Codecs

Bit of a long shot this i fear. I finally got myself a new laptop the other day. Only problem I'm having is that when I try and play .avi files (movies from my Ricoh Caplio R4 digicamera) I can't get any sound. I can see the movie but its silent. Vista tells me it needs a codec but when I click web help it can't find one for me. I've tried googling for it and even downloaded an application (GSpot) to tell me what I need but I still can't get hold of it. Any recommendations on a straightforward site for downloading codecs? Or any other suggestions.

 

Which codec does gspot say the file uses?
You could try playing the .avi with VLC. It's a free player that always seems to be able to play files that windows WMP balks at.
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

 

My colleague here in the office recommends VLC (he seems to know what he's talking about regards this sort of stuff.

I'd also recommend you install the DivX bundle. I had a similar problem the other day with an AVI file, though I had no sound or picture. The DivX player played it just fine, the bundle also includes converters too. The DivX file format seems a good bet IMO.

http://www.divx.com/divx/windows/

 

Hmm...downloaded Divx and it played audio but it was all scrambled....just tried videolan and that has worked a treat. Just wondering if I'll be able to edit the movies with sound of not. Guess I'll have to see.
Cheers for the help though. Can view them fine now.