Which Format/Codec works on Windows Machines without any Plugins?

[BMX2000]

I am using iMovie to cut my movies. My clients want to watch them in the office on their office computer. They are not allowed to install any software such as VLC or plugins. They do have the Windows Media Player only.

So which format/codec/settings do you recommand for those machines?

I am currently exporting from iMovie and getting a .m4v file which I would like to convert via ffmpegX.

Thanks for your knowledge.

[rumplestiltskin]

I encode to iPod H264 (640x) and have had no problems playing such files on any PC at the two schools where I teach. (These files are ".mp4"). I use both ffmpegx -and- MPEG Streamclip.

[jagabo]

Windows does not come with an h.264 decoder. If you want something that will play on all Windows computers without downloading and installing codecs or software you're looking at MPEG 1, or WMV/WMA.

[rumplestiltskin]

Perhaps these PCs play H264 quite well because they have QuickTime installed. Whatever...they just work.

[jagabo]

Vista might come with an h.264 decoder. I'm not sure. XP does not.

[BMX2000]

OK, I have hoped DivX / Xvid might work. How about these codecs?

[jagabo]

Windows does not ship with Divx, Xvid, or any other MPEG 4 part 2 decoder. Other than the ones I mentioned the only video codecs that come with Windows are really old inefficient ones like Cinepak and Indeo.

[rumplestiltskin]

The PCs at the schools (running XP Pro) do have QT installed. H264's play well. What's wrong with that?

[jagabo]

The PCs at the schools (running XP Pro) do have QT installed. H264's play well. What's wrong with that?

They didn't come with QT installed. Or, if it was installed before the schools received them, the vendor installed it. QT does not come with Windows.

[tomlee59]

Jagabo's answer is the best one offered so far. Without the installation of third-party software, MPEG1 or WMV are about the only reasonable-quality codecs guaranteed to be supported out of the box. If someone has been kind enough to install some other software, you may have more options, but without knowing what (if any) those are, you're pretty much limited to these two choices.

[BMX2000]

@jagabo - So, to sum it up for me: the only way to make sure it play on any windows machine is to convert to proprietary windows media video wmv? What is your recommendation how to do that?

[BMX2000]

As I understand MPEG1 works as well - which is the propper audio codec to combine it with (for windows machines without plugins or 3rd party software)? mp2 or mp3?

[jagabo]

So, to sum it up for me: the only way to make sure it play on any windows machine is to convert to proprietary windows media video wmv?

Yes, that is the way Microsoft wants it. As I noted, MPEG1 is also supported.

What is your recommendation how to do that?

I don't deal much with WMV but WME is probably your best bet on a Windows system. Although you may have to convert to some intermediate format for WME to open your sources.

[tomlee59]

As I understand MPEG1 works as well - which is the propper audio codec to combine it with (for windows machines without plugins or 3rd party software)? mp2 or mp3?

MP2 is a better choice, compatibilty-wise. Its quality at low bitrates is inferior to MP3, but if you encode at, say, 224kb/s, most people will judge the result as satisfactory.

[greymalkin]

BMX2000, since I'm getting the feeling you aren't too crazy about .wmv, another option would be to package the video with media player classic. It will play a multitude of different file types and since it is a standalone player (a single executable file) it requires no install on the client machine. You could even make a .bat file that would launch the video (or a playlist of videos) with a single click (err..double-click).

I recently made a slideshow for a friends wedding that had a video intro that was a 720p (16:9 aspect ratio) WMV file and the slideshow itself was XGA (4:3 aspect ratio) MPEG2 file. Since I am showing it on an XGA projector I didn't want to lose resolution by putting it to DVD so I just made a playlist for both files and made a .bat file to open the playlist up and play the videos one right after the other in fullscreen mode. Noone will know that it's 2 different video files.

[BMX2000]

@greamalkin thanks for that other new idea. It is pretty clever!
I just started a testing with all the different options.
It seems to be so that on a Windows XP an .avi File with DivX 3 and MP3 in it runs as well without any plugins...
If this turns out true and reliable this option will be my 1st choice.

[BMX2000]

@tomlee59: thanks - I am feeling somewhat more at home in the codec jungle now...

[jagabo]

@greamalkin thanks for that other new idea. It is pretty clever!
I just started a testing with all the different options.
It seems to be so that on a Windows XP an .avi File with DivX 3 and MP3 in it runs as well without any plugins...
If this turns out true and reliable this option will be my 1st choice.

Do people a favor and use a newer version of Divx or Xvid. MPC will play those as well and they're more widely supported in case anyone wants to use the video elsewhere.

And if you are saying that a DIV3+MP3 AVI will play on a Windows system without MPC (or some other player with a built-in DIV3 decoder) that's not true. Divx 3 does not come with Windows and must be installed for WMP or any other player without a built-in DIV3 decoder. WMP's automatic codec download feature won't install it either.