[Resolved] Playing MP4 videos

[MikeBCda]

Since contributors to YouTube are more and more using MP4 format these days rather than the formerly dominant FLVs, I'd like to be able to view those, ideally after downloading/saving.  I currently have WinAmp 5.6 (free version), which explicitly says I'd need the paid Pro version for MP4, and I've also got WMP 11, which simply says it doesn't recognize the file format or extension.

Will I need a 3rd player for MP4 (several free ones are available for XP SP3), and if so, any suggestions?  Or can I get WMP to play them with appropriate new codec(s), and if so where can I find those?  Many thanks.

(Edit) Oddly, most of these will play properly for me on-site, which makes me wonder if my Download Helper extension is converting them to MP4 while downloading.  But I've got the Lite version of that, which supposedly doesn't include the ability to convert.

[nmb]

You can use a all in one player VLC: videolan.org

Or you can use WMP with codecs from: shark007.net

Or you can install K-lite codec pack with media player classic: codecguide.com

I prefer VLC.

[.: Mac :.]

I use MPlayer which is similar to VLC. MPlayer has a multithreaded version as well.

Also if you already have QuickTime installed it should be able to play the files as well.

[JuninhoSlo]

Since contributors to YouTube are more and more using MP4 format these days rather than the formerly dominant FLVs, I'd like to be able to view those, ideally after downloading/saving.  I currently have WinAmp 5.6 (free version), which explicitly says I'd need the paid Pro version for MP4, and I've also got WMP 11, which simply says it doesn't recognize the file format or extension.

Will I need a 3rd player for MP4 (several free ones are available for XP SP3), and if so, any suggestions?  Or can I get WMP to play them with appropriate new codec(s), and if so where can I find those?  Many thanks.

(Edit) Oddly, most of these will play properly for me on-site, which makes me wonder if my Download Helper extension is converting them to MP4 while downloading.  But I've got the Lite version of that, which supposedly doesn't include the ability to convert.

All you need is K-Lite Codec Pack with Media Player Classic (MPC). http://www.filehorse.com/download-klite-codec-pack/

[MikeBCda]

Many thanks to all.    I've just downloaded the VLC player and will give that a try.  I note that will also handle DVDs, although I'll probably stick with Power DVD for those ... WMP will also play those, supposedly, but to do so it "borrows" PDVD's codecs and both video and audio quality are very poor in comparison.

Think I can safely tag this Resolved, since there were several other suggestions to try in case I don't like VLC.  Thanks again.

[nmb]

You're Welcome Mike.

[Simion]

G0M Player is also very good. I like that GOM notifies and directs you to a missing codec, hosted right on the GOM website. This avoids the many malware laced codecs frequently found on the web, and you don't have to download/install any large codec packs.

http://www.gomlab.com/eng/GMP_download.html

[MikeBCda]

One final (?) note about VLC, of which I wasn't aware till I got it installed and set up:  it can't handle MID audio on its own, requires about 27 megs add-on for that.  But once that's been installed, works quite well, and audio for those is excellent, even better than most wave-table players.

(Edit) Guess they consider MIDs more or less obsolete.  But I've got several hundred of them from back when I was on dialup, because of obviously much smaller files which made dialup-downloading feasible as compared with MP3s which I couldn't conveniently get until after upgrading to broadband.