VLC player buggy on Intel Mac - Alternative

[XP Defector]

When playing AVI's with VLC Player, I often discovered VLC player would simply stop responding. Lately I downloaded MPlayer OSX and it works like a dream!

http://mplayerosx.sourceforge.net/

[Josias]

Seriously, get Quicktime Pro. It' so woth the what? 30 bucks?

Just download the Perian (http://perian.org/) and Flip4Mac (http://flip4mac.com/) plugins to play .avi, .wmv and other funny formats such as DivX and XviD.

I though it was bogus too, but I really am glad I got it. I know it's illegal to discuss this, but if you're really desperate, there are sites distributing free serial keys, I howver do not support that, and recommend that you buy it from Apple.

Just get it. You'll love it. So many cool features. You can also convert fra .avi to .mov so you can add your movies to iTunes.

Also, VLC is buggy and crashy as hell, QT never goes wrong, and supports live video in the dock, which makes stupid windows users drool.:D

[NJuul]

When playing AVI's with VLC Player, I often discovered VLC player would simply stop responding. Lately I downloaded MPlayer OSX and it works like a dream!

It's not universal...
Or do they have a beta version for download somewhere?

[XP Defector]

Ah I guess it is Rosetta that is undermining VLCs performance.

[vectormasked]

well there's downloads for both powerpc and intel

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html

I downloaded the intel package and haven't had any problems with it.

[treblah]

Have you tired any of the VLC Intel only nightlies (http://nightlies.videolan.org/build/macosx-intel/)?

Never had any problem with them.

[gloss]

I had lots of trouble with VLC until I realized I was running the PowerPC incarnation. Haven't had any problems since I moved to the Intel build.

[XnavxeMiyyep]

If you frequently view .mkv files and .ogm files, you will find that they do not open in Quicktime player. Also, if they are soft subbed or have multiple audio tracks, there is no way (to my knowledge) to switch the audio or subtitle tracks in MPlayer. VLC is definitely a good investment.

[Eidorian]

I don't think a Universal binary will be here soon for VLC. Just live with the separate PowerPC and Intel binaries for now.

I haven't had ANY problems playing .mkv and .ogm files using VLC. h.264 in .mkv does have some slowdown issues but that's a common problem.

[XnavxeMiyyep]

I don't think a Universal binary will be here soon for VLC. Just live with the separate PowerPC and Intel binaries for now.

I haven't had ANY problems playing .mkv and .ogm files using VLC. h.264 in .mkv does have some slowdown issues but that's a common problem.

I said there'd be problems playing .mkv in Quicktime, not VLC.

[Eidorian]

I said there'd be problems playing .mkv in Quicktime, not VLC.I didn't know you could play those in Quicktime. Did you find a plug-in for it?

[XnavxeMiyyep]

I didn't know you could play those in Quicktime. Did you find a plug-in for it?

Sorry, I'm rather sleepy right now.:o

When I said problems, I meant that it wouldn't work at all.

[Eidorian]

Sorry, I'm rather sleepy right now.:o

When I said problems, I meant that it wouldn't work at all..mkv and .ogm are rather obscure video encapsulation formats. I had to make sure I had a player for them on OS X before I switched. Hope for a Quicktime plug but I doubt you'll ever see any support from Apple.

[XnavxeMiyyep]

.mkv and .ogm are rather obscure video encapsulation formats. I had to make sure I had a player for them on OS X before I switched. Hope for a Quicktime plug but I doubt you'll ever see any support from Apple.

Yeah, I used to always use VLC for them, but now that I have dual monitors, VLC only plays on the smaller monitor (most likely due to the age of my computer and video card) so I use MPlayer more often now.

[apfhex]

I have Perian for QT installed, but I still find VLC to be the superior player for the various AVI files I download (as well as all those others, OGM, MKV, etc.). Especially as you mention when the file has soft subs or multiple audio tracks.

The Intel build works fine, about as stable as the PPC version was (it crashes now n then, but nothing annoying).

[Eidorian]

Yeah, I used to always use VLC for them, but now that I have dual monitors, VLC only plays on the smaller monitor (most likely due to the age of my computer and video card) so I use MPlayer more often now.Video -> Video Device -> Your Larger Monitor

[XnavxeMiyyep]

Video -> Video Device -> Your Larger Monitor

It shows up as just a black screen (which occasionally flashes the video) when I do that. I've already done everything I can think of doing, so I'll just use the smaller monitor (for the times I can't use MPlayer) until I replace this machine within a year.

[farqueue]

no probs here.
vlc is great

[steve_hill4]

No major problems with VLc, since switching to the Intel build. Much better than Quicktime, if you can use it.

[iBookG4user]

I've had no problems with VLC on my MBP, and I didn't have any problems on my iBook either. Just make sure that you get the intel build and not the powerpc build. You can check by going into activity monitor when VLC is open and it will tell you.

[benthewraith]

Does VLC play the dreaded Realplayer format as well?

[Eidorian]

Does VLC play the dreaded Realplayer format as well?The Mac Realplayer client isn't that painful. Even I have it installed. :rolleyes:

[benthewraith]

The Mac Realplayer client isn't that painful. Even I have it installed. :rolleyes:

It's not the player I have a problem with.

[Eidorian]

It's not the player I have a problem with.http://www.videolan.org/doc/vlc-user-guide/en/ch02.html

real

Always enabled

This module allows you to read RealMedia (.rm) files. Note : Only very old audio codecs (rv10) are currently supported by VLC inside RealMedia files.

[CrashRay]

You can now use Perian (http://mkv4mac.free.fr/index.php?p=log#per) to read MKV files with Quicktime.
You have an How to use .Mkv files with QuickTime (http://mkv4mac.free.fr/index.php?p=lec#qp).

[twoodcc]

i personally like VLC. never had a problem with it

[emmalee88]

i downloaded the intel based version of vlc and it worked a dream, rather than the other i had, which was very glitchy and awful to use. Thanks for the solution guys.