error, cant open mpeg movie QT 6

PowermacG4_450

PowermacG4_450

OS X Jaguar
trying to open a 34 mb mpeg movie I downloaded. got this error. Im using osX 10.2, and quicktime 6 pro.

"couldnt open the file *filename.mpg* because a software component needed by the movie could not be found. "

what does this mean? Im using the quicktime 6 that installed from the 10.2 cdrom. ??? do I NOT have everything I need to play movies?
 
Well, there's .mpeg and there's .mpeg - do you know which varient the file is supposed to be?

What quicktime is trying to tell you is that it doesn't have a codec to "read" this particular type of .mpeg file.

Chances are that it's something like DIVX. There is a 3rd party quicktime divx codec. I'm afraid I can't remember where it lives off the top of my head! :(

Google might know...

Jim
 
thanks. ive installed that. not sure what to do next? I'll have to figure it out when I have the time. :(


Im guessing I still use quicktime to view movies, and this app should allow it to work now? ill have to try it and see.
 
Well, it sounds like you may be trying to play MPEG-2, which isn't supported in QT 6 without a plug-in codec which costs 20$. DivX is only embeddable in AVIs and MOVs, not MPEG. And MPEG-2 is the only official MPEG format that could bring up this error. Normally my corrupt MPEGs show errors that the file just couldn't be opened, rather than that... so I definitely say it is probably MPEG-2. Grab Video LAN Client and see if that can play the video.
 
QT Pro gives editing abilities, not codecs. MPEG-2 is just too expensive for Apple to license for every download. It would cost Apple much more than MPEG-4 ever will because MPEG-2 has no yearly limit in royalties... 10 million copies a year will cost about 2-5 million dollars. MPEG-4 has a 1 million dollar yearly cap on royalties. Not good when MPEG-2 is rarely used.

Anyways, getting back on topic, get Video Lan Client like I said before. Don't complain about Apple's mistake (or business move to minimize losses) until we know what this file is. I am assuming it is MPEG-2, I may be wrong. If you assume along with me, things won't get solved, eh?

So grab Video Lan Client (it is free), and see if it can play the file. If it can, then it is MPEG-2. If it can't, then it is corrupted beyond hope.

Additional: Oh, I would just like to mention that finding an MPEG-2 player for free is like finding a needle in a haystack. All the halfway decent MPEG-2 playback software on the PC costs 20$ like WinDVD or PowerDVD.
 
If you haven't tried already, try opening up the file in WiMP (Windows Media Player). Some of the Windows folk aren't smart enough to know that the file extension is there for a reason and they'll name some .wmp files .mpg or .mpeg. If the file still doesn't open, then it may be a mpeg2 file as some others mentioned. In that case, download VLC (Video LAN Client). You can get it at http://videolan.org/ or http://versiontracker.com

VLC is free and kicks much booty. It'll play most Divx movies, VCDs, SVCDs, and DVDs.
 
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