Sanyo Xacti problem
Discussion
Hello all, firstly not a photography or pc buff, so please take that into consideration, but I have a problem.
Bought a used Sanyo Xacti mp4 camcorder from Ebay last year, transfers still photos to my PC via the SD card with no problems but when I transfer video all I get is the sound.....any ideas wht I am doing wrong?
Someone mentioned it may be a 'codec' problem but not being a 'techi' I am in the dark.
TIA
Chedder
Bought a used Sanyo Xacti mp4 camcorder from Ebay last year, transfers still photos to my PC via the SD card with no problems but when I transfer video all I get is the sound.....any ideas wht I am doing wrong?
Someone mentioned it may be a 'codec' problem but not being a 'techi' I am in the dark.
TIA
Chedder
Does sound like you are missing a CODEC for your camcorder. The CODEC is a small piece of plugin (add-on) software that enables your computer to understand the files you have recorded on the camcorder.
First thing I'd try is look if you have an installation CD for the camcorder. 99% of the time this should fix the problem as the software to read the files will usually come with the hardware.
If you don't have a CD, try downloading the software off the website ( a good idea anyway as it should be the latest version).
If that isn't possible, in windows media player go to Tools->options->player tab and click the "download codecs automatically" tickbox. This will only work however if windows can find the codec, which it usually can't!
Failing that - download and install Quicktime as it brings a large amount of codecs with it, and also DivX, which brings a few more. After that you're in the realms of downloadable codec packs, but they can be a raft of spyware and viruses.
Try the first three, if they don't work find out what codec the camcorder uses (right click on the file and go to properties) and give us a shout...
First thing I'd try is look if you have an installation CD for the camcorder. 99% of the time this should fix the problem as the software to read the files will usually come with the hardware.
If you don't have a CD, try downloading the software off the website ( a good idea anyway as it should be the latest version).
If that isn't possible, in windows media player go to Tools->options->player tab and click the "download codecs automatically" tickbox. This will only work however if windows can find the codec, which it usually can't!
Failing that - download and install Quicktime as it brings a large amount of codecs with it, and also DivX, which brings a few more. After that you're in the realms of downloadable codec packs, but they can be a raft of spyware and viruses.
Try the first three, if they don't work find out what codec the camcorder uses (right click on the file and go to properties) and give us a shout...
I have a Xacti, it is MP4 format and you do need the right codec for it to play in Win Media
This one will do it but it's only a trial and then after 30 days it stops working.
http://www.3ivx.com/download/windows.html
As has been said though, Quicktime will play it natively so if all you want to do is play them then just use that. If you really want to play it in Win Media or more likely would like to use Windows Movie Maker to edit it, then use a prog called Mp4cam2AVi to convert it to an AVI format, then all you need is the DivX codec I think (you may find you already have it but it is free anyway). Adds another step but it is reasonably quick to convert and is lossless as well.
Get that prog from here:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mp4cam2avi/
Good luck.
This one will do it but it's only a trial and then after 30 days it stops working.
http://www.3ivx.com/download/windows.html
As has been said though, Quicktime will play it natively so if all you want to do is play them then just use that. If you really want to play it in Win Media or more likely would like to use Windows Movie Maker to edit it, then use a prog called Mp4cam2AVi to convert it to an AVI format, then all you need is the DivX codec I think (you may find you already have it but it is free anyway). Adds another step but it is reasonably quick to convert and is lossless as well.
Get that prog from here:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mp4cam2avi/
Good luck.
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