Tag: app-subdomain-redirection:divx

Get DivX Pro for free

Hurry, this offer won't last foreverI guess those kindly guys at DivX must be feeling generous this Christmas. As one of our eagle-eyed colleagues at insideTonic’s Spanish sister site, OnSoftware spotted, the company is currently offering the Pro version of its popular player for free. The main benefits of DivX Pro over the standard version are a more powerful advanced codec converter, better performance for users with dual processors, and six new coding modes for fine-tuning video quality.

If you’re interested (which any self-respecting videophile should be) then get your skates on because the offer is only available for a limited time. The download includes the video codec, converter, player, the browser plug-in, and the DivX Content Uploader. You also get the Yahoo! Toolbar, which, of course, you don’t have to install if you don’t want to.

“How do I get it?” I hear you scream? First off, download either the Windows or Mac version of DivX Pro before clicking ‘Install’. Enter your email address when prompted in the installation dialogue, and you’ll be sent a free serial number. Now open the DivX Converter, click ‘Enter Serial Number’ and type in the code you received. Hey presto, an early Christmas present to help you get the best out of your favourite seasonal movies.

Top 5 DivX tools

DivX logoDivX has become one of the most successful compressed DVD formats on the net. It became so successful that even DVD-player manufacturers had to take note and build models that could play the format. Now the PS3 and Xbox 360 have jumped on the bandwagon to support it as its popularity shows no signs of abating. There are many tools out there that can help you get the most out of DivX films including editors, converters and subtitlers. Here is a selection of my top 5 essential downloads for anyone who wants to get more out of DivX.

  • DivX For Windows – Essential DivX studio from the official makers of the format
  • VLC Media Player – Plays DivX effortlessly and just about everything else too
  • DivX Web Player – You’ll need this to watch streaming DivX films on the web

How to stream DivX from a Mac to a PS3 with EyeConnect

A giant PS3 or a tiny iMac, you decideUpdate: see my note at the bottom about native DivX support on your PS3.

Ah, the PlayStation 3 and the iMac G5: two great looking machines packed with powerful hardware and huge potential for media-centre magic. But getting them to talk to each other can be something of a hassle. And getting DivX films to play on your PS3 is still impossible, unless you go down the even more problematic Linux avenue. I spent ages trying to find a good system which would allow me to not only share multimedia content with the PlayStation 3 but which could also transcode DivX/XviD to a readable format for the codec-deficient console.

And I’ve found it! The solution is to use two applications, one to share your media and one to do the transcoding work. After testing a couple of media server apps, including TwonkyMedia (which I found to offer a very unstable connection), I settled with EyeConnect, a powerful and easy to use media server for Tiger and Leopard which combines a clean, simple interface with a stable network connection to the PS3.

After installing EyeConnect, make sure that it can ‘see’ your PS3. If it can’t, make sure that your PS3 is properly configured to access your home network and that it is set to ‘look for’ media servers. If you use a firewall, you might also need to make sure that the port EyeConnect wants to connect with is open. Once you can see your PS3, take a look at the other settings in EyeConnect which cover folders, filetypes etc. There’s no need to change any of them, though.

Next you need to download a program that can transcode your DivX files to a readable format. The best solution I’ve found is VisualHub. Once installed, VisualHub is very easy to use: just add your DivX file to its queue, select an output folder (pick the same folder EyeConnect is using for movie files) and then select your transcoding options. The best quality will be found using the ‘VCD‘ template at maximum. Once you’ve started transcoding, take a look at the relevant folder on the XMB. You should see the DivX file you picked already there, even though the transcoding isn’t complete. In MPG format, there is some slight loss of quality but you can play with the display size in the PS3’s video menu to get optimal performance.

Hopefully, the PS3 will introduce native support for DivX, rendering the transcoding step unnecessary. But for now, this is a fairly simple system that works. Enjoy!

Update: DivX is coming to the PS3! Not sure when, but this would definitely negate the need for VisualHub. More news on this as it comes.

Update 2: DivX is now fully supported by the PS3. Make sure you install firmware 2.1 and you’ll be able to stream DivX/XviD movies straight from your Mac to your PS3 with EyeConnect. So there’s no need for VisualHub now. Incidentally, after a few weeks, I’m still really happy with EyeConnect. After the trial ran out, I didn’t hesitate to purchase a licensed copy. Which is pretty unusual for me.

Free copies of DivX Author to give away

DivX Author logoWe recently featured the excellent DivX creation software DivX Author on InsideTonic and are pleased to say we’ve got 3 serial numbers for fully functional versions of the program to give away. If you think DivX Author is the best program out there for making DivX movies and want to win a copy, just answer this question:

If you had DivX Author, what kind of DivX film would you make and why?

The 3 most original ideas win the serial numbers. Good luck!

By the way, watch this space for an exclusive interview with the makers of the program.

How to create your own DivX films

DivX logoIf you just want to backup your DVD collection or upload some films to the internet, the best and most popular format by far is DivX. This super compressed codec allows you to shrink a 5GB+ DVD into little more than 700MB. DivX Author is the official suite from the creators of DivX and allows you to create your own DivX films quickly and easily.

This collection really packs in everything you could possibly need in a DivX suite. It includes the ability to create full-motion menus, chapter points, subtitles, multiple audio tracks and motion thumbnails. It also incorporates a superb multimedia photo slideshow option to make some great presentations with your digital photos. If you’re not familiar to editing, don’t worry either because it comes bundled with several wizards that take you from A to B easily. It’s also very tolerant of formats from any source – it accepts just about anything you can think of.

Since this program has been created by the inventors of the DivX codec, the quality of your final file is likely to be much better than films produced with a third-party program.

Free DivX Pro for a limited time

divx.jpgHurry up, because just for today DivX is giving away DivX Pro for free. All you have to do is enter your email address in this page. This link is for the Windows version, but you can also get DivX for Mac by clicking the link on the top right of the page. Once your email is entered, DivX will send you a free serial number for the program.

DivX Pro not only gives you access to the DivX player, codec and web player but also lets you use the DivX converter and the Pro codec for an unlimited amount of time. DivX is known for excellent encoding quality and a solid media player.

Play DivX movies on your Pocket PC

divx-logo-2.pngPortable video is fast becoming the most popular secondary use for Pocket PCs, so making sure you have the right media player is now a priority for many PPC device owners. The Core Pocket Media Player is an open-source video and audio player compatible with all the most popular codecs and multimedia file types.

TCPMP is easy to use, very stable and loaded with a variety of features. The program’s main screen is reminiscent of similar programs on your desktop computer, with options to change aspect ratio, zoom and volume as well as more advanced controls such as video speed (10% – 200%), video driver, audio preamp and more.

One issue with playing video files on a Pocket PC, irrespective of which program you use to play them, is that there will be some lag or jumps from time to time. While some of the top end Pocket PCs now have processors and system memory that should be able to cope with playing quality video, the fact remains that the majority of devices, while technically capable of playing video, are not really designed for that purpose. Compare the playback quality on your Pocket PC with a purpose-built portable media player and you’ll see the difference. TCPMP’s settings are therefore an essential feature of the program, allowing you to play around with different levels of quality and performance to help you guarantee the best possible multimedia experience.

In all, The Core Pocket Media Player is a free, open source multimedia player which I’d recommend to anyone who wants to watch video on their Pocket PC. That said, if portable video is your heart’s desire, it would definitely be worth investing in a device built specifically for video playback which will provide much better overall quality.

DivX: the web’s favourite codec reviewed

divxlogo1.pngIf you’re a regular PC user and haven’t heard of DivX yet, then you’ve probably had your head in the sand for the past couple of years. It’s basically a highly compressed film format that turns the size of an average DVD from something like 5GB to just 700MB.

DivX for Windows is the official release from the DivX company, and offers everything you need to watch such films. The pack includes the all-important DivX Codec plus DivX Player, DivX Web Player and the Stage6 Content Uploader Utility for those who plan to rip and upload DVDs or other videos to the net. It also includes a 15-day trial of the DivX Converter and the DivX Pro Codec. All these components are free and include no adware although during the installation, you are offered the chance to install the Google toolbar.

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