[Developer Post] - Stuttering + Buffering + Lagging Help Thread!
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@Jason-from-Videostream the 200mb are some anime shows, only about 24 min each
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@tron4 I had a problem with anime buffering. Figured out it was due to it being encoded with a bit depth of 10 (instead of the 'normal' 8bit in other shows).
Unfortunately the Chromecast doesn't support playing h264 with a bit depth of 10, so what I did was convert the videos from 10 to 8 bit.
To do this I just used a free tool called HandBrake. I had some problems with video needing transcoding (which causes buffering, and also a lot of strain on your computer), even after converting it to 8bit - but after a few trials and errors I found out which settings to use. I'll post some screenshots on how to set it up to do a rather simple 10>8 conversion with little quality loss.
Note; any re-encode or transcoding will reduce quality - similar to encoding lossy music over and over.
Now, here are my settings in handbrake that did the trick for me.
Preferences
Under "tools" open options, here you can make ajustments as you like but noteworthy options are under "Output Files" > Default Path - I set this to a folder on my desktop named Videostream for simplicity. Also check automatically name output files.
Also remember to tick this to automatically pull the subtitles into the new file. The rest of the preferences are optional.Output settings
These are in the main editor, I would highly recommend you import a file (click source > file/folder then import a video) then set up the output settings and save as a preset. (bottom right; click add).Picture - default settings work fine.
Filter - default settings work fine.
Video - the most important ones are H.264 profile settings, apart from the speed preset (set at medium for me)
The h.264 preset slider basically means how fast it will encode versus compression. (faster = bigger file size, slower = smaller file size) for anime medium works fine, I end up with files averaging 3-400mb which play very nice and look super fine on my tv (this size also depends on your Constant Quality sider. 20 is the default but for HD videos you can put it at 24 to get a smaller file size (at the slight loss of quality).Audio - AAC ffmpeg 128kbs works fine for me.
Subtitles - they should import automatically (due to the checkbox in the preferences) if not click add and pick "english" (or what other language you want). (Note; sometimes it says "unknown" or otherwise, and (SSA/ASS) in parentheses - those are usually the ones you want.)
Leave Chapters and Advanced as is if you don't know what you're doing.
Now; click add to queue (if you have 1 file) or click the arrow next to it and add the whole batch if you have multiple. Followed by clicking start to start encoding. For me each file takes about 15minutes in the cooker like this and work with zero effort on the computer playing it on the chromecast and no buffering at all.
Hope this works, good luck and enjoy!
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thanks for looking out lommelun. il try this.
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:/ big frowny face. my movies still stutter, its not worth the time to convert all my files for lesser quality.
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@tron4 That's weird, it worked for me at least with those settings. Pre conversion my computer had to transcode it, which caused it to use a lot of processing power (cpu was running at 40-70% constantly) and thus it buffered. After conversion it did not need to transcode and it ran at a steady ~1-2% cpu usage and no buffering.
:/ Sucks that it didn't work for you :( Did you remember to set the correct h264 level? Chromecast only supports h264 high 4.1 and 5 I believe - it's on the chromecast supported formats website.
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Just wanted to add my notes to this mix. Ever since the large update (the one that made everything really pretty) I've had trouble with nearly every video I've played. Never had a single flaw before.
Most are .mp4, I mean really, they are all YIFY downloads that I've never had a hitch playing before the update. File sizes under 1GB.
Most of those files are stuttering/stopping until I pause then hit play, or come to the computer and change the quality to "original"I've also played a .mkv that was 2.9GB. I used the subtitles on that movie. It stopped about four or so times throughout. Not stutter but stopped (after about 15mins on one stop it did resume by itself). Weird thing on that was when I had to go to the computer to change the quality to Original, or it restarted on its own that once, the selected language changed as soon as it restarted. Found that odd/annoying.
I've never had a problem with my internet (30/15 Mbps) or Netgear R6100. I'm not streaming or multitasking. I have a year subscription because this app is awesome and was perfect for marathoning seasons of tv shows and being able to control it from my phone. Now it's kinda pointless since i have to get up everytime it stops and mess with the quality setting.
(Also, did the volume control on the phone app get removed? Or am i just totally missing it?)
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@6703964 said:
Weird thing on that was when I had to go to the computer to change the quality to Original, or it restarted on its own that once, the selected language changed as soon as it restarted. Found that odd/annoying.
This is all really weird stuff (like really really weird), not that i'm trying to dismiss this issue in anyway - but it is just weird. I've played a bunch of YIFY since the update and haven't had issues.
If you're up for it - i'd love to do a screenshare session with you and get to the bottom of this. Could you shoot me an email at jason@getvideostream.com
I'll work around whatever schedule you want
Again super sorry for this guys.....
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Just a heads up, I have a media server that I currently use for my PS3 streaming as well as some online content streaming, and my fiance chromecast. 1080p video using videostream maxed out my dual core AMD APU cpu that normally is pretty beefy and can easily handle 1080p when I was using it as a xbmc box playing HDTV. I assume that videostream does on the fly encoding. Check cpu usage during the studdering as well and see if your cpu is maxed out. I've had certain videos that would studder even at less than 720p so I adjusted the Chrome process in windows task manager and set it to high. Like I said in another post, this is just a temp work around until the kinks are ironed out by the Videostream team.
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@6703964 said:
Just wanted to add my notes to this mix. Ever since the large update (the one that made everything really pretty) I've had trouble with nearly every video I've played. Never had a single flaw before.
Most are .mp4, I mean really, they are all YIFY downloads that I've never had a hitch playing before the update. File sizes under 1GB.
Most of those files are stuttering/stopping until I pause then hit play, or come to the computer and change the quality to "original"I've also played a .mkv that was 2.9GB. I used the subtitles on that movie. It stopped about four or so times throughout. Not stutter but stopped (after about 15mins on one stop it did resume by itself). Weird thing on that was when I had to go to the computer to change the quality to Original, or it restarted on its own that once, the selected language changed as soon as it restarted. Found that odd/annoying.
I've never had a problem with my internet (30/15 Mbps) or Netgear R6100. I'm not streaming or multitasking. I have a year subscription because this app is awesome and was perfect for marathoning seasons of tv shows and being able to control it from my phone. Now it's kinda pointless since i have to get up everytime it stops and mess with the quality setting.
(Also, did the volume control on the phone app get removed? Or am i just totally missing it?)
Sounds exactly like me. Ever since the update, I've been having issues. Playing mp4's and mkv's. I'm the only one on the Internet. More to the point, I'm playing videos that played perfectly fine a couple weeks back that now stutter constantly. Changing the quality does nothing. Most files are below 2GB. I've rebooted my router, Chromecast, Chrome... uninstalled Videostream and Chrome, then reinstalled. Nothing works. Done speed tests to assure my Internet is working properly. It happens only with Videostream, no other applications.
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Been in Broadcast TV for 30+ years. Took the time to chase down all the playback angles...different players and the what not...this comes down to a code issue. If you have people telling you it worked fine UNTIL the BIG update...you need to go back and check your code strings. When you get this right....it will be the Dogs fuzzy tail!
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I too am having the problem with a small percentage of mp4 videos and specifically with home vidoes I made with my FlipULTRA camcorder (which records in mp4)
Thanks to the user above who recommended Cntrl + O inside Chrome and to cast the tab. That is a good workaround for the time being until VideoStream team can isolate the problem and correct it.
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@fc321 The bitrate of camcorder videos is usually quite high. If you can get your laptop closer to the router or plug it in directly, you'll have a decent shot at it working without stuttering
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@sleepyhead said:
Most files are below 2GB. I've rebooted my router, Chromecast, Chrome... uninstalled Videostream and Chrome, then reinstalled. Nothing works. Done speed tests to assure my Internet is working properly. It happens only with Videostream, no other applications.
Would love to do a screensharing session and try to track down what's going on here. Could you shoot me an email at jason@getvideostream.com?
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First of all I just wanted to say thanks for this awesome app! It's exactly what I was looking for and it's easy to use and up until I would say a week or 2 ago I haven't had any problems or issues with it. However I'm having the same issue as everyone else has as of late. The only thing I can really remember that has changed recently is that my Google Chrome updated to a new version a week or 2 ago (I'm not sure if anything else updated) but ever since then Videostream stutters and buffers every 5 seconds or so. And it was working fine before. Here is the tech info: I'm using Windows 8.1 64-bit and right now I'm using Chrome Version 39.0.2171.95 m and I'm using Videostream 2.0.0.13 Extension. Right now I'm trying to play a 200MB .MP4 file from my computer to my Chrome Cast on my TV. Like I mentioned above I have never had an issue before but now when I try and play the video it will buffer and stutter about every 5-10 seconds or so. I even tried to lower the quality and I tried them all even going all the way down to the 240p and it still did it. Mind you that the 240p did make the stuttering and buffering more quick but it still did it. I tried all the suggestions on this board and other sites and nothing seems to work. I'm just really hoping for a solution because I really love this app and it just sucks that we're having this issue now when before it worked just fine. Thanks again for this awesome app I really do appreciate it.
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As the user above mentioned, ever since that last update that made the user interface prettier...the buffering is unbearable. My PC is plugged in with ethernet, and my chromecast is right next to my router. Before the update it played 1080p 8-10 GB mkvs with zero buffering; now that is totally impossible. It sucks that this has happened, I was really spreading the work on how awesome this was to my friends and family that have chromecast (over {Plex), but this is unusable now!
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Definitely an awesome app. I'm having problems with 1080p videos though, in that it constantly buffers. It then points to the Quality tab and tries to get me to downgrade to 720, which I'm happy to try, but then it says that it's Loading indefinitely. I mean, I've left it "Loading" for upwards of half an hour and nothing happens.
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- Try adjusting the quality of the video in the playback bar. The lower the quality usually the higher chance you have of your video playing correctly!
- I've adjusted all the way to the lowest setting and still have stuttering.
- Make sure no one in your house is torrenting or watching high quality YouTube videos as these could cause buffering on older wireless networks
- It's only me, trying to play a .mp4
- Try moving your laptop closer to the WiFi router. If possible, connect the ethernet jack directly into your computer.
- My WiFi signal is very good.
- If you have a 5Ghz frequency on your wireless router connect your computer to that instead
- I am connected via 5Ghz
Sometimes .mp4 files will play ok with Videostream with minimal stuttering. .MKV files are out of the question and stutter at any setting, constantly.
I'd also like to point out that I've been using Videostream since the very beginning and it used to work fine for me. Something you have done since the last major update when the UI changed has made Videostream unusable. Streaming via Plex Media Server works flawlessly, which is sad because I prefer Videostream over Plex.
I hope you are able to fix the issue soon. Let me know if I can provide any more information that might help.
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I'm having the same issues as the other posters, i.e. videos that played without a problem prior to the last major update now will only run for 5 to 10 seconds before having to buffer. Additionally, some formats that played before now instantly crash once they have buffered (e.g. .TS). Nothing has changed in my setup except the Videostream update, and following all your suggestions, as with other posters, has made no difference. I have 5GHz wifi and nobody else is using my network. My belief is that your developers somehow broke or messed up your transcoder.
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I seem to be having the same problem, with constant buffering, although this seems to have started when i got a new TV. Is it possible the TV is the issue? aside from that, nothing else has changed and it previously worked great. Or is settled that the new updates caused these problems?
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Add one more to the same story bunch.. I did the happy dance when I found your app, since I can use Windows Explorer to find the files instead of dealing with the media server, but doing everything you folks said to try does nothing to improve the situation. I have had a few low res movies playback OK, but most of my movies are 480 or 720 at 1800 kbps and even dropping them to 240 they stutter. I also use TVersity through it's Chromecast app and it also stops/stutters. TVersity through the Roku Media Player is the only thing that works non-stop so far. Hope you can fix it!
