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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > My computer is NOT too slow to play a 720x480 video!

My computer is NOT too slow to play a 720x480 video!
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macgeek2005
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Nov 29, 2006, 04:44 PM
 
I recently aquired a 1.76GB quicktime file of the movie King Kong (2005), and when I open it in quicktime, it gets all these giant pixilated colors over the video instead of looking clean.

In VLC, it works great, except when things start to move fast it starts lagging, and sometimes it'll just freeze up and say "Video 5 seconds late, computer too slow?".

What the hell! I've got a Quad 3.0Ghz CPU, and it can't play a video in VLC? I am using the Universal version of VLC just to clarify.

What the hell do I do?
     
Xyrrus
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Nov 29, 2006, 04:52 PM
 
Originally Posted by macgeek2005 View Post
I recently aquired a 1.76GB quicktime file of the movie King Kong (2005), and when I open it in quicktime, it gets all these giant pixilated colors over the video instead of looking clean.

In VLC, it works great, except when things start to move fast it starts lagging, and sometimes it'll just freeze up and say "Video 5 seconds late, computer too slow?".

What the hell! I've got a Quad 3.0Ghz CPU, and it can't play a video in VLC? I am using the Universal version of VLC just to clarify.

What the hell do I do?
What codec is it? Do you have another computer you can try it on (or try it using VLC under xp/linux on parallels?) Also, are you playing it off the internal drive, a burned DVD, etc?

-Xy
MacPro (2.66, 4GB, 4x250GB, X1900+7300, 2x Dell 2005fpw, Samsung LNT4061)
MacBook Pro (2.2, 2GB, 120GB)
     
macgeek2005  (op)
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Nov 29, 2006, 05:01 PM
 
In VLC info it says:

Stream 0:

Codec: XVID
Type: Video
Resolution: 720x480
Framerate: 29.970030

Stream 1:

Codec: mpga
Type: Audio
Channels: 2
Sample Rate: 48000 hz
Bitrate: 197kbps

I'm playing it from the internal hard drive. Why should I try it on another machine? This is by far the best machine I have.
     
Xyrrus
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Nov 29, 2006, 05:04 PM
 
Originally Posted by macgeek2005 View Post
In VLC info it says:

Stream 0:

Codec: XVID
Type: Video
Resolution: 720x480
Framerate: 29.970030

Stream 1:

Codec: mpga
Type: Audio
Channels: 2
Sample Rate: 48000 hz
Bitrate: 197kbps

I'm playing it from the internal hard drive. Why should I try it on another machine? This is by far the best machine I have.
To see if you can narrow it down to a bad file or software, etc. If it works using linux/vlc under parallels on the same computer, then you know its something to do with the OS or the mac version of VLC and not the computer (although I seriously doubt its the computer - the quad has more than enough horsepower to decode an xvid file in real time) or the downloaded file.

-Xy
MacPro (2.66, 4GB, 4x250GB, X1900+7300, 2x Dell 2005fpw, Samsung LNT4061)
MacBook Pro (2.2, 2GB, 120GB)
     
macgeek2005  (op)
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Nov 29, 2006, 05:18 PM
 
Originally Posted by Xyrrus View Post
To see if you can narrow it down to a bad file or software, etc. If it works using linux/vlc under parallels on the same computer, then you know its something to do with the OS or the mac version of VLC and not the computer (although I seriously doubt its the computer - the quad has more than enough horsepower to decode an xvid file in real time) or the downloaded file.

-Xy
I think it's just weird file. I mean, I can play 5 1080p videos simultaneously without a drop in framerate from any of them. There definetaly isn't a problem with my OS or my VLC. The fact that it looks so weird in quicktime proves that the file is not normal.

I will try it on another machine though, just in case. If it still doesn't work, i'll just buy the king kong DVD.
     
RevEvs
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Nov 29, 2006, 05:21 PM
 
its just a crap file. i can happily play 8gig files on my MBP.
I free'd my mind... now it won't come back.
     
Madrag
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Nov 30, 2006, 11:55 AM
 
if a Quad MP 3.0 can't play it well, then, what computer can?
As RevEs said, it probably is the file, as the MBP can play correctly another file of 8GB...
     
tooki
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Nov 30, 2006, 05:31 PM
 
Originally Posted by macgeek2005 View Post
I recently aquired a 1.76GB quicktime file of the movie King Kong (2005), and when I open it in quicktime, it gets all these giant pixilated colors over the video instead of looking clean.

In VLC, it works great, except when things start to move fast it starts lagging, and sometimes it'll just freeze up and say "Video 5 seconds late, computer too slow?".

What the hell! I've got a Quad 3.0Ghz CPU, and it can't play a video in VLC? I am using the Universal version of VLC just to clarify.

What the hell do I do?
Rent the DVD rather than downloading it off the Net. You often get mangled files that won't play right, and it's kinda illegal, by which I mean completely illegal.

tooki
     
macgeek2005  (op)
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Nov 30, 2006, 05:43 PM
 
Originally Posted by tooki View Post
Rent the DVD rather than downloading it off the Net. You often get mangled files that won't play right, and it's kinda illegal, by which I mean completely illegal.

tooki
Is it illegal to rip the rented DVD to my hard drive?
     
brokenjago
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Nov 30, 2006, 05:48 PM
 
Yes.
Linkinus is king.
     
tooki
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Dec 1, 2006, 01:16 PM
 
Definitely. It's of questionable legality to rip a DVD that you own, but the status with rented discs is clear: illegal.


(Morally, I see no problem with ripping a DVD you own so that you can copy it for personal use or to transfer to an iPod, but the DMCA makes it illegal nonetheless.)

tooki
     
mduell
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Dec 3, 2006, 12:42 AM
 
I'd guess the xvid codec is non-universal, and due to a high level of optimization for PPC, it's "hard" to transcode to x86.
     
Cadaver
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Dec 3, 2006, 11:37 PM
 
Originally Posted by mduell View Post
I'd guess the xvid codec is non-universal, and due to a high level of optimization for PPC, it's "hard" to transcode to x86.
I expect that eventually someone will port the x86 version for Windows to MacOS X for Intel.
     
thebunny
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Dec 4, 2006, 12:57 AM
 
Originally Posted by macgeek2005 View Post
Is it illegal to rip the rented DVD to my hard drive?
If you're in Canada and you're ripping an original movie (not another copy) for your own pleasure, it's legal. We get to do this legally because we pay the copyright levy on all blank media. But the same thing is illegal in the US.
     
thebunny
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Dec 4, 2006, 12:58 AM
 
Originally Posted by Cadaver View Post
I expect that eventually someone will port the x86 version for Windows to MacOS X for Intel.
It's been done already and works like a hoot.
     
   
 
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