As you have noticed, neither LAV video decoder, nor ffdshow video decoder have been added to the external filters. That is not needed. Thanks to the configuration of formats in both decoders, the correct decoder will get used, not just by MPC-HC but other players as well.

Lazy people will add LAV Video decoder as a preferred external filter. Then it will have a higher merit than ffdshow and the internal filters. Effectively rendering the configuration of formats in ffdshow and the internal filters unnecessary because LAV will be used first anyway. Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, those who take the easy way out, often have the most problems getting things to work the way they want. So be wise, and ignore this last paragraph.

[GCRaistlin]

Originally Posted by clsid

In ffdshow video decoder settings, enable only those formats that you actually want to decode with ffdshow. In your case, you probably want to disable everything.

Are there any formats that can be decoded with ffdshow but cannot with LAV? If there are I don't want to disable their support in ffdshow. I'm not sure about these:

• FFDS
• MP41,MP42,MP43
• VP3,VP5,VP6,VP6F
• QTRPZA
• CamStudio
• CorePNG
• MSZH
• Indeo 2
• Truemotion 1,2

Is it a good idea to use wmv9 decoder for VC-1?

How should I configure ffdshow audio / LAV Audio? Should I disable audio formats in ffdshow audio that can be decoded with LAV Audio like I did for ffdshow video?