Guide to using Codecs, updated August 20, 2007 Options

[Mischcabob]

This is not a bible, but general guide with links to popular codecs.
Read on...

If you have a movie and cant seem to get it to play, odds are you have a conflicting or missing codec. A CODEC (compressor/decompressor) allows you to play movies and such. To find out exactly what codecs are required to watch your movie, you can use one or both of two excellent little utilities: AVICodec and Gspot. Both AVICodec and GSpot can be used to determine the codecs required for a movie to play. AVICodec, despite its name has better MPEG capabilities and thus is recommended for MPEG files (such as those for (S)VCDs). GSpot on the otherhand is far more efficient for scanning AVI files. Both programs offer unique features also, AVICodec allows you to queue up and entire folder to for checking in addition to providing direct links to sites where codecs can be downloaded; GSpot allows for 'rendering' of files (to check to see if the system can actually play the file with the available codecs and to check for fakes. AVICodec can be downloaded from here. and GSpot can be downloaded from here.

NOTES
A. Only install codecs that you need... installing mass codecs (i.e., like the way Windows XP does with drivers) will not work since many of the codecs are inter-conflicting. They typically install a large number of things for the sake of being complete, but this is often counterproductive. I know that it seems like it should be the best idea but it's not. If you find that you're in "codec" hell then uninstall every last codec that you can find, and start from the beginning. With a very small number of codecs (for example: XviD, AC3Filter, and perhaps FFDShow or the DivX codec) you should be able to play back the vast majority of files that you encounter.

B. If you get a FOURCC Code of 0. Odds are you have a FAKE. You can check the FourCC using GSpot.

STEP-BY-STEP CODECs
1. UNINSTALL ALL YOUR CODECS (DivX, Nimo, XviD, etc). For more insight on the nitty gritty codecs, see this thread. You are doing a fresh install then you should be safe.

2. Install Indeo Codecs if don't have included with your OS and soundcard installation. This should include the Indeo3, Indeo4 and Indeo5 Codecs. Grab it here or here.

3. Install DivX 6. You can specify the installation path and whether or not to install the DivX Player. Download the DIVX 6 Create or DIVX Play bundle.

4. Don't want to install codecs separately? The codec pack I recommend is K-Lite codec pack wich works on WINXP/VISTA:

K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of VFW/ACM codecs, DirectShow filters and tools. Codecs and DirectShow filters are needed for encoding and decoding (playing) audio and video formats. The K-Lite Codec Pack is designed as a user-friendly solution for playing all your movie files. With the K-Lite Codec Pack you should be able to play all the popular audio and video formats and even several less common formats.

There are five versions of the K-Lite Codec Pack:

Basic contains only the most essential things. It contains everything you need to be able to play the two most popular and widespread formats: DivX and XviD. With this you should be able to play DVDrips and TVrips.

Standard contains everything you need to play all the most commonly used formats. This package should be enough for the average user.

Full supports even more audio and video formats. It also has encoding support for various formats. This package is for power users and people who do video editing/encoding.

Corporate Edition is a special version for use in a corporate environment. It is similar to the Full version, minus a few items, but alomst just as powerful. It has a strong focus on open-source software.

More info and downloads can be found here: http://www.codecguide.com/

5. Need the Ogg Vorbis DirectShow Filter? There are not installations settings. You can grab it here.

6. Install FFDSHOW Filter, but keep in mind it won't be able to play all DIVX/XVID media. Use the default installation options. You can grab it here.

7. Need the Windows Media Player 9 Codecs?. Grab it here.
All codec installations can be found here. Otherwise download latest WMP10 and it will include the codec media codecs.

8. Need the Windows Media Player 8 Codecs for older system? Remember to choose 'Update Newer Components Only'. You can grab them here.

9. Install any software DVD player. The two most popular are PowerDVD and WINDVD. If you are too cheap to purchase one, give VLC (VideoLan Client) a try or just use one of the MPEG2 decoders included with K-lite codec pack.

10. Download DivFix and extract it to the DivFix folder in your NIMO installation (default C:\Program Files\NimoCodec Pack\DivFix\). Overwrite whatever files may be there already. You can grab DivFix from here.

11. Want AviFixed? It serves a similar purpose to DivFix and between the both of them, you can fix most movies. You can grab it from here.

12. Want updated XVID codec? Download Koepi's or Nic's latest builds.

13. ALTERNATIVES TO "CODEC HELL".
There are also some applications that have their entire own set of bundled codecs, which means they play most anything out-of-the box. VLC (Videolan Client) is the best known example of such a player. If you are frustrated with codecs, try installing VLC. It should be able to open just about anything you throw at it. An up and coming alternative is mplayer which was originally developed to play media files under Linux and non-windows operating systems. However, it has been ported to Windows, so you can use it in a way similar to VLC. However, it is currently hard to use, so try downloading a GUI frontend: MPUI and MPlayer Frontend (MPF) are two interesting alternatives.

At this point mplayer is still for experts only and has discontinued development.

*Key thing is to install only what you need. Most codec packs will allow you to do custom installs.

Good luck!



See also: What you need to know about codecs and What Codecs Should I Use? from Guides section.