Author Topic: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.  (Read 24267 times)

SaberClash

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Hey everyone, I'm desperately looking for help as I'm on my last hope with this whole situation.  For some reason some FMV cutscene sequences seem to work in the game, whereas others only seem to crash it.  I have tried researching all about this problem all over Google, these forums, and others as well, and have come up with no solution whatsoever.  My problem is as follows: The introduction video in the game works.  Cloud can get off the train, kill some baddies, and after you select Cloud and Barrett's names, there is supposed to be a video where Cloud glances up at one of the Mako Reactors, however that part of the game crashes for me. 

I had Synergy Blades send me a save game, which is the first save point in the game, and all ran smoothly for a little bit.  I beat the boss, head out of the reactor, and the video played where the reactor explodes.  The next scene is where we're all sitting in the rubble, and Jessie plants a bomb in the rubble, and there is supposed to be a cutscene where it explodes.  Unfortunately this video crashes my game as well, and I really do not feel like having to get people to send me a save game to the next save for 95% of my game.

If anyone could possibly help me out, if they have ever experienced anything like the randomness of these FMV crashes, I'd greatly appreciate it.  Like I said, some videos in the game play fine, whereas others crash my game.  Before anyone asks, I do own the retail copy of the game, and all of the videos work fine on the CDs.  I also read a thread about transporting the videos onto my HDD, which some people said that helped issues they were having.  Unfortunately this made absolutely no difference in my case, and I am still having the problems.  I would appreciate any help I can get on this matter, as I have run out of ideas.  I've been messing with Final Fantasy 7, trying to get this whole thing to work, for the past two days, almost non-stop.  I loved this game 10 years ago, and I'd really love to replay it again.

Here are my system specs if this will help you guys out:

Windows XP Professional
Intel Pentium D 3.2 GHZ
Asus P5WD2
2 GB Ram
Nvidia Geforce 7950 GT
Direct X 9.0c
« Last Edit: 2007-08-19 18:20:15 by SaberClash »

kruci

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #1 on: 2007-08-17 08:11:51 »
according to this
http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=6238.0

Try play with codec
Quote
TrueMotion codec

Recommended setup to clean your codec mess and make FF7 use this filter:
0.   Have latest DirectX and latest drivers for your graphic adapter installed
1.   Download and install the latest K-lite codec pack (google yourself)
-   the installation program will prompt you to remove all installed codecs or corrupted entries...answer yes to do it automatically.
-   it's recommended to install default profile of the codec pack
2.   Install duck.exe (TrueMotion codec)
3.   Now run ffdshow video decoder configuration via Start->Programs->K-lite codec pack->Configuration->ffdshow->video decoder configuration and disable TrueMotion handling as shown on Image1.jpg

This should solve all codec problems you may come across with FF7.

Or replace old videos with empty videos. Yes you will dont see any video, but you maybe can continue.

Maybe its winXP related, so try compatibily set to win98, ...

SaberClash

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #2 on: 2007-08-17 16:06:18 »
That is the exact guide I followed to do my codecs.  However, it doesn't make sense that it could be a codec problem considering some videos work, while others do not.  All of the videos can be played on my hard drive and my CD, so it doesn't make sense why some would choose to work in game and others would crash it.

kruci

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #3 on: 2007-08-17 16:44:59 »
Why is question for SquareSoft and Microsoft.

If you play videos in windows, there can be something else. Example: videos have erorrs, but some windows players, dont care and continue playing. But FF7 see error and quit/crash/stop.

YAMP has patch fo skiping videos, you can try this too.

EmperorSteele

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #4 on: 2007-08-17 18:52:39 »
There are some videos which i believe are written on "bad" parts of the disk, or rather, in a hard-to-read area.

What i used to do, before transferring the movies to the harddrive, was I'd play the movie in winamp a few times, then load up the part in ff7 just before the movie plays; it would be in memory, and play fine.  I've had to do this for the exploding tunnel, Junon, The Tiny Bronco landing, and a couple others.

I think the problem also lies with FF7's ability to play movies.  Like it's not powerful enough to absorb and display the information. *shrug*

Zack

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #5 on: 2007-08-19 12:22:01 »
http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=4876.0

Quote
Actually I think it has to do with the old codec  (TrueMotion 20) that is not produced anymore and very difficult to find anywhere(new ones don't work). But I happened to come across a site that someone put up and that person didn't have the codec.exe to install(deleted it) anymore but he kept the installed file one in Window/System32(I think) folder. It's tm20dec.ax. I just copied that into my System32 and I couldn't believe it. It played all the places that crashed on me! The Gaea's Cliff movie, Weapon coming out of crater movie, etc.. The movie wants to crash but it doesn't. If you want this codec email me. I know it works on both of my laptops and desktops with Windows XP Pro & Home. You must backup your original tm20dec.ax that's in System32(I think) folder before copying the one that I will give you.
Your original will be about 100kb
The one that was given to me is about 300kb.
Try this at your own risk. I've had mine installed for over 2 weeks with no problems with my pc and I'm at the part where you can battle with Ultimate Weapon at Cosmo Canyon. After you see the movie.

Edit* Just defeated him with out crashing, like some members are having crashed on them.

quote from Dalai

SaberClash

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #6 on: 2007-08-19 17:10:27 »
I'm going to try it, after reading the posts in that thread the whole thing sounds very promising.  Thank you for that link!

SaberClash

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #7 on: 2007-08-19 18:10:34 »
No dice, unfortunately still receiving crashes on certain cutscenes.  The only way I can bypass it is by replacing a video that isn't working with one that does.  It's really annoying, and I can't use Gypt for YAMP because even if I try and skip the cutscene it will just fast forward the game and crash anyways.  I really cannot understand why some movies will work in game and others will not.  It makes absolutely no sense as they all use the exact same codec and are being loaded the same way.

So far the following cutscene movies have not worked:
-mkup.avi (After picking Cloud and Barrett's names, Cloud is supposed to look up at the mako reactor.)
-mk8.avi (After blowing up the first mako reactor, Jessie blows up a wall in order for AVALANCHE to escape the tunnel.)
-smk.avi (After defeating the hovering robo boss at the second mako reactor, he is supposed to crash through the railing.)
-monitor.avi (The guard in the Shinra tower sleeping as the camera pans in to one of the screens showing the elevator on floor 60.)

And the following movie sequences have worked:
-edioslogo.avi (Edios logo.)
-sqlogo.AVI (Squaresoft logo with the chocobos.)
-opening.avi (Introduction movie to FFVII.)
-northmk.avi (The first mako reactor explodes.)
-ontrain.avi (Cloud leaps on to the train from the bridge.)
-mainplr.avi (The train circles around Midgar.)
-soutmk.avi (Cloud hangs from the exploding second reactor and then falls.)
-plrexp.avi (The bomb in the pillar holding up the plate is detonated.)
-fallpl.avi (Barrett, Cloud, and Tifa swing away from the exploding plate.)

Alright, I think I've covered them all so far.  I'd like to see if we can figure out any similarities in the videos that do work and the videos that do not work.  I'll keep updating the list as I progress farther into the game.  (Note: All videos will play from the CD and the Hard Drive.)
« Last Edit: 2007-08-19 23:49:35 by SaberClash »

kruci

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #8 on: 2007-08-19 19:13:02 »
maybe you can try find some tools for finding errors in video, and try if there is some error.
Or you can try recompress videos.

Virtualdub - Video - Scan video stream for errors.(I dont know no other)

Midgar

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #9 on: 2007-08-23 07:37:20 »
Dziugo made an excelent program just for this purpose! Its Gypt/YAMP, and you would have found it if you searched a little.  :wink:
You use it to skip your movies.

Zack

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #10 on: 2007-08-23 10:53:46 »
Quote
Dziugo made an excelent program just for this purpose! Its Gypt/YAMP, and you would have found it if you searched a little.  wink
You use it to skip your movies.

He has tried Gypt/YAMP and it didn't work.

SaberClash

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #11 on: 2007-08-24 00:47:36 »
Dziugo made an excelent program just for this purpose! Its Gypt/YAMP, and you would have found it if you searched a little.  :wink:
You use it to skip your movies.

And had you read my post thoroughly as Zack noted, I had already tried Gypt.  Unfortunately all it does is speed up the current game speed if pressed too early and when it gets to the video it crashes, or if I press it right when the video is supposed to load it will still crash anyways.  The only good Gypt does me is when I've swapped the videos out with ones that do work, I can skip the videos with Gypt, since there's no point in watching videos  that do not apply to the current point in the game.

dziugo

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #12 on: 2007-08-24 02:28:25 »
Mind running a checksum on your FMVs? Details here.

SaberClash

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #13 on: 2007-08-24 03:34:45 »
"Process completed.
FMVs are OK."

Is what it said at the end of the test... :\

kruci

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #14 on: 2007-08-24 09:01:57 »
If I am not wrong you can recompress video to oter codec, but it can be long.
The video can be corupted in memory if FF7 load them?

dziugo

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #15 on: 2007-08-24 13:32:25 »
FF7 just "asks" the system to play the FMV with certain settings. Now I'm wondering, when it "crashes", does it mean "ff7.exe has encountered a problem..." or something else? Any possibility to get the offset and the faulting module name & version? Should be stored in "Event viewer" (Control panel -> Administrative Tools), or just crash it one more time and take a look at the error report.

Palidor

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #16 on: 2007-09-03 11:37:57 »
I think I am having the exact same issue. Well atleast for the first fmv you mention having issues with. The intro Eidos and Square movies work, as well as the Opening movie, but after naming Cloud and Barret the following one crashes the game.

If I recall correctly from when I played the game, the list of movies you mention having issues with all have the characters rendered in 3d while the movie is playing. While the movies that you say are ok are just straight FMVs. Perhaps that is the root of the problem.

My Setup:
Windows Vista x64
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
2GB RAM
GeForce 8800 GTS
(we seem to have quite different machines, so i don't think that's the problem)

Palidor

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #17 on: 2007-09-03 12:36:18 »
I just got it working by following kruci's instructions.

-I uninstalled the codec pack I had
-got K-Lite
-installed with default settings and let it remove some things it said were corrupt
-disabled truemotion 2 (Start->Programs->K-lite codec pack->Configuration->ffdshow->ffdshow video decoder) under the Codecs tab

wasn't able to find duck.exe, but tried running ff7 anyway. No joy, now videos don't play at all. Not too surprising =)

Scoured the internet and found the truemotion code from:
http://www.moviecodec.com/downloads/311d.html

Tried ff7 again, and it worked fine, no more hangs. Hooray!


(Also, I have been running FF7 under Windows 98 compatibility mode. Not sure if this helps at all.)

danielius

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #18 on: 2007-11-13 07:18:34 »
Hello,

I'm new here, and find this forum very helpfull.

But I have the same problem.
I just got it working by following kruci's instructions.

-I uninstalled the codec pack I had
-got K-Lite
-installed with default settings and let it remove some things it said were corrupt
-disabled truemotion 2 (Start->Programs->K-lite codec pack->Configuration->ffdshow->ffdshow video decoder) under the Codecs tab

wasn't able to find duck.exe, but tried running ff7 anyway. No joy, now videos don't play at all. Not too surprising =)

Scoured the internet and found the truemotion code from:
http://www.moviecodec.com/downloads/311d.html

Tried ff7 again, and it worked fine, no more hangs. Hooray!


(Also, I have been running FF7 under Windows 98 compatibility mode. Not sure if this helps at all.)

It didn't help to me. SaberClash, did you find a solution?

kini

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #19 on: 2007-11-25 12:02:44 »
ive had  the same problems with vista, im thinking of just using a ps1 emulator to play the game btu then we loose all those nice mods

bscoe247

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Re: FF7: Why some FMVs/Cutscenes work and others do not.
« Reply #20 on: 2008-02-19 06:23:58 »
hey everyone! why not try this... post ALL your videos on this site so we can download and replace our corrupted videos... ( of course we need videos that work....)