Trouble using the RiffPlayer
We have a new app that has made .sync files a thing of the past! Check out the new RiffTrax App!
I tried to open a RiffTrax and received an error message: no corresponding .sync file found! What do I do?
I tried to open a RiffTrax and received an error message: no corresponding .sync file found! What do I do?
- Make sure you've saved your MP3 riff and the corresponding .sync file in the same folder. Be certain the name of the sync file matches the name of the mp3 (i.e. EmpireStrikesBack_RiffTrax.sync and EmpireStrikesBack_RiffTrax.mp3). Remember, not all Riffs have .sync files, there may not be one available for the riff you're trying to watch!
- Additionally, if you have file extensions hidden, and you created the sync file or downloaded it from someplace other than the Library pages, double-check that the file extension is ".sync" and not actually ".sync.txt".
- Sadly, no. You can find a current list of available .sync files here. Since the App is now available, the RiffPlayer may not see any further updates.
- Sure you can! You can always sync a RiffTrax the old fashioned way, by playing the MP3 in your MP3 player and following the verbal instructions to sync it to your DVD.
Are there any DVDs that just won't play?
- Yes, unfortunately. As of this writing (March 31, 2011), the following discs are not playable by the RiffPlayer: Casino Royale, Last Airbender, The Dark Knight, Star Trek (2009).
The player crashed, but I still hear the riff / movie!
- In Windows: Go to Task Manager (ctrl + alt + dlt, select Task Manager) and under the Processes tab, close all instances of mplayer.exe and riffplayer.exe.
- For Mac: Open a terminal window, and type "ps -A | grep mplayer", hit enter. Then kill the mplayer processes by typing "kill -9 PID" where PID is the ID of the processes listed in the first step. Do these steps again, but replace "mplayer" with "riffplayer"
How do I change my DVD drive?
- Go to the Options menu and select Preferences, then go to Drives on the left. In the right hand panel, select the correct drives for DVD and CD playback from the pull down menus.
I changed something in my preferences and now nothing works. How do I reset my preferences?
- Close RiffPlayer.
- In Windows: Go to your Application Data directory (In Windows XP, it's usually Documents and Settings > username > Application data; In Windows 7 and Vista, browse to your User folder at C:\Users\username). There you will find a folder named .riffplayer. Open this folder and rename your preferences file (riffplayer.ini) to riffplayer.BAK (or something similar). When you next run riffplayer, the preferences file will be recreated with the default values.
- In OSX: Open a terminal window and then cd /Users/YOUR USERNAME/.config/riffplayer/ and delete or rename riffplayer.ini, then restart RiffPlayer.
Video playback is choppy, what should I do?
- First, try running the player by itself (close any other open programs.) If your video is still choppy, try changing the audio drivers: in the Options menu, select Preferences, and click General in the left panel. In the right panel, select the Audio tab, and in the Output driver pulldown, select a new audio driver. The default is dsound, and win32, sdl are known to work.
- Click Apply, and then OK, and then restart the RiffPlayer for the changes to take effect.
- If that doesn't work, you might also try changing your Video drivers. Same steps as above, but choose the Video tab instead. In Windows, the default is Directx (fast); Directx (slow), gl, gl2, and Direct3d are known to work. In Mac, corevideo and coreaudio are the known defaults.
When I run RiffPlayer, the screen blinks and my screen changes to a new color mode. Is this normal?
- When using DirectX in Windows 7 / Windows Vista, DVD programs set the Window color scheme to Basic (and turn off Aero). This is completely normal.
- Please do! .sync files are just text files. Some instructions on creating a .sync file are here: http://www.rifftrax.com/riffplayer/creating-sync. Note that the process is a little complex and requires doing some math. You can submit your .sync files at this forum thread.
Does the player support Blu-Ray or video files?
- At this time, no - MPlayer (which the RiffPlayer is based on) does not currently offer support for Bluray; as far as video files, such as the ones you might download from iTunes, we do not currently support syncing these up, though that is something we hope to support in the near future.
What do I do if the program crashes or won't run?
- If the player crashes (these things happen) sometimes it's handy to see the logs from your player. We need the Riffplayer logs, available under Options > View logs > Riffplayer. Save them as a text document, and email them to player-bugs@rifftrax.com.
- You might fill out a bug report, which you can do at this link. You might also check the Known Issues page.
Can I watch PAL DVDs with the RiffTrax Player?
- Yes! We have a few .sync files that can be found on the RiffPlayer page.. But since it's hard for us in North America to make PAL .sync files, we are always looking for more contributors! If you'd like to help, see the "creating sync files" instruction page at http://rifftrax.com/riffplayer/creating-sync and give it a shot. You can contribute your .sync files by emailing them to us at player@rifftrax.com.