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Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
Sounds ominous. Apple limiting codecs supported to force more people into iTunes sourced material by any chance?
This is the kind of behaviour that will push me from iOS if it is true. Sand boxing apps I get but limiting third party apps through unjustifiable restrictions bothers me greatly. I may be wrong though.

By further restricting iOS would mean all geeks, tech lovers will leave for other platforms (Android, WP8, Windows 8 tablets etc.) and only the non-techies stay. Hopefully Apple knows this.
 

JTravers

macrumors 6502a
Jun 28, 2010
733
228
OPlayerHD had to remove AC-3 support due to a licensing issue. I'm sure the same is happening to Goodplayer and PowerPlayer. The rest of the 3rd party players can't be far behind. Is Dolby the one forcing everyone's hand? I hope licensing the codec can be done at a reasonable cost.

In the meantime, I haven't updated to the new version of OPlayerHD, and I'll continue to not update Goodplayer and Powerplayer, as well. The iOS 6 AppStore makes not updating apps much less of a hassle :)
 

Donka

macrumors 68030
May 3, 2011
2,842
1,439
Scotland
By further restricting iOS would mean all geeks, tech lovers will leave for other platforms (Android, WP8, Windows 8 tablets etc.) and only the non-techies stay. Hopefully Apple knows this.

That's my fear - hopefully Apple will see that.
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
###########
Urgent Notice for GoodPlayer/PowerPlayer apps!!!
###########
Please backup the current GoodPlayer/PowerPlayer app by iTunes before upgrading it to newer version

exPlayer HD has also dropped support. Just posted an article on this, also linking to your post.
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
exPlayer HD has also dropped support. Just posted an article on this, also linking to your post.

... and just posted another tutorial on easily adding an AAC track in addition to an existing AC-3 one into MP4 files. Following is a slightly edited version of the original without links to my previous articles so that I don't link to my article (no self-promotion):

TUTORIAL: adding future-proof AAC audio to AC-3-only video files

In my previous article on iOS developers being forced to drop AC-3 support from their players, I've explained you either keep the old versions of your media players or won't be able to listen to the audio track of AC-3-only video files (MP4's, MKV's etc.). In this tutorial, I explain an alternative for people that don't want to do all the hassles of manually backing up and restoring IPA files (one of the ways of playing those files back) or just want to use the most up-to-date versions of multimedia players in the future too.

Note that this tutorial is not only meant for folks that have video files with AC-3 audio only. It's a more generic article showing you how you can use the best OS X apps to add new audio tracks to a video file so that it has multiple audio tracks.

In the article, I only discuss MP4's (basically, the same as M4V's and MOV's) and MKV's, the two most popular multimedia file (“container”) formats of today when it comes to non-native camera videos or broadcast formats (this means I don't discuss (M)TS files as they aren't used in non-broadcast movie distribution / ripping). Just a quick recap on the two formats:

1, MKV's are the containers representing the freedom of putting any kind of multimedia content (even the obscurest video, audio, subtitle font, subtitle etc. formats, textual messages for humans etc.) in the same file. It's hardware playback-wise, widely supported on the more open mobile operating systems (Symbian Anna / Belle, Android) and is the native output format of immensely useful DVD / Blu-ray / HD DVD ripper tools like MakeMKV. The latter simply couldn't create MP4's (see next paragraph) out of optical discs because MP4's just can't hold some kinds of data types; for example, Blu-ray subtitles (S_HDMV/PGS).

2, MP4's (M4V's and MOV's) are of extremely high importance to iOS and Apple TV users because it's the only format that these devices can play without third-party apps or without jailbreaking, respectively. And even if you do use third-party apps on iDevices, other container formats can only be played back utilizing the vastly superior hardware acceleration only using certain tricks like behind-the-scene remuxing – Apple has forbidden the direct hardware decoding of non-native (MP4) files.

MP4's, unfortunately, are really inferior to MKV's in that they can't hold even common video / audio (for example, Vorbis) formats, let alone the above-mentioned native Blu-ray subtitles (PGS). No wonder it's MKV's that MakeMKV rips your discs to and not MP4's.

Now, let's see how you can add an AAC audio track to both MKV and MP4 files originally only containing an AC-3 (Dolby Digital) audio track. Should you want to follow the tutorial, feel free to download THIS (MKV) or THIS (MP4).

MP4's

For the time being, let's start with MP4's as, for some reason, MKVTools (neither the official nor the latest beta version) doesn't seem to behave as it should – it just doesn't convert the test AC-3 audio to AAC on my Mountain Lion MBP. I will definitely return to the question and add an MKV-related section as soon as I find out why it's doing so and update the article. Hopefully I don't end up having to recommend more than one tool for MKV editing. (It's certainly possible – the workflow is just not sufficiently simple without using in-built AAC conversion in MKVTools.)

Get Subler (download HERE; you'll want to choose the latest non-CLI version). Start it.

1, Cmd + O: open the MP4 file:

7aa80e749ac3f2250f7da31af64741f6-585x435.png


2, click the + button (annotated in the above screenshot) and select the same(!) MP4 file. You'll be presented a previously not shown, new dialog:
b5689d85088cceb07f76770d32fa0f32-672x420.png


Here, I've annotated a checkbox in the top left corner, in the “Video Track” (see the third, “Name” column) row. You must deselect it to avoid the video track included in the same target MP4 file twice. You must also check whether the “Action” column in the “Sound Track” row reads something starting with “AAC”. If it reads “Passthru” (as does the video track in the above screenshot), you'll need to change it to, say, AAC – Dolby Pro Logic II. (If you do plan to add AAC tracks to several files, to avoid having to set this one-by-one, make sure you enable the “Convert: AC3 audio to AAC” checkbox under Preferences > Audio. The enabled state of this checkbox makes this default action to “convert”. Of course, as with the non-selected case, you can always override the action to be taken.)

After all this, you'll see the following in the main window:

26de5d2b3430c8398a2e5c4d43a5f2f0-623x422.png


Note the third row, starting with “na” showing it's still not saved and, therefore, doesn't have a tangible ID in the target file. Don't pay attention to the last, “Format” column (still) showing “AC-3, 6ch” - Subler does know it'll need to convert this audio track to AAC upon saving.

3, Now, press Cmd + S (of course, you can also select Save As not to overwrite the original file) and the file will be saved; now, with two audio tracks. After finishing the saving, the main dialog will also change:

abf2af04aa5349e6ea52c83396815102-623x422.png


Can you spot the difference with the previous screenshot? If you understand the content of the paragraph starting with “Note the third row, starting with “na” showing” just above, you'll immediately know why there's a “3” instead of the “na” in the first column: this track ID now comes from a real file and not just one that will be created only later. The same stands for the “Format” column: instead of “AC-3, 6ch”, it already reads “AAC, 2 ch”, showing this particular track is indeed in AAC.

This file can already be played back by both via hardware decoding and from software. (Of course, with the current – rather meagre – processing power of iDevices, you won't want to use the latter with a 1080p movie like this example. Also note that, should you want to synch the video directly to the stock Videos app via iTunes, you'll also need to change its H.264 level by highlighting the Video Track and setting the lowermost “H.264 Video Profile / Level” to High @ 4.1 from the default 5.1 as can be seen in THIS screenshot of the same two-audio track file. (The drop-down menu and the optimal value is annotated.))

Also note that Subler can't directly save MKV files; however, it can remux (change the container of) an MKV to an MP4 file. (Actually, this is why Subler is by far the most recommended remuxer utility for OS X.)
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
For the time being, let's start with MP4's as, for some reason, MKVTools (neither the official nor the latest beta version) doesn't seem to behave as it should – it just doesn't convert the test AC-3 audio to AAC on my Mountain Lion MBP. I will definitely return to the question and add an MKV-related section as soon as I find out why it's doing so and update the article.

And here's the promised, updated, brand new section on MKV editing:

UPDATE (06/Oct/2012): as promised in the original article, I've played further with MKVTools and have managed to come up with a sufficiently straightforward workflow not involving other apps. It's not as simple as should be because of the lack of automatic AAC audio track addition, despite the “add 2-Ch. Track” checkbox stating it would downmix audio to AAC, though. (This may be a bug in the program as of version 3.2b4 (1)?)

MKV

Get the latest beta(!!) version of MKVTools (don't bother with the non-beta version of the app or its bother, MP4Tools – in addition to being far slower and less reliable, version 3.0 of MKVTools doesn't even have the “add 2-Ch. Track” checkbox we'll need) from http://www.emmgunn.com/betadownload.html. Start it, click “Open” in the upper right corner and select the MKV video to import:



Enable all checkboxes on the left; a shortcut of this is just clicking the v(ideo) / a(udio) / s(ubtitle) buttons directly beneath it (as with the track checkboxes, annotated below).

After enabling audio, the “Audio” radio button + checkbox section in the lower center becomes active. Enable the “add 2-Ch. Track” checkbox there (annotated below). The following screenshot also shows the help the app displays when hovering the cursor over this checkbox:






Make sure you check it in. After this, just click “Convert” in the bottom right corner.

The MKV file MKVTools now generates (named <original filename>.mkv.muxed.mkv), as opposed to what one would think, doesn't have the additional AAC audio track and can be just deleted, along with all the .log files in the same directory. However, in the same (target) directory, you'll also find a file “<original filename>.mkv.temp.Audio.t0.added.aac”. In the following screenshot, I show this case, along with the original file (“mkv-with-ac3.mkv”). The AAC file we'll need is named “mkv-with-ac3.mkv.temp.Audio.t0.added.aac” and is annotated in the screenshot:





Now, click the “Add track” button annotated in the next screenshot:






(Note that I've kept the result pane in the screenshot telling the MKV conversion, which we needed to extract the AAC temporary file, was successful.)


and select the AAC audio track just created:




You'll see the following:




You absolutely must enable the checkbox in the first column of the just-added audio track – this is the leftmost annotation above. In addition, you may want to give your audio tracks meaningful names (above, they both have the name "Audio Track"); for example, AC-3 for the AC-3 one and AAC to the other (just click the fields to edit them). Finally, you may also want to change the language flag of the track from “undetermined” to something else; e.g., English. The following screenshot shows all this:





Now, just click “Convert” in the bottom right corner. You don't need to touch the audio settings before doing so – you can keep them intact.

Side note: Unfortunately, the AAC extraction explained in the first half of this update is probably the easiest way of extracting an automatically (AC-3 -> AAC) downmixed audio track out of an MKV.

1, If you extract an audio track from MKVTools itself (in the second, “Edit Tracks” tab), then, regardless of whether you've instructed it to do AAC downmixing in the first (“MKV”) tab, it'll create an AC-3 file.

2, Subler only supports exporting non-video/audio tracks (that is, for example, subtitles) from an MKV via File > Export and can't save an audio-only file to a true AAC file either: the only output audio format it supports, “Audiobook-MPEG4”, is not meant for such kind of audio extracting.

3, the otherwise excellent avidemux 2.6 doesn't support converting + exporting to purely audio files (AAC in this case), only to combined (audio + video) or strictly video files.

4, Finally, neither can Mkvtoolnix (which we used for VobSub-import) export to true AAC files – only to MKA (the audio-only equivalent of MKV's) and that without AC-3 -> AAC downmixing.
 

hustmobile

macrumors 6502
Aug 25, 2010
422
0
GoodPlayer 5.8 released, 3 audio supports(AC-3(A52), E-AC-3 and TrueHD(MLP) ) removed. iPhone 5 supported.

What's New in Version 5.8

!!! Back up older GoodPlayer version before upgrading, please check the following update log first!!!
1 Please note: due to patent reasons, the AC-3(A52), E-AC-3 and TrueHD(MLP) audio supports are removed from this 5.8 version. Please back up older GoodPlayer version before upgrading!!!
2 iPhone 5 and iOS 6 supported
3 "Subtitle Delay" can be set manually now. During the media playback, in the bottom right of playback control, click Info button. Then select "Subtitle Delay" to set a subtitle delay. Please note that by default, a subtitle delay value will only be used once. Set GoodPlayer-->Settings-->"Audio/Video Setting"-->"Subtitle Delay" to "On", then the subtitle delay value will be kept for all the media globally

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/goodplayer/id416756729?mt=8
 

hustmobile

macrumors 6502
Aug 25, 2010
422
0
Question 2: In the future, can GoodPlayer/PowerPlayer add the AC-3(A52), E-AC-3 and TrueHD(MLP) audio supports back?
Answer 2: We have got a roughly pricing for the audio patent support, so far, the given pricing is too high for our GoodPlayer/PowerPlayer apps. So, unless we can get a lower pricing for the audio patent, we can not add these 3 audio codecs supports back.
 

mtagliaf

macrumors newbie
Jan 21, 2012
3
0
Can Goodplayer automatically download and start playing a playlist, if we have control over the link we create on a web page?

We tried a link like the one below but it didn't seem to work. Maybe I have the syntax wrong.

goodplayer://http://testserver.com/dev/playlist.m3u
 

mtagliaf

macrumors newbie
Jan 21, 2012
3
0
please disregard question above, we got goodplayer:// url working with an asx playlist - it works great.

I have another question, though - the UI display for the playlist is showing the file URL, is there a way it could show one of the string entries in the ASX file? For example, in the ASX file below, is there a way to get it to show the data in the <TITLE> section?

<asx Version="3.0">
<Copyright>My Company</Copyright>
<Title>Video System</Title>
<Entry><Title>Title Video 1</Title><REF HREF="http://testserver.com/filetest/1/testvideo1.mp4" /></Entry>
<Entry><Title>Title Video 2</Title><REF HREF="http://testserver.com/filetest/2/testvideo2.mp4" /></Entry>
<Entry><Title>Title Video 3</Title><REF HREF="http://testserver.com/filetest/3/testvideo3.mp4" /></Entry>
</asx>
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
Question 2: In the future, can GoodPlayer/PowerPlayer add the AC-3(A52), E-AC-3 and TrueHD(MLP) audio supports back?
Answer 2: We have got a roughly pricing for the audio patent support, so far, the given pricing is too high for our GoodPlayer/PowerPlayer apps. So, unless we can get a lower pricing for the audio patent, we can not add these 3 audio codecs supports back.

You could add it as an IAP?
 

hustmobile

macrumors 6502
Aug 25, 2010
422
0
Question 3: I do not back up older GoodPlayer version in iTunes, how can I roll back to older 5.7 version?
Answer: If you have a Saudi Arabia, United Arab or Korean App Store account, you can install GoodPlayer Arabic 5.7 or GoodPlayer Korean 5.7.
We can provide free promo code to these 2 apps.
Note: several days later, the GoodPlayer Arabic 5.8 and GoodPlayer Korean 5.8 will remove the AC-3 audio support too. So please back up these 5.7 version after installation.

It is said that it is possible to register another country App Store account without credit card information. However we cannot help on this. Please google related information and give it a try.

"GoodPlayer Arabic"
This GoodPlayer Arabic app is only for Saudi Arabia and United Arab
Emirates App Store.*The "GoodPlayer Arabic" is
the same with original GoodPlayer, just in different categories.

Saudi Arabia App Store
http://itunes.apple.com/sa/app/goodplayer-arabic/id487998707?ls=1&mt=8
United Arab Emirates App Store
http://itunes.apple.com/ae/app/goodplayer-arabic/id487998707?ls=1&mt=8

"GoodPlayer Korean"
This GoodPlayer Arabic app is only for Korean App Store.*The "GoodPlayer Arabic" is
the same with original GoodPlayer, just in different categories.
http://itunes.apple.com/kr/app/goodplayer-korean/id488013998?mt=8

Do not buy these 2 apps again if you are a GoodPlayer owner, we can provide free promo code to these 2 apps.

----------

Maybe adding an audio codecs IAP is a possible solution, however we need to discuss it with patent holder first.

You could add it as an IAP?


----------

The the ASX file cannot be shown in the <TITLE> section for this callback way.
However, if you open the ASX file locally in GoodPlayer app, it will show as a playlist instead.

please disregard question above, we got goodplayer:// url working with an asx playlist - it works great.

I have another question, though - the UI display for the playlist is showing the file URL, is there a way it could show one of the string entries in the ASX file? For example, in the ASX file below, is there a way to get it to show the data in the <TITLE> section?

<asx Version="3.0">
<Copyright>My Company</Copyright>
<Title>Video System</Title>
<Entry><Title>Title Video 1</Title><REF HREF="http://testserver.com/filetest/1/testvideo1.mp4" /></Entry>
<Entry><Title>Title Video 2</Title><REF HREF="http://testserver.com/filetest/2/testvideo2.mp4" /></Entry>
<Entry><Title>Title Video 3</Title><REF HREF="http://testserver.com/filetest/3/testvideo3.mp4" /></Entry>
</asx>
 

VideoBeagle

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 17, 2010
822
18
App Q&A testing by request.
So, I just learned about the "problems" with 5.8.

Sadly, I've not updated my apps (GoodPlayer or PowerPlayer) in a bit.

Is it possible to get the 5.7/1.6 versions and manually upgrade to those?

(sort of a reverse restore old version, I guess...is this even technically feasible on nonjailbroken iPads?
 

Passenger88

macrumors member
Jan 26, 2010
80
0
The Netherlands
Crap :/ this was my favorite app, but without sound it's useless. I updated before I knew this thing and my synced with iTunes. Now I cannot get the old version back.

I
 

Dukat

macrumors 6502
Mar 9, 2012
305
74
Crap :/ this was my favorite app, but without sound it's useless. I updated before I knew this thing and my synced with iTunes. Now I cannot get the old version back.

I

Same. Also tough not to update with an iPhone 5 if you want the full screen upgrade. :(
 

hustmobile

macrumors 6502
Aug 25, 2010
422
0
GoodPlayer 5.9 released.

What's New in Version 5.9
!!! Back up older GoodPlayer version before upgrading, please check the following update log first!!!
Notice: no AC-3/E-AC-3/TrueHD audio support!

1. Supports the general AirPlay lock screen playback (not for AirPlay Mirroring)

2. Fixes "Landscape Lock" setting save issue

3. Fixes iOS 4 and iOS 5 folder password issue

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/goodplayer/id416756729?mt=8

----------

Question 1: After upgrading, the new GoodPlayer/PowerPlayer does not
*work, how to downgrade to the older GoodPlayer/PowerPlayer?

Answer: *Please check the following 2 links, the older version need to
*be backed up by iTunes first. Or else there is no official way to roll
*back to older version.

How to reinstall previous versions of Apps on iPhone
*http://bharter.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/how-to-reinstall-previous-versions-of-apps-on-iphone/

Recover Older Versions of iPhone Apps After Updating
*http://gigaom.com/apple/recover-older-versions-of-iphone-apps-after-updating/

For non-jailbroken iDevice, there is no older file for downloading. It must be backed up by the user in iTunes.

For jailbroken iDevice, please google to find the older .ipa file, here is a google result
http://apptrackr.cd/?act=viewapp&appid=416756729


So, I just learned about the "problems" with 5.8.

Sadly, I've not updated my apps (GoodPlayer or PowerPlayer) in a bit.

Is it possible to get the 5.7/1.6 versions and manually upgrade to those?

(sort of a reverse restore old version, I guess...is this even technically feasible on nonjailbroken iPads?


----------

For nonjailbroken iDevices, it looks no other way now.

1 testflightapp.com, this will only support 100 UDIDs at most, so it not suitable for distribution
2 We heard that the enterprise certificate somehow can pass the installation protection, so the app can be distributed in large scale. However, we do not have the enterprise certificate to sign the app. Besides, using enterprise certificate this way maybe violates the Apple guidelines too.


So, I just learned about the "problems" with 5.8.

Sadly, I've not updated my apps (GoodPlayer or PowerPlayer) in a bit.

Is it possible to get the 5.7/1.6 versions and manually upgrade to those?

(sort of a reverse restore old version, I guess...is this even technically feasible on nonjailbroken iPads?
 

johnjackson000

macrumors newbie
Feb 9, 2012
4
0
Sounds ominous. Apple limiting codecs supported to force more people into iTunes sourced material by any chance?
This is the kind of behaviour that will push me from iOS if it is true. Sand boxing apps I get but limiting third party apps through unjustifiable restrictions bothers me greatly. I may be wrong though.

I'm sorry where did it say this was Apple's fault?

###########
Urgent Notice for GoodPlayer/PowerPlayer apps!!!
###########
Please backup the current GoodPlayer/PowerPlayer app by iTunes before upgrading it to newer version
###########
The next GoodPlayer 5.8/PowerPlayer 1.7 will have to remove some audio codecs support. Backup current version before the upgrading!!!
###########

There are free open source AC3 decoders for Windows. How come they came after you guys with a order to take down AC3 support? Was GoodPlayer's AC3 support not based on open source code? :confused:
 

Menneisyys2

macrumors 603
Jun 7, 2011
5,997
1,101
There are free open source AC3 decoders for Windows. How come they came after you guys with a order to take down AC3 support? Was GoodPlayer's AC3 support not based on open source code? :confused:

It is. Nevertheless, Dolby are forcing devs to remove the support - or pay a LOT of money. (We're speaking of 20-30k US$ a year, independent of actual sales + around $1 a sold copy. Outrageous price indeed.)

----------

Sounds ominous. Apple limiting codecs supported to force more people into iTunes sourced material by any chance?
This is the kind of behaviour that will push me from iOS if it is true. Sand boxing apps I get but limiting third party apps through unjustifiable restrictions bothers me greatly. I may be wrong though.

(This time) it wasn't Apple but strictly Dolby. They're demanding unbelievably large amounts of money (see above) for AC-3 licensing.
 

TJ61

macrumors 6502a
Nov 16, 2011
811
3
I just bought PowerPlayer to use on my iPad mini to play some vob files, but can't get them to play.

These files are from home movies that I recently transferred from Hi-8 tape to DVD. The vob files I'm trying to play are copied straight from the DVD. I am able to play these vob files on my PC, and I can import them into Windows Movie Maker. But, after transferring them to my iPad (through iTunes app sync), they do not play in PowerPlayer.

Any info or advice?

Thanks,
Tom
 

IvanX

macrumors 6502
Mar 10, 2012
339
104
I take it that MP4 files with AVC video and AAC audio are not affected by recent removal from apps in App Store. With this format and codecs in mind, what would be the best app to play them on iPad 3: GoodPlayer/PowerPlayer/something else?
 

initialsBB

macrumors 6502a
Oct 18, 2010
688
2
It is. Nevertheless, Dolby are forcing devs to remove the support - or pay a LOT of money. (We're speaking of 20-30k US$ a year, independent of actual sales + around $1 a sold copy. Outrageous price indeed.)

----------



(This time) it wasn't Apple but strictly Dolby. They're demanding unbelievably large amounts of money (see above) for AC-3 licensing.

There are numerous video app developers in this same boat, you guys should get together and drum up support from loud mouths like Jim Dalrymple at loopinsight. This is unacceptable bullying from Dolby.
 

jjk454ss

macrumors 601
Jul 10, 2008
4,479
500
Can I use Goodreader to view my documents in iCloud? Like Pages and Numbers docs? I see an iCloud folder in Goodreader, but my docs aren't there.
 

sthubbar

macrumors newbie
Nov 12, 2012
3
0
Question 2: In the future, can GoodPlayer/PowerPlayer add the AC-3(A52), E-AC-3 and TrueHD(MLP) audio supports back?
Answer 2: We have got a roughly pricing for the audio patent support, so far, the given pricing is too high for our GoodPlayer/PowerPlayer apps. So, unless we can get a lower pricing for the audio patent, we can not add these 3 audio codecs supports back.

Exactly how much are the asking for licensing?

This site says $0.40 per unit.

Our iPad belongs to our 3 year old son. Everything is official and all apps, including yours are paid for. He uses your software everyday and it is unfortunate that a few of his favorite movies can't be watched anymore because of lack of audio.

I would be willing to pay $20, to restore the audio and save me from having to jailbreak his iPad, or recode the audio on all the affected files.

How about starting a Kickstarter campaign to collect the money necessary for the Dolby license?

----------

It is. Nevertheless, Dolby are forcing devs to remove the support - or pay a LOT of money. (We're speaking of 20-30k US$ a year, independent of actual sales + around $1 a sold copy. Outrageous price indeed.)


Are you a developer that has been quoted this price or is this a rumor?
 
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