DVD software

[HCHTech]

I have a personal injury attorney as a client. He routinely gets DVDs sent to him from other attorneys, clients & industry people. They might have been created by any one of a hundred various products out there. We have a continuing problem of him not being able to play a DVD that he receives on his computer.

He currently has Windows 7 Pro, and he has Windows Media Player, of course, VLC, iTunes, some Cyberlink DVD software and WinX DVD player, I think. Plus about 3 different special softwares for playing what is saved by some common security camera boxes.

It seems that no matter how much software we throw at this problem, the next week he'll get in something new that won't play, or plays video but no audio, or plays audio but no video, or some other problem. Not to mention the never-ending problem of one of those softwares taking over all the defaults when an update is loaded. He's not exactly tech-savvy but has a couple of people in the office that can help some.

Now - we're getting him a new workstation. Windows 10 Pro, and I'd like to wipe the slate clean and get a fresh start tackling this problem. What software (or combination of softwares) would you recommend to give the highest success rate so he can quit calling me?

 

[AML]

I cannot speak from experience since I have never used it, however one of my customers swears by finalmediaplayer

 

[mraikes]

The challenge is less the software he picks/uses, and more on the sender's end. Basically you're asking how he can be prepared for any and every random piece of digital junk someone might throw at him.

The only way is exactly as he's already done - find solutions that work on a case by case basis and end up with a collection of oddball A/V apps "just in case". Or he has to take the bull by the horns and specify to his clients the exact format he'll accept and then it's the client's problem to figure out how to get it there.

When I send files to my own lawyer, accountant, etc. I don't get to send it in Sanskrit and expect them to figure it out. I have to try to comply with their requirements.

 

[Altster]

When I send files to my own lawyer, accountant, etc. I don't get to send it in Sanskrit and expect them to figure it out. I have to try to comply with their requirements.

Exactly the way it should be. Clients should produce what is needed in the correct format so Mr Attorney doesn't need to waste valuable time.

I think I'd take it one step further and inform all clients that only certain DVD authoring software would be accepted - and provide said clients with a listing. Of course all software would need to be multi-O/S compatible.

 

[HCHTech]

He could certainly list his requirements, but I'm thinking that this won't solve the problem. If he represents the defendant and gets video that came from, for example, CCTV provided by the plaintiff's attorney, he doesn't have the luxury of demanding a particular format. If they can play it, they are going to consider their job done by providing it in the format that it exists. If he is the one bringing the suit and the only video of the incident is from security camera belonging to the business across the street, he's lucky to get it at all, let alone demand a particular format. I think he is stuck with the situation and will have to solve it the way he has in the past, which is keeping several softwares at the ready, and if one of them won't play the thing, then go looking for another one that will.

 

[Krynn72]

I've yet to find a format that media player classic with the Combined Community Codec Pack hasn't been able to play. It's barebones so menus sometimes don't work but if you explore the DVD and open a video file it usually just plays no problem.

I probably haven't run into all the formats they have, but it's another good one to throw into the mix. I use it personally instead of VLC because I like it better in general.

http://www.cccp-project.net

(No, it's not affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party. Just nerd humor.)

 

[GTP]

What about firing up a "live Linux" distro and try some of the plethora of Media Players available on that platform?

 

[brandonkick]

I personally wouldn't want my lawyer, who is probably billing me in excess of $200 an hour, spending time figuring out just how to even get the video to play that he/she needs to evaluate. Sounds like a TON of wasted money. But to each their own.

I agree with what is above, you seemed to have a pretty good solution before. A decent combination of mainstream software that offers wide support of many different formats. That is the best you can do on a preemptive basis. Then when the lawyer gets something in that the normal software doesn't play, start the clock and and try to figure out what you need to play it. If I were the lawyer, it would go right in the terms and conditions... if the video doesn't play without some special software, be prepared to be billed for the time it takes me to figure out what is necessary to view the files.... either that or give it to me in a nice, easy to use format.

 

[glennd]

I have a personal injury attorney as a client. He routinely gets DVDs sent to him from other attorneys, clients & industry people. They might have been created by any one of a hundred various products out there. We have a continuing problem of him not being able to play a DVD that he receives on his computer.

Did we just use DVD as a synonym for video file or are we talking about an actual physical DVD movie disk? I didn't realise one could build a standard DVD that was not compatible with any DVD player?

 

[brandonkick]

DVD's can contain video files... a DVD itself doesn't have to be a movie that will play in a set top player.

A DVD can contain 4.7GB of MP3's for example.

 

[Krynn72]

Usually to make a DVD that's playable by DVD players you need specific software. If the video was made from a security camera system that just saves digital files then most likely the people making the DVD are just making a "Data DVD" and not going through the extra hoops of making "Movie DVD".

Though depending on the security camera system, it may have an export to DVD option that does it for them so it can be played on a DVD player in a court room for example. This inconsistency within the security camera industry is the root of this problem.

 

[mikeroq]

DVD is the disc format, which can store anything.

DVD-Video is the video format for video playback in dvd players, computers, etc.

Now CD started out as audio "CD-DA Compact Disc Digital Audio) but they expanded to support any data (CD-ROM) in the form of files, Photo CD, Video CD, etc.

So in this case I think this guy is mainly getting DVDs which contain files of videos in various formats. Most DVR systems I've exported video from seem to all have their own standard. Most today just export to USB. The ones with DVD or CD burners just wrote the files to the disc. Most had DVD burners since the files could be rather large for what they are. I think things are getting better but a lot of these "H.264" DVRs I've used make massive files for even an hour of video of one camera. Most of them would include a exe on the disc or USB you created to play back the files. Sometimes you have to select to "include player", when you burn or write to USB. Some have options to export as AVI (using an obscure codec of course usually had to play back in VLC).

To me having VLC with KLite codecs, WMP, and maybe a DVD program (VLC can play dvds so...) should cover the standard stuff. Of course any player software for DVR video that he has should be installed. For the rest he is going to have to get them to provide the player software or the model of the DVR so he could maybe download the player.

 

[Diggs]

+1 for MPC + CCCP