Where do codecs go?

[Peem]

Another dumb question but I wonder would someone be able to advise how VS keeps track of all the codecs on a computer. Does it have to scan the whole hard drive to find them? Can any be installed in other programs or anywhere else that VS can't find? I can find quite a bit of info on the Internet on how codecs work but not much on how programs use them.

Regards, Peter

[teknisyan]

Hello Peem,

I really cannot say what area in the computer a software like VS X4 checks for the codecs but VideoStudio does not keep track of the codecs that is installed on your computer. The checking only happens during the installation process, specially if you have an outdated codecs. Also the only time Videostudio use or load the codec is when a video is imported inside VideoStudio and a codec is needed in order for Videostudio to properly decode the file.

[Peem]

Thanks Abiel,

I suppose what I am trying to work out [and I don't think I am alone] is - Is there anything we can do in our handling of codecs that would make it easier for VS to use them?


Ken Berry wrote in another thread on March 14- ' I suspect what is happening in your case is that you have the decoder, which is allowing you to play the video in PLAY mode, but when you go into Project mode, in effect you are throwing together an encoding session on the fly, and VS does not have access to the proper encoder for that type of video, and for some reason the default codec does not work with it either.'

If I down load something described as an 'encoder' does it necessarily contain the related decoder and is VS assured of finding it?

Thanks, Peter

[aljimenez]

A proper installation of a codec should register itself in Windows. Every codec I have installed does this and it is typically visible in VS X4