Hello everyone. I have been considering video editing for quite some time and have finally decided to buckle down and learn the ropes. I have been doing research for a few days and have collected a lot of great information about digital media formats, but I'm having trouble putting everything together. I would really appreciate some guidance (in simple, basic, non-abbreviated terms!)
I'm getting the idea that there are three parts to digital media:
1. A "container".
2. The streaming format itself/file type (biggest hurdle here).
3. Codecs to view material.
From my own notes:
Quote:A container is a special file format used either to store a single audio/video stream, or to store combined/multiple streams (including still images for menus, and subtitles) called interleaved streams.
Some video formats require particular containers to be used. Others can use multiple containers. Often a file type is associated with a ?standard? (or widely used) container.
In order to be read correctly, software (like Windows Media Player or QuickTime) must have the correct codec to ?defragment? the streams in the container to play them.
[and I have various notes from the glossery attached to each of these]
I am having trouble understanding the concept of file types/streaming in relationship to their containers. For example, I *think* that MPEG-1, -2, and -4 are all file types which can be stored in their corresponding (or non-corresponding) containers.
Codecs I think I understand fairly well...
Quote:CODEC means ?compression/decompression? or ?code/decode?. A codec is software that shrinks large movie files, and also can make them playable on your computer. They allow your system to recognize the format of the file and then allows the computer to either (a) play it (decode) or (b) change a video/audio format (encode). The main purpose of a codec is to ?shrink? the original large file size and then ?unshrink? it for viewing after it has been shared.
...but again, sometimes I see DivX called a codec and sometimes called a file type, which is sort of messing me up. (I suspect sometimes it is erroneously called the latter).
I'm looking forward to learning so thank you for tolerating these very basic questions. We all begin somewhere. :)
OK.. maybe I can help you out here.. You mention DivX. and Xvid.. they are both different compression methods which can be distributed in the .avi container. If you open the file in a hex editor (or similar.. something like gspot) it will read the file header which tells the player software what codec is needed to undo the particular compression used in encoding the file.
I think the ffmpeg documentation will be the most helpful..(ffmpeg is a compression expansion encoding/decoding tool which can use pretty much every known video format) google around and you will find all the answers you seek ;)
