How to play any kind of movie on a mac including AVI files

 

I was recently given a keynote presentation which contained a movie. When I played the presentation the sound worked but the movie was blank. It turned out the movie was not in a format that Quicktime could play. There are many such formats. When I tried to play the movie in Quicktime I got an error saying ‘The document could not be opened. The movie is not in a format that QuickTime Player understands.You may need to install additional software to open this type of file.’ 

Here’s what to do.

To play movies in Keynote, iMovie etc:

Perian is a handy free program that allows your mac to play almost any movie format, including AVI files from a Windows computer. Perian just sits in the background and allows other programs (like Keynote) to play movies that they wouldn’t normally be able to play.  It claims to play all the following movie formats: AVI, DIVX, FLV, MKV, GVI, VP6, and VFW, MS-MPEG4 v1 & v2, DivX, 3ivx, H.264, Sorenson H.263, FLV/Sorenson Spark, FSV1, VP6, H263i, VP3, HuffYUV, FFVHuff, MPEG1 & MPEG2 Video, Fraps, Snow, NuppelVideo, Techsmith Screen Capture and DosBox Capture.

You can download it for free from perian.org. To install it simply click on the icon and it will install itself as a Preference Pane. It sits in the background – you don’t need to do anything. Your normal programs such as Keynote and Quicktime will now be able to play any movie format. You will need to quit and restart Quicktime or Keynote after you install Perian.

To watch movies in your screen in a player.

Perian won’t play every movie.  Perian won’t play wmf files and some kinds of AVI movies. To play all files try out VLC for Mac OS X.  VLC is awesome and allows you to watch any movie. The only problem with VLC is that it only allows you to watch the movie in it’s own player, not in Keynote or other programs.

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33 responses to “How to play any kind of movie on a mac including AVI files”

  1. Sam

    I have the newest version of Perian and it still won’t play my file. Nice try.

    Reply
    1. Mantai

      Read the details about supported codecs WITHIN an AVI file: http://www.perian.org/#detail

      Reply
  2. mdawg

    Sam – what type of file is it? You can use something like mpeg streamclip (google it, download, install it) and try to convert it to a file type that perian or quicktime can read.

    Reply
    1. Rme

      I have a .AVI file but even after installing perian it still wouldn’t work?

      Reply
  3. panamadany

    Wow,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Perian looks great. So simple!!!

    Reply
  4. Alana

    Perian is typically great for playing…well, everything. But I just came across a codec that it doesn’t gel with: .libav (aka .libavcodec)

    Here it is, broken down on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libavcodec

    This is one of the first times that Perian (or the potpourri of media players on my computer) has stumbled but I feel like it may be one of the things that causes the ‘ could not be opened. The movie is not in a format that QuickTime Player understands.You may need to install additional software to open ‘ error.

    Reply
  5. JRSNunes

    Well,

    I think that this is also a work for the almighty VLC.

    Yes, it’ll play everything.

    Best regards,
    José Nunes

    Reply
  6. Antonio A.

    I experienced the same problem too. I’ll try Perian if it works for me.

    Reply
  7. Andrew

    Hi. Can anyone offer any advice?
    When I try to open an avi file, quicktime says I need to install additional components.
    However, if I right click and select “Get Info”, I can preview the movie no problem.
    Why won’t quicktime open the file then?

    Reply
  8. OSid

    SOLUTION: Just use VLC! trust me it works with almost everything!

    Reply
    1. Mantai

      Yes, but it does not integrate with other apps like iMovie, Keynote, Powerpoint or Compressor.

      Reply
  9. Erik

    Downloaded and installed perian–no effect whatsoever. Useless.

    Reply
    1. Mantai

      Read the details about supported Codecs WITHIN an AVI: http://www.perian.org/#detail

      Also deinstall 3ivX and DivX codecs as they conflict with Perian.

      Reply
  10. CK Dexter Haven

    I was having the same problem. I installed Perian, Quit Quicktime, relaunched QT, and now the clips play perfectly. As well, now they seem to work with proper previews in iMovieHD.

    Thank you.

    Reply
  11. Robert Austin

    This seems to be the Emperor’s New AVI Player: it seems to do nothing.

    Reply
  12. Nitin

    hi,

    I am trying to play .avi files using quicktime. After downloading A52codec, I am able to play the video but not the audio. Then i downloaded Perian, but still only the video works but no audio. Anyone who could advice? thanks a lot, please write to me at nshuks@gmail.com

    thanks,
    Nitin

    Reply
  13. TA

    great! worked a treat once i quit QT and relaunched movie file

    Reply
  14. designer

    Wow. Interesting- I must try to use Perian

    Reply
  15. Ahmed

    GOM is the best SW is playing all the movies formats
    try it http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/38445/gom-player

    Reply
  16. Matt

    Thanks for this tip :-)

    I wasn’t able to add AVI files to my Keynote presentation, and now I can.

    Thanks

    Reply
  17. Ariane

    It wasn’t working out until I read the comments below and realized I had to quit QT. Now it works perfectly. Thanks!

    Reply
  18. system erp

    I was suggested this website via my cousin. I am not positive whether or not this publish is written via him as nobody else recognise such particular about my trouble. You are wonderful! Thanks!

    Reply
  19. John

    If your having problem with your app not converting video, I suggest you check out this tutorial i found on google that explains why you may need perian: http://appducate.com/2012/12/perian-lets-your-mac-play-most-video-formats/

    Reply
  20. Marisa

    Thanks a ton! This was ridiculously easy for playing large .AVI files.

    Reply
  21. John

    I made a .mov file with an animation program but cant open it with the same program or quicktime. I installed perian but still nothing. any help?

    Reply
  22. Wayne

    Yes you need to quit and restart the program after you install Perian. Does that fix it?

    Reply
  23. Anna Brooks

    Elmedia Player also supports playback of AVI and other video files on Mac: http://mac.eltima.com/media-player.html

    Reply
    1. Wayne

      Thanks Anna.

      Reply
  24. Louise

    its works fine and i get video but no sound

    Reply
  25. SeanAllison

    I know AVI works not so well on Mac, so does MP4. Besides, we all know QT can’t support WMV or WMA. But don’t bothered. Without any plugins or codec, Macgo Blu-ray Player is just simple and easy Mac video player supporting all these files I mentioned here.
    http://download.cnet.com/Macgo-Mac-Blu-ray-Player/3000-13570_4-75453324.html

    Reply
    1. Wayne

      Thanks Sean but this player costs $59. My solution is free.

      Reply
  26. Bob

    I tried both, and neither worked. But thanx for playing!

    Reply
  27. Ernest

    It’s awesome to play in a movie

    Reply

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