codec

[gonzo]

hi people of the forum , nice to be here,
i was wondering whats is the deal with codec , and what kind do i need to play all formats of video like mpeg2 , divx , avi from my computer, im pretty fresh with video so any advice is good advice.
peace in the middle east.
greg (gonzo.)

[holly]

Hi Gonzo,

I think you must do a little research on the net first because that question is pretty big for anyone to answer. Try looking at http://www.moviecodec.com/filetypes/ for a quick overview of the most likely codecs you will come across, and http://www.dv.com/features/features_item.jhtml?LookupId=/xml/feature/2001/waggoner1101 for a detailed comparison of modern codecs.

I'll try to simplify the answer to veejaying:

Different codecs are sort of like different video formats. You have VHS tapes, mini-DV, DVD's, 16mm film, etc. Obviously you can't play a VHS tape in a DVD player, or watch your DV footage on a 16mm film projector.... Likewise, you can't play Divx on a Quicktime player, and you can't play Sorenson3 codec Quicktimes on a Windows Media Player.

Every year we see new codecs come out that look better and take up less harddrive space as they take advantage of newer, faster computers. Many of the newest codecs won't play on an old computer because they take over too much processor power and bog down your system. When we say that a certain codec is better for a VJ program, we are generally talking about a codec that is several years old and probably isn't the best codec on the market. We use older codecs (Cinepak, AVI) that were designed for slower computers, because generally we are running several videos at once and also processing a few realtime effects. All this processing bogs down the computer and the program ends up dropping video frames, playing v-e-r-y slowly, or crashing altogether.

Your best codec is a trade-off between how good it looks, if it plays on your software/computer without problems, and how much space it takes up on your computer's harddrive.

Good Luck!
holly