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Good .FLV player?

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 2:33 pm
by Mobius
Hi peeps. I assume you all have \"Video Downloader\" extension in your Firefox installation... (What?? Go get it now!) https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2390/

This handy tool allows you to save videos from YouTube, Google etc and save them in various formats. Sometimes you get no options except for \".FLV\" (Fash Video) and this is OK I guess, except I have not been able to find even a remotely decent FLV player on the web.

I have now tried about 4 of them, and they all suck donkey testicles. (I am SO glad that the DBB doesn't censor the word \"testicles\" - it's such a great word! Like \"elbow\"!) The features a video player requires are:

1) Can dynamically resize window, and content expands to fill it, retaining aspect ratio
2) Fast Forward and Fast backwards actually work
3) Clicking in the \"playback scroller\" advances the movie to that point in the file
4) The player will actually play the entire movie (Not stop half way through at the same point every time)
5) The player must actually play the movie when you double click on an FLV file - not just launch the app.
6) Retain audio sync correctly when the movie is advanced
7) Must not consume 100% of a 3800+ CPU!
8) Does not crash.
9) Have fault tolerance which allows you to skip over \"some bad frames\".

I have searched the torrent sites, and Google, and so far have been spectacularly unimpressed. You'll recall I believe flash is 99% bad - it is the most mis-used technology on the web, and the Internet is a poorer place for it. HOWEVER, I now concede that with an installation base of 98%, banner adverts and FLVs embedded in a web page almost make sense. BUT (and it's a big but) if you can download the files but not play them properly, it is a format which still sucks ★■◆●!

So - does anyone know of a GOOD .flv player? I don't even care if it isn't free!

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 4:45 pm
by d3jake
Heh, I could never get that one working... so I have \"ook! Video Ook!\" Whatever that means.... any suggestions would be helpful to me as well.

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 5:13 pm
by Krom
What you want is not a video player but instead a directshow filter to decode the video stream and a media splitter to handle the .flv file.

The directshow filter ffdshow seems to be able to decode the video in a FLV container, you just need a media splitter that can handle it. Try your luck with this and Media Player Classic: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfile ... _id=183318

Your best bet is to install the CCCP then enable FLV decoding in ffdshow, and then install the FLV media splitter. Then ANY directshow compatible media player should be able to play flash videos.

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 10:51 pm
by Mobius
And again in English Krommy! :o

OK - so flash on the web still sucks a55 then.
It's nice to know some things never change!

I'll try what you suggest Krom (THANKS!) but it's all a bit stupid really.

File --> Install player --> Play file 100% OK.

^^ That's the PC model. Why the living ★■◆● does Flash have to go break that time-honoured model?

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 11:13 pm
by Krom
\"File ---> Install Player ---> Play file\" is an exceptionally bad and lazy way of playing a media file. If that was the method that everyone used, it would mean you would need a different media player for each and every file format there is. This would be like saying that you would need a different car to drive on each block of your home town. Which is why Microsoft created directshow, play everything with just one player, or drive everywhere with just one car only changing the tires when needed.

The formula should be: File ---> Install Filter(s) ---> Play file in your favorite media player.

Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 12:30 am
by Mobius
You know what I mean Krom: install a codec; plays in all players. Download one player: play 25 different types of file in it. Come on!

See, this is why Open Source often sucks!

WTF is a 7Z file?

Oh yeah \"You may want to read the release notes\" - yep - I WOULD too, but that link, (as is normal in OS projects) is an empty page.

So, I'm no wiser as to what to do with a \".7Z\" file. Retarded. What's wrong with .ZIP or creating self extracting ZIP files? Jebus H Chribt on a pony. What about RAR?

This is exactly why people don't do Open Source, because the idots who think you should use it make it as hard as possible to do so! I just love the arrogance of these people: \"You want this one file, then you have to install this POS decompressor because I am too lazy to create standardised files which anyone can decompress.\" -- Charming.

No wonder MS is the world's leading supplier of Operating Systems.

*sigh*

Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 12:38 am
by Mobius
Great.

Install the stupid fuxoring 7-Zip app. Then it doesn't recognise \".7z\" files so it is necessary to hack the Folder Options/File Types into Windows.

THEN: open the file and extract what's inside.

Then: no release notes inside.
TWO: different versions.
NOTHING: to indicate what the file is for, what to do with it, or how to use it.

I might as well have a big piece of poo on my desktop, and over an hour wasted.

*fantastic*

Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 2:09 am
by fliptw
too bad then.

Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 7:25 am
by Admiral LSD
For the record, WinRAR has been able to open 7zip files for quite a few versions now.

Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 9:37 am
by Krom
Impressive! It takes genuine talent to screw up installing 7-zip ( http://www.7-zip.org ).

And since you have never dealt with manually registering a codec or filter, what you do is copy the FLVSplitter.ax file to C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\ then open a command prompt window and type \"regsvr32.exe C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\FLVSplitter.ax\".

If at a later time you want to un-register the filter, type \"regsvr32.exe /u C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\FLVSplitter.ax\" at command prompt.

Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 10:48 am
by Duper
As McCoy said: \"It's child's play!\"


0_o
;)

Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2006 11:40 am
by Top Wop
Hi stupid.

Used Google lately?

http://www.flashplayerpro.com/ - At least with this one you can convert .flv to exe so you dont need an external player.