AVI Playback

Discussion in 'Other video questions' started by davecabez, Apr 2, 2012.

  1. davecabez

    davecabez Member

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    Hi,
    I have a decoder for Satellite TV which also has a USB input for playing .avi video files. Most of my films which are on a USB HDD will play on the decoder but 6 films will not.
    I assume it probably has something to do with codecs which the decoder cannot play.
    Is there anyway to "recode" the avi files, perhaps with VLC, so that the decoder will play the files.

    The files play perfectly with Windows Media Player and VLC.

    Regards,

    Dave
     
    davecabez, Apr 2, 2012
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  2. hello_hello

    hello_hello Member

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    Hardware players tend to be a lot less forgiving (or more fussy) than software players. Every so often I find a file which plays fine on the PC but not on the DVD or Bluray player etc. Remuxing it (resaving it without re-encoding) generally fixes it, although there is a chance they contain audio or video which your player doesn't support. MediaInfo will tell you what's in them.

    My first attempt to fix the problem would be to use VirtualDubMod to open and resave the problem AVIs. It's a fairly simple process. When you use the "File/Save As" option a new window will open. In the bottom drop down "video mode" box, select "direct stream copy" then resave the AVI. See if the new version will play.

    PS If the AVIs contain variable bitrate MP3 VirtualDubMod will have a whine about it when you open them and ask if you want to re-write the MP3 header. You don't, so select "no", then resave the AVI.
     
    hello_hello, Apr 2, 2012
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  3. davecabez

    davecabez Member

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    Many thanks for your reply,

    Will try it out and post back.

    Dave
     
    davecabez, Apr 2, 2012
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  4. davecabez

    davecabez Member

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    Hi Hello_Hello,

    I did as you said but the new avi file would not play either.
    After the warning about the VBR MP3 I got another warning,viz:- Couldn't locate decompressor for format FMP4 (Unknown). VirtualDub requires a Video for Windows (VFW) comapatible codec to decompress video. DirectShow codecs, such as those used by Windows Media Player, are not suitable. Only Direct Stream copy is available for this video.
    I then continued as your post but it still would not play.

    Regards,

    Dave
     
    davecabez, Apr 3, 2012
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  5. hello_hello

    hello_hello Member

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    Okay.... this isn't something I've had to do myself, but in theory....

    FMP4 is probably a FourCC which your player doesn't understand and you'll need to change it.
    Try the AVI FourCC Changer first and change it to DivX (Make a copy of the file and work with that in case it doesn't change things as expected). It should only take a second. The "FourCC Used Codec" is probably the one to be concerned about.

    Open the new AVI with MediaInfo. If all went well it should now display it as DiVX rather than FMP4. With any luck VirtualDubMod will now be able to decode it and your player will now be able to play it.
     
    hello_hello, Apr 5, 2012
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