Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with codecs

I Need to Pause the Movie and Look Something Up...

rokusan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:40:31 -0800

Which is the best method for adding codec, playing video from remote shares, and most of all usable web browsing to an AppleTV? Okay, so I picked up a $99 refurb AppleTV on a whim, with the hope of hacking it into being a fuller-featured couch computer. It's still virgin in the box at the moment.

My four main requirements are:
1. Play video from remote fileshares, not through iTunes.
2. Handle a typical wide variety of codecs, not just the Apple-endorsed handful.
3. A decent web browser, preferably Safari or Firefox
4. Use a remote keyboard and mouse (don't care what type)

I know there are many, many, many partial solutions to this, up to and including the nuclear option of installing a full version of MacOSX, which of course would achieve all of the above and much more. I'm comfortable doing that if necessary. I'm a pretty "power" Mac user and can handle Unix hackery if needed. I see there are lots of other, lesser/specialized mods out there, and I'd like to know if anyone has experience or advice for any of them:

XBMC or Boxee? Classic choices, and both include web browser plug-in apps I think, but I can't find info on keyboards/mice.

NitoTV talks a lot about USB support.

aTV Flash looks awfully sweet and is getting a lot of nice buzz lately, but the site seems to contradict itself on whether there's a web browser or not (it's listed both as a feature and as a "coming soon".) I don't think there's a demo of aTV Flash, just a paid version, so I can't test it easily, either.

Patchstick seems to be a bundle that adds most (all?) of what I want to the existing AppleTV OS, or at least makes things like codecs and Safari web browsing installable.

Or do I just bite the bullet and install full OS X on the cute little thing?

Other suggestions very welcome. I'm playing quick catchup on all this.

What codecs do I need?

Chocolate Pickle — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:05:29 -0800

What tool can I use on Vista to look at a decrypted M2TS file and to find out what audio and video codecs it uses? (M2TS is the file format used on Blu-Ray disks.)

Where and what windows video codec packs?

singingfish — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 04:44:55 -0800

What software is best for video playing on windows? I mean a minimum intervention no messing around all in one solution like Perian for Mac or the win32-codecs packages for Linux. Some kind of all in one solution that you install then windows does the right thing when you double click on a video file ever more and you don't have to think about it ever again? I know about VLC and while it's generally excellent, the user interface is a little clunky and I'd rather not have to force users to fiddle with default media player settings.

How can repair my video codecs?

cheero — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 17:20:42 -0800

How can repair my video codecs? Out of nowhere, I cannot see any video in my AVI files but I can hear the audio just fine. Windows Media Player 11 simply does not load when I click to open an AVI. It is fully installed and everything but when I try to click on an AVI to open it -- nothing happens. I've installed the VLC player in hopes that plays it, no dice. Same goes for Windows Media Classic.

I've installed the k-lite codecs pack which worked for me for years but for some odd reason, things crapped out on me.

I've also used GSPOT to see what codecs were needed for certain movies but each time it said that everything was fully installed.

How can I rectify this extremely annoying problem? Is there some kind of tool I can use that will repair this?

The specs I am running are: OS: WinXP Professional 5.1 Service Pack 2 (Build #2600) CPU: Intel Pentium D , 2.99 GHz Video: Plug and Play Monitor on nVidia GeForce 7800 GTX Sound: SB Audigy 2 ZS Audio

Thanks in advance

VOB to MOV... How?

Elle Vator — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 13:38:29 -0800

I need to convert a short VOB file into a reletively high quality, uncompressed MOV file... it's for my reel and I am having a heck of a time finding a way to convert it while keeping the sound and image quality reletively intact. I have managed to create an AVI and a MPG/MPEG... but they don't want to be good little children and convert to MOV's through the freeware I have. Help!

Questionable video codecs; how do I get rid of them and what ones do I need?

Botunda — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 06:56:39 -0800

I have installed a questionable codec pack. Now video doesn't work correctly and I can't burn DVDs. How do I remove the codecs that I installed and what codecs should I be using? I installed "Ace Mega Codecs Pack (Every Video Codec You Will Ever Need)" against my better judgment (alcohol was involved) and now I can't seem to burn DVDs. Also Windows Media Player doesn't want to play any of the movies that I have saying that I don't have the right codec installed when I've played them before on this machine.

So, how do I get these dang'd codecs off my machine without removing the basic ones that I need.

Where do I get the basic ones if I do end up removing them in this process?

Is there a comprehensive list of what I do and do not need based upon my current needs? I just want to be able to burn edit and burn movies to DVD.

AAC on non-iPod players?

jsbww — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 10:53:48 -0800

Any good iPod alternatives that support aac?

What's the best intermediate codec to use?

tweebiscuit — Thu, 22 Sep 2005 12:17:13 -0800

I have some video on a DVD that I want to edit in Final Cut Pro. What's the best intermediate codec to use? I don't have space for uncompressed video, and the rest of my footage is DV-quality, so I can afford a bit of quality loss. I've been using Apple Pixlet at 50%, but is there a better choice? There's one listed in QuickTime's export dialog called "Apple Intermediate Codec", but I haven't been able to find much information on it.

Also, what's the best codec that supports alpha channels? (i.e., if I'm keying footage in After Effects but compositing with the background in FCP. I've used Animation for this, but it produces huge filesizes as it's not optimized for video, and is difficult for my system to play back in real time.)

Is there a simple guide somewhere to what codecs are best for what purposes? (i.e., "don't edit in this codec", "this codec is too lossy for intermediate use".) I've done some googling, but for many codecs reviews of compression quality and possible uses is hard to find.

Video/Audio Codecs

scarabic — Fri, 10 Dec 2004 15:34:27 -0800

I'd like to learn how to control and manage all the video/audio codecs on my Win2K and XP computers. There's no control panel for this, unfortunately. I know sometimes I have several codecs installed that can play a particular video, but one has priority. How do I control which one, or disable/suspend others? How can I even tell what all I have installed? Gspot is helpful for peeking on a per-movie basis. What else is out there? Thanks!

What are your favourite settings/formats for exporting short web-based videos?

Monk — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 14:48:05 -0800

What are your favourite settings/formats for exporting short web-based videos? [mi]

I have to post a 3-minute 300×200-pixel video on our intranet. The only media player guaranteed to be on all machines is Windows Media Player 9. The server doesn't allow for any kind of streaming format.

I'm using Premier 6.5 with the Windows Media 9 plug-in to export the video clip and am overwhelmed with the amount of options available. I'm an HTML monkey. I don't know the difference between various codecs (MPEG4 and WMV7, 8 and 9), bit rates, modes (CBR vs Peak VBR vs Quality VBR vs Bit Rate VBR) and audio options.

The exported file has to be small enough that it downloads and starts playing quickly with minimal time spent looking at a "buffering" graphic. (Don't let the fact that this is an intranet fool you into thinking we've got masses of bandwidth. Our "internal" server is two timezones away.)

Random tweaking has produced a 5MB file that takes a minute and a half to start playing. Is this as good as I'm going to get?

Media Player Codecs

page404 — Tue, 06 Jul 2004 16:58:35 -0800

[Media Player Filter] I've downloaded several TV programs via torrent in an .AVI format which on my XP system is associated with Windows Media Player, unfortunately all I get is audio.

What / where do I obtain the appropiate codecs or a better media player?