My QuickTime player us not playing .avi files and says I need a codec I can't play no .avi files on QuickTime. How could I fix this because I want to play these files with QuickTime.

There is no single codec for movies that have .avi extensions. AVI is a container format, not a specific type of file. An AVI movie may use one of the Indeo codecs (there are at least four that I'm aware of, none of which have been ported to Mac OS X) or one of the various flavors of DivX, among other possibilities. You'll have to find out what codec was used for the movies you want to view to determine what you need. Note that not all codecs for the various .avi movies are available for QuickTime.

If you want to try "hit and miss", Perian, which rolls several codecs into one package, might work. If not, you can try the codecs at http://www.divx.com/ and http://www.3ivx.com/ and see if one of them will work for you. Do not install both Perian and the DiVX/3iVX codecs at the same time.

If you just want to play the movie any way you can, you can also give this player a try:

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Regards.

Hmm . . . comes with a Utility MPEG2 Component ML app with no explanation of what it's for?

The utility app is an "assistant PKG installer." It allows Lion and Mountain Lion users to install the older QT MPEG-2 Playback Component installer PKG file which is not allowed to run on its own under Lion or Mountain Lion since these operating systems already have a QT X only MPEG-2 component embedded in the QT embedded structure. Without this utility you would have to either copy the component from an older system to your Lion or Mountain Lion system, use Pacifist for installation, or manually open the PKG contents and transfer the component to the appropriate component folder.

As to your "discussion" regarding the playback of AVI file types, there are really only two strategies here:

1) You can add component support so that QT can play the files natively or

2) You can convert the file contents to compression formats that are natively compatible with the unmodified QT component configuration.

Each user should decide for his or her own self which approach best suits their needs for a particular source file. In most cases, conforming the system's codec component configuration to play the source file directly results in higher video quality since no transcoding takes place but this strategy will not work if a codec which is required is not available for the user's operating system. On the other hand, converter utilities tend to support more built-in codecs and are easier to use since the user does not have to concern him or herself with the nature of the particular source compression formats but at the risk of some potential loss in visual quality. As to what converter to use, once again this is a matter of personal choice. In the case of commercial converters like iSkysoft, the codecs are built in while MPEG Streamclip accesses the host operating system's QT codec component configuration. I personally prefer the free HandBrake app for AVI, MKV, TS, MTS, and M2TS conversions since it has an exceptionally full-featured X.264 GUI with some user options that 97% of users are likely to never use.

It would be nice if Apple allowed all avi and wmv movies to continue to play as we update.

Unfortunately, Apple is trying to distance itself from this lagacy file type and associated problems as it developes its own QT X "modernized" structure and environment. Basically it is not a problem of "allowing" files to play as it is a lack of support for the "old technolgy" compression formats which continuously require "patches" to continue to work or are simply no loger supported by the software/hardware associated with "new" video technologies. The main problem here is that AVI has not been officially supported by its creator (Microsoft) for more than 11 years. (I.e., since the introduction of its proprietary Windows Media format as a replacement for AVI.) QT 7 still supports the AVI container and a few "legacy" compression formats natively which you may or may not have to activate yourself under the latest Mac OS. To play others, may require installation of third-party component packages like Perian (as long as it continues to work). Unfortunately, QT X may or may not support some of these "legacy" codecs or even be programmed to use them when it sees the AVI extension. In other cases, it may advise you that the AVI file can be played in the QT 7 player and ask if you wish to switch playback to that app. That is why I default all AVI playback to the QT 7 player and use VLC if/when QT 7 can't handle the contained compression formats or use HandBrake when or where mobile device compatibility is required. Frankly, I personally do not use AVI files myself other than to analyze the contents to answer questions here or "devine" methods of making them playable for others. In fact, it is my considered opinion that most AVI users would be better off if they had switched to the use of the more modern generic MKV open source container years ago.

Quicktime X is a great little piece of software. However, Quicktime X is very finicky on which codec/file format it can decode/play.

Luckily, there are DOZENS of alternative video/media players and extensions available for the Mac. Some of them are even FREE. Some of the better FREE ones include...

PERIAN (quicktime extension)

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/22923/perian

QUICKTIME 7.6.6

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL923

VLC Media Player

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/5758/vlc-media-player

NICEPLAYER

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/15136/niceplayer

... And if none of those work, there is a possibility that, that video file may be corrupted.

My QuickTime player us not playing .avi files and says I need a codec I can't play no .avi files on QuickTime. How could I fix this because I want to play these files with QuickTime.

AVI refers to the file container and the fact that the audio and video frames of data are interleaved. It does not refer to an specific audio and/or video compression formats. This file format has not been officially supported by Microsoft for more than a decade but Windows users continue to use it is open, easy to use, and in some cases, the users are simply too lazy to update to a more modern file container and/or compression formats. As to the codecs, some have never been transcoded for use on the PowerPC Mac. Others have not been recoded for use on Intel based Mac platforms. And currently many are simply not supported by the QT X Player app. In most cases, you can install the QT 7 Player along with the Perian component package which contains codecs that support most of the current AVI compression formats which are Mac supported or you can examine the AVI files to learn what specific codecs are required for viewing and install them if available or lastly, use an alternative player like VLC..

Had the same problem with .avi files generated by a piece of industrial equipment that records onto SD card. AFter screwing around with Perian and older versions of QuickTime (neither of which would open the files), I discovered - by dumb luck - that changing the file extension to .mov fixed the problem. Once the extension is changed to .mov, QuickView works and the files open in the current version of QuickTime. Small nuisance but problem solved.

I’m on an iMac using Mountain Lion.

I had a 12 minute avi movie and changing the suffix didn’t help. The movie wouldn’t play at all with either suffix.

I’ve downloaded iSkysoft Video Converter and converted the avi movie into a “Common Video > QT MOV Format” (the top choice) in the Video Converter app.

A 12 min mov at 193.6 MB turned into a 199.6 MB movie.

Plays perfectly 😎

Maybe . . . report back when you're sure 😕

If you read the post above by KPHINC in this thread he had no luck w/Perian.

MPEG Streamclip might do it but doesn't seem to have the control that iSkysoft Video Converter has.

Before I bought it I used it to on a few movies and wrote to the developers. With good support and being able to customize the movie being converted, I decided to purchase it. I don't mind supporting developers making good apps for Mac.

(I have MPEG Streamclip and if there is a purchasable version, that's what I own.)

Maybe . . . report back when you're sure 😕

Unreasonable request. Since AVI can contain dozens of codecs in hundreds of combinations it impossible to reconstruct each scenario which would be required in order to present a solution where people just say they have an 'AVI that doesn't play'.

If you read the post above by KPHINC in this thread he had no luck w/Perian.

Yes, and came up with the highly unlikely solution of changing the extension to .mov While nice s/he came across it I think it won't work in 99% of the situations. In that case it may have just been the file was mis-labeled, or had Quicktime compatible codecs already but QT didn't realize it could play them (I have done that rarely by renaming compressed .wav to .mp3). Using a codec tool such as MediaInfo helps in deciphering that.

Ahhh . . . thank you Limnos.

Then my report stands as stated.

I tested iSkysoft Video Converter on several videos: avi - which wouldn't play at all;

AND

wmv movies that had annoying trademarks and some strange announcement every few seconds, perhaps something that Flip4Mac inserted, thought I'm trhough with testing for today.

Is MPEG Streamclip still being devoloped or is it deprecated?

I remember it being a fine product! (Hopefully still is.)

Hmm . . . comes with a Utility MPEG2 Component ML app with no explanation of what it's for?

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/15466/mpeg-streamclip

EDIT: never mind - it installs a QT MPEG-2 Playback Component necessary for its operation, which I already have installed.

I have vs 1.8, I'll try this one, thx!

Thx John,

I have used Pacifist before, great app. I think I pulled some older QT components out of an Apple install disc.

I have tried with the bigger wmv movies to keep the same resolution and not blow a movie up from 500 MB to 1 1/2 GB and gotten it so I can see or hear no differences, but still as you say, the best thing to do would be to not convert but to add the proper codec.

Unfurtunately this is one of about ten threads I've read on this subject and there seem to be no hard and fast solutions.

I see it's on a case to case basis, and I'm keeping the original movies for now, but so far the results have been pretty good.

It would be nice if Apple allowed all avi and wmv movies to continue to play as we update.

Thx again, maybe I'll give Handbrake a try.

Why QuickTime Won't Play AVI Files?

AVI (Audio Video Interleaved) is a container format designed by Microsoft to wrap audio and video stream together. The video in AVI file can be compressed by many kinds of codec, such as MJPEG (Motion JPEG), MPEG-1, MPEG-2, DivX, XviD, WMV and others. To play all AVI files, your player must support all of these codecs. So far, no matter you are a Windows user or a Mac user, QuickTime only natively plays AVI files with MJPEG video.

As a great open-source QuickTime component, Perian is the saver to allow QuickTime to play all kinds of AVI videos for Mac users. Unfortunately, the latest version 1.2.3 of Perian is not compatible with Mac OS X Mavericks (10.9), Mountain Lion (10.8) and Lion (10.7).

In order to solve "QuickTime won't play AVI" on Mac (Mavericks included) and Windows, it is best to convert AVI to QuickTime more popular formatslike MP4, MOV.

Hope it will help you more or less.

Hello there, I am new here. I found this is a search for the same problem. I just did the Yosemite update and now my QuickTime player does not work at all. I was working just fine before the update and played all file types with out any problem but now it keeps saying converting or wont play anything. I am a novice here so am I to understand that QuickTime no longer works at all and I have to now convert all my .AVI files over to mp4 or something? I am confused to why quicktime is no longer working? Will apple fix this or is this just a problem with the new update? It also seems as though my computer is running slower now too since the update. I hear there were alot of issues? I wish I would have known that before doing the update.

Anyways any help or step by step info for fixing the quicktime issue would be helpful. Thanks, -Dave

And you probably could have done it for free using Perian and MPEG Streamclip.