Play Avi On Mac
Summary:
Your AVI files cannot be played on Mac? Are you facing trouble playing your AVI video files on Mac QuickTime Player? If you are thinking why AVI files don’t play on Mac, here is a complete guide that explains why QuickTime cannot play AVI Files and how to open or play AVI files on Mac.
About AVI:
AVI is a multimedia container format developed by Microsoft. AVI files contain both Audio and video data in a file container that helps audio to synchronize with video playback. AVI is a sub format where data is stored in the form of tagged chunks of info.
AVI Format
If AVI files have issues playing on Mac’s QuickTime player, one of the main reasons could be incompatible codec. A codec is a compressor/decompressor that is useful in understanding the video or audio tracks in an AVI file for your Media player.If the codec existing in the AVI is not compatible with QuickTime, AVI files cannot be played on Mac.
To enable you play AVI files with QuickTime on Mac, we have listed 3 free methods, have a reference at them one by one. Method one: Use VLC The best and also the simplest way to play AVI files on Mac is to download and install the free and open source cross-platform multimedia player VLC media player for Mac OS X. Part 2: Top 4 AVI Players for Mac Top 1: VLC Media Player. VLC Media Player is an open-source AVI player for both Mac and PC. Therefore, everyone can use it without paying a penny. Moreover, VLC provides a variety of bonus features, like video converting.
AVI file Format is divided into 3 sub chunks.
- First one carries metadata that includes size of the file and frame rate.
- Second sub chunk is a movi tag that carries actual audio and video information of an AVI file.
- Third (idx1 tag) is an optional chunk that holds the information about the Offset (address of the destination or reaching point within the file).
Why AVI files Cannot be Played on Mac?
QuickTime fails to open or play video files if theAVI index is broken or any of the codecs(chunks) used to encode the video is not available in QuickTime Player. To overcome this, you need to include the codec that supports AVI files on Mac.
However, this is now usually one of the older problems unless you are using an outdated QuickTime version for AVI files to play on Mac (AVI was initially called video for Windows) as QuickTime supports VFM formats. Nevertheless, the issue with AVI files and QuickTime players exists.
Well, that’s enough tech terms here then. So you just realized your AVI file doesn’t play on Mac, don’t be disappointed, use the following ways to learn how to play an AVI file.
How To Play AVI files on Mac OS?
Here are the few methods explained to make .avi files play on Mac. Follow the below mentioned methods to solve the AVI file not compatible with QuickTime and make yourunplayable AVI files play.
Install Add-on or a plugin to play AVI file on Mac
The QuickTime may sometimes not be able to play your AVI file because of incompatibility. However, with help of a support program you can play the AVI file without much interruption.
Add-On or the Plugin is a supporting software that would help you in playing any video formats that you desire. Using a suitable plugin is one of the ways you can use to make your AVI file playable on Mac. Hence, download a suitable plugin to your QuickTime and enjoy your AVI files on Mac.
Download and Install the Supporting Codec
An AVI file will be created based on a particular compression technique. There are many ways in which an AVI file is created or compressed. If the QuickTime player is not compatible with that particular compression method, it fails to open the file. However, by installing the right codes to your Mac that supports the file to play, the AVI files can be played.
You can go to the Divx website and download the AVI supporting codec.
Try a Different Media Player to Play AVI Files
QuickTime should be enough to play an AVI file. But if it does not work despite downloading new codec or plugin, you may try a different media player altogether. One of the most widely used and recommended software to play AVI files is VLC media player. Download the Mac version of VLC player, and then play your AVI file flawlessly.
Additional Info: Also, if not for VLC you can browse the Mac app store to find a suitable AVI player to play your file. Do make sure to include the file extension (in this case .avi) in the search query to find the appropriate AVI media player.
Convert AVI to MOV
QuickTime is highly compatible with MOV videos. Hence, by converting the AVI to MOV file you will have a better chance to play the unplayable AVI file. To do so, you can download AVI converter software on Mac app store and convert the AVI to MOV. Once done, you can play the unplayable AVI files as MOV files on Mac.
If you have tried all the above-mentioned methods to play AVI files on Mac and still there exists problem playing AVI files on QuickTime, this could be due to the corruption in the video file. To fix corruption on AVI files. You can make use of the most recommended toolvideo repair tool.
SFWare Video Repair tool is one of the most recommended tools to fix the issue with AVI files cannot play on Mac. the added advantage of the tool is it works only on read only mode therefore the integrity of the file is unaltered. The tool works by analyzing the audio and video streams separately to identify any audio & video issues.
How to Fix Corrupt AVI files and Play on Mac?
Download and install theSFWare AVI Repair tool on your Mac and follow the steps mentioned below
- From the main screen, select the AVI Repair option
- In the next step, Browse for the corrupted AVI file on your Mac
- Click on Repair to fix the corrupted AVI file
- After fixing the file browse, for a location and click on Save to save the fixed AVI file.
Conclusion
With the above-mentioned methods AVI files can be played easily on your Mac. If your AVI files are not playable on Mac, you should keep your QuickTime player updated in a timely manner to avoid any errors. Despite your cautious approach, if you are not able to open AVI files on Mac, try using SFWare Video repair tool.
What is AVI? AVI (Audio Video Interleave) is a multimedia container format used by Microsoft's Video for Windows multimedia framework. AVI files can contain both audio and video data in a file container that allows synchronous audio-with-video playback. Like the DVD video format, AVI files support multiple streaming audio and video, although these features are seldom used.
An AVI file is a sound and motion picture file that conforms to the Microsoft Windows Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF) specification. AVI files (which end with an .avi extension) require a special player that may be included with your Web browser or may require downloading. Here's the best AVI Players for playing .avi files on Mac.
VLC Media Player for Mac
VLC Media Player for Mac is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats for Mac OS X, including DVD AVI MPEG MPEG2 MPEG4 DivX MP3 OGG, VLC Media Player for Mac is also VCD & DVD Player for Mac, and various streaming protocols.
VLC Media Player for Mac can also function as a streaming media server. VLC Media Player is based on an open-source foundation, therefore, Updates, fixes, and addons are released frequently.
VLC Media Player for Mac is a must-have Mac media player and Mac DVD player for its ability to open just about any type of video file you throw at it. VLC Media Player for Mac Download
MacVCD Player for Mac
MacVCD Player for Mac OS is the easy way to play VCD, and almost everything else with this easy to use media player for Mac OS 8/9.
MacVCD Player for Mac OS 8/9 can play VCD, AVI, DivX, MPEG, video, Quicktime movies and more. It offers all the playback features you need and the ease of use you really want from a video player. With Video CD Format recognition, you can play VCDs in just one step. Using MacVCD Player for Mac OS 8/9, You can also play all your other movies - XVCD, AVI, DivX, MPEG, video, Quicktime movies and more. Use the screen display you prefer - full screen display, or small screen display, or show on your TV. MacVCD Player for Mac Download
Chroma Player for Mac
Chroma is a movie player for Mac optimized for playing feature movies.
It plays DVD, QuickTime, DivX AVI's, XviD, Matroska and Windows Media files.
Will Avi Play On Mac
Full support for playing AVI movies. DivX, 3ivX, XviD and MPEG4 are all codecs commonly found in AVI movies, as well as some QuickTime movies. Chroma has built-in support to play these common formats, as well as several codecs found in older AVIs. External codecs can be installed to for example support Ogg files, Windows Media (WMV and ASF) files, Matroska .MKV, WMV3 codecs or AC3 audio.
Chroma was made to fill the void of a simple and reliable player that plays most of the movie files that you might come across. It was designed to be very capable but easy and fun to use. Chroma Player for Mac Download
MacVCD X
MacVCD X is easy to use video media player for Mac OS X. MacVCD X plays VCD, SVCD, XVCD, SXVCD, AVI, DivX, xVID, MPEG, WMV, iMovie, video, Quicktime movies (.mov) and DV. Use the screen display you prefer - full screen display, small screen display (floating or regular window), or show on your TV.
Get the features you want - movie saving, track selection and repeat track features, Photo VCD, multi-language and karaoke VCD support with this easy to use video player. MacVCD X also features advanced features such as Hands Free speech activated controls, fast-motion, slow-motion and backwards playback. MacVCD X Download
djoPlayer for Mac
djoPlayer is a simple and easy to use GUI to MPlayer.
djoPlayer for Mac can read the following formats: AVI (DivX 3, 4, 5, Xvid), VOB, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, ASF, WMV, AC3, MOV... and even DVDs or movies on the Web. It also can read subtitles.
djoPlayer for Mac allows you to activate the PostProcessing very simply, in order to see less of those ugly squares in your video... You can set up some options like the level of PostProcessing or the size and aspect of the subtitles. djoPlayer for Mac Download