Can Quicktime play AVI movies?
I'm having trouble playing an AVI file on my imac with Quicktime 5. A message pops up telling me that the required compressor couldn't be found and that I may have problems viewing it. It then refuses to play. On the Quicktime page at Apple it mentions that Quicktime can import AVI files. Is this not the same as playing them? Is there any way I can fix this? Would upgrading to Quicktime Pro help and if not are there any other Mac programs which would play this file?
Comments
QuickTime 5 cannot play DivX encoded .avi files by default, but there are a few hacked up plugins available out there that will let you play DivX on your Mac. The best solution seems to be the one that converts your .avi file and its .mp3 track into a .mov.
I forget the name...
Search VersionTracker for "divx"
Despite its large file size and marginal quality AVI is the video format that won't seem to die, and it takes many forms...few of which are playable through Quicktime and probably never will be. I know it seems weird since Apple prides itself on being this great homemovie platform, but it's true. I've heard many reasons for this but the most common seems to be codec licensing issues. I think Apple was betting .mov or .mpg would have wiped out .avi a long time ago, but it just keeps hanging around.
Probably because all the good porn is .avi.
Lots of people I know compress their movies in DivX anyway. It's because we're in the Mac community that we've been sheltered from it. Ask a PC person and they'd rather watch a DivX .avi than a Sorenson 3 .mov.
Porn, pirated movies, whatever, DivX .avi files are all over the place.
And 99% likely that it's Divx? Well, maybe in porn, but there's still lots of vids out there that use the Intel codecs (and then there's that weird "IV41" thing).
And just because it has been hacked six-ways-to-Sunday hardly means AVI is "versatile." If it was versatile to begin with we wouldn't need the hacks.
But you're right about the Apple community being sheltered from .avi and Divx. Like I said, I think Apple ignored it hoping it would go away or figuring that QT would replace it. Maybe with QT6/MPG4 we'll get closer, but I doubt it is going anywhere for a while.
And yes, .avi is used all over the place. A lot of webcam software out there also encodes to DivX. A lot of people use DivX. When Tom's Hardware posted the video of the Athlon chips getting toasted, that was DivX. When I downloaded a copy of Don Hertzfeldt's Rejected cartoon, that was also DivX. When I go to download humorous video files from various archives, half are DivX .avi and half are .mpg.
When you ask someone whether they would rather download 3 MB of DivX .avi or 10 MB of .mpg, what do you think the answer would be? A lot of people are bandwidth impaired.
DivX is rampant.
<strong>Is there anything other than porn in .avi format?</strong><hr></blockquote>
on my hd...
Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.avi
Pulp Fiction.avi
The Usual Suspects.avi
The Matrix.avi
The Siege.avi
Reservoir Dogs.avi
However, i have downloaded DIVXosx (?) and used avi to .mov which solved my problem immediately.
I'm envious of you guys' knowledge.
Thanks
<strong>Is there anything other than porn in .avi format?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Go download a full movie to burn on DVD and more then half is AVI and only some mpg. Porn is just more popular which is why everyone assumes avi=porn without giving it much thought.
In order to play any video and audio encoded AVI files in any version of QuickTime and Mac OS X or Windows, a recommended solution is to convert AVI to QuickTime more supported video format like MOV or MP4 with some AVI to QuickTime Converter.
I use a powerful AVI to QuickTime Conversion app called iDealshare VideoGo which can easily convert AVI to QuickTime supported MOV or MP4 video format, it even supports converting AVI to QuickTime supported audio format like MP3, AIFF, M4A and etc.