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Update: Codecs and Trial Director

By Matt Hewlett · Trial Director / Video

It has been quite some time since the original write-up on PowerPoint / Trial Director codec issues, so here’s an updated version. A lot has changed since then. For simplicity, this covers MPEG-1 video on Windows 7 (64-bit); the same info should apply to Windows 7 (32-bit) and Windows 8, though file locations may differ.

Back in the days of Windows 2000 and XP, codec issues happened all the time: a simple install of a new video program could have disastrous effects on a system. With Trial Director 6 and Office 2013, things have changed. This isn’t a “must do,” more a best practice to look into if you’re having MPEG-1 issues.

What’s changed? Trial Director no longer relies on system codecs. That’s huge: it means a system codec problem shouldn’t kill video playback or clip creation in TD. But it’s still worth knowing how to test and fix system codecs.

Please note: this process, done incorrectly, could break video playback on the machine. Back up everything first.

Tools You’ll Need

  • GraphEdit
  • DSFMgr (32-bit or 64-bit, depending on your system)

Open DSFMgr and drag-and-drop an MPEG-1 file into GraphEdit. For a healthy default Windows setup you should see four stages: the video file, the video splitter (the most common source of issues), the video decoder / audio decoder, and finally the video and audio render/output devices. If GraphEdit doesn’t show similar filters, you may run into issues with playback, export, or editing in PowerPoint and Trial Director.

Resetting to Windows Defaults

Run DSFMgr as administrator. This lets you edit the priority of video/audio splitters and codecs.

  1. In GraphEdit, find the name of the splitter shown in the second box (mine was “MPEG-1 Stream Splitter”).
  2. Find that splitter in DSFMgr and double-click it to open Filter Properties.
  3. Lower the priority of the wrong splitter to “Normal.”
  4. Raise the priority of “MPEG-1 Stream Splitter” to “Preferred.”
  5. Re-run the test in GraphEdit. If the wrong splitter still wins, repeat the process on the next codec in question.

What About Trial Director?

You can test which codec and splitter TD is using, and even revert it to system codecs (you shouldn’t normally need to, but it’s good to know how):

  1. Click Start → Run → Browse, and locate TrialDirector6.exe (typically C:\Program Files (x86)\inData Corporation\TrialDirector 6\).
  2. Append graphedit to the end of the path in the Run box and press Enter.
  3. Drag an MPEG-1 file into the resulting GraphEdit window. The setup looks almost the same, except the splitter is labeled “Demultiplexer,” which is what inData wants TD to use.

If you want to test TD against the system splitter instead: open C:\Program Files (x86)\inData Corporation\TrialDirector 6, rename MPEG-2 Demultiplexer.svm to MPEG-2 Demultiplexer.bak, close and re-run the GraphEdit command, then drop in another MPEG-1 file. Don’t forget to rename the file back afterward. No harm, no foul.

One more note: DSFMgr has a troubleshooting tab with an option to “restore standard DirectX codecs.” I’ve never needed to use it, but it’s there.

Note: PowerPoint 2013 re-renders MPEG-1 video, so this shouldn’t be an issue unless you’re on an older version of PPT. The newer codec system in Trial Director should eliminate this issue as well.

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