Frontrow and AVI (and other formats)

[mfInc]

Hi guys, I am brand new to the mac community. First off it seems the users here are very helpful and I love the responsiveness and activity of the members here, hats off to all of you!

I have searched for this topic both in this forum and using the main forum search. I will admit that I only browsed the first 4-5 pages of the results and did not go further so after that I figured I'd post here just in case there wasn't a post about it (very unlikely).

I have been moving some files from my Windows notebook over to my brand new MBP and on there I had previously ripped some DVDs in .AVI format. I would very much like to be able to view them in Front Row (I really love this feature of Mac) but it seems Front Row only seems to open files with QuickTime.

Is there any way to put in a file association so that .avi files will open with another program (for ex: VLC)? Maybe even make Front Row use VLC media player as the default player of choice.

All your help is much appreciated on this topic. As a proud new owner of a MBP I am very eager to get this beast customized and optimized so I can get the most out of this notebook for Web Development and Graphics Design.

Thanks!

 

[Josias]

For anything to appear in Frontrow, it must be in iTunes, iPhoto or on a DVD. You can use iSquint to convert all your .avi files to .mp4, and then import them to iTunes. I used Quicktime Pro, but iSquint is just fine.

 

[j26]

iSquint seems substantially faster than Quicktime to me.

I have no problem with opening avi files in quicktime - I have the Flip4Mac plugin if that makes a difference, and anything in my Movies folder shows up in FrontRow (I think - I don't have my control at the moment, but I'm nearly sure they do.
Try installing Flip4Mac and moving your avi's into your movie folder. It might work, and save you the hassle of reencoding.

 

[kugino]

iSquint seems substantially faster than Quicktime to me.

I have no problem with opening avi files in quicktime - I have the Flip4Mac plugin if that makes a difference, and anything in my Movies folder shows up in FrontRow (I think - I don't have my control at the moment, but I'm nearly sure they do.
Try installing Flip4Mac and moving your avi's into your movie folder. It might work, and save you the hassle of reencoding.

ditto. isquint if you want to change to mp4 or some other filetype, but QT and frontrow seem to read most avi filetypes that i use...just place in your movies folder and it should show up on frontrow.

 

[Josias]

iSquint seems substantially faster than Quicktime to me.

I have no problem with opening avi files in quicktime - I have the Flip4Mac plugin if that makes a difference, and anything in my Movies folder shows up in FrontRow (I think - I don't have my control at the moment, but I'm nearly sure they do.
Try installing Flip4Mac and moving your avi's into your movie folder. It might work, and save you the hassle of reencoding.

1. Flip4Mac is a .wmv and .wma plugin only.
2. You need Perian to play .avi through Quicktime.
3. Have you actually tried Quicktime Pro? It takes me around 15 seconds to save a .avi Family Guy episode to .mov format. Way faster than iSquint.
4. I know it says iSquint is faster than QT Pro, but that is bull.
5. IMO QT Pro is worth the $30. I really love it. I can only recommend it.

 

[mfInc]

Hi guys, thanks for the quick response. When I was moving the files from my external HD I just moved it into the movies folder. It shows in FrontRow but has problems with playback. When I open it individually in VLC it seems to work.

I will try both iSquint and Flip4Mac. Any other suggestions (tips?) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Edit::

Also if there are some packages which packages many codecs for Quicktime -- that'd be great! I had something called the K-Lite Mega Codec Package on Windows it was great.

Edit:2:

I just took a look at Perian, and it installed some codecs to Quicktime that seems to have fixed this problem.