|
There are a number of different movie
formats around. And in most cases your browser is not equipped to play them
without the help of an external program. Then even if you have the player, it
may happen that you have an old version of it, or that it needs additional
codecs to tell it how to play specific formats correctly.
 The most common codec you
will need is called DivX. Even the latest versions of players like Windows
Media Player will still need this codec installed to play some movies. To
obtain it, click the logo above. If you are just playing animations and movies,
all you need is the standard codec, not the full program. This is free. It will
also solve the majority of problems you have in playing movie files from this
and other web sites.
We have a copy of DivX 5.11 available
here but it may not be the latest
version.
If that doesn't help you, we have put
together some information that should help you view movies properly: 
I can't
complete a download
If you have a slow connection it may be
difficult to download a large file. One way around this is to use a 'download
manager' which allows you to resume instead of having to start over when
you lose connection.
Back to top
How do I play a zip file?
For easier download movies are sometimes
placed into a zip file. This doesn't reduce download times very much but it
does ensure that the movie doesn't try to automatcally play itself when you
click on a link.
To access the movie you need to download
the zip file and then unzip it. Unarchiving programs are readily available and
free from any shareware site. The most common one for Windows is called
Winzip. There is no charge for using the
program to unzip files.
Back to top
What are the
common movie formats?
Most common formats are:
Other Players
- Winamp - If you use Winamp for your music, version 3 plays
videos too. Seems to have a tendency to play some upside down when I use it
though.
- IrfanView - If you use this excellent free picture viewer
you can get a free plug-in to view video files.
NOTE: Even with recent versions of Windows
Media Player , you may need to install one or more of the DivX extensions to
view certain movies correctly.
Back to top
What's with codecs?
Thanks to Retrotek for this section
Have you ever tried to play a movie in
your favorite media player only to get a compressor not found error?
That is because you either have an older version of you player or your
newer player does not have the 3rd party compressor that is needed to play this
file.
Where can you get the CODEC compressor
that you need to play the file?
Here are a few places that you can go.
Some Codecs download as .EXE files and will either auto-install or you
just need to click on the filename after you download it, for it to install.
Other times you will need to right click on the downloaded files until
you find one that has an INSTALL option. Once installed your movie will play
properly.
Start looking for them here.
Links and other things
Back to top
How do I find
what codec I need?
For Windows users, right-click the AVI file
in Windows Explorer, and then click Properties item in the popup menu.
Select the Summary tab in the popup dialog, and you can get all the
information you need about 'video compression'.
- Intel Indeo Video Codec and I263 Video Codec, download
from
here
- Microsoft MPEG-4 Video Codec (Version 1, 2, 3), these
codecs are included in the Windows Media Tool, download it from
here
- DivX Codec, download it from
here/
- Aware Inc.'s Motion Wavelets Video Codec, download it
from
here
Back to top
The movies are jerky
If you are trying to view the movies
online you will often find the browser can't download fast enough to keep up,
so there are pauses. The best option is to download the movie and play it from
your hard drive. To download instead of play, right click and 'save target
as'.
Back to top
The movie is in sections
Larger movies are split up into sections
to make for easier downloading. Normally there is also a single large-file
version of the movie available too. Movie sections will all play independently
but if you prefer, after downloading you can look for a 'video joiner' or
'splicer' to make them all into a single movie file. Such programs are readily
available from shareware libraries.
Back to top |
