[jmault]

I know that mac computers do not play .avi formatted files. What are some of the applications you have out there, if any, that you would reccomend to play these types of files?
Thanks
jmault

[rickey939]

VLC Media Player:

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/5758

[rickey939]

Let me point you to this thread as well...in fact, your answer is in the very 1st section...

http://forums.macnn.com/82/applications/209787/what-application-do-i-use-if/

[chabig]

Macs play AVIs just fine. An AVI file is just a container. Whether it plays or not just depends upon what codec was used to encode the file. I'd say you can play just about anything except Windows Media 10 (isn't that the latest?) if you install the codec.

Chris

[Millennium]

Macs do, in fact, support the .avi format perfectly. The problem is that despite the .avi tag, DivX-formatted files don't really use the .avi format at all: the only reason they ever worked on Windows in the first place was a bug in Windows Media Player.

A shame, too, because the AVI file format is a piece of crap, even with the changes DivX made. Had they gone with a real container format, lime MPEG-4 or its ancestor MOV, they could be doing a lot more with it right now. Lobby your provider to use real MPEG-4 or even Matroska.

[jmault]

Then which application do I need to use to play the .avi formatted files. Can I play them through QuckTime Player or do I need another application? What specifically were you talking about when you say the "codec?" Do I have preferences that enable me to download certain files and encode them with .mpeg? Appreciate the help.
Thanks
jmault

[esXXI]

Originally Posted by jmault

Then which application do I need to use to play the .avi formatted files. Can I play them through QuckTime Player or do I need another application? [...]

Originally Posted by rickey939

VLC Media Player:

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/5758

[TETENAL]

Originally Posted by jmault

What specifically were you talking about when you say the "codec?"

Both .mov and .avi files are containers for multiple types of media (video, audio, other). The media contained in the files is encoded with various codecs. QuickTime Player can handle the .avi file format just fine, but it does not have codecs ready for every possible media contained in an .avi file. In particular it does not come with a DivX codec.

You can go and download either the DivX or the 3ivx codec (you have to pick one, they don't work together) for QuickTime. Those enable QuickTime to play DivX movies.

Or you download VLC or MPlayer which are capable to play various video formats in a their own dedicated application.

[cla]

Originally Posted by Millennium

A shame, too, because the AVI file format is a piece of crap, even with the changes DivX made. Had they gone with a real container format, lime MPEG-4 or its ancestor MOV, they could be doing a lot more with it right now. Lobby your provider to use real MPEG-4 or even Matroska.

How is it crap? I mean a container is merely a container. Please enlighten me... :>
B t w, MPEG-4 is a container format as well? I thought it was a codec. MPEG-1 is a codec, isn't it?

[TETENAL]

Originally Posted by cla

MPEG-4 is a container format as well? I thought it was a codec.

The specifications has both a container file format and a video codec (two actually). And lots of other stuff that it specifies:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-4

[Jacke]

Originally Posted by TETENAL

You can go and download either the DivX or the 3ivx codec (you have to pick one, they don't work together)

Oh they will with the right persuasion...

Alternatively, you could try searching out a pre-5.2.1 version of DivX that came sans the 'generic MPEG-4 decoder'.

[jmault]

What are the newest versions of VLC and Mplayer? I am looking to DL one of them. Any advise as which one to go for?

[rickey939]

Originally Posted by jmault

What are the newest versions of VLC and Mplayer? I am looking to DL one of them. Any advise as which one to go for?

I pointed you to the latest release of VLC up above.