convert .divx to .avi

[ad_jack]

hi guys, wonderng what is the best program for converting divx files to avi? I know theres not much difference but ive just bought a media centre hard drive that doesnt support divx files. i've tried a few converters but the avi file they output is HUGE! one in particular i tried last night ( i forget name) and it converted a 350mb divx file to a 12GB avi file? Ive always found win avi the best but you cant convert from divx.
any suggestions will be much appreciated
Ad

[guns1inger]

WinAVI is rubbish. Sorry, but it is.

Simplest way to shift a .divx file to a .avi is virtualdub. Keep video and audio in direct stream copy mode, open the divx and save an avi. AVIDemux should also be able to do it. There is no re-encoding required.

You might also try something as simple as changing the file extension from .divx to .avi

[ad_jack]

quickest reply ever - awesome!! cheers guns1inger i'll try those programs. i did wonder about changing file extension, how would i do this?

[ad_jack]

ive read up how to change extension. now realise so easy, feel stupid now lol

[guns1inger]

Be aware that the while the .divx container is a variation on the .avi container, it isn't the same, and some players still have problems even if the extension is changed. However most simply don't see it because they only look for .avi, and once the extension is changed, they do play it happily.

[ManXCaT]

Following up on this.... did the extension change work?

[jman98]

Following up on this.... did the extension change work?

If you click on the Profile button for ad_jack, you will see that his last visit was on January 12. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a reply to your question. Like so many new members, he asked his question, got his answer and left, never to return. Or so it seems.

[ManXCaT]

Lol..I never really expect much of a reply (or at least one worth hearing) in most forums. figured I'd throw it out there on the off chance someone was listening... ya never know.

[guns1inger]

Following up on this.... did the extension change work?

It varies from model to model. My suggestion is simply to try it for yourself. If you have an RW is costs nothing but time. If your don't, it costs a few cents as well.

[halsboss]

[s:0c6b649730]rename the file to "something.AVI". Click on the file in windows explorer. Press F2. Ensure there's .AVI on the end at the right of the filename. Press the enter key. Play in almost anything except Windows Media Player.[/s:0c6b649730] guns1inger answered it

[ManXCaT]

I really sorta keyed in on this question because I have a standalone DVD player that supports DivX/XViD. I figured that it would be a serious time saver if I could just change the extension, rather than having to run it through a conversion. I guess the best way to find out is to give it a go... I'll post back on my success or failure.

[guns1inger]

If it is Divx Certified (i.e. has the Divx logo on the front) there is a good chance it will play .divx files. If it is simply a generic mpeg-4 player then it may well only see the .avi extension, even though it will play Divx encoded files.

[soupertrouper]

Okay, so I used VirtualDub as suggested by the first comment. I do NOT suggest using this. It was taking a long time, and when I checked the progress, only about 1/4 of my video was already 9.8 GB. And that was only on a 23 minute movie.

I discovered that the easiest way to convert divx into the format you need is mkvmerge. I already had it on my computer, but I didnt think to try it before because it dosn't have any special features about selecting file types as far as I can tell. I just changed the output file type from .divx to .avi, and it took 11 seconds. Literally. The file works great, and it's under 200 MG.

I typically use Any Video Converter, but it doesn't seem to recognize divx files, but mkvmerge was so easy. This is also the program to use if you want to remove subtitles (they have to be soft-subs, can't be directly encoded). Not that that is relevant, but I know a lot of people also look for that feature so there it is.

Hope this helps anyone who might look at this thread again!

[guns1inger]

If you had actually read the post properly, and followed the instructions, it would have taken less than a minute. The post says to set audio and video to Direct Stream Copy. You didn't do this, hence the time and file size issues because you told virtualdub to re-encode your video to uncompressed. Go back, re-read the original post suggesting virtualdub, and follow the instructions correctly and you will get an avi file in the same time it takes to get an mkv file from mkvmerge, and without the playback restrictions that mkv brings (i.e. most standalone DVD players will not play mkv files, but they will play avi files).

[misscinderella71]

Thank you so much!! Virtualdub worked great to convert them!

[Spoobins]

Hi, I know it's been a while since this thread was active but thought I'd try. I tried using VirtualDub with proper instructions but received this error message "VirtualDub requires a video for Windows (VFW) compatible codec to decompress video. DirectShow Codecs, such as those used by Windows Media Player are not suitable" The file I'm trying to convert actually doesn't have an extension; it's just called EFC2001 and when I click on properties, the type reads "VLC media file (.divx) (.divx)" I can play it using VLC but want to burn it to DVD to play through standard (picky) DVD player which will play AVI's so I was hoping to convert to AVI. Ideas?

Thanks