[X4U] Re: Playing avi files on QT

[Eugene]

On Tue, Jul 12, 2005 at 06:44:24PM CDT, Wayne Clodfelter <wayne at troutnc.com> wrote:
: 
: Pay attention, Eugene.
: What you're saying, using way too many words, is that the answer is no, 
: right? Once you figure out the codec, you're STILL not going to get it 
: to play in QT. Why didn't you just say so?

I didn't just say so because you didn't just ask so.  You asked too many
questions to be covered by a simple "yes" or "no" answer, as well as
some "Why?" questions that require a deeper explanation and not just
a binary response.  I though Steven's answer covered the bases pretty
well.  But your response indicated that while he answered the question
you wrote down in your message, he failed to answer the question that
was in your mind.

: And I still don't buy all this itty bitty unknown codec mumbo-jombo. 
: That would imply that some avis use bigger well-known codecs, so they 
: SHOULD play in QT. Right?

Your assumptions are incorrect.  Examples of "lesser-known codecs"
include DivX and XviD container formats, neither of which are supported
out of the box by both OS X & Windoze and require 3rd-party downloads.
Also, a lot of DivX or XviD videos tend to be ripped and not-legally
distributed copyrighted content.

Examples of "bigger well-known codecs" that were not supported by
QuickTime Player include some Intel Indeo codecs that lived during
the last days of Mac OS 9.


===================== original posting below =====================

: On Jul 12, 2005, at 7:30 PM, Eugene wrote:
: 
: >On Tue, Jul 12, 2005 at 04:41:09PM CDT, Wayne Clodfelter wrote:
: >: On Jul 12, 2005, at 2:34 PM, Steven Rogers wrote:
: >: >On Jul 12, 2005, at 1:14 PM, x4u-request at listserver.themacintoshguy.com wrote:
: >: >
: >: >>How the heck do you play the avi files in Quicktime which is
: >: >>supposed to be such a multiple format player?
: >: >
: >: >AVI is not a video format, its a container format (kind of like
: >: >QuickTime), so playing it depends entirely on what's inside.
: >: >Asking that QT play it is kind of like demanding that a competent
: >: >mechanic should be able to work on what's in your garage, just
: >: >because it's in there. AVIs can contain just about anything - like
: >: >weird little proprietary codecs made by people who create novelty
: >: >devices, like the little pen cams. If you know where the file came
: >: >from, that's usually enough info to figure out what codec you
: >: >need.
: >:
: >: Ok, Steven, and then what? Are you saying that by figuring out what
: >: codec you need you can get the file to play in QT?
: >: If you can do that, I'm ready to sign up for classes <g>.
: >: As far as avis being weird little proprietary codecs (or containing
: >: them), I don't really buy that, or they would give VLC and mPlayer
: >: fits, too. With VLC and mPlayer, avis just work! Why can't QT do that,
: >: too?
: >: Not why can't, I suppose; why don't they?
: >
: >Pay attention to what Steven said.  The reason that QuickTime Player
: >doesn't play every AVI in the known universe because some AVIs are
: >created with lesser-known codecs unavailable to the OS X platform as
: >QuickTime plugins.  However, many of these lesser-knwon codecs *are*
: >available via other 3rd-party software, such as the cross-platform apps
: >VLC Player and mPlayer.  If you want to see these lesser-known codecs
: >supported in QuickTime Player, you have some options:
: >
: >- beg Apple to add support for these lesser-known codecs
: >
: >- beg the VLC/mPlayer developers to write QuickTime plugins for these
: >  lesser-known codecs
: >
: >- pay someone to write QuickTime plugins for these lesser-known codecs
: >
: >- learn to code, then do it yourself and write QuickTime plugins for
: >  these lesser-known codecs


-- 
Eugene
http://www.coxar.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/