Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How do I play .avi files in quicktime?

S

stateofmind

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 29, 2007
208
0
Also tried it on VLC, no luck.

To give you my situation:

I click on "Arrested Development Episode 1.avi" but quicktime says "This movie could not be opened...this file is not a movie file."

I searched around and people said download 3ivx, so I did, I installed it but still nothing. Same with DivX codec.

What am I doing wrong?
 
Not sure. I play .avi files in QT all the time -- mostly short clips taken off digital cameras. Does Mac OS X recognize these movie files as QT related files?
 
From what I understand, .avi is a wrapper so there is no "avi codec" so much. An .avi could be any one of numerous codecs. I'm not sure how you discern which one it is though. What settings did you use to rip the episode from DVD?
 
I just installed Perian...the file still wont play.

Am I doing something wrong in my installations? For Perian,DivX and 3ivx all I did was install the file...do I have to link it to Quicktime in anyway or is that automatic?
 
It should be automatic. I'd get rid of DivX and the other - the only video tool you need is Perian on the Mac. But if even VLC won't open it, the video itself is probably corrupt. Avi files will run through QT using Perian, or through VLC alone. Try another avi file or try that one on a PC with DivX installed. I think you'll find the problem is with the file.
 
gothamm said:
VLC Media Player...enough said.
Click to expand...

I mentioned it in the opening post that VLC did not play it either. It seems to play it for 2 secs but no video or sound...the playtime goes for 2 seconds and just stops.
 
What settings/program did you use to rip it? Then we can probably tell you what codec it is.

You may be able to convert it to another format with Visual Hub or reencode it from the source.
 
It sounds like the video file is corrupt. If you downloaded it through a torrent or whatever, then you get what you pay for.
 
Bad File

I betcha the .avi movie file is CORRUPT. If it will not play in any of the above media players than that file is most likely JUNK.

Sorry dude :eek:
 
stateofmind said:
I mentioned it in the opening post that VLC did not play it either. It seems to play it for 2 secs but no video or sound...the playtime goes for 2 seconds and just stops.
Click to expand...

haha, my fault. VLC is my default answer to everything. did you try repairing the file index? if that doesn't work then:

I'd agree with with Silentpanda. There are formats that even vlc can't recognize at times and I just use visualhub to convert them.
 
stateofmind said:
it was 3 seasons so 9.5Gb's
Click to expand...

It's either damaged or it hasn't finish downloading.

Torrents typically download random blocks of data, thus usually you have to wait for the whole thing to finish.

Assuming the file is not corrupt, one of these will work
- VLC player
- Flip4Mac
- Quicktime codecs (if non-supported format, quicktime will send you to that page that includes divx, etc.)

If you like something, then you should buy it or rent it. Is it available on iTunes?
 
Consultant said:
It's either damaged or it hasn't finish downloading.

Torrents typically download random blocks of data, thus usually you have to wait for the whole thing to finish.

Assuming the file is not corrupt, one of these will work
- VLC player
- Flip4Mac
- Quicktime codecs (if non-supported format, quicktime will send you to that page that includes divx, etc.)

If you like something, then you should buy it or rent it. Is it available on iTunes?
Click to expand...

I deleted the file, but I tried all those methods with no luck...no use to getting a huge headache
 
i have a mbp. and after reading this post i had removed all DivX stuff and then installed perian, at first all my movies worked fine then i had to reformat my external h/d so i reinstalled all my movies now some movies are being played without sound or some of them is being played with the sound way before the picture. anybody? t.y.
 
stateofmind said:
Also tried it on VLC, no luck.

To give you my situation:

I click on "Arrested Development Episode 1.avi" but quicktime says "This movie could not be opened...this file is not a movie file."

I searched around and people said download 3ivx, so I did, I installed it but still nothing. Same with DivX codec.

What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...

Here's the link that has instruction on getting the leopard version of Xvid video Components and A52 audio for Quicktime...http://installingcats.wordpress.com...odec-movies-on-quicktime-in-mac-os-x-leopard/

DDmak
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back