Won't Recognize AVI files

[KeithC]

Dear HELPERS!

Just purchased new "super" computer from DELL. Have been using ULEAD 11+ on older desktop and newer HP Laptop. The software on the new computer (VOSTRO 400) like WMP and ULEAD 11+ won't recognized avi files.

WMP only plays the audio and ULEAD says the file is "not accessible". Using ugraded version 11.5.0157.2 plus of ULEAD and v11 of WMP on new PC.

Forgot to add, using Windows XP Pro in all machines and the AVI files I'm using were produced using a SMALL WONDER camera and work just fine on the other computers.

UPDATE: Just ran GSpot to determine if codex was installed to run the AVI files. It said they were!

UPDATE (2): Tried uninstalling WMP and reloading: no change
UPDATE (3): Tried to use REALPLAYER, but it failed also to play the AVI files --- It tried to look up a file to download, but came back saying there were no files available to download and play a "ICM.XVID" file.

Thanks for the assistance.

Keith

[Ken Berry]

As I have just told two other users here over the past 24 hours, there is a wide variety of formats that use the .avi extension. It is no more than a carrier format. True or uncompressed .avi is huge -- 65 GB per hour of video. Then there is DV/AVI from a mini DV digital video camera -- still large at 13 GB per hour. At the other end of the spectrum -- and where I suspect you are -- are highly compressed mpeg-4 type formats such as DivX and XVid.

As I say, I suspect you are dealing with these sorts of files, but your new super duper computer doesn't have the relevant codecs installed. The one(s) found by GSpot were probably the uncompressed one and the DV one installed by Windows. If you right click on one of the files within Video Studio, you will be able to confirm what your mystery .avi was encoded with.

The good news is that you can download a free version of the DivX codec from DivX.com and you can Google for a free download to the XVid codec.

[MrA]

As Ken suggests, I also suggest you "suspect" windows media player versions, and directx versions. There was a version of Media Player going around that poo-pooed video editing. Be up to date on all your software!

[KeithC]

Ken,

Thanks for the help. Sorry for not finding your previous posts on this subject, but I did search first. Problem was, I didn't know what to search for exactly and the Subject lines I found seemed, at the time, to be irrelevant.

Thanks to you, I know a lot more now than a few hours ago. I downloaded the DivX Codec Bundle from DivX.com. That got everything working. Only one noticeable difference from my other machines. All players (Real, WMP and ULEAD VS11+) play the AVI files with intermittent pixelated flashes near moving objects in the scene. I tried changing some of the codec settings, but nothing made a difference.

Suggestions appreciated.

Thank you,
Keith

[Ken Berry]

I am not sure what I can suggest. Nearly all DivX video is encoded to that format from some other format. Re-encoding like that almost inevitably involves some loss of quality, then if you are re-encoding DivX to yet a third format, then further degradation is definitely inevitable -- particular if, as you may be, you are going from highly compressed DivX out to a less compressed format like mpeg-2. In effect, any video editing or conversion program is going to have to make a lot of the extra content up out of the thin air, so conversion artifacts such as you describe can be expected...

Sorry not to be more positive, but hopefully someone else may have something better to say!

[KeithC]

Ken,

I have no expertise in this area of computer science, but since two of my older computers play the avi's without this phenomena, the problem is likely either a computer/driver/setup issue or a computer/codec issue.

I converted one of my avi's to wmv using VS and the glitches passed through. They are clean using the same software in the other computers.

Maybe someone knows how a new XP Pro, Core2 Duo, Nvidia GeForce 8600GT, 2 Gig, 500GB x 2 Drive machine might contribute to this.

Also, does anyone know of another safe and well-respected Xvid MPEG-4 codec (besides the one from DivX.com) that I could try? That may help me to eliminate the computer/codec side of the equation.

NOTE: just installed latest video driver from Nvidia (Dec17), but it made no difference.

Thank you,
Keith

[KeithC]

I can put a positive cap on this problem. First, I'd like to thank Ken for holding my hand through a quagmire of puzzling possibilities (rather poetic).

First, my new computer had no Codec for playing AVI files. DivX.com's free bundle allowed me to play AVI's produced with my RCA, but with poor quality. The solution to this was to upgrade the firmware for the Small Wonder using the NEW computer. WHY? Because RCA sneaks in a proprietary Xvid codec to play their AVI's. Just transferring the Small Wonder AVI's to the new computer didn't cut it!

Hope this helps others.

Keith
Lodi, CA

[Ken Berry]

Glad that you sort it out. Did you ever do a Google for the actual XVid codec? It is of course quite similar to DivX, but there is a huge community of computer/video enthusiasts which work on XVid, and keep it in the freeware range.

I am also surprised that changed the DivX settings produced no discernible improvement. I regularly use the upper quality range of the DivX settings and produce truly marvellous quality videos in a (relatively) small size...

I will send you via email a two page paper I wrote some time ago now, setting out my experiences with DivX. Maybe it will be of some assistance with the settings...