I downloaded PERIAN- STILL cant play mpeg4/Avi

Joined
Dec 6, 2006
Messages
409
Reaction score
3
Points
18
according to its website:

http://perian.org/


Perian enables QuickTime® application support for additional media types including:

AVI and FLV
3ivX, DivX, Flash Screen Video, MS-MPEG4, Sorenson H.263, Truemotion VP6, and Xvid
AVI support for: AAC, AC3 Audio, H.264, MPEG4, and VBR MP3





however i still cannot play the mpeg4 video i had nor could i play any avi videos??


i am able to play wmv vids thru flip4mac


pls help!
 
Joined
Oct 10, 2004
Messages
10,345
Reaction score
597
Points
113
Location
Margaritaville
Your Mac's Specs
3.4 Ghz i7 MacBook Pro (2015), iPad Pro (2014), iPhone Xs Max. Apple TV 4K
OP
M
Joined
Dec 6, 2006
Messages
409
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Joined
Oct 27, 2005
Messages
4,702
Reaction score
404
Points
83
im just wondering why the other software i downloaded "Perian" says that it wll let u play avi videos and mpeg4s yet it doesnt :( considering how highly regarded this product is amongst mac users im confused as to why it wont play on mine..

Don't forget that the .avi file is just a simple container in which the sound and audio files are kept. Just because it's an .avi file doesn't mean that QuickTime will play it as the audio or video may have been encoded using a codec that is unfamiliar to QuickTime.

I had a look around and found this:

Learn why an .AVI file may not play as expected in QuickTime Player.

AVI stands for Audio Video Interleave. The .AVI format is what is known as a container format. It specifies a way in which a file may contain audio and video data. It does not specify how that data is encoded. The encoding of audio and video data is specified in what are known as codecs. A codec (short for COmpressor/DECompressor) tells the computer how to decode the audio and video tracks that have been encoded within the .AVI file. QuickTime Player can use numerous codecs by default. You can also add additional codecs to extend QuickTime's features using plug-ins or third-party installations.

When QuickTime opens an .AVI file, it checks to see which codecs were used to encode the audio and video tracks within it. For example, an .AVI file may contain a video track encoded in the Cinepak codec and an audio track encoded with the ALaw 2:1 codec. If both the audio and the video were compressed using a codec that QuickTime can use, the file will play normally. If the audio or video or both were created using codecs that QuickTime cannot use, you may see a message like the following:

"QuickTime is missing the software needed to perform this operation. Unfortunately, it is not available on the QuickTime server"

or
"You may experience problems playing a video track in "filename.avi" because the required compressor could not be found."
These messages are not an indication that anything is wrong with QuickTime Player.

These codecs below are also useful and fill more specific need rather than act as a swiss army knife like Perian.

3ivX codec. A free version of this MPEG4 codec is available for Mac users on their download page.
A52 codec. This codec is very useful for viewing .avi files encoded with A52 audio.
AC3 codec. This codec is very useful for viewing .avi files encoded with AC3 audio.
DivX for Mac codec. A free version is available for watching DivX movies, a commercial solution for encoding movies is available as a free 15 day demo. Free beta versions (including DivX 6 for Intel based macs) are also available from labs.divx.com
Flip4Mac. A free solution, offering playback of AVI, ASF, ASX and non-DRM protected WMA and WMV files.
 
OP
M
Joined
Dec 6, 2006
Messages
409
Reaction score
3
Points
18
These codecs below are also useful and fill more specific need rather than act as a swiss army knife like Perian.

3ivX codec. A free version of this MPEG4 codec is available for Mac users on their download page.
A52 codec. This codec is very useful for viewing .avi files encoded with A52 audio.
AC3 codec. This codec is very useful for viewing .avi files encoded with AC3 audio.
DivX for Mac codec. A free version is available for watching DivX movies, a commercial solution for encoding movies is available as a free 15 day demo. Free beta versions (including DivX 6 for Intel based macs) are also available from labs.divx.com
Flip4Mac. A free solution, offering playback of AVI, ASF, ASX and non-DRM protected WMA and WMV files.:



Hi pulse! very useful info...

i have a question though

the a52 and ac3 codecs..ive dled it and its just sitting there as a folder on my desktop...it doesnt have any applications for me to click on ,..do i just let it sit there? where do i put them?

im very new to macs so im having trouble organizing my desktop..
 
OP
M
Joined
Dec 6, 2006
Messages
409
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Hi pulse! very useful info...

i have a question though

the a52 and ac3 codecs..ive dled it and its just sitting there as a folder on my desktop...it doesnt have any applications for me to click on ,..do i just let it sit there? where do i put them?

im very new to macs so im having trouble organizing my desktop..



by the way i downloaded these codecs along with flip4mac and perian and STILL cannot play the avi files.. do i need to activate the codecs or something??
they are downloaded and sitting on my desktop.
 
OP
M
Joined
Dec 6, 2006
Messages
409
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Just open the .dmg and double-click the codec to install.



yes ive done that..and they are just sitting on my desktop...as "component" files with an icon of a white box above it..clicking on it gives me a pop up thatr says "there is no default application to run.." blah blah blah..

how do i know if its "working"? i STILL cant play my .avi file videos with the ac3 codec and a52 codec... :(
 
OP
M
Joined
Dec 6, 2006
Messages
409
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Did you see this window at all:

wow! no i didnt.. mine looks nothing like that..


when i downloaded "ac3movieimport" file from the link u gave me..it just put itself on my desktop as a "component" file with a white box..

when i downloaded "a52codec" file from the link u gave me...it put a folder titled "a52codec" on my desktop...when i click on it , it has the "a52codec.component" icon of a white box along with "apple license.txt" "read me.txt" and other misc. files..


im confused did udownload something different because ur window is labeled "a52codec 1.7.2" and mine is just titled "A52codec" ...

yours also has the ac3movieimport.component icon within that folder..did u manually do that or it just downloaded like that?
 
Joined
Oct 27, 2005
Messages
4,702
Reaction score
404
Points
83
I didn't realise that I have the Universal version for my Intel Core2Duo iMac.

I got it from here:


Finally we have a working AC3 codec that works on the Intel Macs. Get it from A52Codec 1.7.2 - VersionTracker. This one really works

Usually you will find AC3 audio on those common DivX movies, DVDs etc. Until now ac3 audio would not play on the Intel Macs- both on Front Row or Quick Time. Sometime back, somewhere on the web, I came across another universal ac3 code for QT, but this one just kept crashing the QA player or Front Row.

With this new A52Codec v 1.7.2 universal binary available at Version Tracker, ac3 audio playes great on QT or Front row. The code appears pretty stable and the audio clear.

The download comes in a dmg format. After clicking on the DMG from the Finder, it’s almost drag and drop install.

Drag & drop the A52Codec.component into /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components
Drag & drop the AC3MovieImport.compontent into /Library/QuickTime
Drag & drop A52Preferences.app to your Applications folder.
 
OP
M
Joined
Dec 6, 2006
Messages
409
Reaction score
3
Points
18
I didn't realise that I have the Universal version for my Intel Core2Duo iMac.

I got it from here:



:( :( :(

this one doesnt work either....i notice on the quote u posted it says "Ac3 audio"?

is this only for videos that play but do not have sound??

because my problem is there is no sound AND no video on these avi files :(
 
Joined
Oct 27, 2005
Messages
4,702
Reaction score
404
Points
83
OK let's backtrack a little, have you ever been able to play avi or mpeg videos and have audio/video without any hassle?

What are your mac specs?
 
OP
M
Joined
Dec 6, 2006
Messages
409
Reaction score
3
Points
18
OK let's backtrack a little, have you ever been able to play avi or mpeg videos and have audio/video without any hassle?

What are your mac specs?


no i just got this mac like last week...

i am able to play wmv videos after installing flip4mac..

i hav never been able to play avi files..

i have a macbook pro 2.33 ghz intel core 2 duo, 2gb ram.
 
Joined
Jan 4, 2007
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
1
hi, first post, similar problem

.avi files are the WORST. I've tried Perian, 3ivx and Divx converters, "Divx Doctor II" , a VLC player, all things sworn to have worked on ANY avi files but none of them do!! avi' are an endless frustration. Why doesn't Apple lead the way in an innovation that once and for all just plain WORKS? I've tried erasing the avi extension and replacing it with .mov or .mpeg, but nothing seems to work. And what's wores are files with double extensions like .avi.mpg. What is that anyway? I thought that the .mpg second extension would at least get me in the door with quiktime, but the "Error could not open file" window comes up WITH NO EXPLANATION AS TO WHY!! This has got to be my biggest gripe with my iMac.......
 

eric


Retired Staff
Joined
Nov 4, 2006
Messages
8,704
Reaction score
447
Points
83
Location
twin cities, mn, usa
i had a lot of the same problems with .avi files on all my windows machines. there's no real standard codec for .avi, so it's a hunting game. on my windows machines i would even dl programs that were supposed to detect the codec and suggest the name/where to dl. and even that barely worked. divx probably was able to handle about 1/2 to 2/3 of them though.


btw, welcome to the forums meshuggah!
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top