[darkmafiaguy]

Playing/Troubleshooting Downloaded Movies Guide
Written by darkmafiaguy.

Foreword: This guide is for Windows XP/Vista users. Not for Mac OS. Use VLC player as mentioned below if you are on a Mac.

Most movies you download nowadays are made in the AVI format. There are two types of AVI's generally, uncompressed and mpeg4(DivX, XviD). To run these files, you need third party software. If your files are not working properly, please follow the instructions in this guide before posting for help. Thanks.

Note: If you are on a Mac OS X, everything is slightlier trickier. I personally use VLC Player on my Mac. That's all you need.

1. Video not working
If you open up an AVI file, and the video does not play (or your player reports that it cannot find the proper codec) chances are you don't have the DivX or XviD codec. A codec decodes information to play video.
To find out how the AVI file you are trying play is encoded, download a program called GSpot which identifies the format in which the video and audio is encoded in:

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/GSpot.htm

After opening the file in GSpot, look in the codec area inside the Video box so figure out which codec it uses. If it says DivX then head over here to install the DivX codec:

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/DivX_Free.htm

If it displays XviD, install either one of these:

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Koepi_XviD.htm
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Nic_XviD_Codec.htm

After installing, you may need to restart your computer. Then run the avi file and the video should play.

Sidenote: If it says Mpeg-2, then you need an Mpeg-2 codec:
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Stinky_MPEG_2_Codec.htm

2. Audio not working
If you open up an AVI file, and the audio does not play it probably means the audio is encoded in AC3 (a 5.1 channel sound format) or the more uncommon DTS (another higher quality 5.1 channel sound format). To play either one of those, you can install AC3Filter:

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/AC3_Filter.htm

Make sure to downloaded the newest one, as the older AC3Filters do not support DTS. After installing, play the AVI file in your media player and the sound should work.

If you find out, using GSpot, that you have an OGG audio stream, use Media Player Classic:
http://www.divx-digest.com/software/media_...er_classic.html
(Thanks to Awdark.)


3. Subtitles not working
Subtitles generally come in the .srt (Subrip) or .sub formats. In both formats, there is raw text which gets read and played, unlike subtitles in DVDs which are images. There are a few option you have in playing these subtitle files. The first thing you should do before using any of these methods is to put the subtitles in the save folder as your avi files and with the same name. For example, if the name of your avi file is "Two.Guys.DivX.DVDRip" then the subtitles should also be named, "Two.Guys.DivX.DVDRip" If you have extensions showing, leave the extensions as they originally were. The first option you have in playing subtitles is using a plug-in called VobSub:

http://www.divx-digest.com/software/vobsub.html

It will directly render the subtitles to the video in realtime. What does this mean? It allows you to use it with any media player and it will also display the subtitles for you into video automatically if your converting it in certain programs. This is great when using unconventional media files, such as RM. After installing it, just play your AVI files and the subtitles should automatically be played by VobSub. If it doesn't work with VobSub, use the following method.

Another way, to play subtitles is to use a different media player altogether which supports subtitles. I prefer this method because I find VobSub a bit glitchy. The one I use is called BSPlayer. Download:

http://www.bsplayer.org/

After installing, run the AVI file in BSPlayer, and the subtitles should automatically load. Using BSplayer, you can do a couple of nifty things relating to the subtitles. To move them up or down, (which is useful in fullscreen mode) hold shift and press the up or down arrow keys. To correct the time, hold Shift and press the right and left arrow keys to move the subtitles times forward or backwards respectively in 200 ms increments.

Alternatively, you can use a program called Subtitle Workshop to permanently edit the subtitle file to your liking, this includes shifting the times to correct the time:

http://www.divx-digest.com/software/subtitle_workshop.html


ALL ELSE FAILS: Download http://www.videolan.org/vlc/


Thats all for now, check back later for more troubleshooting information!

This post has been edited by darkmafiaguy: 28 April 2008 - 03:52 AM

[awdark]

(luckily I made a reply early on)
Guides to Hard subbing! by mtlandis
Subtitling
Burning



Yay that looks nicer than mine
Add ogg for audio. Media Player Classic with BS player (prefer mpc over bs personally)

And if its a weird subtitle format, use subtitle workshop to convert or edit.


Edit: funny how I awDARK and DARKmafiaguy made video wont play threads

[darkmafiaguy]

Done, only the OGG Vorbis part.

[tavy_potter]

wow thanks for telling!! I had almost all of these trouble! ^^

[Mademoisella]

Um I have a question, hopefully this is the right way to put it in.. Um I've d/l some of those and it works fine but the pictures and the words don't go together. Is it the Media's fault or the file or something else I forgot? I dunno.

[awdark]

Its quite possible that the file itself is corrupted. But it cant hurt to update the codecs.

[darkmafiaguy]

Um I have a question, hopefully this is the right way to put it in.. Um I've d/l some of those and it works fine but the pictures and the words don't go together. Is it the Media's fault or the file or something else I forgot? I dunno.

Problem:
1. File corrupt like awdark said. It already came out of sync.
2. Your computer has a problem/is too slow.
3. Something software wise went wrong. Pretty hard to pin point.

Solution:
1. You could uninstall and reinstall everything.
2. Use BSplayer to play your subtitles, and shift the subtitle times back or forth so the audio and video match up. I explain this in more detail in my guide.

[oshirou]

well, i have a downloaded .avi file but it was in slow motion when i played it but the audio is normal... whats the problem with that.. i have all the codecs in this thread.. even more.. hehe..

[baBy-aKiko]

Yea i seem to have the exact same problem as you..what is the problem anyway?

[awdark]

you might have obsolete codes. Find out which your video needs and update it

[baBy-aKiko]

I found out which codec i needed which is windows media video 9 and there seems to be nothing wrong with it

[happyroach]

How do you fix audio/video sync? I'm CERTAIN my file is corrupt so I really just need a progrma to fix it

I had a program that did the job a LONG time ago and I can't find it anymore, so it's really frustrating not being able to re-sync the files

Oh btw it's those files that won't work with VirtualDub -.-;; cuz I used to use VirtualDub for a lot of things

[awdark]

file type? mpeg use tmpegenc, though virtual dub mod might be able to work with the mpeg stream.

@akiko, try another media player... Bsplayer or media player classic. Might be a config glitch.

[happyroach]

^.avi's :/

Gonna go try Pinnacle and see if it helps asd;flkj

[ginaz s t y l e]

thank you so much!!

this solved my problems!!

i dunno how to thank you enuff!!

[+_lena]

gaaah...i downloaded gspot cause my file wouldnt play at all...but when i looked to see what kind of codec i need, it said "n.a."

any way to fix this?? T__T

[VINTAGE'art: moderne]

my avi files have been acting wierd =//

if you look at the duration it says 52:05 but the actual file is only 3 minutes or so o.o. .

[awdark]

That is a flaw in the video itself. MOst likely an issue with the bitrate.. I assume the video was encoded as VBR and windows media doesnt like it.
Other thing might be the header file is damaged.

[melon;]

erm, can we burn the AVI videos along with the subtitles into VCDs or DVDs?

[awdark]

Refer to this thread http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19658 . There are a few links that you might find helpful. I would try to write a guide but my luck with getting the subs to work isnt quite with me right now.