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Windows media player crashes every time i try to play a video recorded by Cam Studio

edited October 2014 in Support
I have watched all of the videos (more than once), I have read and re-read the FAQ, I have all settings (I am pretty sure) set properly yet every time I attempt to play the AVI on windows media player it crashes. I am using the Xvid MPEG4 codec.

Comments

  • This is quite rare. I imagine you are set to something standard like 1280x720 or 1920x1080, right?

    Do they play on VLC? http://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html

    Will YouTube accept it as an upload?

    Windows Media Player usually has no problems at all.

    Terry
  • Terry, thanks for getting back to me. Yes, I had chosen 720 in the codec config. & 1280x720 in the region parameters of Cam Studio. I then decided to try the x264VFW codec. I had downloaded it several days ago, When I looked in the Compressor pull down, x264 wasn't there. I installed it again, restarted the computer, still not listed in the pull down. I just installed again. Still not in the pull down.

    In the meantime, I chose Microsoft MPEG-4 video codec V3. Everything seems to be working fine. I plan to create screencasts demonstrating Photoshop editing routines and would like them to look good at full screen. Is there any reason that I should not use this codec?

    Thanks for your help.
  • You likely succumbed to the temptation to download the 64-bit version of x.264vfw since you likely have a 64-bit computer. But CamStudio is a 32-bit program and can only "see" 32-bit codecs, so go get the 32-bit version and install that along with the other one. (If you are running 64-bit Windows Media Player - the only 64-bit player I know of - then it can use the one you already downloaded.)

    Glad you have the MS MPEG-4 V3 on your machine - it is supposed to be very good!

    When you get a few 32-bit codecs on your machine, you can compare the quality, but I started out making Photoshop tutorials, and I assure you that MS MPEG-4, Xvid and X.264vfw all look completely the same for such uses. Where they differ is for high-motion uses, with X.264vfw being the favored one for gamers recording their gameplay videos. (I would use OBS for that, though!)

    Terry
  • johnmcbay - BTW - where did you get the Microsoft MPEG-4 V3 codec from? It is pretty rare to find nowadays.

    I found this odd piece of use-restriction info at Microsoft: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/278310
    I don't know if this applies to CamStudio - it does use the 2010 MS C++ Runtime Libraries, so it likely is ok.

    Terry
  • Terry

    Thanks so much. I just created my first 5 minute video and uploaded it to Vimeo. It worked great at 720, next step 1080 and then SOUND.
  • Terry, I have no idea where it came from. When I opened Cam Studio it was one of the choices available for the compressor.
  • John,

    We're off and running! :-)

    Terry
  • edited October 2014
    My own take on this codec is that it’s something of a trap for users who find it on the list of MPEG 4 options and never go on to try something better. It showed up with my Win 7 right of the box, so I included it in my test of codecs. On the plus side, the interface is dumbed down to the point of being very easy to use - just set the bitrate slider all the way up and you're ready to go. It produces very small files compared to other codecs and is not compatible with packed bitstream - both good. Problem is, the compression formula is very crude and produces a very “blocky” image with no appreciable motion anticipation. Bottom line for me is that this one is totally obsolete and an easy discard frm the list of usable codecs.

    Ken
  • I just downloaded the following and all of my problems described above went away:

    http://download.cnet.com/windows/windows-7-codec-pack/3260-20_4-10053955-1.html
  • John,
    Excellent!
    Terry
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