This forum software has now been archived into static HTML page (i.e. it does not function as a working forum anymore, so you cannot login.)

In due course a new forum will be available to help support newer CamStudio versions.

Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

Using DivX Codecs with CamStudio

Okay guys. I researched this a bunch, and saw no good solutions in my top-10 Google results, so I'm hoping this can help some people.

First off, how to get the DivX Codecs. This is pretty straightforward, actually. AFTER you've installed CamStudio, go to www.divx.com and navigate your way to their Codec Pack (or cheat and use this url: http://www.divx.com/en/software/divx-plus/codec-pack). Once there, click the "Free Download" button to obtain your codec pack. Download and install as instructed by their documentation. When finished, pick DivX as your compressor under CamStudio's Options > Video Options menu.

Now, for some people this seems to do the trick. Test it out, and if it works, congratulations. If, however, you are one of the hundreds of people who encounter the "Error encoding AVI with current compressor..." message (myself included), you need to do the following:

1) Go to Options > Record to Flash Options and UNCHECK "Delete the Intermediate AVI file upon completion"
2) Click the "SWF" button to switch to "Record to SWF" mode
3) After recording your video as desired, SWF Producer will launch and begin converting your AVI into flash. At this point, either let it finish, or pull up Task Manager (Ctrl + Alt + Delete) and "End Task" it.
4) Navigate to your default save location and take a look. In addition to the .swf file, there should be a nice, shiny .avi file waiting for you.

Enjoy!

Comments

  • edited July 2011
    [Edit: Pay no attention to me - I misread the post above and its intention. Move along - nothing to see here... till two posts further down!]

    Mangobyte,

    Firstly, don't use the lousy SWF converter in Camstudio - use ANY Video Converter or ANYthing else!
    http://www.any-video-converter.com/download-avc-free.php
    Freemake video converter also does SWFs, and you can pick your audio quality/bitrate too. It has a cool player code generator as well (check the box "Embed Video to my web page" and it will auto-generate the code. You'll still have to edit the values to make the controls visible, etc.)
    http://www.freemake.com/free_video_converter/

    Also, DivX Pro with the encoder is on sale right now for half price, so grab it. Otherwise, for a free solution, use Xvid instead.

    Make certain your height and width are the correct dimensions. Most modern codecs need even dimensions that are multiples of 2. DivX needs width to be a multiple of 4, height a multiple of 2, at 24 or 32 bit color depth.
    YouTube wants multiples of at least 2 nowadays.

    Use "Fixed Region" to accomplish perfection here.

    Terry
  • Terry, thanks for the additional information, but I believe you may have misunderstood. This is a workaround for people who want to use the free DivX codec pack with Camstudio, and are encountering a specific failure mode.

    I completely agree with your assessment of Camstudio's converted SWF files; however, if you read REALLY closely, you'll notice that I am only using that as an intermediate step to obtain the .AVI file. I heartily recommend deleting the SWF file once you have it, but by choosing "Record to SWF", you can bypass the error mentioned above, and obtain a perfectly functional AVI file.

    Does that make sense?
  • edited July 2011
    Mangobyte,

    Oh, geesh! I must not have had coffee yet when I read your post! Sorry! I've added an edit to my reply above.

    What I find curious is exactly why this workaround is necessary at all, or even why it works at all!

    Doing it your way, I believe that you are invoking a "silent mode" conversion process, where it does not bother you with prompts like the one reading "Error encoding AVI with current compressor..." - the rest of that message is, "Use default compressor?" If this is running in silent mode, it is likely merely using the "default compressor" (which is Microsoft Video 1 currently till we change that...) and moving on without telling you what it is doing.

    The key point of my reply was that this error message almost ALWAYS arrives because the width and/or height are not up to DivX specs. DivX needs width always to be a multiple of 4, height be a multiple of 2, at 24 or 32 bit color depth. My suggestion is to use "Fixed Region" to accomplish perfection here. Or use Xvid, which only asks for width and height to be multiples of 2.

    Terry

Sign In or Register to comment.