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Enjoy some tips and tools for working on and with digital video sequences.

Encoding/decoding tools, short codecs, are not necessarily browser plug-ins or stand-alone compressing programs. Possibly one can find them int the System Controls under video and audio devices. The appropriate codecs must be available on the target computer the compressed AVIs should be replayed with, too. If the codec is installed, it will just be shown as import/export filter in e.g. AVI-viewers (»save as...«).

Ending or file suffix avi (Audio Video Interleaved) just indicates a so-called container for video data with or without sound. The suffix only states »here is a video« with no more detailed specifications for it or its codec.
By the way - if necessary, you can find some mentioned downloads here: [Download SRC].

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Codec (AVI compression)

Intel Indeo 5.11

Enormous memory capacity demands are generated by AVIs, therefore one prefers to store them compressed. Indeo can save memory capacity up to about 90% with loss-accepting compression (typical setting 85% quality) without reducing image quality in a manner worth mentioning. Serious advantage are the incremental compression possibility and especially the low lateral displacement, which made this codec, recommended by leading German car manufacturers, first choice for digital high-speed cameras.
It is not an independent program or one to be called on, resp. Indeo can be downloaded at the given address for PC and Mac. Since Windows 2000 it was added to the installation CD, but did not come with Windows XP until SP1. Later it was a hidden feature more or less or was no longer distributed due to security issues. For detailed information see

Wikipedia about Indeo, former Intel, then at Ligos (has bought the rights).
Or: search in the whole depth of the Internet for the version appropriate to your operating system. For example iv5setup.exe, the self-extracting installation program (freeware) for Windows 95/98 and higher, size about 1.85 MB.

DivX MPEG-4 video codec

Especially for captures from TV or VHS/DVD another compression variant exists, just a video codec like above: DivX compresses AVI files in a MPEG-4 format. It shows its advantages, typical for MPEG, in sequences with slight motion. Virtually a standard for AVIs in the Internet since version DivX ;-) 3.11 alpha. Media Player of Windows 7 and later already come with DivX Codec. For detailed information and download source see

Divx.com. There the installation program of the present version (Windows, Mac, Linux) is available free of charge.

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High-speed cameras

Bursting water-filled balloon with 1 000 frames/sec

Background info

Earn more insight into the world of high-speed cameras here than this short sample is able to offer. Besides you will find more info about high-speed imaging, links, and a lot of images and animated video sequences for download.

In the sequence on the left: high-speed camera shot out of [SloMo Clips]. Recording speed 1 000 frames/sec, original size 512 x 512 pixel.

Weinberger SpeedCam sequences replay

Extra for SpeedCam Visario VRAW files you can find the latest version at Artho or HSVISION.
Earlier SpeedCam sequences were yet supported by AVI2BLD/BLD2AVI for conversion. The small program was designed as additional Windows 3.11/95, thus 32 bit only, tool for Camsys and SpeedCam +500/+2000/512 high-speed camera systems of the companies Mikromak and Weinberger.

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Video editing programs

Onboard Microsoft Windows

Early there was the program VidEdit as part of Microsoft's Video for Windows 1.1 under Windows 3.1. Meanwhile its replacement Windows Live Movie Maker suffered from the same fate. The free Microsoft program for Windows 7 and higher was an official release until 2017. If it was not already part of the installation one could download it as part of the Windows Essentials 2012 at Microsoft. (The history dates back to ME). It is useful for cutting videos, for fading, for titling and for changing the replay speed.
Meanwhile there is with Clipchamp (online only!) a more up to date version in Windows 10 and higher. For detailed information see e.g.

directly at Microsoft: Windows Live Movie Maker, virus safe download e.g. at CHIP.de.

Handbrake

Extreme versatile freeware program for Windows, MacOS and Linux. Handbrake allows to cut, to tilt, to scale and to convert AVIs in different formats and more. For detailed information and download see

Handbrake home page.

Gromada VideoMach

Example or time limited trial version runs under Windows XP and higher. With VideoMach one can filter, cut, insert and convert AVI sequences in many different formats. For detailed information and download see

VideoMach Homepage and an other download source.

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Viewers

VLC Media Player

Extreme versatile true freeware program, as well. VLC Media Player offers the feature to mark a cut and show it in an endless loop and can replay several videos in parallel. (Back to the roots when Windows 95/98 Media Replay and ActiveMovie, resp. showed more features than in the later Windows versions.) Additionally it offers various tools to improve image quality, among others change format, sharpen, reduce noise and adjust colors. Besides MPEG recording from DVD and conversion jobs. There are a Windows version and also ones for Mac OS and Linux. For detailed information see

VLC Media Player home page. (Also consult its English Wikipedia article for US Digital Millennium Copyright Act issues.)

IrfanView

Extreme versatile but small true freeware program, to. Just an image viewer and at less extent an AVI player with converter. IrfanView can be used to play AVI files, to extract single frames and to import, rework and export and put together again rather all other graphic formats. Includes a graphic module as well. For detailed information see

IrfanView home page; the installation file size is clearly smaller than 2 MB.

FairPlay Utilius

Enjoy the small free (time limited trial) AVI MediaPlayer for Windows, which does not need an install routine. The special feature of FairPlay is the synchronous replay of two videos with individual selectable offset. One can open and run the program several times parallel, can select replay speeds, can set marks for loops... This makes it a scientific tool. Modules for drawing and measurement are available, too. For detailed information see

ccc-software.de; the file size is less than 1 MB.

Youtube Downloader HD

Extracting videos from Youtube for downloading with this free program for Windows, Mac and Linux. Youtube Downloader HD enables the unlimited offline use of Youtube videos on the own disk. The resolution can be selected up to 4K Ultra HD and one can convert to AVI or MP4. For detailed information see

youtubedownloaderhd.com; the installation file size is slightly bigger than 20 MB.