Xvid is a
modern MPEG-4 codec used to compress movies. Xvid has been used on this site where possible
because of its combination of small filesize and quality. Furthermore,
xvid is open source, and thereby not encumbered by licensing issues, spyware,
adware, or other nuisances.
Install the codec: Double-click on the codec installer you just installed,
and follow the on-screen instructions. A few notes:
You should probably accept the default "destination location" of
C:\Program Files\Xvid, and proceed with "next."
Go ahead accept the default "start menu folder" setting of
Xvid, and continue with "next."
Leave the default option to Decode all supported
FourCCs checked, and continue with "next."
Proceed with the installation ("install"), and exit the installer
when finished ("finish").
Play the movie: Click on any of the Xvid movies. Your web browser
should open the movie in your default media player. If that doesn't happen:
Save the movie to your desktop (right-click, and "Save Target As...").
Right-click the movie you just downloaded, choose "Open with...", and
select "Windows Media Player."
Mac OSX Users:
If your default media player cannot play these files, I'd recommend
the following:
Download a media player: One of the following media players
may be able to handle the file:
Mplayer:
Mplayer is a free, open-source media player that should be able to
play Xvid movies immediately after installation. (It also plays
DVD's and other media files.)
VLC:
VLC is a free, open-source media player that runs on a
variety of platforms. (Mac OSC, Windows, Linux, etc.) It should be
able to play Xvid movies immediately after installation.
Download the movie: Save the movie to a convenient location.
Play the movie: Open the movie with the media player
you just downloaded. You should be able to "drag and drop" the
saved movie onto your media player (or its icon).
Linux and Unix Users:
First, see if you can play the movie without any additional
setup. If you have mplayer or VLC installed, then you should
be able to play the files without any problem.
If you can't play the file but are a root or admin user,
then download and install either
VLC
or Mplayer
according to the directions of your distribution.
If you can't play the file and are a non-root / non-admin
user, then try the following instructions to locally
compile and run mplayer:
Install the mplayer media player:
Download the source code: Go to the
mplayer website to
download
the Mplayer source. (v1.0rc1 at the time this help
was written.) Save it in your home directory. (i.e., in ~.)
Extract the source code: Open a terminal window. Assuming the source is named
MPlayer-1.0rc1.tar.bz2:
cd ~/
bunzip2 MPlayer-1.0rc1.tar.bz2
tar -xvf MPlayer-1.0rc1.tar
Compile the source:
cd MPlayer-1.0rc1
./configure
make
Add Mplayer to your path: Assuming you have the
pico editor. (You may substitute your editor of choice, such as
nedit or vi.) Also
assuming that you use bash. (You may need to edit
.cshrc instead.)
cd ~
pico .bashrc
Scroll to the bottom of the file, and add the following line:
export PATH=$PATH:~/MPlayer-1.0rc1/
Hit ^X to save and exit. Exit the terminal.
Download the movie: Save the movie someplace convenient, such as
your home directory ~. Assume that the movie
is named movie.avi.
Play the movie: Open a terminal and browse to your movie:
