Scratch Pad 1 GB Limit

[Kevin Culp]

Ulead's web site gives the following advice for playing and editing AVI files greater than 1 GB (up to 2 GB) in MSP 5.2 VE's Scratch Pad:


"Problem:
If I open a clip over 1GB in the Scratch Pad, I get an error message reporting a corrupted file on reading past the 1GB mark. Is this a fault in the ULEAD software?

Solution:
Please download the latest Media Player(version 5.2 or newer) from Microsoft web site to update the program in your system. MediaStudio Pro calls Media Player to play scratch pad and created video, and the previous versions support playing back AVI files less than 1GB."


I've upgraded Media Player multiple times and STILL can't get files greater than 1 GB to work in Scratch Pad. Is Ulead blowing smoke or has anyone actually been able to do this successfully? Are there other settings that must be changed in addition to simply installing Media Player?

Thank you,
Kevin

[This_Idiot]

Hi Kevin,

Did you uninstall MS before installed MP and then reinstall afterwards ?

Just a thought, mebbe MS is still picking up the old version ?

[Kevin Culp]

Chris, I had uninstalled and reinstalled MSP 5.2 VE after installing Microsoft Media Player.

Are you able to edit 2 GB files in your version?

Thank you,
Kevin

[This_Idiot]

I'll have to do some experimenting and get back to you. I don't normally use clips that long.

[Uwe]

Hi !

The 1GB scratch-pad limit is normal for Win95/98.
I have examined this problem with some friends weeks ago and we all could see this limit.

It´s funny, but if you are using MSP with Windows NT, then you don´t have this 1 GB limit in the Scratch Pad.

Bye, Uwe.

[Kevin Culp]

In other words, Ulead's FAQ is quite inaccurate! Wonder why they published it in the first place? Surely they couldn't be thinking most people in this market segment are using NT with MSP 5.2...

[Pertti]

Kevin,

When you bring up File\preferences and choose the "Associate" tab, are your "Microsoft AVI files (*.AVI)" associated with MediaPlayer or mplayer2.exe ?

If they are not associated with mplayer2, associate it by your self with the "Browse" button.
The mplayer2 should be in: c:\program files\windows media player\mplayer2.exe

Can you now work with >1GB files ?

Pertti

[Kevin Culp]

Pertti,

Yes, I've changed that setting and it has no impact. I can work with files up to 2 GB in MSP, but can't do much with them in Scratch Pad (at least beyond the 1 GB point). Have you successfully done so in Win95 or Win98?

I contacted Ulead Tech Support and was informed that the 1 GB limitation is an MCI issue, and installing or using the newer versions of Media Player won't fix this. Tech Support stated that the new version 6.0 would take care of this limitation.

If there are any "hacks" to get it to work I'd love to hear about them!

Thank you,
Kevin

[Pertti]

Hi Kevin,

I got the scratch pad working on my primary computer, which is running W95B, but there were some problems on my secondary system with W98SE.
I noticed the Mplayer2.exe in W98SE to be only 12KB in size, where the updated one on the W95B was ~150KB...??... hmm...

Are you running W95, W98 or W98SE ?

Pertti

[This message has been edited by Pertti (edited 09-23-1999).]

[Pertti]

Hi Kevin,

Yes, I can scratch all the way up to the 2GB limit in Media Studio's scratch pad in W95B (Mplayer2.exe version 6.00.02.0902), but in W98SE with Mplayer2.exe version 6.01.05.0130 It still doesn't work.

I'll do some more investigating, but this is starting to be interesting.

Pertti

W95B rulez

[Kevin Culp]

Pertti,

Here was Ulead's response to my inquiry on this issue:

"Scratch pad is follow the rule of MCI device , it's limitation is 1GB, if you using newer mediaplayer to plat video file , it can play over 1GB, but not scratch pad.
MediaStudio pro 6 will be take care those thing."

So... if you can scratch 2 GB files in Win95B but not in Win98, perhaps there is a difference between the MCI-related files in the Windows\System directory. That might be a good place to start -- you might do a search for mci*.* in both operating systems and compare each set with the other. I would suspect the MCIOLE.DLL, MCIAVI.DRV, MCI.VBX, or MCIWNDX.VBX to be pivotal files in this situation. Of course I don't have any idea how these files interact with MSP 5.2, but this is probably a good guess, at least.

Yes, the plot does thicken!

Take care,
Kevin

[Kevin Culp]

Pertti,

I'm using Win98. The Mplayer2.exe file is 5 KB in size (I assume most of the program executable is in the DLL files). This would be version-dependent; I have version 6.4 installed, which is the latest available.

So you were actually able to view files up to a full 2 GB in size under Win95B?

Thanks,
Kevin