FFMPEG Error VC1 to X264 (maybe decoding VC1)

Question

I am encountering the following error when transcoding using FFMPEG. It seams to me that it's an error decoding the VC1 format and has actually nothing to do with the target format (x264) I want to transcode.

I tracked the error to this source-file:

http://cekirdek.pardus.org.tr/~ismail/ffmpeg-docs/vc1_8c-source.html

but I don't know how to set the profile to a value != simple.

FFMPEG Output:

ffmpeg version 1.1 Copyright (c) 2000-2013 the FFmpeg developers
  built on Jan 16 2013 22:52:43 with gcc 4.6.3 (Gentoo 4.6.3 p1.10, pie-0.5.2)
  configuration: --prefix=/usr --libdir=/usr/lib64 --shlibdir=/usr/lib64 --mandir=/usr/share/man --enable-shared --cc=x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-gcc --cxx=x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-g++ --ar=x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-ar --optflags='-O2 -march=native -pipe' --extra-cflags='-O2 -march=native -pipe' --extra-cxxflags='-O2 -march=native -pipe' --disable-static --enable-gpl --enable-postproc --enable-avfilter --disable-stripping --disable-debug --disable-doc --disable-network --disable-vaapi --disable-vdpau --disable-ffplay --disable-runtime-cpudetect --enable-libx264 --disable-indev=v4l2 --disable-indev=alsa --disable-indev=oss --disable-indev=jack --disable-outdev=alsa --disable-outdev=oss --disable-outdev=sdl --enable-libfreetype --disable-amd3dnow --disable-amd3dnowext --disable-altivec --disable-avx --disable-mmxext --disable-vis --disable-neon --cpu=host --enable-hardcoded-tables
  libavutil      52. 13.100 / 52. 13.100
  libavcodec     54. 86.100 / 54. 86.100
  libavformat    54. 59.106 / 54. 59.106
  libavdevice    54.  3.102 / 54.  3.102
  libavfilter     3. 32.100 /  3. 32.100
  libswscale      2.  1.103 /  2.  1.103
  libswresample   0. 17.102 /  0. 17.102
  libpostproc    52.  2.100 / 52.  2.100
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] LOOPFILTER shall not be enabled in Simple Profile
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] FASTUVMC unavailable in Simple Profile
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] Old interlaced mode is not supported
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] Old WMV3 version detected, some frames may be decoded incorrectly
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] Old interlaced mode is not supported
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] FASTUVMC unavailable in Simple Profile
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] LOOPFILTER shall not be enabled in Simple Profile
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] FASTUVMC unavailable in Simple Profile
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] LOOPFILTER shall not be enabled in Simple Profile
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] FASTUVMC unavailable in Simple Profile
Last message repeated 1 times
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] LOOPFILTER shall not be enabled in Simple Profile
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] FASTUVMC unavailable in Simple Profile
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] LOOPFILTER shall not be enabled in Simple Profile
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] FASTUVMC unavailable in Simple Profile
Last message repeated 1 times
======
---> This goes on forever ... skipped
======
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] FASTUVMC unavailable in Simple Profile
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] LOOPFILTER shall not be enabled in Simple Profile
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] FASTUVMC unavailable in Simple Profile
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] Chroma scaling is not supported, expect wrong picture
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] LOOPFILTER shall not be enabled in Simple Profile
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] FASTUVMC unavailable in Simple Profile
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] LOOPFILTER shall not be enabled in Simple Profile
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] FASTUVMC unavailable in Simple Profile
[NULL @ 0x1f99a90] LOOPFILTER shall not be enabled in Simple Profile
[vc1 @ 0x1f93760] max_analyze_duration 5000000 reached at 5000000
[vc1 @ 0x1f93760] Could not find codec parameters for stream 0 (Video: vc1): unspecified size
Consider increasing the value for the 'analyzeduration' and 'probesize' options
[vc1 @ 0x1f93760] Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate
test.vc1: could not find codec parameters

Here is the CMD-line i use ... xD Basically I stripped EVERYTHING (codec-related and quality-related) because the error happens no matter what I pass ...

ffmpeg -i test.vc1 test.mkv

This first step when encountering an issue with ffmpeg is to try ffmpeg from git head. Since development is so active you may be experiencing a bug that has already been fixed. Compiling from source is preferred, but if that is not possible for some reason then try a recent static build via the [ffmpeg.org download](http://ffmpeg.org/download.html) page. — llogan, Jan 16 '13 at 19:05
You are correct ... Updated to the latest version ... I always compile from source. Changed the output of FFMPEG in my post accordingly --> the colour of the ErrorMessage has changed ;-)) — Xatian, Jan 16 '13 at 21:04
As input options (before `-i`), try increasing values of `-analyzeduration` (default is 5000000 [µs = 5 s]) and `-probesize` (default is 5000000 [Mo]). A sample would be useful if it isn't a prohibitively large file size, and your actual ffmpeg command is missing. Can another player, such as Windows Media Player, play the file correctly? — llogan, Jan 16 '13 at 23:25
I tried what you mentioned. As expected the output got longer but is basically the same ... just the same error messages but more often. The file is a 1080p theatrical movie I copied from a bluray (which I have bought). I tried several times to "rip" it and with different methods ... the VC1 file is always OK and is playable with various players. As I mentioned in my post ... I think the library that ffmpeg uses (libavcodec) can't decode the VC1 with the current settings ... or at all. — Xatian, Jan 17 '13 at 17:34
I'm not very familiar with VC-1 and have no samples. Consider searching for or submitting a bugreport or feature request at the [FFmpeg bug tracker](https://ffmpeg.org/trac/ffmpeg/). — llogan, Jan 17 '13 at 19:44

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 29 '13 at 13:46

I actually solved this problem by moving the raw VC1-stream into a container before passing it to ffmpeg. I used mkv but I assume some other container might work as well ...

Command-Line:

mkvmerge -o temp.mkv source.vc1
ffmpeg -i temp.mkv output.mkv

Regards

FFMPEG Error VC1 to X264 (maybe decoding VC1)

FFMPEG Output:

1 Answers1