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egutin · May 25, 2006, 05:08 PM

Hi,

I am trying to convert an AVI to a format that Quicktime/iDVD can deal with. It plays fine in VLC, so nothing seems to be wrong with it. It is the composite of the download of a number of RAR files.

I have tried Divx Doctor II - it produces a file with no video except a white screen, but good audio.

OK, what do I do to get something usable out of the file? Thanks.

Uncle Skeleton · May 25, 2006, 05:46 PM

Open it in quicktime, hit command-i, post what it says. My guess is "MP42" or "MPEG-4 Video" which means MP41, in which case you'll go here or here to play it in QT.

"It plays fine in VLC, so nothing seems to be wrong with it." That's not a logical progression.

Alternatively VLC is pretty good at converting to mp4. Look for the streaming/export wizard in the File menu.

egutin · May 25, 2006, 08:18 PM

Originally Posted by Uncle Skeleton

Open it in quicktime, hit command-i, post what it says. My guess is "MP42" or "MPEG-4 Video" which means MP41, in which case you'll go here or here to play it in QT..

It just says that the format is DIVX - I'm going to try VLC's conversion wizard, we'll see what happens.

Thanks.

egutin · May 25, 2006, 09:48 PM

If I use VLC to convert the video, what settings should I use? I have yet to hit upon a combination that Quicktime likes.

thanks

Uncle Skeleton · May 25, 2006, 09:54 PM

what combination? just choose mpeg 4 for everything and sane bitrates (use the same bitrate as the source). please tell us the information from the QT info window.

Jacke · May 26, 2006, 07:12 AM

Originally Posted by egutin

I have tried Divx Doctor II - it produces a file with no video except a white screen, but good audio.

OK, what do I do to get something usable out of the file? Thanks.

Install the DivX or the 3ivx codec. Using the VLC conversion wizard will cause unnecessary video quality degration.

Uncle Skeleton · May 26, 2006, 09:29 AM

Originally Posted by egutin

It just says that the format is DIVX - I'm going to try VLC's conversion wizard, we'll see what happens.

Thanks.

Oops, didn't see this one. Can you list the files you have in /Library/QuickTime and /Users/you/Library/QuickTime?

Richard Hench · May 28, 2006, 07:20 AM

Hi - I'm having a very similar problem as the original post - I have some .avi files I want to convert to .mov. I've used VLC with varying degrees of success - some convert to .mov (using mp4v and mp4a) fine, whilst others convert audio ok, but have a white screen for the video.
The only differences I can see in the files (after many hours of experimentation

) is the order in which the codecs are listed in the movie information in QT - the ones that work have audio first, whilst the ones that show a white screen list the video codec first.

The one that works is:
AAC, Stereo, 48.000 kHz
Apple MPEG4 Decompressor, 624 x 352, Millions

The one that doesn't work:
Apple MPEG4 Decompressor, 608 x 336, Millions
AAC, Stereo, 48.000 kHz

Also the resolutions are slightly different, but that shouldn't cause it, should it?

Really appreciate your help, as this is starting to drive me insane!
Thanks,
Ben

Jacke · May 28, 2006, 07:39 AM

Originally Posted by bengoode

Hi - I'm having a very similar problem as the original post - I have some .avi files I want to convert to .mov. I've used VLC with varying degrees of success - some convert to .mov (using mp4v and mp4a) fine, whilst others convert audio ok, but have a white screen for the video.

IMO, re-encoding should only be used a last resort. Open the AVI in Quicktime and get info on it and report back what it says under 'format'. Perhaps there are codecs available (like the ones linked to earlier) that makes it play properly in QT.

Richard Hench · May 28, 2006, 11:16 AM

QT shows format info for the AVI as:

, 608 x 336, Millions
MPEG Layer 3, Stereo, 48.000 kHz

If I use VLC to look at the information for Stream 0, it shows XVID as the codec.
However, I have the XVID codec installed for QT, and it still doesn't like it...maybe I have the wrong one?

In library/quicktime I have XviD_Codec v0.5.1.component.

stevesnj · May 28, 2006, 12:14 PM

Use this program and choose .dv or mpeg2

http://homepage.mac.com/major4/

Richard Hench · May 29, 2006, 04:56 AM

That worked for me - thanks for your help.
Cheers,
Ben

Darcan Ro Vego · Oct 25, 2006, 05:04 AM

I want to rip a DVD with Windows XP, then transfer the video into MacOS X to be used by iMovie. What software do I need and what procedures should I take?

analogika · Oct 25, 2006, 05:48 PM

I have no idea about Windows software.

On teh Mac, the best and highest-quality solution is to use Handbrake to convert the DVD to a DV stream and edit that in iMovie. Note that DV takes about 13GB per hour of video.

Uncle Skeleton · Oct 25, 2006, 06:11 PM

I don't think Handbrake supports encoding to DV

demograph68 · 04:40 AM

Originally Posted by Darcan Ro Vego

I want to rip a DVD with Windows XP, then transfer the video into MacOS X to be used by iMovie. What software do I need and what procedures should I take?

Windows:
Your DVD>DVDFab Decrypter>MPEG Streamclip>Your DV

OS X:
Your DVD>MacTheRipper>MPEG Streamclip>Your DV

Optional:
Instead of MPEG Streamclip, you can use Super (Windows) or FFmpegX (OS X), as mentioned above.