Error opening .avi movie file

When I try to open an .avi movie in quicktime I get a message that says:
"Error opening movie. The movie could not be opened." How can I open the movie? Or can I? Thanks...
iMac   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

turtle007 & Mew Gull,
To Apple Discussions!
Open the file with QuickTime Player.
Open the Movie Info window (Command-i).
Note the name of the video codec used in the file.
Do a Google.com search for codec name +Mac and download one appropriate for your OS and computer.
Quit and relaunch QuickTime after installing the new codec.
Try the file again.
Thanks to QuickTimeKirk for the above info.
If the above does not work, then use VLC Media Player or Perian (AVI and FLV support)

Similar Messages

  • I'm running snow leopard. The try to open any .mov file in Quicktime, and I get an error message that says, "The document xyz.mov could not be opened. The movie is not in a format that Quicktime player understands. I'm a recent upgrade to Snow Leopard.

    I'm running snow leopard. The try to open any .mov file in Quicktime, and I get an error message that says, "The document xyz.mov could not be opened. The movie is not in a format that Quicktime player understands. I'm a recent upgrade to Snow Leopard.
    Help!
    Thanks, Mark

    Unfortunately, the error message gives no details about what codec might be missing or what it needs.
    If the file can't be opened in QT, it only means you cannot use the QT "Inspector" window to check what compression formats were used to create the file. It does not mean you can't use the Finder "Information" window to check on the compression formats or use a third party media information window (e.g., like VLC which will open many compression formats not supported natively by QT) to determine what kind of data is included in the MOV wrapper. If the file cannot be opened in any app, it is usually a good sign that the file itself is corrupted.
    It's a stupid error message. Apple should do better than that.
    Error trapping is quite extensive but there are still many areas which require human oversight. The message is telling you that either the container has a problem (e.g., not properly terminated, non-standard, or corrupted) or that one or more of the compression formats used is not supported by your current codec component configuration or that the data was encoded using non-standard settings or preferences not supported by QT or that the fourCC code does not match the data contained in the file or that there are timecode inconsistencies, etc., etc., etc. In short there are a near infinite number of possible problems for which it would be very difficult/nearly impossible to program error trapping depending on your sourcing of content and how you process it before it reaches the player app. Think of it like trying to play a BD disc in an DVD player.
    I'll call Apple support when I get a chance.
    Chances are good that they will end up sending you back here. In any case, it is often a good idea to post a sample file for examination by other QT users. At the very least, they should be able to tell you if the sample file will play on other systems which would indicate whether or not the file itself is bad and under the best of circumstances whould allow them to examing the file in detail for various common problems.

  • Burning AVI movie files to DVD, whats the trick in iDVD?

    I have AVI movie files that I want to burn to a DVD. I am able to "import" the file and do all the extras with iDVD but I am unable to select chapters and when I try to preview the movie its just a blank screen. What am I missing?!

    Hi
    .avi is no Video Format/Codec - it is a container and can hold Codecs that iDVD can use or NOT
    • Open it in QuickTime Player
    • then open Inspector (cmd+I)
    • read - Video Format/Codec: nnnnnnnnn
    What does it read ?
    Yours Bengt W

  • Opening multiple movie files to play sequentially.

    Currently, if I highlight several movie (e.g. .avi) files in a Finder window and then double-click on one of them, each of the files is opened in a separate QuickTime window and if I have "automatically play movies when opened" QuickTime preference set, then they all start playing simultaneously!
    How do I change it so that opening multiple movie files results in them being played sequentially in a single window?
    P.S. I have "Open movies in new players" preference is disabled.
    P.P.S. For image files it all works correctly - they are opened in Preview and I get an option of starting a slideshow...

    Hi,
    I'm not on a Mac at the moment to test, but I could have sworn you used to be able to open one movie, pause it and then drag and drop subsequent movies onto that window to append them to the end.
    Give it a try. Sorry if I've been imagining things though

  • Error creating swf movie file

    Hello,
    I'm trying to create a virtual world but every time I try and publish it, it says error creating swf movie file. Here's a video to show you what i mean:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRAAGoQK80A&feature=youtu.be

    Hi foxxy123,
    Two things that I noticed in the video:
    1) You are not saving the file before publishing.
    2) Flash warns you about the fonts missing from your system while opening the file.
    "The document contains one or more fonts not available on your system. The text will display and publish with the font mapping below:"
    So download and install the fonts on your computer "Blaster" and "Blaster Infinite" and save the file before publishing.
    It doesn't seem to be saying error creating swf movie file, it just says something about the font not being right.
    The message warn you that you have an anti-alias mode set on text and it requires you to have embedded fonts to use anti-aliasing. If you do not want to see that message anymore, then select your text blocks and set the anti-alias types to Use Device Fonts.
    You can disable the warning message in the preferences dialog
    Edit > Preferences > Warnings > uncheck "Warn on text needs embedded font".
    Hope this helps,
    Thanks!
    Bhawna

  • How best to burn avi movie file to a DVD?

    I am the owner of a new 20" iMac and would like to burn an avi movie file to a DVD. I am informed by an Apple tech rep that the avi file has to be converted to a DV or MPEG-4 file before the iDVD program can burn it to a DVD. To make the conversion a Roxio program called Popcorn has been suggested, but the cost is $50.
    I will appreciate any advice as to alternative lower cost programs that will accomplish the conversion.
    I am also open to any other approaches that will enable me to burn the avi file to a DVD. (Before switching from a Windows computer to the iMac I used to burn avi movie files to DVDs with no sweat via NeroVision Express which was part of the Nero 6 software package that was supplied with an external DVD burner).
    Bob
    20" iMac   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

    I’m not conversant with the technical aspects of the information on the other two websites to which you refer. I really can’t tell whether these programs would meet the demands of this particular situation. I do not want to download programs, even if they are freeware, if I don’t know what I am getting. This movie stuff is certainly a much more complex issue to deal with than mp3 song files!
    I am too new to the world of Mac to know whether QuickTime Pro would be of advantage. I’ll have to look into it.
    I think QT Pro is like another editing app in and of itself and much more. It is very much worth every cent that apple is asking for this software. In fact, in some situations it's actually vital in the creation of several projects.
    I'm guessing you too will find this out on your own when it comes to combining two QT movies together as one project or triming and existing QT movie rather than reworking both separate projects from scratch.
    Bottom line is that it's significant time saver. And for me time = $$$. (Hence this QT software is worth every cent of $29).
    Btw... and nobody pays me to say this about apple software. I'm just stating what works best for me.
    Speaking of which .... I also happen to be my own beta tester.
    I think you're going to have to get used to the idea of testing your own software / plugins that will work best for you and in your own situation. You might want to consider investing in an ext. HD if you don't already own one.
    The way I approach this is to clone my exisiting HD using CCC and then running the latest apple update /software on the cloned HD rather than attempting to alter my existing HD (which to me is essentially my bread and butter).
    Hope this helps.
    (3) G4 PM's/(3) S-Drives/Sony TRV900/Nikons/6FWHD's/PS7/iLife06/FCPHD/DVDSP/etc.   Mac OS X (10.4.8)   My ichatav AIM account is: SDMacuser1 (Please use Text chat prior to video)

  • HT204382 how can i play an AVI movie file on my mac????????

    how can i play an AVI movie file on my macbook??????

    Or download and install the free MPlayerX from the App Store.

  • "Error opening installation log file" when installing Photoshop Elements 10

    I bought Photoshop Elements 10 , Premiere Elements 10 .... I got the Premiere to download no problem but i can't get the photoshop to download. This is the msg that I am getting when I try to dl it "Error opening installation log file. Verify that the specified log file location exsists and is writable". Not sure why I can download one and not the other since they are both on the same disc. Plus in the program that I purchased I has 5 DVD's. Any suggestions??
    Thanks
    Message title was edited by: Brett N

    Install Premiere Elements, Photoshop Elements
    Mylenium

  • How can I open a .mov file with iMovie?

    Hi,
    I keep trying to open a .mov file in iMovie and it isn't doing it. Is that not a recognized file extension? Should I convert the video file somehow?
    Thanks!

    .mov is just a container for a variety of video codecs, some of which are not recognized by iMovie.  You will need to convert it first with a third party app such as Media Converter (which is free, see:   http://media-converter.sourceforge.net). 
    Another free app  VideoSpec (see:  http://videospec.free.fr) is useful for identifying all the details of a video clip
    Geoff.

  • Playing AVI movie files??

    Help. I have 3 Macs: G4 Flat Panel, Imac G5- which play AVI movie files just fine. Mac Mini (specs below) which does not. Been at it for hours. The two older ones are non-intel, the mini is intel, this is the only difference I can see. I have the same software and plug-ins installed; (quicktime pro, flip for mac, windows media player, divx plug-in, xvid) All of them are running 10.4.11. When I put in a movie encoded in AVI in the mini I get a prompt that says roughly 'additional software plugin might be needed', can't think of anything else to do. Any info appreciated. Thank you.

    If anyone else has this problem with an intel based mac here is link that solved my problem.
    http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1964138&tstart=0&messageID=974 3888#9743888

  • Error opening installation log file.

    ProblemYou are unable to install BlackBerry Desktop Manager and the following error message is displayed when you open the installation log file:
    Error opening installation log file verify that the specified log file exist and is writable.
    ResolutionTo resolve this issue, edit the system environment variables by completing the following steps:
    Warning: The following procedure requires modifying the computer environment variables. This can result in unexpected system behavior. Document the existing values prior to implementing any changes. To search for the Install.log file or files in the temp folder:
    On the Start menu, click Run and type %temp%.
    Click OK.
    In the Temp folder, click Search and then All files and folders. In the All or part of the file name field, type Install.log and set the Look in field value to Temp. 
    Click Search.
    If the Install.log file is found, delete it.
    In Windows® Explorer, go to the C:\ drive and create a new folder called TEMP2.
    Open the Control Panel and double-click the System icon.
    On the Advanced tab, click Environment Variables.
    In the User variables list, select TEMP and click Edit.
    In the Variable value field, change the file path to C:\TEMP2 and click OK.
    In the User variables list, select TMP and click Edit.
    In the Variable value field, change the file path to C:\TEMP2 and click OK.
    In the Environment Variables window, click OK.
    In the System Properties window, click Apply and then OK.
    Restart the computer for the changes to take effect. 
    Repeat the installation procedure for BlackBerry Desktop Manager.
    I have 8330

    hello,
    another solution is here :
    http://supportforums.blackberry.com/rim/board/message?board.id=BlackBerryDesktopSoftware&message.id=...
    The search box on top-right of this page is your true friend, and the public Knowledge Base too:

  • Creating slideshow with AVI movie files in iDVD 06?

    Today I was trying to create a slideshow movie with iDVD. I had some AVI movie files that came from my Canon digital camera. I wasnt able to drag them into the slideshow well, so I thought I had to convert them to a .mov file, after converting them I still wasnt able to use them. Is it possible to make a slideshow with movie files as well as pictures in iDVD 06? I know for a fact that I can do this on iDVD 08, so is it possible? thanks in advance.

    Slideshows using movies is just an iLife '08 thing.
    I suggest you do what I do. Use VisualHub to convert the AVI slideshows to DV video movies. The DV video will work great in iDVD 6 when put on a menu page.

  • Error Opening Oracle Terminal File fmrweb.

    I installed 9IAS portal and the forms/reports server. The portal works fine, but when I try the 'Run Form Web ( runform.htm)' I get an error "Error opening Oracle*Terminal file fmrweb." The file does exist in my c:\oracle\806\forms60 directory and my FORMS60_PATH is set to c:\oracle\806\forms60 as well. Anybody having ( had ) similar problems? Note: 8.1.7, portal, and formsserver installed on the same Win 2000 machine. No Oracle apps. Thanks in advance.

    Hi Christian,
    It's probably working because you're now using fmrweb.res instead of the foobar fmrwebdk.res. Just look out for that missing quotation mark :)
    --Jesper                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

  • Error opening editor for file

    When I'm opening files via a SFTP connection the file opens; however, I get a somewhat annoying "Error opening editor for file c:\users\[user]\AppData\Local\Temp\[connection]\[folder]\(SFTP)[file]"
    I can't figure out why!
    Any ideas?

    you should use "<xsl:include href" instead of "<xsl:import href"
    Regds
    --

  • Opening a .mov file on a Mac across a Windows network causes hang

    QuickTime player hangs when I try to open a .mov file on a networked Mac OSX machine from my Windows XP machine. This happens 80-90% of the time; that is, not every time, but most of the time.
    I've tried this from 2-3 different machines, and get the same result.
    Interesting thing is that, if I'm viewing the directory that the .mov file comes from in Windows Explorer, Windows Explorer also hangs - so it looks like something bad in going on in the Windows networking layer.
    File opens fine when I open it locally or on another Windows machine on the network.
    We're actually accessing the QT SDK from an app we're developing. We first noticed this behavior in our app, and decided to see if we could repro the problem in QT player. Sure enough, we could.
    Is there somewhere else I can log this message so that it will come to the attention of the SDK group? This a major problem for our app that I need to resolve one way or another.

    A MOV. file can be anything.
    I would suggest you download and install Perian from http://perian.org/
    You should read this support page http://perian.org/#support in case you need to delete older codecs.

Maybe you are looking for