DIVX export via iMovie3

[David Thrasher]

I haven't tried exporting to DivX with iMovie 3 but I did try it with Quicktime Pro 5 on Mac OS 9.  I downloaded Divx 5.0.5 and discovered after I installed it that there was now an "Export to DivX" option under Export in Quicktime Pro. I tried exporting my 25 minute show to DivX and checked it 9 hours later. I had some difficulty rousing my iMac from sleep but when it did come back to life, I discovered it had only gotten about 1/6th of the way through and was rendering at a rate of .02 fps. I hate to think how long it would have taken to do the whole show. I tried a really short 10 second clip and ended up with a file that had a green screen and no sound so the verdict really isn't in yet for me about rendering DivX files on a Mac. 

I did find a pleasant surprise with this latest DivX release. It now comes with a program called DivX Validator that will make the sound work on DivX files where it wouldn't before. Apparently there is some small bug in Quicktime that doesn't allow sound in some files to be played. I believe the Read Me mentioned audio encoded with MP3 but I could be wrong about that. There's some files where, when you try to play them, the audio cuts in and out briefly and then quits. The DivX Validator makes a small change in the audio of the file and then it will play properly on a Mac. It doesn't affect it's playability on a PC. I'd say this new version of DivX for the Mac is an improvement but it still needs a lot of work, especially in creating DivX files. (I noticed that on large DivX files you had to increase the amount of memory for Quicktime Player in OS 9. OS X automatically adjusts memory so users of that don't have to worry about that.

-Dave

Original message

"On 22/5/03 2:41 PM, "Dennis A. Amith" wrote:

> Hi,
> > I was checking out the latest Mac OS X DIVX release (www.divx.com) for
> Quicktime and not too familiar with creating DIVX files but gave it a
try
> with iMovie 3.  Well, when I do an export and select DIVX, it comes up
but
> then stops and doesn't work.
> > Has anyone tried to convert any of their imovie files to DIVX AVI?
> > daa
> > Yes -its a real pain in the ass. Quicktime still does not handle codecs
very
well
Phil


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