Can I view or convert AVI files on my Mac?

[supermacdesign]

I've got some of these avi files I downloaded but it says my quicktime is missing some components or something. I am running 10.4.4 on a new Intel iMac. First is it possible to play these files? Second if not can I convert them to another file format and how?

Thanks!

 

[~Shard~]

Just use VLC - it's the best media player out there.

You may also want to look at MPlayer and Flip4Mac as well, depending on your needs and preferences.

 

[bigbossbmb]

you'll probly want to go to http://www.divx.com and download the DIVX codec (most avi's use this).

 

[echeck]

If all you want to do is just play these files then just use VLC, like Shard said. It's a great little program that will play nearly everything.

If you still want to encode the file to a different format, go grab the divx codec and then if you have quicktime pro you can use that to encode to mpeg.

 

[NadeemF]

Summary of solutions

.avi files are often (but not always) encoded with the divx codec.

VLC and Mplayer are the best players for these files, and both support subtitle files. If possible, use these.

If you don't have Toast, or you wish to convert to other formats, use ffmpegx. Watch out that you turn the soundtrack from ac3 into mp2 if appropriate. Unfortunately, ffmpegX can be a bit intimidating (use the Guides on the website), and can sometimes spend hours transcoding the video and then stop prematurely because it let you specify an illegal mp2 bitrate.

If you want an easier solution, install the free Quicktime components: AC3 codec (I think the one that works in 10.4.x is AC3 Codec.component 0.4b1), and the divx decoding codecs.
Now you can use Quicktime to play these, and Toast 7 can deal with them nicely (NB Toast actually comes with its own copy of the divx codecs).

Another interesting solution is to get a DVD player that can playback avi/divx files, but having looked into that I can reveal it is another whole can of worms (esp for subtitled films), and I'm now thinking a MacMini running VLC will be the best possible media server (at least if it ever gets optical audo out).

 

[supermacdesign]

AVI to iPod

Thanks for all the input guys but things aren't quite working yet. I purchased Quicktime Pro and used the export to several different formats. The AVI files still just display as white. They start with a bit of sound and then go quite. I know the files are good because I also downloaded the Player you reccomended and they worked.

This is the deal, I downloaded some episodes of Justice League for my son to play on the iPod for when we are on the road. They are all AVI files and I want them converted to the iPod format which is listed as an option in Quicktime Pro. I tried it twice with to different AVI files and both gave me the whited out result. What am I missing or doing wrong?

Is quicktime still missing some component like the DIVIX thing? Does quicktime have to be able to play it correctly before it can export it correctly?

 

[~Shard~]

It may not help you, but for converting files to iPod format, I would strongly recommend using iSquint instead of QuickTime Pro. An awesome, free little app.

 

[Sdashiki]

well you dled TV shows, GUARANTEED they are:

Xvid

you need to download the Xvid codec, which is a derivate of Divx/Mp4 I believe.

Also I found: Playing those damn Videos on a mac to be a good read.

and yes if quicktime player doesnt play the video all the way through correctly, it wont encode. WYSIWYG with quicktime. Because the player is the converter, so if it doesnt work, it wont. Codecs are the key.


enjoy.