Help with video downloads - joining .AVI files

19 years ago

I have downloaded some video files from a newsgroup. I probably do not have to give you the titles of every single file, but I'm a total noob on this and don't know which ones are important. Here's the list of files as they arrived at my computer.

Filename.avi.001

Filename.avi.002

Filename.avi.003

Filename.avi.004

Filename.avi.005

Filename.avi.006

Filename.avi.007

Filename.avi.008

Filename.avi.009

Filename.avi.010

Filename.avi.011

Filename.avi.par2

Filename.avi.vol000+01.PAR2

Filename.avi.vol001+02.PAR2

Filename.avi.vol003+04.PAR2

Filename.avi.vol007+06.PAR2

Filename.avi.vol013+10.PAR2

Filename.avi.vol023+20.PAR2

Filename.avi.vol043+39.PAR2

Filename.avi.vol082+76.PAR2

The newsgroup listed them as files numbered 1-20 but when they hit my computer they had these titles. I'm thinking these files need to be concatenated somehow to play as one feature. Supposedly the entire file is 2 hours long. What do I need to do to view these as one file? -or at least view them in order.

I'm using an HP Media Center PC with XP Multimedia. I might add that I can delete the .001 from the first file and play it in Democracy Player. The other files don't show on DP. And using VirtualDub 1.6.17 I can play the first file, but I cannot play or append the second file. I get an error message "Invalid AVI file: Not a RIFF file."

What do I need to do with these?

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Comments (6)

randy_ca
19 years ago
I'm no expert on dvd files. These look like they were downloaded with a torrent.
The link below will be a good start for some reading.

Here is a link that might be useful: joining avi files
bestlawn
19 years ago
AVI is an audio/video file format that stands for Audio Video Interleaved, which is the Microsoft Video for Windows standard. Because it is a standard and popular (though very big) format, it can be opened in and played by any multimedia software able to play video and any video editing software.

RIFF stands for Resource Interchange File Format. It's not a format but the structure that defines the format (AVI). If there is error or corruption in the structure, the AVI file is not recognized.

Provided you have Microsoft Media Player, Quicktime, or Real Player installed on your computer, you should be able to just double click on that AVI file and your default player will run it. If nothing happens, there are likely some errors in the structure. I only suggest doing that to make sure the program you are trying to open it with is not in error of not recognizing that file. I have had that happen before. If there is corruption, it could have happened during download and you simply need to download it again.

If you are able to play it in one of the Windows multimedia players, you may need to try a different program. BTW, Windows has a free video editing program calld Windows Movie Maker (it's probably already on your computer) and there are other free ones you can download from the internet. I'm afraid I am not familiar with VirtualDub.

Once you are working with a program to play all your files, they can be dragged and dropped onto the timeline one after the other, then viewed and saved as one file whatever the saving/rendering process is for that program. I mostly use Studio these days, which offers a "Make Movie" button. You just have to become familiar with the machinations of your application.

As I mentioned before, AVI is a very large format. Once you edit to make them all one movie, you have to be sure there is enough hard drive space and memory. A two-hour AVI file can be anywhere between 40 and 60 gigabytes.

I don't know what operating system you're running but can tell you Windows 98 cannot handle it no matter how much hard drive space or how much memory you have, especially since it cannot handle more than 500m of memory. The fact is, Windows 98 is simply unable to supply the needed resources. When I upgraded to Windows XP, it was exactly for that reason. Even with XP you need at least a gig of memory to prevent dropping frames.

Additionally, it will take many hours for it to render (another word for save that involves intensive formatting). This is especially so if you want to get fancy and include the special effects and transitions that are available in the program. I let mine render overnight and sometimes it still is not done when I rise the next morning. I suggest you save it as an MPEG instead of AVI. It will not be as huge a file and will not take as long to render, but a two-hour file will still take a long time. MPEG/MPEG2 are also a popular and standard file formats.

Clear as mud?
Did I help...
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dchall_san_antonio
Original Author
19 years ago
Thanks. I did a slightly different search and got many of the same links. Your search added some good ones. I'll be reading for awhile. I'm going to download a different file and see if maybe the first one was corrupt or corrupted in the download.
mikie_gw
19 years ago
Perhaps you might go to
QuickPar_Primer.html
mikie_gw
19 years ago
And here's maybe a better page so you might understand the split. binary_tools.htm
dchall_san_antonio
Original Author
19 years ago
QuickPar is what I was looking for. It repaired the files and I'm watching as I type this. Thanks Mikie.