divX

[no way]

Hi !
I have downloaded a video from the internet and can not open it.
I guess it is because of the DivX type of file (although I do not really know what that means). My player tries to download a decompressor, does not find it, and I only have the sound of the movie.

Any ideas ?

Cheers
Fred

[Spookster]

Download a divx player and codec.

http://www.divx.com/divx/

[x_goose_x]

There are multiple versions of DivX, that is if the file is even encoded with DivX. You might want to try downloading a codec pack, such as nimo.

http://www.divx-digest.com/software/nimo_pack.html

[jkd]

Xvid is also getting popular. :)

[x_goose_x]

nimo has xvid

[Morgoth]

I need to download all the video decompressors up to mpeg4, can nimo do it?

Also, does nimo have spyware?

<edit>
What about http://www.divx-digest.com/software/nimo_lite_pack.html ?
</edit>

[Spookster]

This whole codec thing reminds me of the NS and MS browser wars of long ago. It's a pain having to keep downloading different codecs for every movie.

[Morgoth]

True, but that's why people make 'packs'... So you can get the needed stuff in one package...

[no way]

Originally posted by Morgoth

Also, does nimo have spyware?

What about http://www.divx-digest.com/software/nimo_lite_pack.html ?

This is a very good question. Although they say spywares are only activated when encoding (not for playback), I am not very confident about that stuff. Has anybody tried both versions ? Is the lite version sufficient ?

If I download this package, is it like a plugin on my media player ? Will I just open the movie like I used to and media player knows how to encode it (like IE and Flash for example) ???

[Spookster]

Originally posted by Morgoth
True, but that's why people make 'packs'... So you can get the needed stuff in one package...

Yes but those packs sometimes have codecs that conflict with codecs you already have which creates problems. And on top of it you have to figure out what codec to even use. By they this is a handy little tool to find out what codec the file uses and checks to see if you have it:

http://www.headbands.com/gspot/

[Morgoth]

This doesn't tell me what Codexs I need, does it?

[Spookster]

Yes. It tells you what codec the movie was encoded with and checks to see if you have it installed. If you don't it says so.

[Morgoth]

But it doesn't install the others for me..
:(

Well, atleast I know the names then..
Thank you.

[Spookster]

It comes in real handy when you download a video and have no idea what codec was used so it at least tells you what you need so you can go find it.

[Morgoth]

Well, do you know of a place that has all the codex installment files avalible for download?
Spyware free?

[Sparky]

That Gspot utility is exllent for telling you what file/cdex type a particular file is.

Doom9.net (http://www.doom9.org/) is a pretty good site with lots of guides about different Codex's, links too downloads and stuff like that.

And Ad-ware (http://www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware/) is an exellent program for finding spyware/adware/mailware on your hard drive. Get it.

[Morgoth]

I have ad-ware, it's just that I hate gain, and it seems most divx nad codex programs and installments have it in them.

[Skyzyx]

Originally posted by Spookster
This whole codec thing reminds me of the NS and MS browser wars of long ago. It's a pain having to keep downloading different codecs for every movie.

So do you suggest that a monopoly/oligopoly would be better for video codecs? Most video is in QuickTime, Windows Media, or Real formats, which isn't too bad, but up-and-coming codecs like DivX have their place too. It all depends on the types of video you want to download. You need to be aware of commonalities with your preference of genre in video, that's all.

[Spookster]

Originally posted by Skyzyx
So do you suggest that a monopoly/oligopoly would be better for video codecs? Most video is in QuickTime, Windows Media, or Real formats, which isn't too bad, but up-and-coming codecs like DivX have their place too. It all depends on the types of video you want to download. You need to be aware of commonalities with your preference of genre in video, that's all.

Codec does not equal movie player. Codec stands for Compression/Decompression. It's a mechanism for compressing and decompressing the data in the file. It has nothing to do with what player I use or what file format it is in. It has nothing to do with "commonalities with your preference of genre in video." I can have 5 copies of the same movie in mpg format encoded using 5 different codecs. You can play mpg or avi movies in most all players nowadays. But I can't play it unless I have the same codec that was used to compress it. There should be one standard and one codec used so that people don't have to keep downloading the right codec every time they want to watch a movie.

[liorean]

Or at least one standard of specifying what codec and version was used to make a movie, out of a set of codecs (and specifying a static url for getting the codec for players that doesn't have it).

Oh, and don't forget there's hardware codecs too. MPEGs encoded using one of those are almost impossible to find the decoder for, since mostly the creators of those video editing/recording cards doesn't make software decoders for them.

[Jason]

But the pain in the butt part about codecs is that they are finding new and better ways to compress/decompress videos hence the divx and now xvid codecs. So if they come up with a new way to do things the software is then added to a bundel for those inept people that are still encoding using older versions and yet it is also for those modern people that can't help but get those types of video. So I guess we just need to get the old fashioned people to start using the newer compresion agents like divx or xvid and stop with those .mov or quicktime formats to a more general codec.


Jason