Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

Lebensm�de · Aug 25, 2003, 01:50 AM

I'm trying to run PC-multimedia files (language learning movie files) on an iBook 600 (Dual USB) with Virtual PC and Windows 98 SE. The picture is fine, but the sound is horrible. It is out of sync and extremely choppy, so much so that most of it can not be heard properly. Is there any way to set VPC on an iBook to optimize the sound playback of such files or is the darn VPC emulation just too slow on this machine to handle it?

Much obliged for any help or advice.

echosphere · Aug 25, 2003, 10:23 AM

Lebensm�de,

I have the same setup as your, iBook 600 w/ VPC6 and Win 98.

Are you running VPC in OSX? The quality sucks because OSX is so graphic intensive that it's doesn't have any left over for VPC to run video/audio files.

My recommendation is to boot into OS9 and run VPC from there. If you don't have OS9 installed, I would take the time and install it. You should notice a VERY significant increase in video quality and syncing.

This is due to the fast that OS9 "draws" less graphics resources and leaves more for VPC. Plus, VPC was created for OS9, then ported to OSX. You could say, not "optomized" for OSX. (don't quote me, as I really don't even know what optomized means, but it is much slower in OSX)

Echo

sniffer · Aug 25, 2003, 10:36 AM

Multimedia under VPC is not a good option in general. What format are those video files in?
Have you tried to play them with VLC for instance?

Lebensm�de · Aug 25, 2003, 02:23 PM

Originally posted by echosphere:
My recommendation is to boot into OS9 and run VPC from there. If you don't have OS9 installed, I would take the time and install it. You should notice a VERY significant increase in video quality and syncing.

Thank you so much, Echo, for taking the time to answer and give such good advice. That indeed was the problem, and VPC now works like a charm with OS 9 on my iBook. (Except for the QT movies on my .Mac website - I was hoping to also use VPC as a way of controlling what people on PCs see when they try to view my web movies, but since the quality is already lacking on a PC compared a Mac, I guess it just gets worse when you try to emulate it. At least I can check that they DO see something, since sometimes - depending on the compression format I choose - people on PCs don't see anything...)

As for sniffer's suggestion of using VLC, thanks too, but the movie files I need to show are part of an interactive learning activity on the CD-ROM and so they're not of much use when shown alone.

Nice to have you guys around...

echosphere · Aug 25, 2003, 03:46 PM

No problem, makes me happy that I was able to help someone.

Also, regarding QT movies on your .Mac website, you might want to hold on using them heavily. This is because ALL Windows PCs DON'T come with QT pre-installed (*** you very much Mr. Gates). If the PC viewing audience is using them in an office or educational institution, they will have do download the player. In many instances (such as my office that uses Win2K) the computers may be "locked down" from downloading new software by the sysadmin.

Just my two cents. But if you want to reach your audience you may want to research it more. Don't know any other solutions, maybe someone else does.

Echo

sniffer · Aug 26, 2003, 09:49 AM

Originally posted by echosphere:
Also, regarding QT movies on your .Mac website, you might want to hold on using them heavily. This is because ALL Windows PCs DON'T come with QT pre-installed (*** you very much Mr. Gates).

Well, windows have MediaPlayer by default and MediaPlayer files in ver 9 format doesn't run on macs at all.