My latest Shark 007 codec setup (x64) with LAV Filters–Black Magic!

UPDATE 1: There appears to be a problem playing back some MKV movies using the LAV filter in version 3.3.9 of the Shark Codec Pack, I have started a thread here. This was not the case in the last version of the Shark Codec Pack I was using which was version 3.1.6. In this guide I recommend you use Haali Splitter on the MKV tab instead of using LAV for now. You can see my working version 3.1.6 LAV setup here.

For connection from your Windows Media Center PC to an Audio Visual Receiver (AVR) 5.1 surround sound pass-through. Either using a HDMI or Optical S/PDIF cable for audio.

This guide is based on Shark Codec Pack version 3.3.9. For x64 Windows 7 OS, ensure you download and install the 32bit version first and then download and install the 64bit components. What’s new since last time I wrote one of these Shark 007 guides is that we are now moving away from FFDSHOW and using the newer LAV Filters for most things. For reference I am using an Intel DH67CFB3 ITX motherboard with the on-chip Intel CPU/GPU. You may need to change some settings specific to your video card manufacturer ATI / Nvidia etc in their driver / graphics properties?

Download both setup files, to install them right click and Run as Administrator (It is recommended you leave Windows UAC turned on)

Run through the setup wizard, unselect Weatherbug if you don’t want to install that as well. Select the Complete installation option.

Once the installation is finished you need to do the same and install the x64 bit components (If your using Windows 64 bit OS). Run through the setup wizard.

When you install Shark 007 it installs a couple of things without asking you, so now go to control panel. Add/Remove programs and remove if you don’t want them the Bing and Ask toolbars. (Please don’t discuss this in my comments below, go do that elsewhere).

You should now have two new entries on your Windows start menu. “Settings Application x64” is used to configure codec settings for 64bit players such as Windows Media Center. “Settings Application” is used to configure codec settings for 32bit players such as Windows Media Player 12.

You should ALWAYS right click these shortcuts from the start menu and select Run as Administrator.

As this guide is for Windows Media Center I will be covering the 64bit settings, however the 32bit settings can be configured virtually the same way.

CONFIG Tab:

By default on 64 bit Windows 7, the default Windows Media Player is the 32 bit version, there is also a 64 bit version of WMP12, Shark recommends sticking with the 32bit version of WMP12 and not changing the default to be the 64 bit version. The Windows Media Center by default is 64 bit ! The x86 version of the shark codec pack is used to configure 32 bit players such as the default WMP12. And you use the x64 bit version of the shark codec pack for configuring 64 bit players such as Windows Media Center.

I normally change Subtitle Control to “No Subtitles” as I don’t have many files with subs, however if you require subtitles then leave it on the default setting of DirectVobSub. (Note this does not affect subtitles in DVD and Blu-ray discs only for video files).

I am going to make a slight variation in the FFDShow audio settings, I have some .MOV files which were originally downloaded from the Apple iTunes store. They were then DRM stripped, these files contain AAC audio tracks and the only way I could get them to play in Windows Media Center was to change the following setting in the FFDShow Audio Decoder configuration, you probably won’t need to do this.

I am changing the audio decoder for AAC audio from libavcodec to libfaad2

AUDIO Tab:

On the screen shot below you can see the default settings for the Audio tab which we will use. Now if you have followed any of my previous guides on Shark 007 setup you will know that I normally select use pass-through (Digital Audio) here for FFDShow S/PDIF pass-through. However in this version we are going to do something different and leave FFDShow pass-through turned off. Instead we are going to use the newer LAV audio.

Click the setup LAV Audio button above and then you will see the dialog below.

Note:- You don’t need to do this if you are not connecting your Media Center PC to an AVR and if you are just using the analogue audio 3.5mm jack output on the back of the PC to a stereo amplifier.

For setup with your AVR and to have the AVR do the audio decoding rather than the PC doing it, so the PC just passes through the audio to the AVR to decode the audio signals then check the following boxes.

AVI Tab:

The default is now back to use the Microsoft splitter. I was using Shark 007 codec pack version 3.1.6 previously and in that version the default option was set to use the LAV Splitter. I have only just upgraded from version 3.1.6 to version 3.3.9 for the purposes of this guide.

I didn’t have any issues playing AVI files in Windows Media Center with the LAV splitter so I am going to change this setting to use the LAV’s splitter again.

H.264 Tab:

I am going to stick with the default settings on the H.264 tab.

MKV Tab:

Again in this version 3.3.9 the default setting for MKV has reverted back to using the Haali Splitter. In version 3.1.6 the default was to use the new LAV splitter and MKV’s played well with LAV. I’ve just tested it and there seems to be a problem using the LAV splitter with MKV files in this version 3.3.9. So for now I suggest you leave it set to use the Haali splitter. Something must have changed from version 3.1.6 to break this.

I am also going to uncheck Disable DIVX Media Foundation splitter, as I have an XBOX 360 Media Center Extender and the DIVX Media Foundation is required to playback MKV files on the XBOX 360 Media Center Extender. If you don’t have an XBOX 360 Media Center Extender you can leave Disable DIVX Media Foundation checked.

MOV / OGG Tab:

Below you can see the default settings for the MOV / OGG tab.

Because I have a specific requirement to play these Apple iTunes DRM stripped MOV files I have, I am going to change a setting here. You can probably stick with the default settings shown above.

MPG / MP4 Tab:

Below you can see the default settings for the MPG / MP4 tab. I am going to stick with these default settings.

SWAP Tab:

Below you can see the default settings on the SWAP tab.

Because I have some AVI files with 5.1 audio sound tracks in them, I am going to change one setting on the SWAP tab. I am going to tick Disable Windows DMO video codec. I find if I do not disable this setting when I play AVI files in Windows Media Center that have 5.1 audio they don’t play properly, the audio becomes out of sync and the video can get stuck for a moment and then speed up to catch up.

If I disable Windows DMO video codec all these problems go away and the AVI files with 5.1 audio play well in Windows Media Center. There is one drawback however, if you check this setting you will break online trailer playback in the My Movies Trailer Library. The trailers will not play at all and you will see a video error in Media Center. I’ve never been able to figure that out.

My configuration is now completed for the 64 bit Settings Application. I would recommend you now go back over each tab again and double check the settings are still correct as sometimes the application can change settings in the background without you knowing, once 100% happy go to the Misc tab and click the button to Save all settings.

32 bit Settings Application

Once I have finished my configuration in the 64 Settings Application, I then open the 32 bit Settings Application (Run as Administrator) and I set the same settings again in the 32 bit version.

Uninstalling Shark 007

We were always told by Shark to use the UNINSTALL button on the Help tab to remove his codec pack and not to use Add/Remove programs in Control Panel.

However I see in the codec pack change log which you can read here, that the later versions of the codec pack now support removal from Control Panel. I would probably still advise you use the UNISTALL button on the Help tab to be on the safe side. You should always remove the 64 bit Components first and then the 32 bit version. You must fully uninstall before you attempt to install any newer version of the codec pack.

When installing always install the 32 bit then the 64 bit version.

Testing your Configuration

To do this I have a collection of sample video files in various file formats and containers. I also have about 5 or 6 movies in different formats which I always use to test with. So basically I have a set of known video files that I know exactly how they should behave. I don’t currently have a new AVR that supports HDMI or the new Blu-ray HD audio formats. Dolby Digital True-HD and DTS-HD Master Audio, however trust me they will work. If anyone wants to donate to me a new AVR then please feel free!

Windows Media Center Speaker Setup

You should always first ensure you have run through the Windows Media Center speaker setup and selected 5.1. To do this go to the Tasks menu strip in WMC select Settings and then select General –> Windows Media Center Setup –> Setup your Speakers

Select your connection type probably HDMI or in my case TOSLINK

Select 5.1 Surround Sound and run through the rest of the wizard and finish.

Obviously if you are not configuring your Media Center PC for 5.1 and are just using a stereo amp and the analogue audio output of the PC then select 2 speakers.

DVD Playback with the Windows Media Center Player

First test some DVD movies with Dolby Digital and DTS audio. For this I use Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (Dolby Digital) and Carlitos Way (DTS) but you have to select DTS from the Languages option on the DVD menu. If LAV audio pass-through is working then the AVR should decode the audio signal. This means on the front of the AVR it should light up with Dolby Digital or DTS and should not say PCM.

Blu-ray Playback with the Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre 5 WMC add-in

There are a few settings you need to check out first in the Arcsoft TMT5 WMC add-in settings.

Under Audio

Speaker Output: Should be either HDMI or in my case S/PDIF

Mixing Mode: Should be set to Using original primary audio

Test playback of two Blu-ray discs one that has Dolby Digital TrueHD and one that has DTS-HD Master Audio sound tracks. If you’ve got it right you should see the AVR light up as shown below.

Dolby Digital TrueHD on AVR display

DTS-HD on AVR display

Video File Playback

Now obviously that is a massive amount of different video file format types and containers out there. I setup my systems primarily to be able to play AVI and MKV’s within Windows Media Center. However I am able to play other formats as well, these are the video types I have tested.

• DIVX-HD (AVI)
• DIVX (AVI)
• DVR-MS (Windows Vista Recorded TV)
• FLV (Flash)
• MKV (Use Haali Splitter not LAV in V3.3.9)
• MOV
• MPEG2
• M2TS (I’ve got two M2TS sample clips one plays one doesn’t)
• VOB (DVD)
• WMV
• WMV-HD
• WTV (Windows 7 Recorded TV)
• XVID (AVI)
• M4V
• MP4

You can use Shark 007 to examine in more detail a particular video file. To do this go to the Misc tab and click the Analyse a media file button.

Browse to the video file and click Open, you will see the information for the video file in Notepad.

Below I used the Analyse media file feature on one of my .MOV movie files.

General
Complete name : \9 (2009).mov
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : QuickTime
Codec ID : qt
File size : 932 MiB
Duration : 1h 19mn
Overall bit rate : 1 644 Kbps
Movie name : 9 (2009)
Performer : Shane Acker
Genre : Kids & Family
Recorded date : UTC 2009-12-29 08:00:00
Encoded date : UTC 2011-01-21 11:56:05
Tagged date : UTC 2011-01-21 12:21:37
Writing library : Apple QuickTime
Copyright : © 2009 Focus Features. All Rights Reserved.
Cover : Yes
desc : From visionary filmmakers Tim Burton (The Nightmare Before Christmas) and Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and Academy Award-nominated director Shane Acker comes this visually stunning and original epic adventure. In the final days of humanity, a dedicated scie
stik : 9

Video
ID : 2
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L3.0
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
Format settings, GOP : M=2, N=24
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 1h 19mn
Duration_LastFrame : -8ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 1 511 Kbps
Width : 640 pixels
Height : 460 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 1.855
Original display aspect ratio : 1.391
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.214
Stream size : 857 MiB (92%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2011-01-21 11:56:05
Tagged date : UTC 2011-01-21 12:21:37
Color primaries : BT.601-6 525, BT.1358 525, BT.1700 NTSC, SMPTE 170M
Transfer characteristics : BT.709-5, BT.1361
Matrix coefficients : BT.601-6 525, BT.1358 525, BT.1700 NTSC, SMPTE 170M

Audio
ID : 1
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Duration : 1h 19mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 126 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 71.6 MiB (8%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2011-01-21 11:56:05
Tagged date : UTC 2011-01-21 12:21:37

We can also use a utility called GraphEdit to see how the video file is being rendered by the system and what decoders are being used?

Open Graph Edit and select Render Media File

Looking at the same .MOV movie file I can see that the LAV Decoder is being used for both Video and Audio.

More tools can be found here.

Note:- I think GraphEdit is 32 bit so its the settings in the Shark 007 32 bit Settings Application that are reflected.

Well I think I’ve covered all the basics now and hopefully you have found this guide helpful. Codec as you probably know is a bit of a black art at the best of times and there is no right and wrong way to get all your video files playing, its just a case of having a little knowledge and being able to choose a solution that works well for you.

The Shark 007 user forums can be found here there is a Wiki here and also please do not forget to DONATE to Shark 007 if you find his codec pack useful.

www.phaze1digital.com

My new Shark007 x64 codec configuration

I recently built a x64 bit Windows 7 Ultimate HTPC. In the past I'd mainly stayed away from x64 bit OS and always used 32bit, mainly because I was usually testing lots of different applications and utilities and also just because I felt more comfortable with 32 bit and codec setup.

But on this latest HTPC for my own living room I decided it was time to try x64 bit properly and make it stable. If you are using the Shark 007 codec pack on x64 you first need to install the x86 version of the codec pack as nornal, in addition to this you then need to install the x64 components.

By default on 64 bit Windows 7, the default WMP12 player is the 32 bit version, there is also a 64 bit version of WMP12, Shark recommends sticking with the 32bit version of WMP12 and not changing the default to be the 64 bit version. The Windows Media Center by default is 64 bit ! The x86 version of the shark codec pack is used to configure 32 bit players such as the default WMP12. And you use the x64 bit version of the shark codec pack for configuring 64 bit players such as Media Center.

Before I continue, at this point I'd like to thank Shark for his help setting up my new x64 bit HTPC as I did get stuck in places and required his help, some of the below information was passed on to me from Shark and if you are using his codec pack and find it useful, please consider making a donation to him as I expect releasing these codec packs and supporting them is very time consuming indeed.

I'd like to state that the below settings are working for me on my HTPC for my files, this is not to say these exact same settings will work for you as you expect! I'd also like to point out that my HTPC is based on an AMD Processor and an onboard ATI HD Radeon 4200 graphics chip. Also I currently don't have an AVR so I am not passing through or bit streaming audio to the AVR, its just a simple HDMI connection from the PC direct to the HDTV. But I will mention audio pass through later.

When launching either version of the Shark codec pack from the start menu you should always right click the icon and run as administrator. Ok so lets get started!

The first tab is the configure tab, on here you can choose which version of WMP12 is the default, stick with the 32 bit version as recommended. I also never use subtitles so I change the Subtitle control to "No Subtitles". You probably want to change the Hardware Output to TV/Projector.

I found some of my HD MKV movies where stuttering so I decided to enable FDDShow DXVA (hardware acceleration) on the H264 tab, which meant on the Config tab clicking Configuration Items and selecting FFDShow DXVA

Under the FFDShow DXVA configuration, I unchecked Subtitles, as I found some MKV's were showing the hard subs. I also checked H264 and VC1 under DXVA codecs enabled.

I did not change anything on the Misc tab.

Ignore the tool tip on this screen shot, I don't think I changed anything on the Audio tab either, however if you have an AVR and want to pass through / bit stream the audio to the AVR you should select: use pass-through (Digital Audio) under FFDShow S/PDIF pass-through. You'd probably select 5.1 as well from the Choose speaker configuration. When I am using an AVR I don't use AC3Filter as I always had problems with it and just use FFDShow.

On the AVI tab I have been selecting Gabest's splitter lately, but Shark recommends using the Microsoft Splitter here. So that's what I am using at the moment.

On the H264 tab I select the settings you can see that have red rings round them, as I said I enabled FFDShow DXVA for hardware acceleration.

On the MKV tab I am using the Haali Splitter and there is also a DIVX Media Foundation Splitter, this is for XBOX 360 users apparently. However I had issues with this setting until Shark explained it to me, you MUST disable the DIVX Media Foundation Splitter on 64 bit OS. If you don't, when you play MKVs and other files in Media Center they will not use FFDSHow but the Microsoft codec. So I have to have this disabled on my X64 HTPC.

But I also have an XBOX 360 extender, I've not tested playing any MKV's on the extender yet, but ideally you would want the DIVX Media Foundation Splitter enabled for playback on the XBOX 360, which means manually changing this setting first. Also AVI's on my XBOX 360 MCX are not playing that well, slowing down and speeding up. But if I play the same movie that's on the WHS from the XBOX 360 dashboard video library it plays fine.

Apparently this is not a problem for 32bit OS as you can have the DIVX Media Foundation Splitter enabled and it will also still use FFDShow in Media Center OK.

MOV OGG tab I did not change anything on this tab, I can play some 1080p .MOV movie trailers I downloaded from Apple OK in Media Center, I've not tested the .MOV files my little digital camera creates yet.

On the MPG MP4 tab I am using Gabest's splitter for MP4 playback, I did play one sample MP4 video file OK in Media Center.

Under overall MPEG Playback 1/2/PS/TS I am using the default which is Automatic section.

Below is a quote from Shark:

"To playback TS variations such as M2TS etc., it is imperitive that you disable Media Foundation on the swap tab. If the source was blu-ray, you will also need to select the blu-ray splitter on the MPG~MP4 TAB. many of these m2ts files use VC1 instead of AVC(h264) for the video so you will also need to select a different decoder on the SWAP TAB for WVC1 content. I prefer setting MPC-HC for WVC1."

So during my test I tried selecting the Gabest's Blu-ray splitter but I found my Blu-ray ISO images on the WHS were stuttering badly in Media Center on the HTPC. In the end Automatic selection seemed to be better for me.

Swap tab, below you can see the settings I am using. The main ones to point out are:

FFDShow codec for XVID/DIVX/MP4v in DirectShow.

FFDShow for WVC1 instead of Microsoft

I also had to disable Media Foundation for a sample .M2TS file to play in Media Center.

The thing that has changed, is in the past with an AVR and when playing AVI files with 5.1 audio tracks in them I would have to disable DMO for them to play. You don't need to do this any more apparently.

That's it!

I can play the following on my Media Center:

• MKV's
• AVI's (XVID)
• DVD rips in VIDEO_TS
• Blu-Ray ISO images (PowerDVD 10 within 7MC)
• Media Center Live TV
• Recorded TV (WTV)

Above are the main video types I use, however I also tested the file types below in Media Center using sample video clips I have:

• .DVR-MS
• .FLV (Flash)
• .M2TS
• .MOV
• .MP4
• .MPG
• .VOB
• .WMV

I also used GraphStudio during my codec setup to render media files and see which codec were being used in the graph.

If anyone has any comments or suggestions please let me know, also I am not a codec expert who knows everything about them so please don't ask me for technical support with codec, I would recommend heading over to the Shark 007 forums here.

http://www.phaze1digital.com/

My Shark 007 Win7 Codec Configuration

Update: As of Shark 007 pack version 2.28 for my configuration to work as described below, I now also have to "Disable the DMO codecs on the SWAP TAB"

I’ve been in Codec hell again lately, ever since first connecting a Windows 7 Media Center PC to an AVR and wanting to get 5.1 surround sound working. Previously I was in bliss with a 2.0 speaker setup on my Media Center at home and had no codec / playback issues what so ever.

I also wanted to make my MKV’s look better on the XBOX 360 MCX, as with the Shark 007 codec pack and the native Windows 7 transcoding of MKV’s to the extender the video quality looked pretty bad.

First thing I tried was the DIVX Tech Preview, however I was unable to get anything other than 2 channel PCM on the HTPC when it was installed and my MKV’s didn’t really look any better on the extender, not sure why? I also found the DIVX Tech Preview pretty unstable for me. Allot of people have been raving about this Tech Preview, I guess I must be missing something.

I then tried just the Haali Media Splitter Alpha for Windows 7 and I was able to play my MKV’s and get 5.1 audio pass through to the AVR but on some of the MKV’s I would get bad pixelated blocky pictures, I also get the same thing happening when using Shark 007 but I have a fix for this which is covered later on.

In the end I’ve gone back to using Shark 007, however initially with Shark when using the AC3Filter I was unable to get 5.1 audio on AVI files (XVID) that had AC3 in them, in fact Media Center would not even play these movies and would error. I was able to get 5.1 audio however on MKV’s with AC3/DTS.

If I un-checked the Use SPDIF options in AC3Filter settings, my AVI’s with AC3 then played OK, but I lost the 5.1 audio on the MKV's so at this point I was going around in circles.

I finally cracked my configuration and below is now how I have Shark 007 configured under Windows 7 (32 bit). My system is based on a Gigabyte GA-MA785GPM-UD2H motherboard which has an onboard ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics processor. The PC is connected for video and sound via an HDMI cable to a Harmon Kardon AVR 255 which in turn is hooked up to the HDTV via HDMI.

The PC has the latest drivers installed from ATI and also from Realtek for the audio devices both the Digital Optical (Not in use) and the HDMI audio device.

The first setting I changed was a newish setting on the Realtek / ATI High Definition Audio Device properties on the custom tab. Ticking this option allows audio pass through.

I then installed the Shark 007 pack with the full installation option. The following screen shots show the options I have changed, if you cannot see a particular tab from the Shark 007 program that means I did not change any settings on that tab and used the defaults.

• TV/Projector
• No Subtitles
• Disable AC3Filter

• 5.1
• FFDShow – Use passthrough
• Enable Audio normalization

When the Use Microsoft codec (default) option is selected some of my MKV’s don’t play properly and I get the blocky pixelations as shown in the screen shot above. Enabling Use FFDshow’s codec option sorts this right out and cures the problem. Worth noting however I don’t have any live TV on this Media Center due to my locale so something to keep in mind?

I found that MKV’s with AC3 audio were crashing Media Center so I had to go in to the FFDShow audio configuration and change the decoder for AC3 to liba52.

Finally click on Output at the bottom and ensure AC3 and DTS are checked for pass-through.

With this configuration I am finally able to play all my files in Windows 7 Media Center connected to the AVR:

AVI's (XVID) with AC3 (Dolby Digital)

AVI''s (XVID) with MPEG (MP3) (2CH PCM)

MKV's with AC3 / DTS

MKV’s with AAC (2CH PCM) *

DVD rips VIDEO_TS (VOB's) with AC3 / DTS

Blu-ray ISO's with AC3 / DTS (PowerDVD9)

* The only thing I’d like to be able to do is encode on the fly MKV’s with AAC to AC3 but I haven’t figured this out yet. What are you doing with MKV’s that have AAC audio tracks?

I’ve set this up on two different PC’s and so far it seems to be working well, I’m not saying this is the only or best way to do things as I’m not a codec guru but it’s the way I was able to get my files all playing with audio pass-through in 7MC.

However my MKV’s still look bad quality on my XBOX 360 MCX, so I’ve started converting all my MKV’s to WTV using DVR-MS Toolbox, so maybe then I won’t need any codec / packs installed Amen to that!

Some related forum threads.

Shark 007 - Cannot play AVI's with AC3 audio - Using AC3Filter

How to configure AC3Filter with DIVX Tech Preview?

Phaze1 Digital