Videos dont progress after playing (case 5526)

[sm2355]

Hello,

My videos wont progress after they play in media lab and I am not sure what the problem is, can u help?

I have tried several different codec packages and none of them progress after playing in my study.

The PCs we using are:

Dell Optiplex 980
MediaLab v2008.1.11

Thank you!

[jarvis24]

How exactly are you playing them? Via exp or que file? And as a movie item or as a backvideo to another item? Are you using any special parameters? Finally, if you substitute any other video (e.g., just some random clip off the internet) does it work ok or same problem?

[polysemyboy]

I am having the same trouble with medialab (not RT) not advancing once a video clip has come to an end. I am using the "sample video" that comes installed with windows 7 and it plays fine, in full screen mode, but when it comes to the end I am left with a black rectangle in the middle of the medialab screen and no continue button. I have another slide that is in the questionnaire file, but it will not come up. I would appreciate help with this issue as I am trying to decide whether to buy medialab for my lab. Thank you.

[polysemyboy]

Please see the questionnaire file that I am attaching. I have tried two different movie clips in two different formats (.avi and .wmv). Althought both of them played just fine in full screen size, when both of them finish, the screen just goes to the regular medialab background with a blank, black rectangle in the center of the screen. Please tell me what I am doing wrong and what I can do to correct this problem. Thank you.

[Stephanie Goodwin]

We are having the same problem presenting videos on an new HP (core i5) running Win 7 and MediaLab 2008. We have also tried various versions of the video format (.avi, .wmv) and treating the video as an event vs. an item in a questionnaire with no success. The videos run completely, but at the end the screen is gray with empty black box and no way to proceed to the next item in the study.

Any solutions? We don't want to revert to XP.

[jarvis24]

I need to preface this with an admission that I don't know why this would be happening unless Microsoft changed the communications from Windows MediaPlayer. MediaLab counts on specific event messages from the WMP in order to react accordingly--like proceeding to the next item.

Until we find a solid fix for this, I can suggest a few work-arounds.

1. Place a duration on the item that is approximately equal to the length of your video so that MediaLab can advance when the duration has lapsed, e.g., a parameter value of (d60) for 60 second video.

2. Embed the video within a PowerPoint file that is set to end when the clip ends. And then present the PowerPoint instead of the movie itself.

3. Call the Windows MediaPlayer (mplayer.exe) as an Executable item from MediaLab and pass it the name of the video file as a parameter. When it ends the user could continue on via the continue button in MediaLab. If this option interests you I can elaborate if need be.

4. Embed the video with an HTML item that would allow the subject to click continue at the end of the video.

Just some initial thoughts, but like I said, we'll also look into why this might be happening with Windows 7. Would be curious to hear if anyone finds the same thing on Vista or XP (loaded with a newer version of WMP perhaps?)

[jarvis24]

We were able to replicate the problem and I think we found the problem. It should now work on Windows 7 as it always has on XP and Vista (i.e., automatic continuation). Try uninstalling your version of 2008 and installing this newer (Nov 3, 2010) release:

www.empirisoft.com/download/ml2008/ml2008.1.33e.exe

Please let me know if it helps!
Blair

[jarvis24]

Update: Issue resolved as of January, 2011 in MediaLab v2010. As of today, Feb 25, 2011, v2010.2.19 is available on the main download page.

[MattH]

I experience exactly the same problem here on a Windows 7 system, using the MOVIE item type. I even tried the duration parameter (I have a 30 second video, so I used "(d3)&quot, but MediaLab just won't progress. Any chance that this can be solved?

[sanne]

I experience the same problem as well. The movie plays just fine but when the movie is finished the screen just goes to the regular medialab background with a blank, black rectangle in the center of the screen. I use windows vista and medialab 2010.3. I have tried the duration parameter but Medialab does not continue either. I am playing an avi file, in the 'movie' selection type.

[Jan]

Still have the same problem with v2010.2.19. A workaround is to show the movie as background video in an instruction item with a duration parameter (to suppress the continue button).

[Paolo]

Hello,

I have the same problem with MediaLab 2010.2.19 both on Win XP and Win 7. I need to show a video but every time I try it, it goes till the end but then it won't progress.

Another problem I have (again with 2010.2.19 both on Win XP and Win 7) is that the duration parameter does not work If I set for instance (d-180) the continue button does not appear on the item after 3 minutes (if I set that parameters; it will never appear), any idea why I am having this issue? Because of it, I can't set a movie as background video in an instruction item with a duration parameter (as an alternative to the fact that video does not progress).

Thanks for you help -

Best,

Paolo

[jason_reed]

Hi Paolo,

Please try using MediaLab v2010.3.102. You can download it here

http://empirisoft.com/download_old.aspx

Make sure that you uninstall MediaLab v2010.2.9 before you install MediaLab v2010.3.102. Just email us as before for the install code.

Please do follow up and let us know if that works.

Cheers.

Jason
Empirisoft Software Support Specialist
support@empirisoft.com

[kurosakilo]

Hello,

"Videos dont progress after playing"
We have the same problems with MediaLab v2012.4.126.(Video item)
The formats of video are wmv and avi.

Computer's OS: Windows 7


Thank you!

[jason_reed]

Hi kurosakilo!

Do your videos play normally in Windows Media Player?

[raypark70]

I have been trying my ML2010 to play video files properly but failed. Not sure what is going on.

What is happening is, after playing a video file, MediaLab 2010 won't move on to the next item. It will stop, displaying a small square on the screen (see image file attached). Only after I use the hidden control key (ctrl + right arrow), it will move on. But after playing the next video clip, it will do the same.

I have two systems (1: Win XP SP3, 2: Win 7) running the latest ML2010 (ver. 3.1). Both are doing the same.
Video files I have tried using are .avi and .wmv -- both doing the same thing.

I am also attaching the Questionnaire file for you to review. Though nothing fancy here, I am suspecting that parameters (which orders the system to shoot out TTL signals) *might* be playing a role here. I am not sure but even if it was the case, I do need those TTL so I cannot give that part up.

Any suggestions are welcomed. Thanks in advance!

AfterPlayingVideo.jpg

[jason_reed]

raypark70,

Try renaming your video files without using anything but numbers and letters. I wonder if starting the file names in the filename field of your three movie items with a . and using backslashes in the name may be the problem.

[raypark70]

raypark70,

Try renaming your video files without using anything but numbers and letters. I wonder if starting the file names in the filename field of your three movie items with a . and using backslashes in the name may be the problem.

Thanks for your suggestion, Jason. I did try doing that, but the result was same.
As you already know, ".\" refers to 'current directory (folder)' in DOS, which Windows inherited.
Ergo, ".\2D\FileName" = "2D\FileName"
Nevertheless, I was wondering if that may have been the case since it has been quite a while since DOS was released. But it was still working that way.

I also tried moving the video clip to the same folder where the questionnaire & experiment files are & edited the script. Problem persists.

My theory is that after ML calls Windows Media Player(WMP) & completes playing the video, somehow WMP fails to terminate and stays as a thumbnail. I just do not get why & how this is happening.

One possibility is the operating system not being U.S. version (both systems, Win XP and Win 7, are Korean Windows released by MS Korea). However, ML2008 did not have this problem when I executed a similar experiment (lots of video files played) on a Korean Windows XP (SP3) machine three years ago.

Using the questionnaire file I uploaded, can you replicate this issue with ML2010 v3.1 at your office? And even better, can you try to replicate this with ML2014?

Thanks!

"Raymond" Byungho Park

[jason_reed]

Raymond,

Could you upload your video files in a zipped folder? I'd be happy to see what happens on my computer, but it would be best if I used your original materials.

[raypark70]

Dear Jason,

I tried uploading the files but they were too large, even after zipping individually (smallest one was more than 14MB after zipping).

However, this "Windows Media Player-not-terminating" issue has been consistent with ML2010 on my lab machines (This did not happen with ML2008 running on Windows XP SP3). All 32 video clips I am using for my upcoming study ends up with this problem - regardless of its format (I tried AVI and WMV files).

What I hope is to ask you to see if this technical issue can be replicated at your office with ML 2010. And also check if this happens with ML 2008 and ML 2014. If this happens ONLY on ML 2010 but not in either ML 2008 or ML 2014, then I'll have to uninstall ML 2010 and go for either version that you have confirmed that works.

Thanks for your support!

"Raymond" Byungho PARK

Raymond,

Could you upload your video files in a zipped folder? I'd be happy to see what happens on my computer, but it would be best if I used your original materials.

[jason_reed]

Raymond,

Just checking in to see if you were able to resolve the video issue or if there is anything else with which I can help.

Jason

[raypark70]

Thanks for checking. Was busy running the experiment.

I managed to make it work by installing ML2008 instead of the newer software I own license for. Still have no idea why and how this worked. It was my last straw.

Will consider upgrading to ML2014 -- after I secure funding for my next project.

Thanks!

"Raymond" Byungho PARK

Raymond,

Just checking in to see if you were able to resolve the video issue or if there is anything else with which I can help.

Jason

[jason_reed]

Thanks for the update. I'm glad that you found a solution. However, it is interesting that using an older version of MediaLab is what worked.

Let us know if there is anything else with which we can help!

[jason_reed]

Raymond,

What installation package did you use when you most recently installed MediaLab 2008? That is, when you went to the download page to get MediaLab 2008 (http://www.empirisoft.com/download_old.aspx), which link did you click to get MediaLab 2008: v2008.1.33 or v2008.1.33e?

[raypark70]

Hi, sorry for not checking the thread for a while.

Yes, it was the latest version available. I am quite sure it was v2008.1.33e.

Again, I had it run on a Windows XP Korean Edition. I will mention why this is significant in a separate posting.

Cheers,

"Raymond" Byungho PARK

Raymond,

What installation package did you use when you most recently installed MediaLab 2008? That is, when you went to the download page to get MediaLab 2008 (http://www.empirisoft.com/download_old.aspx), which link did you click to get MediaLab 2008: v2008.1.33 or v2008.1.33e?

[raypark70]

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day regarding this technical issue. He confirmed my long held hypothesis: It is the OS.

Whatever MediaLab you are using, as long as your Windows operating system(OS) is English edition, it should be running fine.

Microsoft develops it's Windows operating system for various areas. Local language support is important, and naturally, codes for processing language is embedded down deep at the system level. That is, though I am sure Empirisoft has tested MediaLab thoroughly, it must have been tested using Windows US Edition only.

Chances are, if you are using Windows released for Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, etc. markets, you may run in to interesting issues.

Many academic institutes (especially with a large engineering school) outside the U.S. often run into this issue. They solve this by purchasing Windows licences for both local market and U.S. market. If you belong to one of them, just install a U.S. Windows and install the MediaLab you have. It should work. (You should be able to get Local language support by downloading Language Pack from Microsoft)

However, it would be better if MediaLab works perfectly regardless of the Region of the Windows...

Hope this helps MediaLab users outside the U.S. !

Cheers,

"Raymond" Byungho PARK

[jason_reed]

Thanks for this information!