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Is DivX still around? I haven't thought about them or Real for a while now. Come to think of it, I haven't missed them at all.

Where do you go on the site to get the free serial number?

The ONLY reason I don't own an AppleTV is because it cannot play divx movies, of which I own a few hundreds. I have converted all of my DVDs to divx so that I can have a number of them with me when I travel. Please someone explain to me why Apple does not let me paly divx on AppleTV and flac in iTunes/iPod.

Dec 14, 07 - 04:45 pm Comment from: Sixvodkas

@sapiens...

It's because Steve Jobs (and Apple) hate you with a passion and have singled you out for abuse.

Check out perian.org the swiss army knife for quicktime. With that and flip4mac, a mini rocks the house with frontrow and whatever video format you desire.

D.

Um, the features that are listed are for the 'free' Divx version. When you get the 'Pro' version, you get to use Divx Converter and the QT Export plugin.

Dec 14, 07 - 05:19 pm Comment from: maczac

All this is, is a time limited full Demo. Who f'n cares. DivX sux

Actually maczac, they send you a serial number which turns the application into the full blown version with all Pro features. While I wish I didn't need it, there are occasions when I am glad to have it. Also, since they are giving the pro version away free at the moment, I used a few different emails so that I could get enough serial numbers for my entire family.

Dec 14, 07 - 05:28 pm Comment from: peaPod

Most high-end consumer DVD players support DivX. That makes it an important player in the AV world.

Dec 14, 07 - 05:32 pm Comment from: ron

"Users must enter a valid email adress in order to recieve their DivX Pro for Mac serial number."

Can they also receive it? I before E except after C.

Spell checker anyone?

I thought most high end DVD players play DVDs. So why exactly do I need DIVX?

Dec 14, 07 - 05:47 pm Comment from: Wandering joe

" used a few different emails so that I could get enough serial numbers for my entire family."

You get the same number, whichever email you use. At least I did. 4 different email addresses and just the same number.

Dec 14, 07 - 05:51 pm Comment from: BC Kelly

Apparently some posters above don't know/visit UseNet/Newsgroups or, understandably, WinMx, which is Windoze only. And don't seem to use bit-torrent either.

If did - then wow, is an entire world of divx/avi movies available that rivals Netflix, Blockbuster, et al.

Be that as it may - VLC is the app for divx, and Toast/QT Pro/VisualHub can export to divx that is ready to go for any DVD player able to read divx.

Simple way to put it - divx works. Is to DVD same as mp3/4 is to regular Audio CD. A fine compression that is very watchable on regular TV, no idea about HD, sorry.

BC

UseNet? Didn't they use that on the Univac back in the '50s?

Netflix -> Handbrake -> AppleTV

H.264 .mp4 files, quick and painless. They'll even play on your iPhone...

Dec 14, 07 - 07:05 pm Comment from: Tommy Boy

No one needs DivX. As Daniel Eran wrote: "hackers took Microsoft’s video codec, based largely upon MPEG-4 Part 2 ASP (H.263), and created their own version using the basic AVI container from Video for Windows. The result was DivX. Since then, DivX has delivered newer versions fully compliant with MPEG-4 ASP, but all of those codecs are still based upon the minor advancements made to the old MPEG-2 video, and all still use the archaic AVI container format, which inefficiently wastes a lot of disk overhead."

DivX is based on old Microsoft code. That should be enough reason to stay away.

Why a Mac user would encode something in DivX rather than QuickTime stumps me.

I like divx and xvid simply because this is the format of choice for movies on p2p and like h.264 they are very efficient.

I do NOT like spending hours to convert DVDs to a compressed video format.

I do NOT like playing video files in VLC. The interface SUCKS!

You don't ned a high end DVD player to support divx. You can buy a Phillips DVD player for $50-60 that support divx, AND features a USB port so you can play movies straight from a flash drive.

If Apple TV supported xvid I MIGHT actually be tempted to buy one. I have no interest in spending $300 for a device to primarily play content bought from iTunes. The iPod would never have become popular if it only supported music purchased from iTunes.

"DivX Pro Codec which allows you to export DivX movies from popular applications like iMovie, QuickTime Player Pro and Final Cut, both Pro and Express."

Why would a Mac user want to convert video into DIVX?? If I'm going to invest the time and effort to convert video, I'm converting it to a native Apple format, not an incompatible one based on an inferior and proprietary Microsoft codec.

Again, I only want to PLAY divx files. I have NO desire to CREATE divx files.

If anything, I've been tempted to buy an elgato Turbo 264 USB device to speedily convert downloaded divx files to Apple MOV/MP4 format that will play nice with my Phone and perhaps a future Apple TV.

"Why a Mac user would encode something in DivX rather than QuickTime stumps me"

DivX is a codec
Quicktime is a format

Quicktime uses codecs like DivX to compress movies. The pro version of DivX gives Quicktime the codec to export.

You can't compare DivX to H.264. They were designed for different compression needs. DivX is for DVDs. H.264 is for the internet.

DivX is way better than MPEG-2.
Consumers don't give a crap about DivX. They just want the stupid thing to work. Piraters and professionals like DivX and Xvid because it gives standard definition quality at about half to a third of the file size.

This is why DivX is around and needed

Dec 15, 07 - 01:15 am Comment from: LordRobin

mPlayer and VLC both play DivX (and XviD) movies. Why do I need this "official" thingy?

------RM

Dec 15, 07 - 08:28 am Comment from: LinuxGuyAndMacProdigalSon

Gee, a thread with intelligent comments and free of political snarkiness. I hope this trend continues. Good work, guys.

@Saplens

"Please someone explain to me why Apple does not let me paly divx on AppleTV and flac in iTunes/iPod."

For flac it's pretty simple, just download xACT and convert the flac file to aiff.

I grabbed it. Nice to have an easy converter. But how "Windowsey" is that ugly DivX Player? Any port in a storm, I guess.

H.264 is for the internet?
Then why is it the selected standard for High Definition DVD's?

I agree-divx pretty much sucks. I have no idea why it is so used on p2p sites, especially since the quality of a lot of it sucks. Sure it's a small file size, but it's pixellated to hell with background artifacts and weird stuff going on in the dark spaces.

"DivX is a codec Quicktime is a format Quicktime uses codecs like DivX to compress movies. The pro version of DivX gives Quicktime the codec to export."

That's very interesting but it doesn't change the fact that no matter what codec you install on your computer, your iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV aren't going to support it if it's not sanctioned by Apple.

So as a practical matter, I see no use for converting video into Divx codec. If you have a large video you want to compress, the idea is to use whatever format and codec provide the best combination of compression, quality, and compatibility. For anyone who loves Apple gear, this means using h.264 codec and MOV wrapper.

It's still good to be able to PLAY avi/divx, purely because this is the format/codec of choice in P2P content and it's a pain to convert video.

And spare me the sermon about pirating. Few industries are as ripe with greed and abuse as the music and movie businesses. They rape their writers and artists and they rape their customers. I think the public at large agrees that it's about time for the fuck-ers to become the fuck-ees.

Dec 18, 07 - 03:24 am Comment from: BC Kelly

Do the math

Vast majority of users on Net are windoze flavor, which we can access easy with our 'nix - then convert whatever as you please later if so desire

If want to 'preview/sample' Music - mp3, not acc

Movies - avi/divx (and can get dvd/divx player at WalMart $30-35.00)

Bit Torrent, p2p, Usenet - many ways to skin the cat.

I vote Giganews for Usenet binaries - 200 day retention now - more than 6 months. Just in alt.binaries.movies.divx since July my unread are almost 9,000 - that's a lot of movies. Most of them are even worth watching, too. Long as you're happy taking what's available in a NewsGroup, is faster/easier than torrent/p2p. Or run them combo, shake as many branches as can.

Visit and learn from THE 2 main sites:

vladd44.com
slyck.com

And yes, ONE day H.264/QT/etc will gain greater numbers of users/sharers and be more available - now in alt.binaries.x264 are only 67,000 'messages', compared to 26,000,000+ in divx.

Am too lazy at moment to check WinMx and see what possible there, but another time.

Ok, if this story's comments stay open for another day or so, I may add some more as we go. Or you reply. Good thread here.

Later, BC

Dec 18, 07 - 04:08 am Comment from: BC Kelly

And altbin@EFNet - for example - posts rips of highest quality i.e. xvid, 2 parts 1.4 gig, excellent bitrate, little if any pixilation ( and that would normally only be with 'black' areas, they're hardest to do, and what ya want for nothin', a rubber biscuit ? )

BC