Hatrack River Forum: help with divx/avi file

This is topic help with divx/avi file in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :

after the talk on the board about downloading TV shows with bit torrent, I decided to try it.

I missed ep 10 of survivor, so I downloaded the avi file (I'm guessing its some sort of divx compression). This is the file name:

survivor.s09e10.pdtv-lol.avi

However, when I opened it, it was tough to view. At times the image is crystal clear, but the image seems to have a 'memory'

For example, if there is a scene viewing the jungle, when the contestants come into view, I can see the outline of the people, but the colors are still that of the previous scene. The best I can describe it is it looks like people wearing invisibility cloaks are walking across the screen. Their colors are wrong, but there is a distortion that shows that someone is there.

Does anyone know what could cause this? Is it a codec issue? If so, are there any particular codecs that I should download?

Thanks.

Posted by IdemosthenesI (Member # 862) on :

Does it still do it when you open the file in a different player? Do you have the most recent codec from www.divx.com? What on earth would make you want to watch Survivor??

Posted by Troubadour (Member # 83) on :

It's most likely a problem with the file or the speed of your computer. Basically many compressed video codecs have a similar issue - essentially, they have a "key" frame that occurs at regular intervals, but the frames between only contain information on the pixels that have changed between keyframes, no the whole image of every frame.

So if your player skips or has missed a frame of data, it can take some time to catch up.

Posted by xnera (Member # 187) on :

Yeah, it could be the file or your computer, but I would really try updating the codecs first. That seems to fix most of my problems. I also like to play most .avi files in the Divx application. WinAMP does a decent job, too, but forget Windows Media Player. Crash city, man.

Some TV shows are encoded in Xvid. You can get the Xvid codec here: http://www.xvidmovies.com/codec/

Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :

SO, after you download and run the XVid codex, you can play any XVid file in WinAmp?

I have not done any of this typ of stuff before so I am sorry if that is a stupid question....again... [Big Grin]

kwea

[ November 30, 2004, 12:35 AM: Message edited by: Kwea ]

Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :

thx guys.

Not sure which thing did it...but I downloaded that codec and restarted...I also used a different program (I was using media player before).

it seems to be working now.

as for why survivor

1)Eliza
2)Julie

they are reason enough.

Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :

[Razz]

Posted by Nato (Member # 1448) on :

If you're using Windows Media Player or Winamp to watch divx/xvid/ogm files, I recommend you change.

Player apps:
VLC Player
Media Player Classic

Also, if you're missing some codecs, install one of these codec packages.
Codec packs:
Defiler Pak* usually all you need.
K-Lite Codec Pack

Posted by raventh1 (Member # 3750) on :

First. I recommend using VLC, MPlayer or Media Player Classic *MPC from Guliverkli.
Second. DO NOT I repeat DO NOT use codec packs.
Third. Use G-Spot on this file, find out exactly what codec you need, and install that one codec.
Fourth. List of ingredients you may need are as follows:
G-Spot: http://www.headbands.com/gspot/
VLC: http://videolan.org/
Guliverkli's sourceforge site: http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli/
Open source Divx (Known as Xvid) codec for windows: http://www.koepi.org/xvid.shtml
Real Player Alternative (Which comes with MPC): http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm
Ogg Vorbis: (Sound codec that I use for most of my compression, because it's open source, free, and better than MP3.) http://tobias.everwicked.com/ *Note: This was down at the time of posting, but it has been the first time I have seen it down.
MPlayer: http://mplayerhq.hu/homepage/design7/dload.html
My explanation about why not to use codec packs:
Codec packs are put together from various groups of people, they don't always put the latest version in because what if they release, and then a codec updates? Not to mention having hundreds of codecs in your system that you'll never use, and having duplicate codecs to use causes playback problems.

Posted by raventh1 (Member # 3750) on :

Not to mention you don't know what all they put in those codec packs.....

Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :

Thanks!

kwea

Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :

I am having some problems wqith my computer since I downloaded those programs. I DIDN'T use any of the codex packs though.

And some of the things I downloaded won't play still...one of them freezes up winamp every time I try.

Also, I had a virus inmy copy of achohol12, and when I deleted the file (and the program) something happened...something bad....

Whenever I open the "My Movies" file it crashes.

Any ideas?

Kwea