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Got myself a HDhomerun digital tuner capture device. It saves ATSC type programs in MPG format. I'm using Total Media 3.5 to do the capturing. I would like to use VLC to playback these files but it will not. VLC starts OK and seems to load the file but then just stops with no video to show. VLC works OK on other MPG files, like the ones I get from Miro. I am able to open this video in Mplayer and Windows Media Player as well as MediaCoder. I opened one of these unplayable files in MediaCoder and was able to get this info. . .
General
ID : 975
Complete name : D:\My Videos\TV\Android.mpg
Format : MPEG-TS
File size : 2.75 GiB
Duration : 2h 0mn
Overall bit rate : 3 281 Kbps

Video
ID : 65 (0x41)
Menu ID : 4 (0x4)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Duration : 2h 0mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 2 669 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 2 735 Kbps
Width : 704 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Standard : NTSC
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.264
Stream size : 2.24 GiB (81%)

Audio
ID : 69 (0x45)
Menu ID : 4 (0x4)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Duration : 2h 0mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Video delay : -666ms
Stream size : 330 MiB (12%)
Language : English

Anybody have a clue how I can make VLC work?

Post the full messages log with verbosity set to 2.

And could you share short sample file for us that shows the issue?

OK, here is the associated message log.
Note:
This clip will not play with VLC.
Will play both video and audio with mplayer.
Will only play video (no sound) with Windows Media Player.

I don't know how to attach a clip to this message. Can I get a hint?
------------------------ message log---------------
main debug: adding item `KATU.mpg' ( D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg )
qt4 debug: Adding a new MRL to recent ones: D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg
main debug: rebuilding array of current - root Playlist
main debug: rebuild done - 2 items, index 0
main debug: processing request item KATU.mpg node Playlist skip 0
main debug: resyncing on KATU.mpg
main debug: KATU.mpg is at 1
main debug: starting new item
main debug: creating new input thread
main debug: Creating an input for 'KATU.mpg'
main debug: thread (input) created at priority 1 (input/input.c:230)
main debug: thread started
main debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MBytes
main debug: using timeshift path 'C:\DOCUME~1\Mike\LOCALS~1\Temp'
main debug: `D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg' gives access `' demux `' path `D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg'
main debug: creating demux: access='' demux='' path='D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg'
main debug: looking for access_demux module: 3 candidates
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.483 ms - Total 0.483 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.483 ms)
main debug: creating access '' path='D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg'
main debug: looking for access module: 5 candidates
vcd debug: trying .cue file: D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.cue
vcd debug: could not find .cue file
access_file debug: opening file `D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg'
main debug: using access module "access_file"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.540 ms - Total 0.540 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.540 ms)
main debug: Using AStream*Stream
main debug: pre buffering
main debug: received first data after 0 ms
main debug: pre-buffering done 1024 bytes in 0s - 31250 kbytes/s
main debug: looking for stream_filter module: 2 candidates
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.121 ms - Total 0.121 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.121 ms)
main debug: looking for stream_filter module: 1 candidate
main debug: using stream_filter module "stream_filter_record"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.095 ms - Total 0.095 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.095 ms)
main debug: creating demux: access='' demux='' path='D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg'
main debug: looking for demux module: 51 candidates
main debug: using demux module "ts"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.930 ms - Total 0.930 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.930 ms)
main debug: looking for a subtitle file in D:\My Videos\TV\
main debug: autodetected subtitle: D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.txt with priority 4
main debug: `D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.txt' gives access `' demux `' path `D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.txt'
main debug: creating demux: access='' demux='subtitle' path='D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.txt'
main debug: looking for access_demux module: 3 candidates
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.264 ms - Total 0.264 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.264 ms)
main debug: creating access '' path='D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.txt'
main debug: looking for access module: 5 candidates
vcd debug: trying .cue file: D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.cue
vcd debug: could not find .cue file
access_file debug: opening file `D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.txt'
main debug: using access module "access_file"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.428 ms - Total 0.428 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.428 ms)
main debug: Using AStream*Stream
main debug: pre buffering
main debug: received first data after 0 ms
main debug: looking for stream_filter module: 2 candidates
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.126 ms - Total 0.126 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.126 ms)
main debug: looking for stream_filter module: 1 candidate
main debug: using stream_filter module "stream_filter_record"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.083 ms - Total 0.083 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.083 ms)
main debug: creating demux: access='' demux='subtitle' path='D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.txt'
main debug: looking for demux module: 3 candidates
vobsub debug: this doesn't seem to be a vobsub file
main error: option sub-original-fps does not exist
subtitle debug: Movie fps: -1.000000
subtitle debug: autodetecting subtitle format
subtitle warning: failed to recognize subtitle type
main warning: no demux module matching "subtitle" could be loaded
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.514 ms - Total 0.514 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.514 ms)
main error: no suitable demux module for `/subtitle://D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.txt'
main debug: removing module "stream_filter_record"
main debug: removing module "access_file"
ts debug: DEMUX_SET_GROUP 0 0
main debug: `D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg' successfully opened
ts debug: pid[65] unknown
ts debug: pid[69] unknown
ts debug: pid[64] unknown
ts debug: eof ?
main debug: EOF reached
main debug: finished input
ts debug: pid list:
ts debug: - pid[0] seen
ts debug: - pid[64] seen
ts debug: - pid[65] seen
ts debug: - pid[69] seen
ts debug: - pid[8191] seen
main debug: removing module "ts"
main debug: removing module "stream_filter_record"
main debug: removing module "access_file"
main debug: dead input
main debug: thread ended
main debug: thread times: real 0m0.031250s, kernel 0m0.015625s, user 0m0.015625s
main debug: Destroying the input for 'KATU.mpg'
main debug: TIMER input launching for 'KATU.mpg' : 10.010 ms - Total 10.010 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 10.010 ms)
main debug: changing item without a request (current 1/2)
main debug: nothing to play

Oh, and here is the error message. . .

VLC can't recognize the input's format:
The format of 'D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.txt' cannot be detected. Have a look at the log for details.

Move the .txt file away from the folder.

OK, moved .txt away and here's the fresh one. . .

main debug: adding item `KATU.mpg' ( D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg )
main debug: rebuilding array of current - root Playlist
main debug: rebuild done - 2 items, index 0
main debug: processing request item KATU.mpg node Playlist skip 0
main debug: resyncing on KATU.mpg
main debug: KATU.mpg is at 1
main debug: starting new item
main debug: creating new input thread
main debug: Creating an input for 'KATU.mpg'
main debug: thread (input) created at priority 1 (input/input.c:230)
main debug: thread started
main debug: using timeshift granularity of 50 MBytes
main debug: using timeshift path 'C:\DOCUME~1\Mike\LOCALS~1\Temp'
main debug: `D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg' gives access `' demux `' path `D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg'
main debug: creating demux: access='' demux='' path='D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg'
main debug: looking for access_demux module: 3 candidates
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.412 ms - Total 0.412 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.412 ms)
main debug: creating access '' path='D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg'
main debug: looking for access module: 5 candidates
vcd debug: trying .cue file: D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.cue
vcd debug: could not find .cue file
access_file debug: opening file `D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg'
main debug: using access module "access_file"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.535 ms - Total 0.535 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.535 ms)
main debug: Using AStream*Stream
main debug: pre buffering
main debug: received first data after 0 ms
main debug: pre-buffering done 1024 bytes in 0s - 29411 kbytes/s
main debug: looking for stream_filter module: 2 candidates
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.110 ms - Total 0.110 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.110 ms)
main debug: looking for stream_filter module: 1 candidate
main debug: using stream_filter module "stream_filter_record"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.095 ms - Total 0.095 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.095 ms)
main debug: creating demux: access='' demux='' path='D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg'
main debug: looking for demux module: 51 candidates
main debug: using demux module "ts"
main debug: TIMER module_need() : 0.957 ms - Total 0.957 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 0.957 ms)
main debug: looking for a subtitle file in D:\My Videos\TV\
ts debug: DEMUX_SET_GROUP 0 0
main debug: `D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg' successfully opened
ts debug: pid[65] unknown
ts debug: pid[69] unknown
ts debug: pid[64] unknown
ts debug: eof ?
main debug: EOF reached
main debug: finished input
ts debug: pid list:
ts debug: - pid[0] seen
ts debug: - pid[64] seen
ts debug: - pid[65] seen
ts debug: - pid[69] seen
ts debug: - pid[8191] seen
main debug: removing module "ts"
main debug: removing module "stream_filter_record"
main debug: removing module "access_file"
main debug: dead input
main debug: thread ended
main debug: thread times: real 0m0.015625s, kernel 0m0.015625s, user 0m0.000000s
main debug: Destroying the input for 'KATU.mpg'
main debug: TIMER input launching for 'KATU.mpg' : 7.537 ms - Total 7.537 ms / 1 intvls (Avg 7.537 ms)
main debug: changing item without a request (current 1/2)
main debug: nothing to play
qt4 debug: Adding a new MRL to recent ones: D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg

Does it help if you remux the file with tool called tsMuxeR?

Geez, I don't really want to fiddle around remuxing stuff. Are you suggesting this from a troubleshooting perspective? I was hoping that I just had a setting wrong in the setup of VLC.

Are you suggesting this from a troubleshooting perspective?

Yep, I am guessing there is something wrong with the file.

As you may have guessed, tsMuxeR wouldn't play the file either. After a long time trying to read the files it came back with
---------------------------
Unsupported format
---------------------------
Some tracks not recognized. This tracks was ignored. File name: "D:\My Videos\TV\KATU.mpg"
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

And here is what it got in the metafile data. . .
MUXOPT --no-pcr-on-video-pid --new-audio-pes --vbr --vbv-len=500

I guess I'll just have to use SMPlayer as my default video player for time being. I wonder what ArcSoft is doing to these MPGs to make them unplayable in VLC?

I wonder what ArcSoft is doing to these MPGs to make them unplayable in VLC?

You have to ask that from Arcsoft.

So no more MPG playback for VLC? That sucks monkey balls! VLC has been up till now the finest open source player. But if it cannot play back MPGs anymore I will have to start hunting for a suitable replacement if it even exists.

The MPGs playback fine on Realplayer but I really hate to use it for playbacks as it has too much overhead WinAmp also plays it fine but again too much overhead on that one too. (Too much crap such as fancy integrated browsers etc.) .

I really hate this, Video playback has hit a bottom low as it hasn't in a long, long time...

Hello,

I also have this problem of Arcsoft mpeg files not playing with VLC media player except that my capture card is different from the OP. I am using a Geniatech/MyGica HDTV Thriller-X8350A which came with Arcsoft TotalMedia version 3.5.7.253

I see it's been a while since this thread was started, has anyone yet found a way to make these files play on VLC player?

I wonder what ArcSoft is doing to these MPGs to make them unplayable in VLC?

You have to ask that from Arcsoft.

I wrote Arcsoft but their answer was unsatisfactory which was pretty much the typical response you get from most proprietary or commercial software companies. I think the best way to look at it is that the Arcsoft codec is of proprietary design but is probably no more proprietary than any other mpeg files produced by a commercial codec which vlc already handles.

Perhaps these files are not really all that far off from running on VLC player, the issue has been brought up in other threads...here's a couple of relevant ones:

https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.ph ... 2&p=214184
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=90916

Now my technical aptitude to figure out how things work with computer programs is not so good and for the longest time I just completely overlooked the advice in the above threads to run VLC with --demux ffmpeg, nevertheless I suspect other people as dumb as myself are doing the same thing (if I may be so bold as to impose my own stupidity onto others)

Anyway after running vlc --demux ffmpeg, much to my surprise--and a measure of happiness--one of them ran and played excellently, but unfortunately the next one or two I tried did not, I guess some of them work and some of them don't. The first one was stuck on some sort of blurred video glitch which made the whole screen in some yellowish colors, the other one ran and played but if you tried to skip around on the timeline it would go only to one point near the end of the file, it didn't matter where I clicked on the timeline it would go to the same spot.

But I would not say for sure that the Arcsoft TotalMedia mpegs themselves have anything wrong with them, probably not more than any other proprietary codec since there are also a few players and codecs able to handle them. For example:

I have seen them play them in Windows Media Player...Properties shows codecs in use: Arcsoft Audio Decoder, and InterVideo Video Codec (this was on a Windows XP computer)

On another Windows XP computer with WinAMP which shows DShow, Cyberlink Video/SP Decoder, Cyberlink Audio, Ulead Muxer.

Windows Media Player--again--this time using Cyberlink Video/SP Decoder

Also DivX player 6: Video Render: DirectShow Video Render, Video Decoder (InterVideo Video Decoder)

MPC-HC plays them...using LAV Video Decoder (internal) LAV Audio Decoder (internal) LAV Splitter Source (internal)

I also tried them with FFMpeg FFplay directly which also can play them.

Well I am just putting this out there, if anyone knows any more about how to get Arcsoft TotalMedia files to run on VLC player--if anything more can be done, or if anything I've said can be of use, then that would be great. Maybe those of us with this problem can compare notes more on it. I don't believe I am alone in using Arcsoft TotalMedia for Free-To-Air or Over-The-Air television capture and I know there must be others who would rather use the VLC Player's unbeatable power and flexibility in controlling the playback rather than using the Arcsoft software.

I was finding a similar issue with opening the mpg files generated from the Arcsoft TotalMedia software, provided with a kaiser baas TV Stick. I was able to convert the files using ffmpeg;

http://www.wikihow.com/Install-FFmpeg-on-Windows

* Download the compiled binaries (I think the instructions from the wikihow link actually take you to the source files, so I downloaded the binaries from here; https://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/).
* Set up ffmpeg on your path, as described in the wikihow link.
* Set up a batch file for decoding and re-encoding the files - initially, I have just modified the example provided on the ffmpeg documentation (http://www.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg.html) for encoding vob files.

convert.bat: You can drag and drop your recording on to this file to run the conversion.

ffmpeg does seem to have some trouble with the file (as below), however it seems to produce an output file that I can play in VLC.