Playing ".avi" files with Quicktime

rhoqrhoq
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
I recently came into the possesion of the movie "Spiderman" but I am not able to watch either of the 2 parts because Quicktime does read the file properly. I get distorded sound and no picture.



I have tried using Windows Media Player with no luck at all. Can anyone help and tell what I can use to view these files?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    jonathan brisbyjonathan brisby Posts: 318member
    Good *ucking luck. The .avi's are finiky at best. First off there are different kinds of avi files, not all are the same. Add to that, one of the most commonly shared types is NOT in ANYWAY usable on the mac. You can TRY downloadind the Indeo Video plugin from Apple's website. (that can open a couple of them). Also Quicktime 6 can open 'some' of them. An older prog called DiVX player could open 'some' of them and lastly windows media play can open 'some' of them. (there are 2 versions of WMP and both of them open differently). You can find various articles around the web for doing the above mentioned things but overal you are out of luck. I have had mild success running VirtualPC and opening them there but no promises. I have Episode 2, Spiderman and Jimmy Neutron all in .avi's but until somebody fixes this, we are both out of luck. Even the most professional video editing suites don't seem to have converters.



    Long and short is....no quick and easy fix. More then likely you have one of the 'forbidden codex' and you'll never get it to work. sorry.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    rhoqrhoq Posts: 190member
    Thanks for the in depth answer. I will try to d/l some of the codecs and players you mentioned. Hopefully I can get it to run!
  • Reply 3 of 7
    rhoqrhoq Posts: 190member
    I downloaded a program called "DivX Doctor II" from <a href="http://doctor.3ivx.com"; target="_blank">http://doctor.3ivx.com</A>;



    It converts the unreadable .avi files into .mov files. I ran the 2 parts of Spider-Man through it and it works perfectly!!! It took about 15 mins for each part to convert but it was worth the wait!
  • Reply 4 of 7
    macrob1nmacrob1n Posts: 4member
    try divx doctor 2, as said above, to make avi's into quicktime mov's and plug in the latest 3ivx stuff.Or you could try to play the avi's using <a href="http://http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=14738&db=mac"; target="_blank">vlc</a> as it works when others don't and will play avi's with AC3 soundtrack.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    The movie you downloaded is probably a DivX, masquarding as an .avi.



    DivX is an early alpha of MPEG4, stolen by Microsoft lackeys but not run by DivX.com



    The easiest way to play it is to download VideoLAN Client



    <a href="http://www.videolan.org"; target="_blank">http://www.videolan.org</a>;



    If you have QT5, there is no bugs. If you have QT6, you can only run in thousands of colours.



    This way has the least # of steps (and trouble) involved. My (crap) copy of American Beauty is ruined using DivX Doctor or AVI2MOV. Many other movies are too. Just use videolan client, and you can stick with .avi



    Also, if you rip movies yourself, PLEASE use QuickTime 6 (the Jaguar Preview/eventual final, not the Public Preview) as it can convert .VOBs (dvd movie files) to MP4. That way, everyone (you for the quality, and Mac users who downloads them) will be happy.



    Barto



    [ 07-01-2002: Message edited by: Barto ]</p>
  • Reply 6 of 7
    bartobarto Posts: 2,246member
    Just checked VT, found that <a href="http://download.divx.com/divx/DivXMac50a2.bin.sit"; target="_blank">DivX 5.0a2</a> is available.



    It's a QuickTime codec, claims to change AVIs so they work on Macs but remain playable on Wintel machines. Haven't tried it yet.



    Barto
  • Reply 7 of 7
    mediamanmediaman Posts: 169member
    [quote]Originally posted by Barto:

    <strong>Just checked VT, found that <a href="http://download.divx.com/divx/DivXMac50a2.bin.sit"; target="_blank">DivX 5.0a2</a> is available.



    It's a QuickTime codec, claims to change AVIs so they work on Macs but remain playable on Wintel machines. Haven't tried it yet.



    Barto</strong><hr></blockquote>



    This new codec & converter has worked on most of the DixX .AVI's that previously I could not play using any conbination of the methods in the above posts.

    A 2 CD version of K-PAX that would not play before worked perfectly, once the .AVI's had been run through the converter app.
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