Trubble playing video files

I have captured video off camcorder on ASUS video card and created avi files. For some reason these files will only play on my PC. I would like to share these on CD's etc., but media player and other programs on another PC won't play it.
Any solutions??? Is there a conversion required?
How come an avi file is different on each PC??

1. RE: Trouble playing video files
lbyard Feb-12-01 02:49 PM
In response to message 0

I am not really up to speed on that subject. You may want to convert them to MPEG files. See download.com offerings at http://download.cnet.com/downloads/1,10150,0-10001-103-0-1-7,00.html?tag=st%2Edl%2E10001%2Esbsr&qt=convert+AVI+files+to+MPEG&cn=&ca=10001. If you are talking about files with different sizes on different PCs, that is probably caused by differences in how the hard disks are formatted: differences in cluster sizes used. Other readers may have better advice based on first-hand experience? Try jbyard@fat2sday.com (http://fat2sday.com). He is a fanatic when it comes to music, etc. and PCs. Larry

2. RE: Trubble playing video files
Jim P Feb-15-01 05:07 PM
In response to message 0

This is most likely due to the compression software (codec) used to create the video. Some video capture cards and video editing programs use proprietary software to compress video files - you need their codec installed in order to read that file.
The ASUS capture card ships with ULEAD's Video Studio which includes a full range of output options. When you create your video file, look for a setting that alows you to select a codec. Select one of the Indeo codecs and your video will be playable on reasonably up-to-date windows pc's. (Sorry, I'm not up to speed on Macs.)
Another possibility - if you're trying to share the captured avi file without "rendering" it through the ULEAD program, you won't be able to read that avi file on another pc unless it also has the ASUS card installed. Instead, use the bundled ULEAD program to create the final video file.

3. RE: Trubble playing video files
kalfried Feb-17-01 01:48 AM
In response to message 2

Thanx for your feedback.
I have pretty much come to the same conclusion. My video card was bundled with ASUS Live Utility software. I have since trialled ULEAD Video Studio and MGI Video Wave Na dfound the latter to be a much more user friendly product. This has also helped me "render" the footage so that I can now share it.

4. RE: Trubble playing video files
kalfried Feb-17-01 01:54 AM
In response to message 3

I have also stumbled across an excellent video resource site:
http://www.jmcgowan.com/avi.html
This may be of use to others.
Thanx again.