Automatic Screenshots Not Working

[bs909]

I've seen this problem posted before but I seem to be having the same issue.  Whenever I click on "Create Automatic Screenshots", ffmpeg starts up for a few seconds and then stops.  PVD still reads that it is trying to create screenshots for a movie but never finishes.  I then have to force ffmpeg and viddb.exe to stop.  I've tried un-installing and re-installing PVD, downloading the new K-Lite codec pack but those didn't seem to work.  Also, taking manual screenshots works fine in PVD.

Has anyone figured out what exactly fixed this issue?  I'm guessing it might be an ffmpeg issue.

I'm using PVD 0.9.9.21 and Windows XP.

[jetfishes]

Recently my screeshot make stop working and completly freezes up where I need to ctrl/alt/del to free it up.
I have windows xp and 9.9.21 of pvd.

[rick.ca]

What are you using for screen shots (check your configuration)? If it's FFmpeg, it might help to update to the latest version here. Replace ffmpeg.exe in your \ffmpeg folder. I have no idea what causes it, but there seems to be a condition where an instance of ffmpeg is left running, causing an apparent freeze. The fix is to kill ffmpeg using a task manager. It's been a long while since it's happened to me, but I believe PVD with then work fine—as if it was stuck waiting for ffmpeg to finish.

[bs909]

I am using FFmpeg for screenshots.  I have downloaded the latest FFmpeg.exe from your link but I have the same issue.  It seems that since the latest update I have been having this issue.  I have a lot of screenshots made already but when I tried to add an episode to PVD and create automatic screenshots, that's when I noticed the problem.  Is there something else I should check?

[rick.ca]

Does it happen every time you try to create screen shots? Have you tried checking with a task manager if the problem is caused by a FFmpeg process that is left running?

[bs909]

Yes, it happens every time I try to use automatic screenshots.  It always leave FFmpeg running and never creates screenshots that appear in PVD.  It just seems that I click "automatically create screenshots", FFmpeg starts up, and after a few seconds uses 0% cpu, and then nothing.  If I let it run it will never do anything beyond sitting there.   I then have to stop the FFmpeg and viddb process.  Any ideas what could be causing this?  Is this perhaps a bug in PVD?

[bs909]

I just wanted to give an update.

I haven't used PVD for some time due to the automatic screenshot maker not working (and haven't used my pc much at all).  About a week or so ago I ran PVD again, downloaded a bunch of automatic updates for it and the automatic screenshot maker has began working again for me.  I don't know what fixed it but I haven't done any changes since it stopped working before.  Perhaps it was something in the updates.

[rick.ca]

Perhaps it was something in the updates.

The program hasn't changed. So this will remain a mystery, or...it will happen again.

[katleeh]

I've found this to be an irregular problem that is annoyingly consistent only in that it will happen periodically. You just never know when it will happen. Best thing I've found to do is try killing the ffmpeg process in task manager while pvd is still running. After you do that, it shouldn't kill it but ffmpeg should suddenly spike with its cpu usage and work after that. So far that's the only thing I've found which works to fix this problem.

-katleeh