And here are the best 2 ways to play AVI movies on QuickTime on Mac (including Mountain Lion). Solution 1: Play AVI in QuickTime by converting AVI to QuickTime supported formats The best way to play AVI video clips on QuickTime player is to change AVI to QuickTime highly compatible video formats like MOV, MP4 and M4V.
You can generally watch AVI videos on a Mac’s QuickTime player without any issues. All you have to do is open Quick Time Player located in the Applications folder and double click on the file. In fact, most of the latest versions of Quick Time support a wide variety of video formats and codecs. But in some cases, QuickTime may have difficulty playing the AVI file and may display errors like
‘The file.avi is not in a format that QuickTime understands. You may need to install additional software to open this file’.
Why does Quick Time have issues playing certain AVI files? Let’s find out reasons for the same.
- When the AVI files are compressed using codecs not compatible with QuickTime
- Many DivX files have a .avi extension, but QuickTime is not designed to support DivX codec natively
Due to these reasons, QuickTime Player may have issues playing the AVI file and produce error messages. In order to solve this problem and play your AVI file smoothly, we provide some simple solutions.
This update adds the following video codecs for use by QuickTime-based applications: Apple Intermediate Codec Apple ProRes AVC-Intra DVCPRO HD HDV XDCAM HD / EX / HD422 MPEG IMX Uncompressed 4:2:2. In the QuickTime Player app on your Mac, choose File Export As, then choose an option from the Export menu. This menu shows resolutions appropriate for movies based on commonly used video sizes (resolutions larger than that of your movie are dimmed). The exact resolution and data rate of an exported movie depend on the original.
1. Download necessary plug-ins
If you want to play the AVI file in Quick Time player, then you can install a plugin called Perian. Perian is a free component that is referred to as a Swiss Army knife for QuickTime player. With Perian installed, you can view various types of video formats that Quick Time Player otherwise doesn’t support. Although Perian is no longer being developed and does not work with QuickTime 10 or above, it can still be used with QuickTime 7 and such.
2. Convert the AVI file to a format compatible with QuickTime player
Converting the AVI file to a file format that is compatible with QuickTime player is the next best solution. The best format you can convert the AVI file to is the MOV format as it is native to Quick Time. To do the conversion, there are many tools out there, but be sure to use a tool that is reliable and trustworthy.
Using an unreliable video converter can damage your AVI file and do more harm than good. Also, remember to have a backup of the original video file before converting just in case.
3. Use a universal media player such as VLC
The VLC media player is considered a Swiss army knife for all kinds of video files. Unless of course, you don’t have a restriction to play the AVI file only in QuickTime, this is the simplest and most effective solution.
So, as a first step, go ahead and install a VLC media player on your Mac device. Then, just open the AVI file that you wish to play in VLC and the file will be played effortlessly.
Repair AVI files
If you are converting an AVI file or any file for that matter to another format, it is important that you use reliable tools. Failing to do so can corrupt your video files and cause damage. This is why we stressed you to make a backup of the original video in Solution 2.
In other situations, compressing AVI files using unconventional methods can also cause damage to your files. In such cases, it is imperative that you repair the file and for this purpose, Remo Repair is the best pick. It is specially designed to repair AVI files no matter what the reason for corruption is. Unreliable conversion tools, unconventional compression techniques and many other cases of corruption can be repaired using this tool.
Another good thing about Remo Repair is that it can be used to repair AVI files on Mac as well as Windows systems.
A notice to all of our users and supporters
Codec For Quicktime Movie In Media Player
We began the Perian project over 6 years ago. We wanted to simplify viewing your content. Our team has attained that goal and with that in mind, Perian will be retired soon. Our stewardship has been a blast but it's time for all of us to move on.
From the beginning we kept Perian simple. Our preferences were minimal, updating was easy, and we gradually grew the product to add in extras like subtitles and different formats. We've contributed a lot. Today, Perian stands as complete as it ever will be under our stewardship.
There are some projects that we never got to. As an example, we would have liked an official, flexible, and well-documented import API to speed up MKV. We hit a brick wall there. Still, we reached a great stopping point and Perian's installed userbase proves how valuable this tool became to so many people.
Starting 90 days after the final Perian release, we will no longer provide support. We'll wrap up our loose ends, pack up our bags, and move on to new and exciting projects.
Here's what our roadmap looks like:
Quicktime Codec Pc
- We will soon release the final version of Perian, including all the fixes we've worked on since the last release. It may -- or may not -- work on 10.8.
- We will post the source code to either Google Code or Github.
Here's what we're looking for from you, our users
- Download Niceplayer , it's pretty great -- and those folks are doing a fantastic job.
- Support each other on our Google Group list . We mean this. Just because we aren't helping anymore on a regular basis, that doesn't mean that you can't.
- Are you a developer? Pick up where we left off. Join us on #perian on irc.freenode.net. Yeah, we're all pretty busy -- so stick around after asking your question. You may have to wait a bit for an answer. Chalk it up to asynchronous tech support.
- Want to donate? We appreciate the thought. It's hard times these days and your money will make a bigger impact elsewhere. Consider Child's Play , Ronald McDonald House , or the EFF . We no longer accept donations.
A final word: If and when Perian stops working, try looking into VLC or MPlayer OS X. Sure, they're not Perian, but they offer great software still under development.
Thanks for all of your support over the years. It has meant a lot to all of us.
Chris Forsythe
Graham Booker
Alexander Strange
Augie Fackler
PS We would like to thank Erica Sadun for helping us write this letter, and for general guidance.