Tell me more ×
Super User is a question and answer site for computer enthusiasts and power users. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 1 down vote favorite
1

I found this old CD of video clips that are all .avi files, I've found out the codec is IV50 (Indeo v5). They won't open in VLC in Mac OS X but do open in WMP9 on my Windows machine. Does anyone know of a converter program that supports converting from IV50 to some usable Quicktime format (hopefully MPEG4)?

UPDATE: Thanks for the answers, I looked into ffmpeg and it looks like it will be useful in the future if I need to do anything else with video. The solution I ended up going with was importing the clips into, of all things, Windows Movie Maker and exporting with a usable codec.

share|improve this question

3 Answers

up vote 5 down vote accepted

ffmpeg and MEncoder (comes with Mplayer) are probably the two most comprehensive video conversion/decoding/encoding tools available. I'd suggest giving them a try.

I think MEncoder may utilise codecs on the system [not certain about this], so I would try doing the conversion on a windows PC that is capable of playing them as that way you know you have a valid codec for the format.

share|improve this answer
ffmpeg does not use the codecs in the OS, and I know from previous experience it doesn't support IV50. Not sure about mencoder though. – Badaro Jul 24 '09 at 17:52
@Badaro: Thanks, I've updated with your new info. Post back if you get it working so we can come up with a definitive answer for future reference. – Simon P Stevens Jul 24 '09 at 19:01
YMMV, but I did a quick test, and while mplayer/mencoder can play the file using the installed DirectShow codec, my attempts to convert an IV50 file to another format using it resulted in a corrupted file. – Badaro Jul 24 '09 at 19:25
I would guess that if MPlayer can play the file it is almost certainly possible to convert it. What command line are you using? – Simon P Stevens Jul 24 '09 at 19:30
It converts the file but the output doesn't play properly. Here's a commandline I tested: mencoder -oac lavc -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vbitrate=300:vpass=1 output_xvid.avi -o sample_teste.avi – Badaro Jul 24 '09 at 19:56
show 1 more comment
up vote 1 down vote

Try this website and click on convert tab on the left side.... and select your avi file and then choose a output formate "mov" which is a Quicktime media file format.... hope this tip will be working for you... Freefileconvert

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

While meGUI is not the most user-friendly tool around, it's an amazing converter with high-quality presets for MP4. Also, since it uses AviSynth for input, anything that plays in WMP will work on it.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.