Questions about DivX, Quicktime, WMP and Spyware

Here's my problem. I'd like to watch the new "To Know a Jedi" but I find that I need the DivX Codec to play it. Without DivX all I get through Windows Media Player is the sound.

Unfortunately, the free version of DivX contains "Gain" which as most of you know is the "Gator Advertising Information Network". I've been warned numerous times by Gurus plenty smarter than me NEVER EVER to download Gator because it is insidious and difficult to get rid of. It spies on you while surfing and sends info about your browsing back to the Empire. I have to pay money if I want the ad free version.

Questions-

1) Is everybody else accepting the spyware in DivX or are you paying for the Gator-free version ($$)? There is a method claimed on the net using Ad-aware and msconfig to strip gator off of the free DivX version but it admits it doesn't always work and you have to install Gator first before you find out whether you can remove it or not. Sounds risky to me.

2) What are the reasons why anyone would use DivX? Most everyone has both Quicktime and WMP. The previous biggies like KQ and BA all got by without DivX. I really like the .mov format and WMP seems allright as well. Especially since they are free and don't (to my knowledge) sneak in Gator. (IMHO Real Player is almost as aggresive and insidious as Gator so I don't use it)

3) Does anybody have a non-DivX PC (Wintel) version of this fanfilm available?



Many Guru thanks for the coming flood of TFN wisdom...

 

I haven't seen any evidence of Gator being bundled with the new DivX. Normally that's one of those things that attempts to install itself when you enter a web page.

But, yes, you're right, it's EVIL. And, if it indeed is bundled with DivX, that is yet another reason never to install DivX.

I personally won't install it because it messes with other CODECs on the machine and makes them unusable. Great move there, guys.
I made that mistake on one machine, and I won't ever play with DivX again because of it.

Why do people insist on using DivX? Because it is a reasonably high quality AVI that uses an MPEG type of encoder making it possible to play the film back at full screen with little loss of quality.
That's the good side. The bad side of this is that DivX is EVIL. No offense to the fella that encoded this movie, but I haven't watched it yet either for the same reasons.

ALERT: There are many better CODEC's with arguably better quality than DivX that don't use the same bizaar advertising and system crippling tactics as them. Many free one's at that. Miscrosoft MPEG-4 is almost exactly the same quality as DivX. If you must use a suedo MPEG/AVI CODEC, use that one.

The subject of "which is the best CODEC to use" has come up many many times over the past couple of years. To rehash what was determined there. As an author/producer, you want the maximum number of people to view your film with the minimal amount of problems.
Using that logic. Your best bet is Quicktime Sorensen. It may not be the best - but it's generally considered the one with the widest usage.

 

If you got to divx.com you'll see the free version is "ad supported". If you dig a little you'll find this means "GAIN" which is Gator as I've said above. Gator has such a bad name they are now trying to call it something else.

I guess I won't get to see this flick then.

 

I'm not sure about this, but I know you can get the non-pro version of DivX (without advanced encoding and decoding features) for free and there's no spyware attached.

-KiN

 

I had the same problem as you did, but if you look a little lower on the page, you can just download the CODEC only, without the Divx player... I did that, and no GAIN popup...

Indy

 

I don't understand why everyone always says Quicktime is the best because everyone can see it. If you're on Windows, you have to download it and install it, just like DivX. I always use MPEG, because everyone can see MPEG, without install anything. Is there something I'm missing?

 

Kin and Indigo,

You're right (I hope)! There is a link to the Codec that doesn't seem to have GAIN. I have installed it and will now run ad aware to make sure. Now it's time to watch what everybody else is talking about.

Wierdhat - the reason I like Quicktime is that I find apple products to be very reliable and user friendly. I have never heard of spyware being imbedded in any apple product so I trust them. Also, I have never had an install issue or a compatability problem with QT. I certainly have with some of the others.

 

Weirdhat: There is a program for mac that allows you to play .mpg and other Windows media types, but they're usually very unstable. Meanwhile, Quicktime, is wonderfully stable and for platforms besides just Windows and Mac, iirc.

 

Gain is the devel
as are companies that support Gain

 

Thats true. I use windows but i have a mac powerbook. I can play avi's ect on my macs quicktime but they look really bad

As for quicktime, I feel that you totally get the best quality to size ratio. Especially for web

 

Uh...Quicktime can already play mpeg...as can WMP.

QT comes standard in Macs, and WMM comes standard in Windows, hence why WeirdHat brings up his argument of using mpeg.

My case for using .mov vs mpeg...sorenson is a better compressor from my experience.

 

Divx does not come with Gain or Gator or anything like that. Divx is the main codec I use, and I have NEVER had a problem with it. For me, it achieves the best picture quality with minimal file size. I don't even want to begin with the frustrations I have had with Quicktime. Every person that I talked too about it said Quicktime sucks, even a couple Mac users told me so, as well.

Download Adaware for free to get rid of the spyware:

http://lavasoft.element5.com/support/download/

 

Go to the martix website and d-load the Revoulations trailer thats 3xdvd res. sorenson under 100mb Then see if quicktime sucks

 

Ive had several problems with adaware screwing up my tcp/ip settings. That was a while ago but i swear by spybot. i think its a better program

 

Go to the martix website and d-load the Revoulations trailer thats 3xdvd res. sorenson under 100mb Then see if quicktime sucks

I already have it, and I would like to watch it in full screen too, but Quicktime won't do full screen for some reason!. Luckily, the Windows version was conveniently next to it.

 

Ahh thats because you need quicktime pro. worth the 19.00 Then you can save streaming movies also and some other goodies

 

Dr_McNinja,
In LtlLake's thread on "To Know A Jedi",Marclinn provided a link to download DivX 5.1 to enable people to watch the movie. That link downloads ad-enabled DivX which IS embedded with GAIN. DivX.com offers this ad-embedded software as one of their three options (the other two cost money).

Someone else pointed out another link that provides only the codec so that I can run through WMP. That is CERTAINLY the way to go.

Just goes to show you need to be very careful and read the fine print.

 

I agree MPEG-1 is the best cross-platform movie codec but its compression ratio is awfull. I use QuickTime on my PC at work and on my Mac at home. It's fast, reliable and supports great video codecs like Sorenson, MPEG-4, On2 and DiVX.

 

Hmmmm...weird, I was going to ask you guys about that. I've had DivX in my computer for quite some time, and I'd never had any pop-up problems. But since I downloaded TNAJ (and DIDN'T install the divx file that came with it), there's a pop-up ad appearing almost everytime I open the fanfilms forum site. It's very strange, if you ask me. The film is great, guys, but first it was that AIM thing, then Bittorrent and now Gain? What's going on?

 

Hmm, if you want to talk about file size vs. quality, I'd say mpeg-4 is the best way to go (i.e. DivX). I personally like Xvid, it has a much better compression than DivX, a better post processing than DivX, and best of all, it's free! (and no GAIN)

-KiN

 

XviD is a very good codec as well.

I just checked out the Divx website, and it seems that their free product DOES come with ads. Which is rediculous. So I was wrong in this case, but that doesn't mean that you have to put up with it. Adaware or Spybot should do the trick.

I still don't like Quicktime, and nobody can convince me otherwise.

 

I will admit that QuickTime has it's problems. The least of which is a bloated player that is tough on older, slower machines.
But, it's still the easiest. And it still has the widest penetration. Certainly among this community.

You can certainly get arguably better quality, and smaller file sizes using different CODECs. No one is denying that. But, the penetration for any of those CODECs is a much lower percentage. Xvid, DivX, MSMPEG-4, i263, etc... They all may play with the WMP, but not necessarily on Macs. And almost certainly not on Linux. And, at least 2 of those either purposely mess with other CODECs or are loaded with Spyware/Adware.

Now this is the real problem, as I see it. The "band-aid" of simply removing the offending stuff does not excuse the practices those companies are supporting. And that is my major contention with supporting those CODECs.
There are better ways people. If you really have a problem with Spam, Adware, Spyware, etc, the do not support the companies that promote it!! All of us will pay the price in the long run.

That's all I've got to say about that.
/Forest Gump.

 

I like quicktime for its player.