# flip4mac alternative????



## hndsmman (Nov 8, 2007)

Is there a wmv reading tool for Quicktime that doesn't cost money or doesn't leave a watermark when converted like Flip4Mac does? curse you APPLE!!!!! this should be a standard component!!!


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## Mikuro (Nov 8, 2007)

VLC can play WMVs now, and it also has conversion features. It's not really made for converting videos, though, so it's not all that reliable or easy to use.


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## Captain Code (Nov 9, 2007)

Flip4Mac player is free
http://www.flip4mac.com/wmv_download.htm


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## MacGizmo (Nov 17, 2007)

Why are you blaming Apple for the problem when Microsoft is the one who created the shitty, proprietary format that even their own player barely works with due to the 713 million different cruddy codecs available?


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## Satcomer (Nov 18, 2007)

Flip4Mac is a free codec to WATCH videos. As SHAREWARE it also will save/convert with a small fee as stated on Flip4Mac's info page. The watermark comes a result of trying to use the free codec to do WMV Sudio's job with paying Flip4Mac the fee.

Microsoft charges Flip4Mac the privilege to watch/save/convert for sellign such a product. Not everything is free so pony up the money for the privilege of using Microsoft's GREAT proprietary video codec.


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## icemanjc (Nov 18, 2007)

Satcomer said:


> Microsoft charges Flip4Mac the privilege to watch/save/convert for sellign such a product. Not everything is free so pony up the money for the privilege of using Microsoft's GREAT proprietary video codec.



But VideoLAN doesn't have to pay Microsoft because VLC is still free.


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## fryke (Nov 18, 2007)

Yes, but it doesn't convert to WMV, so it's irrelevant to this thread.


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## Mikuro (Nov 18, 2007)

Just for clarification: Do you want to convert _to_ WMV, or _from_ WMV? If you want to convert from WMV, VLC and possibly ffmpegX should work. If you want to convert to WMV, Flip4Mac is the cheapest option I'm aware of.


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## Rhisiart (Nov 19, 2007)

Or you can try VisualHub (although it's not free).


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## fryke (Nov 19, 2007)

Reading the OP again, it's *OBVIOUSLY* about converting *TO* WMV. I think Flip4Mac's the best option for that right now. And I'm not aware of a good free one. (Not even just a free one unless ffmpegx does it without me noticing because it's too freakin' complicated to handle...)


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## arri (Dec 9, 2007)

VLC is the one you want
and it can convert to and from many different formats/codecs, including ASF, which is just a container format for holding formats such as WMV.
VLC's streaming/exporting wizard makes the process pretty straightforward

together with the VLC bowser plugin you can dump Flip alltogether,
although you need a modified .rsrc file for it to understand wmv/asf format, which is probably a legal issue..


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## DarkSorrow (Dec 9, 2007)

If you have window in boot Camp, you can boot it there and use window app, Super it 100% free and can convert any media file and audio file. it not over-complex like FFmpegx. Super have a option to leave watermark or not or create your watermark. Dont have to install any codec, it a standalone program with it own codec libraries.

Plus it have a ability to show the converted file to see it working before it start encoding the file. so that way you can check if the converted file is working properly


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## CharlieJ (Dec 27, 2007)

Right. Why on earth would you want to use WMV? It really annoys me when I find a video in WMV. It sucks. Why do people use it. The reason why i dislike it is not because Microsoft make it. Its bad because Microsoft make it. 


Rant over.


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## Viro (Dec 29, 2007)

CJ MAC OSX IPOD said:


> It sucks. Why do people use it.



Most likely because Windows machines can play it out of the box, and they come with a free and fairly easy to use encoder. Seeing as Microsoft Windows runs on the majority (i.e. 80 - 95% of computers, depending on whose numbers you trust) this is no small advantage.


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## elander (Jan 1, 2008)

Viro said:


> Most likely because Windows machines can play it out of the box, and they come with a free and fairly easy to use encoder. Seeing as Microsoft Windows runs on the majority (i.e. 80 - 95% of computers, depending on whose numbers you trust) this is no small advantage.



Well, so does H.264 and Flash video, in fact they play on even more systems since they play on Mac and Linux systems too.

The real reasons why there are so many WMV files around are a) laziness and b) ignorance. A lot of people don't realise that there are alternatives, and most don't understand that there is a free and easy way to generate for instance Flash video: submit your video to YouTube and then download the result (which nowadays is actually a Flash video containing H.264 encoded video).

There are several services online to download and save videos from YouTube, for instance this one (just ignore the ads):
http://www.downloadyoutubevideos.com/

If you want more control you can always go to H.264 on your own, through ffmpeg (Mac or Linux) or StaxRip (Win 2000/XP), both free and potent applications.


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## priji (Jan 28, 2008)

Thank you very much for all information


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## Viro (Jan 29, 2008)

elander said:


> A lot of people don't realise that there are alternatives, and most don't understand that there is a free and easy way to generate for instance Flash video: submit your video to YouTube and then download the result (which nowadays is actually a Flash video containing H.264 encoded video).



Uploading your video to a website in order to download said video again is easy to use? That ignores the fact that most people's upload bandwidth is tiny compared to their download bandwidth. 



> If you want more control you can always go to H.264 on your own, through ffmpeg (Mac or Linux) or StaxRip (Win 2000/XP), both free and potent applications.



None of them as easy to use as Windows Media Encoder. Free (gratis) is more important to most users than Free (libre). To most users, all the different encoders are just free (gratis). What matters to them is that one is easier to use than the others, and if it plays on the majority of computers out there, why bother getting something else?


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## relic (Mar 29, 2008)

Viro said:


> Uploading your video to a website in order to download said video again is easy to use? That ignores the fact that most people's upload bandwidth is tiny compared to their download bandwidth.


Good Point!



Viro said:


> Free (gratis) is more important to most users than Free (libre).


Sad, but true; excellent choice of words m8! 

Not to resurrect a slightly old thread, but I'd like to add that Flip4Mac is not always a reliable Mac OSx/QT solution for WMV files' playback, & neither is the VLC Player. 
I've encountered many occasions where certain format of WMV files won't decode no matter what player (or codec library) you use. 
MSS2 is an example of a WMV format which won't playback on Mac OSx regardless of the player and/or codecs. 
CRAM or MS Video-1 (if my mind serves me right) is yet another WindowsMedia format (which is AVI not WMV, but still) that will not decode w/ QT, nor VLC, nor WMP for Mac....
Obviously the problem lies within these lame wind0ze formats & the folks who choose to encode their product via these formats. It would be much wiser (and easier to most of us mac & *nix users in general) to just encode via a more universal format, such as....I dunno...Anything is better than WMV!

Cheers!


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