Can someone

[Imixmuan]

With a Lubuntu 12.04 or Ubuntu install on PowerPC mac tell me if you can download and install SMplayer from this ppa:rvm/smplayer.

I am getting Coreplayer level quality playback on my 1.4 ghz Dell D600 with 32 MB of video RAM, would be interested in knowing if it works on PowerPC as well.

thanks in advance

 

[B-G]

I can't really help you, because at the moment I'm not using Linux, but a quick Google search revealed that it is possible to compile and run SMplayer on PowerPc Leopard:
http://smplayer.sourceforge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1353
Unfortunately when it comes to compiling software I completely lack experience…

I would like to ask you how SMplayer runs on that machine compared to regular MPlayer run from the shell (PPC Luddite style). I read that SMplayer is a GUI for Mplayer. If that's the case wouldn't using MPlayer alone be more efficient on the same machine?

 

[MacinDan]

The GUI uses about 25% more of my cpu, though I'm on a slower G3. If you have a faster processor you might see less difference. If you want to run it from the shell, you may have to use mplayer2 instead of mplayer, depending on what dependency SMplayer uses.

OS X users think mplayer isn't that great for h.264 because a lot of them only use that old 2006 version with the old binary. The newer binaries support h.264 just fine.

As for the original question, I'm not on Ubuntu

 

[B-G]

The GUI uses about 25% more of my cpu, though I'm on a slower G3. If you have a faster processor you might see less difference. If you want to run it from the shell, you may have to use mplayer2 instead of mplayer, depending on what dependency SMplayer uses.

OS X users think mplayer isn't that great for h.264 because a lot of them only use that old 2006 version with the old binary. The newer binaries support h.264 just fine.

As for the original question, I'm not on Ubuntu

By the way, there is one thing I would like to ask you. Are the newer binaries you compiled from sources as efficient as the ones from 2006 in terms of CPU load? On my eMac MPlayer (the 2006 version) is the second best media player, using about 10% more CPU than CorePlayer. I wonder if the newer releases could improve things further. Also, did you set the compiler to optimize for the CPU architecture?

 

[Imixmuan]

Well,

on this Dell, compared to running the mplayer binary from command line, there is NO comparison, SMplayer wins hands down. Mplayer from the binary, even with the luddites arguements added still struggled to play 360p fullscreen, and used 98-100% CPU. Compare that too SMplayer using 50-64% CPU streaming 720p and 76% playing back 1080p.

I can still do the ol copy and paste the url of the video in Firefox and paste it into SMplayer and stream 90% HD web content that way. It almost streams 1080p, I bet if I added some arguments (you can actually do that in the player but I haven't tried yet) it will. I also haven't tried some of the other codecs yet, there's a least a hundred or more to choose from.

I think there is something magical in that ppa:rvm/smplayer's codecs. I read a comment on the Ubuntu forums from someone who said Smplayer had come along way, and on his machine beat Coreplayer. That got me interested. I will be getting another Power Mac soon (I hope) and will try this out in Lubuntu on it. I am also not an expert at compiling in OS X, that is something I need to learn more about. It isn't that difficult in Linux.

 

[B-G]

on this Dell, compared to running the mplayer binary from command line, there is NO comparison, SMplayer wins hands down. Mplayer from the binary, even with the luddites arguements added still struggled to play 360p fullscreen, and used 98-100% CPU. Compare that too SMplayer using 50-64% CPU streaming 720p and 76% playing back 1080p.

I can still do the ol copy and paste the url of the video in Firefox and paste it into SMplayer and stream 90% HD web content that way. It almost streams 1080p, I bet if I added some arguments (you can actually do that in the player but I haven't tried yet) it will. I also haven't tried some of the other codecs yet, there's a least a hundred or more to choose from.

I think there is something magical in that ppa:rvm/smplayer's codecs. I read a comment on the Ubuntu forums from someone who said Smplayer had come along way, and on his machine beat Coreplayer. That got me interested. I will be getting another Power Mac soon (I hope) and will try this out in Lubuntu on it. I am also not an expert at compiling in OS X, that is something I need to learn more about. It isn't that difficult in Linux.

That's jaw dropping performance!
If it performs in the same way on OS X it could be even better than CorePlayer…

 

[Imixmuan]

Some more pokin' around

has led me to conclude its not SMplayer, but the codecs it brought with it, specifically the one it defaults too, ffh264. Now Gnome Mplayer and Mplayer from command line are playing back at the same quality level, if not better than SMplayer, which does have some GUI overhead.

Also, although it gives you a trillion codec options it doesn't actually install them, just lists them. I was mistaken. If you don't have the codec already it won't play. That includes CoreAVC, which I will try and find/download.

Good stuff, highly reccomend it, hopefully someone can compile it for OS X and share the love.

 

[MacinDan]

By the way, there is one thing I would like to ask you. Are the newer binaries you compiled from sources as efficient as the ones from 2006 in terms of CPU load? On my eMac MPlayer (the 2006 version) is the second best media player, using about 10% more CPU than CorePlayer. I wonder if the newer releases could improve things further. Also, did you set the compiler to optimize for the CPU architecture?

The only difference I saw was the newer version plays AVC/h.264 files when the old one just gave me a green screen. CPU load is the same. --enable-altivec is a default, so the only "optimizing" you'd have to do is disable it if you're on a G3.

----------

Also, although it gives you a trillion codec options it doesn't actually install them, just lists them. I was mistaken. If you don't have the codec already it won't play. That includes CoreAVC, which I will try and find/download.

Good stuff, highly reccomend it, hopefully someone can compile it for OS X and share the love.

Doesn't coreavc-on-linux depend on Wine? So it's no go on powerpc?

 

[B-G]

Imixmuan, have you got an Nvidia video card in that computer? The only reference I see to ffh264 in the MPlayer manual page is as a codec used with the vdpau library on Nvidia cards.
Could someone with an Nvidia card try to pass the following parameters to MPlayer in OS X, please?

-framedrop -vo vdpau -vc ffh264vdpau

My eMac has an ATI card. If I try to use that when playing h264 videos I only get audio output.

 

[Imixmuan]

B-G:

I have an ATI Radeon Mobility 9000. Under video codecs it lists ffh264 as the codec it is using. Not sure what else to tell you.


MacinDan:You are absolutely right, CoreAVC requires windows, or a wine hack in Linux that I've never tried. Sorry, my bad. It listed it, so I thought it included it without actually trying it out.