MPEG and the Plug-in

brianv wrote on 7/19/2001, 10:38 AM

Is this supposed to work without a decoder? I can render to MPEG now, but I can't double click on it in Explorer and get it to open and play. The computer tells me there's a format error!?

Comments

SonyNateM wrote on 7/25/2001, 10:29 AM

Hi,

Are you rendering MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 video? A machine that doesn't have a DirectShow MPEG-2 codec installed will not be able to play MPEG-2 files. MPEG-1 support is built into Windows and doesn't require any additional installations. If you need to create files that are playable on almost any computer, MPEG-1 is the way to go. Most people with Macs can play MPEG-1 also.

Hope this helps

brianv wrote on 7/26/2001, 3:42 PM

The comoputer doesn't give me a choice of MPEG 1 or 2. It just says MPEG...

SonyEPM wrote on 7/26/2001, 4:28 PM

Render as MPEG-1 and that should work on all versions of Windows Media Player.

MPEG2 requires a special MPEG-2, so unless you have that installed, MPEG-2 will not play back.

Chienworks wrote on 7/27/2001, 10:19 AM

I had this experience recently. I had rendered a friend's wedding video
an MPEG-2 file and he wasn't able to play it on his computer. I was
rather disappointed that, even though he has the latest version of
Media Player installed, it wasn't able to automatically find a codec. I
installed SfMPEGWeb.exe on his computer and then the MPEG-2 file
played.

Is there a more generic MPEG-2 codec available for Media Player?

patrickm wrote on 7/28/2001, 4:15 PM

yeah, i agree it's kinda lame to encode to MPEG-2 and not come with playback functions...

but if you go to www.elecard.com you can download a free demo of their MPEG-2 "player" (which is no more than a directshow filter). the demo is unlimited use, but puts a 6x6 white square in the top right corner or something. you can also use WMP to playback MPEG-2 once the elecard codec is installed.