The Beef Stew Release Group's Troubleshooter
If you are having issues with this
release, jittery image, no sound or
anything like that, it is with 99.9%
certainty that you are having
issues with your CODECS.
It doesn't matter which
player you use, as long as
the codecs needed to play this
file aren't installed on your computer.
It's extraordinarly rare that a movie
downloaded with BitTorrent is
broken and/or can't be played back with
the right software. Some experience
that that Windows Media Player tries
to
download a codec, for instance, and
give you an error. This is not
a faulty rip, it's a weakness in
that player, not having access to the
proper codec.
There
is only one player that
doesn't require any system codecs (uses
its own) and that's: Videolan (VLC)
This player also works on several
plattforms, including Mac OS X.
However, it will reduce some of the quality
of the movie when viewing it,
unfortunately. Otherwise an excellent
compromise if you don't want to down-
load any codecs.
You can tell by the name of the movie that you have downloaded, which
codec is required. For instance,
Name_Of_The_Movie_AC3_Xvid_[ReleaseGroup].avi
AC3
is the audio
codec, and Xvid is
the encoder
(codec)
for the movie. There are also movies encoded with DivX, in
which case the filename would reveal that,
as in it being Name_Of_The_Movie_DivX_[ReleaseGroup].avi instead.
You'll find many other releases
named in this fashion.
.avi is simply a container format. Like a
container, an .avi file can contain a wide variety of codecs, therefore
it's common that one .avi
file works, and
another doesn't. This is why you have to
find out which codec was
used when the avi-file was
created.
GSpot is
an excellent tool for finding out if you have the required codecs
installed. Now, it happens that some
people have installed various codec
packs, and/or individual codecs as
well as players installing codecs without
your knowledge. This tool will
provide you with information on the
various codecs you have installed on your
computer. Simply open the file with
GSpot and it will determine if you
have the codecs necessary for playback.
It can also show you a list of all
audio and video codecs currently
installed on your system (click View,
then
Installed codecs.)
We recommend that you avoid all codec
packs.
They tend to install unnecessary components that can lead to conflicts.
Often you will find that with too many
codecs installed you experience bad playback (jittery, out of sync,
etc.) The best way to solve this problem is
to first remove all codecs from your system. Then install the
individual codecs as necessary to play back the
files that you encounter.
You will find that you need either
Xvid or DivX for the
Beef_Stew release you've just downloaded,
in order to get a glitch-free playback, and the
AC3 codec to
resolve any issues you might have with
the audio playback.
If you wish to split
or join the .avi file(s) use this guide that also provides links to
the best program to use.
NOTE:
Always make sure to read the nfo-file if present with the download. You
can access it by either right-
clicking, scroll to "open with"
and choose Notepad or download DAMN
NFO-viewer For those with earlier
versions of Windows:
simply choose "open" from
within Notepad and browse to the file if don't want to down-
load the viewer. You may see NFO files appear as a "MS SysInfo file" or
similar. This is due to a
Microsoft
quirk -- these are the NFO files that you should always read.
A few useful links:
For more help, visit the
friendly forums at Filesoup,
or just browse the FAQ area.
For more information on the use
of
BitTorrent and related programs,
check out Brian's FAQ site
If you are looking for
information
on how to convert this movie into
another format that you prefer, check
out DVDrHelp.com
or doom9.org
For all kinds of software,
converting tools and so on visit Afterdawn
To understand the terminology
surrounding filesharing: VCDQuality.com
This
tutorial has
been brought to you by Filesoup's resident
release
group Beef
Stew with special help from Rhomboid.