Comment 0 for bug 665865

Binary package hint: rhythmbox

Ubuntu Release: 10.10
Rhythmbox version: 0.13.1-0ubuntu5

Hello,

I have various video files in my Music folder, for instance music videos or live footage ripped from some album's bonus CD or DVD or downloaded form the Internet.

To my surprise, this version of Rhythmbox imports some of them in the music library, but not all of them. In the attached screenshot you can see five FLV videos downloaded from the Internet and listed by Rhythmbox in the music library (with Unknown as Genre / Artist / Album, quite understandably). All other videos in my Music folder are not recognized. At first I suspected Rhythmbox importing videos or not was a matter of container format and/or audio-video codecs, but I have examples of files in the same format and codecs, one of them being imported but the other not, so I have no idea of a possible interpretation.

Then, to my utmost surprise, Rhythmbox plays these videos! I found out that when the Visualization plug-in is enabled, Rhythmbox plays the video flawlessly in an external window (see attached screenshot) (restarting Rhythmbox seems necessary, though), and when this plug-in is disabled, Rhythmbox plays only the audio, with the position slider not working as it should, i.e. it runs quickly to the right and then stops at the end while the remaining audio is read (always at normal speed).

During video playback, Rhythmbox controls work as expected (pause, previous/next, moving the slider). If the Visualization button is clicked, the external window is docked into Rhythmbox (like a visualization). If it is clicked again, the external window does not pop out, the visualization disappears but the audio keeps playing.

One more quirk: if I close the video window during playback, the video that was played disappears from the music library to go in the Missing Files section, with the error "Output window was closed" (see attached screenshot). The next time I start Rhythmbox, these errors are gone and the videos are back in the music library.

So... From perusing the bug archives, I understand that Rhythmbox, although not a video player or video library manager, has some video podcast abilities through the Visualization plug-in, so perhaps the five video files it lists are recognized as downloaded video podcasts (they are not, as far as I know)? I appreciate that Rhythmbox lists and plays them, but would be even more delighted if it listed and played all the video files in my Music folder, not just these arbitrary five.

To sum it up:
1. What I expected to happen: as far as I know, Rhythmbox is not supposed to list video files in the music library, let alone play them.
2. What happened instead: Rhythmbox imported and played videos, but only some of them, and with a few quirks.

Shall I run Apport? It leaves me with a choice of ill-suited options:
  The rhythmbox interface is not working correctly
  No sound is being played
  Some audio files are not being played correctly
  The Ubuntu One Music Store is not working correctly

Shall I report this bug upstream? (In Gnome Bugzilla, in'nit?)

Shall I attach an example of video that gets recognized and an example of video that does not?