Any Suggestions For How To Play .mpg?

[digitaldick]

Hi. I know that the .mpg format is supposed to be played by WMP. but this movie apparently is not formatted the way WMP likes it to be and coughs up this message when I try to play this particular movie: Windows Media Player does not support this file type
Error ID = 0x80040265, Remedy ID = 0x00000000
So the movie was encoded by a codec that is not supported by WMP. But how to find out what is needed is the issue. I tried to be clever and use the GSpot Program to see if it could tell me but it gives me the exact same message. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated (and I cannot ask the person who encoded the movie cause it was downloaded over the net using a p2p program). Thanks for any help.

[UncasMS]

use powrdvd in file mode

[SKD_Tech]

Just asking but what are the Advantages of Power DVD and WinDVD Platinum

SKD_Tech

[aguillon]

To add to what has already been said, you may be looking at a MPEG2 file, which cannot be played within WMP unless you install an MPEG2 codec (there are a few you can download off the net - do a Google search) or use a DVD playing program like PowerDVD in file mode.

Cheers

[digitaldick]

How To Play .mpg...cont

Still no joy when I try to play this movie!

UncasMS- <use powrdvd in file mode> I assumed this meant to try downloading and installing PowerDVD, so I did a search for this term, found a program by Cyberlink called PowerDVD xp4.0, 6.18MB, and was able to try a trial version. I loaded up the movie but got no playback...no audio...no video...and no error message either.

aguillon- <you may be looking at a MPEG2 file, which cannot be played within WMP unless you install an MPEG2 codec (there are a few you can download off the net - do a Google search)> I installed the MPEG2 codec w/o a problem but it provided no help.

Sooooo!What to do now? Can I re-encode this movie into a new format and try playing it again? Or are there more codecs that I can try without risking compatibility issues with my present configurations? Thanks for any additional thoughts.

[UncasMS]

i can play mpeg2 files via bsplayer as well - having tsunamis filterpack 397 installed.

[digitaldick]

how to play .mpg movie....cont.

Hi. Still hoping to get some help for this. Any ideas would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

[Batman]

If possible, try opening the file in virtualdubmod and post the file information.

[Pes]

The file is probably corrupted .. do you know anyone that has this file and can play it?

[setarip]

"it was downloaded over the net using a p2p program"


After these multiple suggestions that haven't worked for you, why don't you simply write it off as "the price you pay" for downloading the work of others - either a corrupt file or a fake file. If you're intent on having a working version of this unnamed video, find another source (or, if my hunch is correct, pay to see it in the theatre ;>})...

[digitaldick]

Still More About This

Hi. Some more followup to this quest for finding the answer to How To Play this movie:
1. Tried VirtualDub 1.4.13. Get message: cannot determine file type. (BTW- is virtualdubmod the same as virtualdub?)
2. Tried AVIcodec. Get message: opening error Colnitialize has not been called.
3. Tried TMPGEnc 2.5- would not open it.

I'll post more later but no indication that the file is corrupt or a fake. I just need to figure out how the movie was put together and work from there.
This question is still out there in case anybody has anything to suggest:
<Sooooo!What to do now? Can I re-encode this movie into a new format and try playing it again?>

setarip- thanks for your advise! Very helpful...NOT!

[digitaldick]

more about that.....

Just a followup. My on-going research into the origin of "mpg" has given me an interesting perspective on just how complicated the topic of video compression is!
From what I can tell, an mpg file can originate from the rip of a DVD movie. So, starting from this assumption, that probably makes this mpg file a movie formatted to the MPEG-2 Standard. I'm thinking....how about I try "burning" it to CD and trying to play it? Any thoughts on this idea?

[The Edge]

1. If the file is a MPEG-1 file, you will have NO issues playinmg it in ANY player WITHOUT any codecs.

2. If the file is a MPEG-2, as suggested, you would need MPEG-2 directshow filters to play in WMP for example. If you want to check that the file is ok, open it it DVD2AVI and you should see it. If you don't, it's either a currupt MPEG-2 file or not a MPEG-2 file at all.

3. Gspot. You have alrealy tried this. Rename the file to "Whatever.avi" and try again. If Gspot fails to see the codecs, it's either a MPEG file (see above) or a corrupt avi.
That's the price you pay for a free download.

4. It could be a *.ogm container, but as fair as I know, the latest Gspot can render these too.

My conclusion so far.....bin the file.

Edge

[digitaldick]

Thanks, Edge, for your thoughts. But you didn't mention my idea? I noted that a thread on this very board is doing something similiar ( post 69866 )!

Regarding your comment about needing MPEG-2 Directshow Filters- would these not be included with the codec I installed from the Elecard MPEG 2 Decoder Package? How would I know if these filters are present or not on my computer?
Regarding using DVD2AVI, thanks for this tip. I'll certainly give it a try. I downloaded it from Link No. 4, the stable version, but when I tried to view the "User Guide", I found that all 5 of the links to English versions were either down or no longer serving the Guide. So I'll do a little trial and error and report back.

Thanks again for trying to help. Again, I note that WMP does not indicate that this mpg movie is corrupt. Thus my quest to try and figure out how to play it, or convert it to something else that might play. If nothing else, the quest has been a great learning experience!