XVID files.

[Ted.]

Hi, All,

My NZ DMR-XW380 Panasonic DVD recorder will only read DIVX or XVID video files. My Corel Video Studio 12 has no option to save a clip as DIVX or XVID. I am able to save the clip and convert it with Oxelon, but can Video Studio 12 be set up to do this?

[Ken Berry]

Hi Ted -- greetings from Levin!!

I assume you have either the XVid and/or DivX codec installed. IIRC X2 preferred an older DivX codec, but the XVid one always seemed to work.

And with both those codecs, you don't look for an output labelled XVid or DivX, but instead have to go Share > Create Video File > AVI, and then in the Compression tab which appears, DivX or XVid should appear in the drop down menu as output options. In other words, both DivX and XVid disguise themselves -- as they always do -- as .avi videos.

[Ted.]

Hi there, Ken from sunny Cambridge. Nice to know you are now living in the land of the long white cloud welcome! Levin is a lovely place. I used to operate a one-man wholesale business and always stayed at the Mountaintop Motel (or a name like that) every time I was selling there. Some great racing identities there too, Billy Skelton for example.
Okay, I assume I have the XVID codec as I can read .xvid files and Oxelon Media Converter will convert video files to .xvid okay. I have no Share > Create Video File > AVI, option in my list, but selecting Share > Create Video File > Custom gives me a list of codecs. Unfortunately XVid is not amongst them.

[Ken Berry]

Sorry. Was doing that from memory!

I have just gone (in X2) to Share > Create Video File > Custom and selected Microsoft AVI Files as the format. Then in the dialogue box which appears after I click the Options button, in the drop down menu at the top of the AVI tab I have a long list of my various avi codecs, and they include both XVid and DivX 6.9.2, which I think is the current version. So I am surprised yours does not even show XVid.

Have you ever installed the community (free) DivX codec from divx.com? If not, you could try that. I have found in the past it only shows up in VS after I have rebooted the computer. I guess there is no point in reloading XVid since your other program can see it. However. That program could have it in a place where VS does not look. So it could be worthwhile installing it again generally -- a simple Google search will find it.

[Ted.]

Hi again, Ken,

Thanks for that. In Create Video File > Custom > Microsoft AVI files > Options, XVid MPEG-4 codec is listed, but no DIvx. This setting created a file with audio, but no video. I went to Share > Create Video File > Custom > Microsoft AVI files > Options > Corel Video Studio > and ticked the "Create Video File with Specified Duration" box, but this created a file for every frame in the clip. Playing around with the duration settings doesn't do much, either, as yet.

[Ken Berry]

Not sure why you would get audio but no video. But I suspect you have to hit the Configure button after you have selected XVid. I think it shows a profile of 'unrestricted' as the default, and you might have to change that to Home or one of the other options. But I confess I am not a user of XVid... But I use the Home Theater Profile in DivX so that is why I suggest you use Home as the profile with XVid.

Did you install the DivX codec?

[Ted.]

Hi, Ken,

In Create Video File > Custom > Microsoft AVI files > Options > Corel Video Studio > I unticked the "Create Video File with Specified Duration" box. The "Entire Project", "Perform SmartRender" and "Perform non-square pixel rendering" boxes are ticked.
In General I have. Data Track > Audio and Video, Frame Rate > 25fps > Frame Type > Upper field and Frame Size > 640 x 480 Standard ticked.
In AVI I have Compression > Microsoft Video 1
Quality 75%
Key Frame for every 15 frames.
Data Type: 16 bit RGB
Format: PCM
Attributes: 11.025kHz 16 Bit Stereo.

My Panny DVD now Displays the Title on my USB drive, but I get a "Can't play this file" message. #####!!

[Ken Berry]

How did you get Microsoft Video 1? If you can select XVid under 'AVI' -- and you said above it is there -- then select it and not Microsoft Video 1. And immediately below the Compression box where XVid mpeg-4 codec is now displaying, there is a Configure button. Click that and on the new dialogue box, at the top, change the 'Profile @ Level' from Unrestricted to Home in the drop down menu. You could also try Highdef instead of Home...

But essentially, Microsoft Video 1 is not XVid or DivX, so of course it won't play on your Panny...

[Ted.]

All sweet now. I installed DivX. The installer package said version 7.2.2, but the codec is listed as version 6.8.5. I installed the codec only and ignored the converter and filters etc. The default setting for audio was PCM which produced no audio at all, but MPEG Audio Layer 3 works perfectly. Many thanks.

[Ken Berry]

Well I'm glad it's working, and with the latest DivX too... But I am a bit surprised that you couldn't get PCM audio to work as in effect it is bog standard .wav and you will certainly have the codec for that on your computer, I think as part of Windows...

[Ted.]

PCM audio plays perfectly on my PC, but although the video plays okay on my Panny, I get the "Can't play audio" message. I think MP3 is the only format supported.

[Ken Berry]

Ah yes. That might explain it! A rather picky customer is your Panny -- I have read a couple of reviews of it over the past couple of days...