[Macworld]

Post your comments for DivX 7 video software released for Mac here

[kmdean]

Counter to what all the Requirements say, when I run the installer it says Divx 7 requires an intel Mac.

[pcharles]

Bum! I installed it on my MacBook a week or two ago and had not thought about my "aging" multicore multidrive dual 23 inch monitored G5 with 8GB RAM. Now I will need to buy a new one or stick with DivX 6.

[Freymour]

When you look at DivX website, you'll note that there is an option to UPGRADE if you have the WINDOZE version but have to pay FULL PRICE for the Mac Version. What are they thinking?

[pcharles]

I've noticed that, but Divx 7 Mac accepted my DivX 6 code without any trouble. The DivX people have terrible communication skills and almost never reply to emails regarding such things. Even their automated code sender does not work well.

[darkelf]

mkv? sold.

[ilgaz]

We all know that 3ivx,xvid, x264 and even Apple's h264 does support powerpc perfectly, using multiple cores/cpus and altivec right?
I mean no need to flame once famous but now disappearing, even abandoned by Roxio company (Toast 10 dropped it) for not supporting PPC.
One problem though... It seems DivX people, coders can't code for anything other than x86 which makes me seriously wonder who did they hire?

[Speed_Racer]

I don't get it. Why should anyone get their player when freeware players like VLC, Mplayer and even Quicktime Player with Perian can play all this stuff already? And why should anyone encode with their new proprietary codec when H.264 is fast becoming the new standard?

[mpole]

When it comes to mkv files VLC is prob the worst player of all time on the mac, always crashing when you try to skip to diff parts of the movie and doesn't even allow scrubbing. So when Divx 7 claimed to play mkv files i gave it a shot and its unbelievably stable and allows scrubbing without crashing so hail Divx 7. One problem though i cant get past if anyone out there know how to fix this. When I open an mkv file I get the following warning and no audio plays:"you may need an additional audio decoder to play the soundtrack of this file." thanks.

[Peter Cohen]

mpole said:

When I open an mkv file I get the following warning and no audio plays:"you may need an additional audio decoder to play the soundtrack of this file." thanks.

Remember that Matroska isn't a codec, it's a container format. So watching MKV videos with DivX installed is still dependent on what audio and video codecs are being used for the content stored within. If it's a DivX or AVI file, then DivX's plug-in for QuickTime is doing the heavy lifting; otherwise, it's whatever QuickTime has installed to make sense of.

I have Perian installed along with everything else, and I don't have any trouble with the files I'm looking at.

[mpole]

Completely forgot to install perian and even though that did work for a couple of my mkv movies it still leaves one of the 3 silent with the same dialog popping up. Wish divx 7 would give me a hint on what codec i need and this also begs the question how all these movies work in VLC and Plex for example without the need of perian or other codecs. thanks again.

[BillDivX]

Hey people,
I am one of the primary engineers working on the DivX Player. Generally we are encouraged to leave public relations to the public relations dept. But if you are having any trouble at all, the best way to get help is to go to the DivX Labs forums (labs.divx.com), or to find a customer support link on the divx.com website (probably can't find a phone #, we are techno-nerds and like e-mails).
However, I can answer a few dead simple questions myself right here.
Why should you get the DivX Player? Because it's better. I will leave more detailed explanations to the public relations dept.
As to the comment of "why use DivX Plus when h.264 is the way of the future?" DivX recognizes h.264 is the way of the future. That's why DivX Plus is h.264.
As for the "You need an audio codec" error, Mr. Cohen has it right. However, your 3 remaining files are probably either DTS or Vorbis, neither of which will work correctly at the moment.
For that, and any other cases of removed or missing features (That includes PPC support. I assure you that we are perfectly capable.) If there is any feature at all which you find yourself craving uncontrollably, I highly recommend that you track down our customer support team. We hear from them constantly about the bugs and missing features that users raise, and complaining to them can (and has, many times) get results, so make your voice heard!

[Ilgaz]

If there is one thing to make PPC users more frustrated, it is PR team response to a very technical question like dropping PPC support.

Trust me, PPC using community are very technical and watches the happenings on development scene regarding Intel only binaries.

There is no reason not to support PPC on a video codec since:

1) It is not a game, some games require extra processing power or Intel only gigantic frameworks or even more basically, Intel since they are in fact Windows code posing as Mac.
2) You aren't into pure 64bit, as we see on Mathematica, 64bit binary may release for G5 but for very explainable technical reasons, it may be dropped and application may switch back to 32bit only (again, not dropped)
3) Snow Leopard isn't out yet. In future, 64bit Intel only apps will release which uses the OpenCL kind of frameworks and rumored Quicktime X framework which are all supposed to be 64bit Intel only.
4) I hear the LVM gcc 4.2 does have problems in packaging ppc binaries but it got fixed by couple of knowing developers, it happened to a open source and massively portable, huge application same nature as yours. They don't charge for it too so they have issue with accessing ppc configurations like commercial companies.

So, if you have a PR department which will explain to me (and many others) why PPC support dropped, the mystery, I guess you better hand them a Objective C book and let them start coding training :)

I work at a TV station occasionally doing Movie stuff. Trust me, we just smile at people suggesting ''free'' and flaming commercial/supported and professionally usable codecs. It is not the case. The case is dropping PPC support without any kind of explanation.

If it is ''Apple doesn't release Snow Leopard'', it is a way different case as you know. In fact, even if possible, I wouldn't want a pure 64bit OS on a G5 for very deep technological reasons which you already know. Also they probably rely on huge work already done by many companies, organizations, universities for GPU processing kind of stuff. The code is unfortunately, mostly x86. So besides architectural slowness which was proved by Linux people, there is lack of core frameworks.

It doesn't tell any developer to drop a working platform of course, especially while MKV spec creator is playing around with h264 playback on 200mhz ARM machines out there.

Apple will be maintaining PPC macs through Tiger and Leopard for years, at least security updates. I hope people stop using Apple as an excuse.

[BillDivX]

llgaz,
As I said above, PR is probably not the correct arena for this. I would recommend contacting customer support. They would be far more capable of both: (a) providing an explanation, and (b) formally filing a customer request that will reach the ears of those who made the decision to drop PPC.
I cannot tell you how often I run into people who have some criticism of our software, but have never bothered to try the official channel that DivX spends significant energy maintaining. It is there for a reason, and those who use it often get results. Those who don't, well, they got what they asked us for, which is nothing.