Total Newbie Basic Questions

[kikogol]

Hello everyone, this is my first post, so I will start with the basics.

Due to my lack of knowledge I have downloaded and installed many codecs, player, programs and others. So now my PC is a totall mess. I want to learn to several things:

1.- CODECS

a) What codecs should I have to play any kind of movie format?

b) where to find what codecs I already have?

c) how to erase them correctly?

d) How to install them again? In what order?

2.- PLAYER

a) What is the best overall player? (I currently use BSPlayer)

b) What is the recommended player to play each type of video?

3.- STORAGE

My hard disk is running out of space so I need to start saving my videos on CDs or DVDs

a) Should I first make all files DivX? how do I know what format they are to start with?

b) What program should I use (to transform them)?

c) What program should I use to record on the CD/DVD?

d) Best available guide for this process?

e) How do I make each file fit in one CD?

f) If I burn a DivX file on a CD just like that, do I put it into my Home DVD player and it will play normally?

4.- MISSING

a) What basic questions am I missing?

Thanks

[Enchanter]

1.
"a) What codecs should I have to play any kind of movie format? "

Whatever's required to play that particular format.


"b) where to find what codecs I already have?"

Device Manager -> Sound, video and game controllers -> Video codecs.


"c) how to erase them correctly?"

Typically you'd use the uninstaller included with each codecs. Otherwise, it is down to manually deleting the corresponding .ax file(s) of that particular codec (may be hard to know which is the right file, hence my recommendation to use uninstallers).


"d) How to install them again? In what order? "

Follow this rule of thumb: Install only the codecs that you need.



2.
"a) What is the best overall player? (I currently use BSPlayer)"

BSPlayer is a good choice. WMP 6.4 is worth a mention as well.


"b) What is the recommended player to play each type of video?"

Your choice of player is good enough. Certain video formats (e.g. Quicktime, .mov & RealMedia, .rm) require the use of their own players.


3.
"a) Should I first make all files DivX? how do I know what format they are to start with?"

Unless necessary, I would avoid converting them, especially using lossy codecs. Simply back them up the way they are.

You can use GSpot or Virtualdub's File Information utility to find out what format each of your videos is.


"b) What program should I use (to transform them)? "

Virtualdub for creating .avi files. TMPGEnc for creating .mpg (MPEG-1 & MPEG-2) files.


"c) What program should I use to record on the CD/DVD?"

Whatever burning software that is included with your burner.


"d) Best available guide for this process?"

Your own experience speaks the best.


"e) How do I make each file fit in one CD?"

If necessary, you can either crop off the end credits of the video and hope that the final filesize fits on a CD. Otherwise, re-compressing of the video is necessary.


"f) If I burn a DivX file on a CD just like that, do I put it into my Home DVD player and it will play normally?"

It won't play.

You need to convert it to MPEG-1/2 file (using TMPGEnc) and burn as (S)VCD. Make sure that your DVD player supports (S)VCD playback though.


4.
"a) What basic questions am I missing? "

Whatever following questions you might have after reading this.


Cheers.

[kikogol]

Thanks Enchanter, I start solving a few doubts.

I still need some reassurance about a couple things:

If I check any file with GSpot or Virtualdub's File Information utility I will find out what video and audio codecs where used to make that .avi file. Right? Therefore, once I check with those programs I can install any codecs that could be missing to play that file properly.
I guess one of the most confusing things is that there are a lot of different type of .avi files.

VIDEO CODECS

Going back to Codecs. Here is an attached list of the video codecs I have. On one hand having too many should not hurt, but on the other hand I don't know if:

1.- they compliment each other or create conflicts?
2.- Which program or installation corresponds to each one of the codecs that appear on the list.

Should I try uninstalling everything and start from scratch? Say I install first DivX3.11, then DivX4 and then Xvid codecs.

These are the basics but there are also others like .ogg and a few more that I keep seeing and coming up here and there. What other codecs are "essential" to have no problems when I press play on my BSPlayer?

After uninstalling all possible codecs with the uninstallers, should I go through my windows>system32 file and delete all leftover .ax files?

SOUND CODECS:

Which are the basics in this category?

SAVING Files to a CD.

Say I download a file that as 725.000 Mb and it comes in .avi format:

How do I make it fit in a CD?
Do I actually have to edit it (premiere or similar) or can I somehow compress it a little more? How?

c.- Making a SVCD:

Obviously, I should have a copy of the original file for backup, but sometimes I need to work in my PC and play a movie on the TV for someone else at the same time, so I need to have a copy I can play directly on my home DVD. Otherwise, I would just insert the backup CD and play through my TVout connection of my PC and avoid all this hassle. Plus, I do not need to bring the whole PC along if i want to play the movie somewhere else. Thus the need to create SVCDs.

Concrete questions:

What format (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4) needs the final file, the one I burn, to be in, in order to play in my home DVD (suppossing it does accept SVCD)?

To transform it I understand I should use TMPGenc, right? So, I take the original file and process it with that program, then I burn it with Nero, for example. How do I adjust the TMPGenc process so the file is not to big at the end?

What's the maximum size the final file can have to fit in my CD?
Can I have several files in one VCD? If so, how do I create a menu?

Thanks again

[Enchanter]

Video Codecs

There are indeed many types of compression types. The most popular ones used for, compressing movies for example, are DivX and XviD. However, if all you are interested in is viewing these files, I will guide you to using FFDShow instead. It is an excellent alternative decoder capable of decoding various MPEG-4 compression, including DivX and XviD. There is no need to install any other video codecs.


Sound Codecs

The popular types of audio formats used in movies are typically .mp3, .ogg and .ac3.

MP3 is natively suported by Windows installations so there is no need to bother with installation of MP3 decoder. An MP3 encoder still needs to be installed if you intend to convert sound files to MP3 though.

OGG typically come in .ogm files (not .avi files) and require the installation of the Ogg DirectShow Source to enable their playback.

AC3 is the original Dolby soundtrack that comes with the DVD and requires the installation of an AC3 filter to enable their playback. There are a number of different types of AC3 filters available.


VCD Matter

Unless your DVD player supports DivX/XviD playback (few do), you are stuck with your current option.

MPEG-1 (VCD) & MPEG-2 (SVCD). Make sure that these files comply with the (S)VCD requirements; TMPGEnc has a handy wizard that you should use and exploit to the fullest.

As to filesize, you can't do anything about it. The final filesize will be much much larger than the original DivX file. However, when burning to (S)VCD, the filesize does not matter; it is the play length that matters (I don't quite remember the values, but you can find out from TMPGEnc itself). Yes, you can have several files on a CD provided that their total play length does not exceed the allowable limit on the CD.

Cheers.