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Dealing w/ Codec Hell Under Multiple OSes?
Dixie_Flatline asks: "I just downloaded some videos from here and there, and I found myself floundering in codec hell. I've got AVIs and MPGs, and none of them play. I've got DivX and 3ivX installed, and I even tried using DivX Doctor on some of the AVIs. The other AVIs refused to be processed, and even the MPGs won't play! When I put them onto a Win2000 box, I found that only SOME of the AVIs played, most of them didn't and the MPGs were STILL broken. Is there a codec pack out there that has everything I need all packaged up neatly? How do I get myself out of this? I just want to watch my media files!" While there probably isn't a be-all-end-all codec pack for your specific OS, what web resources are useful for people who need to find a codec (even an obscure one) before they can play their media files?
There are programs out there specifically designed to identify the codec. Not to make a plug but I use a program called G Spot. It tells you what codec is need and where on your system is the codec supposed to be. YMMV if you're a on non windows system. Try to not mod me down for using windows.
If you are using windows,
try using ffdshow, media player classic,
and oggDS filter.
you can find ffdshow and media player classic
at sourceforge, and get oggDS here:
http://tobias.everwicked.com/oggds.htm
I can't guarantee this combination will play
all AVIs and MPGs, but it works for me.
For those that don't know, there is a mplayer for debian apt source available. It includes all of the codecs, win32, quicktime, realplayer, etc. Best part is mplayer-plugin (works with Mozilla for sites that embed their videos in a webpage). Go here:
http://marillat.free.fr/
-molo
Using your sig line to advertise for friends is lame.
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
Should play most everything!
I use gentoo. In linux I have mplayer emerged. It plays everything automatically. I haven't seen a file it wont play properly all on its own. It's like magic. I wish mplayer worked as perfect in windows as in linux.
In windows since mplayer in windows isn't even comparable to linux I use winamp 2. Since it's already the best player for mp3s might as well use it for video too and save myself a piece of software. I have ffdshow installed and it works perfect with winamp2. I haven't found a divx file that wont play. I have however, found ogms it wont play. It's somewhat annoying, but not so bad. I also have quick time alt and real alt so I can play those files in windows without their respective crap softwares.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
How do I get myself out of this? I just want to watch my media files!
:)
Stop downloading p0rns from untrustworthy p2p sources. They don't mean it when they put up a title like "Britney_Lesbian_Rape_Cum_Teen_Pee.AVI".
Hmm, I meant, when you say AVI it may not be really AVI. Yeah, right.
Or install Gentoo then emerge mplayer. Their default installation already included a lot of codec, free as well as proprietary ones. You just fire your mplayer on any file and it'll recognize it regardless of its extension. You should be all set.
Google for a thing called "nimo codec pack". It's everything and the kitchen sink all packaged in one NSIS executable. quite handy.
While there probably isn't a be-all-end-all codec pack for your specific OS
Actually, there is -- for Windows at least. But I've tried it before, and installing every possibly codec, most of which you never use, only makes things worse, not better. I find it better to ignore the all-in-one packages and just get the codecs from the proper sources. So grab xvid and divx and ac3filter--that'll cover most of it--and then grab other ones as you need them.
what web resources are useful for people who need to find a codec (even an obscure one) before they can play their media files?
Which is where AVIcodec comes in. What it does is show you what audio and video codecs are used by your media files. So when you find a file that doesn't work properly, it'll let you know what to look for. Google is normally enough after that, but RareWares is a good place to find some of the more obscure codecs.
There is a site devoted to video/audio codecs.
As a sidenote, I'd strongly suggest you try the latest MPlayer builds for Windows. Powerful stuff. Shameless plug.
Doom9 has pretty much all the info you could ever want on codecs and video formats. The link to Gordian Knot should give you all the codecs you need (Win32 only, unfortunately).
Having played a lot with video encoding in my spare time (which isn't hard to do when you've been unemployed for seven months), I will bestow on you some tips on the world of encoded video, so that you won't have to go through as much teeth gnashing, hair pulling, and head slapping that I have. :) (Note: I work primarily on a Win32 machine, so if you want to do this on another platform, just kindly ignore all the words below. :P)
The most likely problem you are facing is that you don't have the right codecs installed to play the files you want. As someone mentioned before, Nimo is your best friend in this case, as it's a file pack that contains a multitude of codecs and filters to play almost everything under the sun.
But say you install Nimo, and things still don't work. What then? Well, assuming you still don't have the right codec, then it's time to meet your other new best friend, AVIcodec. Don't let the name fool you. This little program will identify the codec you need for AVI's, MPEG's, WMV's, ASF's, and probably a few others I'm forgetting. I also hear good things about GSPot, but AVIcodec works too well for me to change. :)
Now, say you run into a file that uses MPEG2 for video or has an AC3 audio stream. Well, you won't find any codecs for those on the web, because the Motion Picture Experts Group likes to rake in those licensing fees. (Well, you MAY find a codec or two out there, but keep in mind if you download them and don't have to pay a fee, it's almost certainly illegal.) What you then need to do is to install a software DVD player like PowerDVD or WinDVD, and that'll straighten things out for you.
Now let's say you're SURE you have the right codecs installed, and the video STILL won't play. Well, that just blows, because your file is probably damaged, or in the case of an AVI, it's incomplete. If you've got an AVI, run over and grab AVIPreview, which is a nice program that'll let you preview incomplete AVI's (see? "AVIPreview"? :P). If it plays in there, and you don't feel like downloading a complete version of the file (which you sometimes can't find when you're using P2P services), AVIPreview will let you save the file with a complete container so most media players won't complain.
Now... (*takes a breath*), if it isn't an AVI, then the likelyhood you'll be able to fix the problem goes down considerably. Free ASF and WMV editing programs are few and far between (and we all know who owns those file formats), and almost all MPEG issues will continue to niggle you unless you do a full-blown re-encode of the file. You can definitely try downloading VCDGear and checking the "Fix MPEG Errors" checkbox, but this almost NEVER works (i.e., times it worked for me: none).
And keep in mind these are the EASY solutions. If you're actually interested in using video editing/encoding programs, then take a visit to Doom9 or DVDRhelp.com. The forums and guides on these sites are a boon to the video encoding enthusiast, and the forum regulars tend to be pretty friendly, too. :)
Best of luck and well wishes...
"Each time you smile, it'll only last awhile. Life may be scary, but it's only temporary."
Nobody here has mentioned it yet, so I'll remark that VirtualDub is the best at opening and reconstructing broken AVI files.
here is a link
http://home.hccnet.nl/h.edskes/mirror.htm
It was edited out that I'm using a G5 with OS X. Thanks to all of you that have answered, even with non-OS X information. I've managed to glean enough from here and there that I've so-far managed to solve most of my problems, except for WMA encoded AVIs, which even DivX Doctor has no solution for on OS X systems.
I disagree, I keep running across avi's that won't play on my Mac or play with a white screen with no audio. Quicktime reports them as "wraw", vlc errors out saying there is no FourCC tag and ffmpegX shows: VIDEO: 0x00000000, size: 352x288, 3.000 fps, 304 kbps.
I've run these files through vlc,mplayer,quicktime, Indeo 3,4,5 in OS 9, the 3vix codec, Divx codec, msmpeg4v1.component, Divx Tool (can't change fourcc tag because it doesn't work with video that has mp3 audio - not that I would know what to change the tag to), Divx Doctor, tried reencoding with ffmepgX, etc... to no avail.
They might be garbage but given how popular the files are on Gnutella (by number of hosts) they must be working for someone. Otherwise mplayer has been very impressive.
put those same codecs in /usr/lib/win32, and xine magically uses them too.
AVOID CODEC PACKS!
The author of Zoom Player (a highly recommended geek-friendly Win32 media player) has written an exceptionally concise Windows codec guide.
And as if writing Zoom Player wasn't cool enough, the headline of one of THE most read topics in his well-maintained forum states...
Here's the codec guide. (Applies to Windows, not just Zoom Player proper.)..
There's this tool that will help you identify what codecs a particular codec is actually using. Don't blindly install a codec pack. Usually there's a lot of crap in there that you don't need.
I find that ffdshow (supports most divx/mpeg4 variants) + AC3 filter, both of which are available on sourceforge, play most files. So far I've encountered two exceptions: 3ivx, you need their decoder, and mpeg 2 files. For the latter a codec usually comes with dvd playing software. A good alternative is the elecard codec (shareware). There is also a directshow filter for mpeg2 on sourceforge as well (mpeg2ds), but it doesn't seem to work for me (not surprising since it is alpha code).
Usually if you know what codecs were used for encoding, it is trivial to find a matching decoder using google. Avicodec can help you with that for avi files.
Jilles
Put as many windows codec's under /usr/win32 and let mplayer have a shot at them. I've not seen one AVI that it couldnt play correctly.
Same here. Additionally, I'd mention that MPEGs should just work in every player there is. If you have MPEGs that don't play, they're most likely broken, and that's it.
You may want to use the file utility to see whether it things that your MPEGs are indeed MPEGs.