Video Playback Problem fixed but RenderOutputPins Error

We have developed a paradigm that requires participants to view a series of short videos (approx. 120 videos of 4-5 seconds in duration) and respond to each. We are playing on using MediaLab as the platform through which to run this paradigm but we have consistently had problems with the program freezing and crashing throughout the development and piloting of this task. The odd thing is that the crashes are unpredictable. They don't occur at a consistent point during the task, nor do the crashes occur every time the task runs. Because of this it has been very hard to troubleshoot the problem. I searched the forums for help but to no avail. We have tried multiple types of video files with the same result. Our IT staff was unable to identify any problems with the computers that might lead to this issue. The computers are brand new Dell laptops with Windows 7.

We must get this problem resolved as soon as possible as we will be beginning data collection shortly with parents and children and in the event that MediaLab freezes or crashes, we will be unable to simply have participants complete the task again as they will have already been exposed to the videos and their ratings will, therefore, be biased. Data from participants will be non-recoverable is the program freezes or crashes. We have several colleagues interested in our paradigm and in order to use it, we are suggesting that they purchase MediaLab as we know of no other software that will allow us to run
this task. However, before our colleagues purchase dozens of licenses, we need to be absolutely certain that MediaLab can support the task and that this problem can be resolved.

I would greatly appreciate any help that can be offered in resolving this technical issue. Please let me know if there is any information you need to help in assessing the potential problem such as computer specifications. I can not stress how anxious we are at the possibility of beginning data collection with a task that might or might not crash for any given participant. Additionally, the thought of costing our colleagues thousands of dollars for a program on which the paradigm can not be run is equally upsetting.

Please let me know if there is anything that can done to solve this problem or whether it might be best to pursue other potential programs for running this task.

Thanks for you time and help!

Yes, try the most recently posted version on the main download page (install package 2008.1.33e). It's still version 2008.1.33 but the new installation includes an updated video control file that was causing some memory problems. This may resolve it but if not please let me know. Btw, do you happen to be running this on Windows 7?

Thanks for your timely response!

We are running this on Windows 7. I downloaded version 2008.1.33e and that seems to have stopped the freezing issues. However, we now get an error that says something about failed render output pins. I don't recall the actual message but I posted it in another thread (It didn't occur to me that posts had to go through a moderator first so when I didn't see my thread, I posted another one. Sorry!). When this error or failure message appears, I can click through it and the videos eventually return. This seems to only happen on additional runs through the task. The first time through, everything works fine. I'm in the process of trying to determine whether simply shutting down MediaLab or restarting the computer after each run keeps the error message at bay. Any thoughts as to what might be done to avoid this error?

Thanks again!

Kevin

Kevin, I'm not sure why but lately some posts have been put in the moderation queue despite showing no signs of being spam (that's usually the only reason it happens). I am not sure why that error would be coming up. Is it, like the old issue, something that recurrs across different computers and video clips--i.e., can you find any sort of predictability to it? I'll find the exact error from the other post and copy it here. Btw, some of my own posts have been moderated lately as if they could be spam also--what's with that!!? Will look into it.

For the convenienece of having it all in one thread, here is the error you posted elsewhere:
[QUOTE]I recently installed version 2008.1.33.e in hopes of fixing the problems of freezing videos. The videos aren't freezing anymore and the first time I went through the task, I had no problems. On the second time through I'm getting an error in place of some videos that says "Failed(hr=0x80040255) in RenderOutputPins(m_pGB, m_pReader)". I have no idea what this means or what to do.[/QUOTE]

We have tried to recreate the problem in order to determine whether we can do so with any predictability. It seems that it only occurs after the first run through of the task. Restarting the computer after every participant keeps the error at bay. While this appears to be a short term fix, it obviously is not ideal. The task is set up as an experiment file consisting of 6 .que files. Each questionnaire file contains 20 short videos (4-5 seconds). The error usually doesn't occur on the first .que file but appears sometime between the second and fourth .que files within the experiment. It doesn't appear to be a particular video that causes it either but it does happen across multiple computers.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Kevin

Can you check the properties of the videos and see if the codec are different between the initial ones (where it doesn't have a problem) and the later ones (where it does). Microsoft indicates that error 0x80040255 means "VFW_E_NO_DECOMPRESSOR Cannot play back the video stream: could not find a suitable decompressor." See source : [URL]http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd375623(v=VS.85).aspx[/URL]

Some other poking around I did suggests this is a Windows Media Player x Video x Something interaction. This is why the first thing I'd do is check the methods used to encode the different videos and see if they differ between the early and later que's.

Ok, I've looked through all of the videos and they all have the same video codec. However, some are missing an audio codec. However, there isn't any sound in any these videos anyway. Could this be the problem?

Also, if all of the videos played the first time the task was run but not the second time, could this be a problem with the codecs or is there anything else you can think of that might be causing this problem?

Thanks again for all your help!

Kevin

I was just wondering whether there was any resolution found to this problem? [I][edited by moderator][/I] Is there anything else that we might be able to do or try to resolve this playback issue?

Thanks,

Kevin

Depends. You mentioned that some appear to be missing audio codecs (despite not using audio which I agree should be fine!). You mentioned that the videos in the first que never give you any trouble--even on subsequent sessions without restarting MediaLab (yes?). Do any of these videos in the first que have the missing audio codecs? Or does that occur only in subsequent videos where the error has some potential to occur?