DIVx & xVid = AVI?

[ione]

I notice that each time I search for DVD to AVI conversion, this comes up === DVD to DIVx or === DVD to XVid. Why? Are both (DIVx and XVid) the same with Avi? Sorry, I am really lost.

[Soopafresh]

AVI is just a container to hold a video file and an audio file. The audio file might be an MP3, an AC3, or a WAV file. The video might be a DivX, XVID, or other encoded video file.

I can understand why you might be confused about it, especially since the file extension of a video-only file is oftentimes .AVI.

XVID and DivX are basically the same thing - a way to turn a big video file into a smaller one. DivX happens to be a commercial product, while XVID is free. They're quite similar and can be decoded by the same software.

[ione]

wow, thank you for clearing that. now i know really appreciate it.

--


sorry, i have a follow-up question: can an mpeg be in an avi bundle just like DIVx and XVid?)

[celtic_druid]

Not common but MPEG1/2 can be stored in an avi container.

XviD is just a video codec it can be used in numerous containers other than avi or none at all as a raw m4v stream. The DivX container is basically avi with a few hacks. However it can also be stored in other containers. XviD has no official container.

[ukb007]

sorry, i have a follow-up question: can an mpeg be in an avi bundle just like DIVx and XVid?)

DivX/XviD are MPEG-4 videos. They can, of course, be put in the .avi container. And as celtic_druid has said, mpeg-1 or mpeg-2 videos can also be put in .avi container, though uncommonly.

Allow me to tell you that though .avi is the most commonly used container, it isn't the most efficient one. There are others, like .mp4 or .mkv.

.mp4 is the official container for the mpeg-4 standard. Read about .mp4 here.

Read about Matroska in this page.

Lastly, why exactly do you need a container? A container contains the related files (e.g., video and audio) together, and keeps them from walking away from each other.

Thanks.