Darn FLV files! (...and Total Video Converter too...)

[Elhombresombra]

Hello everybody,
my problem is to play FLV files, or to convert them into more common types
(like MPEG, AVI or the like) on a computer running under WIN98/SE.
All the -few- FLV players around (including the tools from Martijn de Visser)
require at least WIN2000, and even the famous "Total Video Converter" does
not install under WIN98, even if its Minimum System Requirements state that
it should.
Anybody in the audience using TVC under WIN98? Or any helpful suggestion
about other tools?...

[anonymez]

welcome to the forum

download media player classic-- it has an internal flv splitter and flv4/vp6 decoders, it should handle audio too, usually mp3. as for FLV1, download & install a recent ffdshow build http://www.x264.nl. enable FLV1 decoding through start-->programs-->ffdshow-->video decoder config and set FLV1 to libavcodec

as for getting it into an avi, use FLV Extract to demux then virtualdub to mux audio & video

[drfsupercenter]

Or use mencoder, it worked great for me

[Elhombresombra]

What?!?

Ehm... sorry folks... SUPPOSE you are talking to a monkey (well, not too far
from the truth indeed )... I have Windows Media Player 9, ok? WHAT the hell do I have to do?!? Like Dan Aykroyd in Ghostbusters, "now
suppose for a moment that I am totally ignorant of the matter..."

[anonymez]

simpler steps:

1. download media player classic

2. download & install ffdshow

3. do this

click start-->programs-->ffdshow-->video decoder config and set FLV1 to libavcodec

and you will be able to play them

[celtic_druid]

Don't think Gabest's MPC builds have VP6 decoding activated and my MPC builds don't run under 98.

ffmpeg should work. At least ffplay tested fine here and with others for FLV4 playback. Not sure about FLV5 (VP62 plus transparency as I understand it). Not sure if they got VP5/6 decoding working in ffdshow yet. If they have, that together with Gabest's splitter should work.

mencoder last time I tried had issues with FLV4's. Should have supported them before ffmpeg though since it can make use of an external decoder.

[anonymez]

just checked, you're right gabest's builds don't; looks like rev. 611 is only for 2k/xp. i'd take a guess and say Elhombresombra's got FLV1 content anyway

Not sure about FLV5 (VP62 plus transparency as I understand it)

it is

[a2j3]

Elhombresombra u can get this flv player for free for windows 98. Hope this helps.

http://www.download.com/Riva-FLV-Player/3000-2194-10435953.html

[celtic_druid]

rev. 611 is only for 2k/xp because as I said I don't do builds for win98. Same goes for the external filters. I did do some x64 builds though.

Anyone still using win9x should update to Win2k, XP, Linux or whatever.

[Elhombresombra]

Thank you!

Well... I'm posting this one to say THANK YOU TO EVERYBODY!
I must confess that, when I saw the exchange between "anonymez" and
"celtic_druid" I thought "HERE WE GO AGAIN, WHAT THE HELL!..."
This is the reason why I HATE PC VIDEO!!! Time ago I was struggling
with the codecs that were never up to date, every time there was some
video requiring a new codec that was impossible to find or required something new to be installed... When my old PC broke and I had to change
to this one, initially I even refused to install Windows Media Player because
I was definitely SICK about video standards ever changing!
Many thanks to "a2j3" that suggested the Riva FLV Player!
May I lay down a question for you video Gurus?...
TinySoft does not respond to this... Why their Total Video Converter does
NOT install under WIN98, when its Minimum System Requirements start from
WIN98?
That drives me mad! If it requires, to say, WIN2K at least, well, then state
that at least WIN2K is required! Anybody knows this software? That would
resolve the problem (still open) that if I want to share FLV videos with
somebody, I must provide Riva FLV Player as well (or ask the person to
install it): no doubt that converting FLV to something more domestic would
be better for anybody!
THANK YOU again!