Divx posts

Filed under: Software, Video, Deals, Holidays

DivX Pro

by Nik Fletcher (RSS feed) on Dec 13th, 2007

Remember earlier this year when we posted about how to nab yourself a copy of DivX Pro? Well thankfully if you missed out first time, our colleagues at Download Squad were nice enough to point out that the DivX folks appear to be running this promotion again just in time for the holiday season. All you need to do is supply DivX with the all-powerful email address (although, that may be the deal-breaker for those wanting to keep their inbox tidy) and they'll send you a serial for 'the DivX codec, the DivX file converter, content upload, video player and web player'.

If DivX spurs you to think about what other codecs you could play on your Mac you should check out Perian - 'the swiss-army knife of QuickTime components' that makes a nice, free, companion to your free DivX licence.

[Via Download Squad]

Tags: divx, Divx-free, video-codecs

Filed under: Software, Video

Free DivX Pro license if you act quickly

by Michael Rose (RSS feed) on Jun 7th, 2007

The fine folks over at Macenstein spotted this special deal: a free license for the Mac version of DivX Pro, if you send in your email address today -- a $20 value. I can't see the end-of-offer indication on the site, but I'll take their word for it.

With the Pro version you get the free player (naturally), plus DivX Converter for batch encoding and the DivX Pro codec for export from QuickTime Pro-aware applications. Based on the theory that you can never be too rich, too thin or have too many video compression applications, it's worth checking out.

Thanks Jonathan & Nik!

Tags: compression, divx, free, video

Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Video, Freeware

BitrateCalc 2.0: optimal DVD/DivX encoding

by Brian Liloia (RSS feed) on Feb 5th, 2007

BitrateCalc, a teensy little utility that calculates optimum bitrates for encoding video and audio for authoring DVDs and encoding DivX video discs, has been updated to version 2.0. Although it boasts no new features, it is now a Universal Binary. As far as using the program, all you are required to do is enter the time length of the video and choose your media type and audio bitrate, and you've got yourself a max bitrate figure for encoding that disc! Easy enough. (And free, of course.)

Tags: application, bitratecalc, divx, dvd, encoding, freeware, software, utility, video

Filed under: Software, Video, Cool tools, Internet Tools

Perian - play most video formats in QuickTime for free

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Sep 30th, 2006

The veritable ocean of available video formats can often instigate a confusing and frustrating adventure in hunting for plugins and explaining to grandma why that DivX email forward she received plays the audio, but not the video. Fortunately, instead of bookmarking the plethora of codec download pages and backing up loads of installation disk images, a new plugin called Perian brands itself as a "swiss-army knife for QuickTime," as it aims to help solve all our video format woes. Perian supports an impressive list of codecs, including DivX, XviD, 3viX, FLV (y'know, those Flash files you can save but can't play because Adobe's Flash player doesn't seem to install an actual GUI front end?), AVI, and much more. Of course, you still need Flip4Mac if you have to play WMVs, but it looks like Perian can have you covered for most of the other formats you (and grandma) might encounter in your journey across the internets. As an upcoming bonus for Democracy Player users, Perian will be included in the next version.

Perian is offered for free from Perian.org, though I can't track down any system requirements or whether it works on both Mac and PC.

Thanks Rick

Tags: 3vix, avi, divx, flash, flv, perian, plugin, quicktime, video

Filed under: Software, Video, Internet Tools

VersionTracker offers DivX Pro license with subscription purchase

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Jun 16th, 2006

VersionTracker has announced a new bundle offer included with purchases of VersionTracker Pro subscriptions. For the first 350 who purchase, renew or extend a VersionTracker Pro subscription, they will receive a free license to the new DivX Pro (a $19.99 value), which we blogged last month. DivX, as you might remember, is a fairly popular video codec used on the internet and compatible with other devices such as DVD players and PDAs. VersionTracker Pro, if you need a refresher, is "an automated, simple and cost-effective way to inventory and keep all your software current and secure". It is a service and software package (also a widget, of course) that allows you to view new versions of just the software you use, manage the downloading and install of new packages, and more. VersionTracker Pro costs $49.99/year for up to three Macs.

If you're interested, we recommend you run (don't walk!) as they only have 350 DivX licenses to hand out on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Tags: bundle, codec, deal, discount, divx, download, manage, notify, pro, software, update, upgrade, versiontracker, widget

Filed under: Software, Video, Cool tools, Productivity

VisualHub - The universal video converter

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Jun 7th, 2006

VisualHub is a feature-packed and 'universal' video converter for Mac OS X from the maker of iSquint. From its website: "VisualHub bridges the gap between numerous complicated video formatting standards, and people that just want to get the job done - just what you would expect from the Mac." It boasts fast conversion from nearly every video format to iPod, PSP, DV, DVD, AVI, MP4, WMV, MPEG and Flash (what: no animated GIF?), and brags about ts three-step conversion process: click, drag, click.

Fortunately, VisualHub also offers advanced features like bitrate control, frame cropping and audio quality. Xgrid is supported for those with multiple Macs on a network and CPU cycles to spare, while QuickTime Pro and other plugins need not apply.

VisualHub's long list of features don't stop there, however, so check out Techspansion's product page for the full feature list and samples of its work. A demo is available, while a full license will cost you a mere $23.32 USD.

[thanks Khaled!]

Tags: conversion, convert, DivX, dls, DVD, format, iPod, m4a, pro, PSP, quicktime, video, visualhub, xvid

Filed under: Audio, Software, Video, Internet Tools, Universal Binary

DivX 6.5 offers Universal Binary player, encoder

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on May 26th, 2006

DivX has released what Macworld is calling their first official player for Mac OS X (though I could have sworn I've used DivX software in the past in a pinch). In case you aren't familiar: DivX is an independent video codec that has quite a strong following, and it isn't just for computers; many portable devices and even some DVD players support the DivX codec, offering a useful alternative to the sometimes difficult and clunky DVD burning standard.

The company didn't short us on options either - this 6.5 Universal Binary release includes a stand-alone Converter application, as well as DivX 6 codec software for QuickTime so users can convert their video from within any QuickTime-compatible video software. A 15-day free trial of DivX 6.5 is available, at which point you must register for $19.99 to continue using the conversion software; the player, as always, remains free.

Tags: codec, Divx, encode, player, UB, Universal binary, UniversalBinary, video

Filed under: Multimedia, Internet Tools, Universal Binary

DivX Player Beta 2 is available

by Dave Caolo (RSS feed) on Mar 16th, 2006

DivX Player is a media player for the Mac, and Beta 2 features a slew of changes, including:

A new decode-only DivX codec which is a Universal Binary
The ability to drag-n-drop your movies onto the player icon (yay!)
An option to dim the player window along with the Desktop Dimmer (oooh...)
New keyboard shortcuts
Squashed bugs galore

The new DivX Player is a beta, so keep that in mind, m'kay? It requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later and is free. Now go get it.

[Via MacDailyNews]

Tags: divx, multimedia, video player, VideoPlayer

Filed under: Video, Tips and tricks

Splitting Large AVI and DivX Files

by Damien Barrett (RSS feed) on Mar 10th, 2006

So you've got a lot of large AVI and/or DivX files lying around. Perhaps you've decided to rip all your DVD's to DivX format to create a media center with your new Intel Mac mini. But because ripping takes a lot of time and you don't trust HD's, you also want to back up the ripped movies using that stack of 100 blank CD's your Grandma bought you for Xmas. But CD's only hold 700MB of data and your Divx files are much larger. How can you easily split the large files into more manageable (and backup-able) chunks?

Enter Explicit, a free open source Cocoa application that provides a very easy interface for doing just that! Here's a screenshot of the interface:

The author of this software used to have a program available called Xmerge, which allowed you to go the opposite direction and merge two or more files together into one large one, but it seems to no longer be available. (Ah...looks like it's an open source Linux application for which he just built a GUI). I have a copy of it on my Panther machine at home and still use it occasionally to combine files.

Tags: avi, combining, divx, splitting

Tip of the Day

Reply in the Mail.app with a specific quote.
Select the text you want quoted and then hit the reply button.
Only your selected text will copied to the reply email.

Learn More

TUAW flickr Pool

www.flickr.com

Featured Galleries

TUAW bloggers (30 days)

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Steven Sande	51	4
2	Dave Caolo	35	1
3	Mike Schramm	33	0
4	Mel Martin	29	0
5	TJ Luoma	24	31
6	Michael Rose	18	18
7	Joachim Bean	17	2
8	Erica Sadun	16	2
9	Victor Agreda, Jr.	15	7
10	Josh Carr	13	24
11	Sang Tang	12	1
12	David Winograd	11	17
13	Ken Ray	11	2
14	Brett Terpstra	9	8
15	Megan Lavey	7	9
16	Tim Wasson	5	1
17	Kent Pribbernow	4	0
18	John Burke	4	3
19	Chris Ullrich	4	1
20	Aron Trimble	4	3

More Apple Analysis

AAPL on BloggingStocks The Apple category feed from BloggingStocks.com
AAPL Quote, News & Summary The AAPL financials page from AOL Money and Finance
iPhone analysis from BloggingStocks iPhone tag feed from BloggingStocks
Macintosh news and reviews on Download Squad The Macintosh category feed from Download Squad

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)