Playing Downloads
 

Very new to this so some expert advice would be appreciated. Firstly I have downloaded a bumber or avi and mpg files but just can't get any to play! I have downloaded the mpg 2 codec from apple and even upgraded to QT pro out of frustration but to no avail.

What's the secret guys? do I need conversion software to burn to a play these files?

Also have Toast titanium to burn (when and if I eventually get to that point)

regards
Chris Taylor

Yes, among the most common frustrations of Mac users new to the p2p is movie playback.
You see, I learned (through these here forums) that video (and audio) are encoded into data files using somethin called codecs.
The problem is that there's a whole variety of them out there and some are available for some platforms while others aren't and some are available for some players while others aren't. To be more specific, Quicktime has trouble playing some of these (some .mpg and .avi) because it lacks the right codecs.
Now, instead of opening up Safari and going for a hunt for these elusive codecs, download this player: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html (you may also download this one: http://mplayerosx.sourceforge.net/ ). This way you don't have to worry about codecs anymore (well, maybe a little) 'cause this here player can play most everything you throw at it.

Note: the second player (mplayer OSX) has a better image quality and, depending on tastes, better controls than VLC (the first one) but it feels kinda incomlete as it lacks certain features, like having a subtitle-select function for .ogm files. My primary player is VLC but mplayer will generally play files a little more smoothly while also slightly increasing the image quality.

...that's seems to work great, thanks. Next question is how do I get the download onto dvd andhow do I join two downloaded parts?

Chris

Unless you've got a SuperDrive in your G5, then you'll have to buy a DVD-burner (it's worth the money IMHO). Different applications can be used to burn DVDs: my own burner came with the Toast-Lite (by Roxio) burning soft which allows me to burn DVDs. Burning data DVDs (you put any kind of file in it, even video and stuff, but it is only playable/viewable in your Mac) is simple enough and I think (I'm not too sure though) that you don't even need a burning software for it: like burning data and mp3 CDs with the Finder's drag-and-drop function, I would suppose that just inserting a DVD-R in your DVD burner/Super-Drive and dragging into it the files that you want burned the dragging the DVD icon onto the trash (should be changed by the burning icon, duh) would be sufficient.
If, on the other hand you want to make a movie DVD playable by any DVD player then a burning soft is indispensable as it will convert the video files you thow at it into the adequate format. It will also create a simple DVD menu.
As for combining the different segments of a movie, then movie editing software is the thing for you. I thought that iMovie and iDVD would be enough to do the job, but as it turns out, you can't add movies into iMovie unless they were shot by you (unless I'm missing something).
Anyway, just open Safari and run a Google search for video editing software for OSX and you should have at least a couple of valid results.

Hi Murasame. Yes I do have a superdrive on the G5, also have Toast Titanium but have tried 'throwing' a downloaded avi at it but Toast rejected it. Not sure about iDVD & iMovie, great little apps but very limited in their scope, tend to have doubts about their format handling abilities. Anyway, struggling to download anything decent yet. How do you sort the wheat from the chaff? In other words when I do a search how do I know what's good and what's not? Assume bigger is better i.e. loads of files show up in kb, are these any good, truncated files or what? What size is a typical DVD movie and what format is better - avi or mpg?

...really appreciate your help by the way.

Chris

Hmm, I had dlded a concert and created a DVD with it (a movie dvd) and it played nice and all (even in my PS2) but the format was already .mpeg. I can't remember which .mpeg, but so you know, .mpeg (II I think) is the format of DVD movies. .avi is a DivX format. In the latter, a fully movie of decent quality would be of around 650 to 750 Megs (more like 700 to 780M). You won't find many in .mpeg as they are larger.
And no sweat about the help.

Murasame. Seems to be a load of 'crap' around, presume this something I'm gonna have to get used to is it? Just spent hours downloading a recently released film only to find when playing that I have what loooks to be a piece al quida propaganda footage! Is their anyway of spotting good from bad and genuine from fakes? Patience is obviously a huge virtue is it not.

Chris

Yep, you got that last one right. There is nothing you can do to spot true from false other than actually dlding a small bit of the file then Prview-playing it in LW's player (that's why it's there for). That way you'll know if what you are dlding is trully what you want. Just remember to select (in the Finder) an .avi file and press Cmd-I (the Cmd key is the one with the apple on it) and then select Open with and choose VLC, then click the "Change for all" button. That way, when you'll press Launch on a dlding .avi file, then it will try to play in VLC, not Quicktime.
Also, if you spot a badly named file and the one that is serving it has enabled chat, then open up a chat window with the user and tell him about it. If he is doing it on purpose, feel free to badmouth him and to generally insult him (I know that I wouldn't mind. Really).