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What's a .flv file and how do I play it?

Aniej

Aniej

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 17, 2006
1,743
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Can someone tell me what's a .flv file and how to either make it into a .mov file and playable in quicktime or simply to make it playable. I got a cool little application called download helper, but everything it saves for me is in .flv and I have no clue what to do?
thanks
 
thanks, I will check it out. How would I convert it into a different type of media file so that it could be more easily distributed and watched by people like myself who have no idea what a .flv file is, or didn't until now?
 
Off the top of my head you have
iSquint - flv to mp4

Mplayer Encoder flv to lots of stuff but it is command line so you need to know what you are doing a bit more
Example being "mencoder input.flv -ofps 15 -vf scale=300:-2 -oac lavc -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=msmpeg4v2:acodec=mp3:abitrate=64 -o output.avi"

Sorry I'm not more help I haven't had a need to convert them
 
i like ffmpegx. It will convert most anything to most anything. Many formats are supported like all the mp4s, including 3GP, XviDivx, and h.26* as well as flash and vcd
 
I really like iSquint for making conversions to .mp4 from the .flv format. I've been using it to convert files downloaded from TouTube. :D
 
cecildk9999 said:
I really like iSquint for making conversions to .mp4 from the .flv format. I've been using it to convert files downloaded from TouTube. :D
Click to expand...

If you use safari, you can make the process easier with Podtube or Tubesock, they both download the Youtube file and put it in iPod (mp4) format.
 
I've had VLC give me some grief in the past when playing back .flv files. The Perian plugin for QuickTime, however, has handled every flash movie I've thrown at it. Perian's also good in that you can use flash video in the iLife apps.

I used to use ffmpegX for converting .flv to mpeg4, but with Perian there's no real need unless you're putting stuff on your iPod or things like that.
 
dolphin842 said:
I've had VLC give me some grief in the past when playing back .flv files. The Perian plugin for QuickTime, however, has handled every flash movie I've thrown at it. Perian's also good in that you can use flash video in the iLife apps.

I used to use ffmpegX for converting .flv to mpeg4, but with Perian there's no real need unless you're putting stuff on your iPod or things like that.
Click to expand...

I second that, contrary to what everyone says, I have never been able to get VLC to play a .FLV file. I recently discovered Perian, and it plays they perfectly in Quicktime. It also plays many other formats as well.
 
todd2000 said:
I second that, contrary to what everyone says, I have never been able to get VLC to play a .FLV file. I recently discovered Perian, and it plays they perfectly in Quicktime. It also plays many other formats as well.
Click to expand...

VLC is picky about where the .flv file is located.

I believe the player and the .flv file must be in the same folder.
If I recall correctly, it's not, it won't play.
 
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