Slowing down xvid.avi video clips

[EZ]

I have several xvid.avi video clips that I’d like to playback with my WM Player in a SLOW mode, that is at about half the original bit rate, the same way I play .wmv files.
Is that a matter of the player or the codec, and if the later, what codec do I need?
If not, could someone advise me how to go about it?
Thanks in advance,
EZ

[Nick]

Is there any reason why it has to be Windows Media Player you play back in?

Media Player Classic (http://downloads.sourceforge.net/guliverkli/mpc2kxp6490.zip?modtime=1142869788&big_mirror=0) will play Xvid back at 1/2, 1/4 and 1/8 speed - just click on the << button to slow it down.

[EZ]

Hi Nick. Thanks for your reply
I've tried MPClassic but the output is irregular and jumpy. It goes slowly for several frames and then shoots the several next frames in very high speed and repeats itself. The same goes with the Sonic CinePlayer.
Looks as if they try to sync with the audio which they do not slow down (I'd accept an interupted audio).
In any case, I need WMP as I've incorporated it into an HTML file and I do not know the CLSID and the OBJECT PARAMs of those player.

[Nick]

In that case, all I can think of is to rewrite the header.
There is a free tool at
http://www.am-soft.ru/avifrate.html
with which you can edit the framerate of an AVI file. Halve the framerate and this will cause the video to play back at half speed. However it will not affect the audio in any way - this will play at full speed and stop halfway through. Is that any more use?

Of course you could disable the audio if it's not important, or demux the audio, double its length in a wave editor such as Audacity and then remux the slowed audio to the slowed video.

[foxyshadis]

Gom Player has the capability and does it nice and smooth. juicyplayer (hdngn) did too, but audio never worked for me.

[EZ]

Hey guys
You were very helpful. AviFrate indeed changes an .avi file header to any rate you choose. The problem is that it requires the calculator to be open while playing if one wants to keep the file unchanged. The GOM player, which I've not known until now, lets you choose increase/decrease rate at 10% steps, together with many other features. I still have to figure out how to incorporate it into the frames I build in an HTML file.
AviFrate suggest that slowing down an .avi is a simple task. I wonder why MS (or a 3rd party) have not incorporated it into the WM player, or even better, into a plugin/codec.
Thanks again

[setarip_old]

@EZ

Hi!

I don't know if this will help or further confuse the issue regarding Windows Media Player, specifically.

It seems that while WMP (v.9) will not permit playback speed adjustment to a DivX (v.3.11alpha)-compresssed video with audio, the same video without an audiostream makes the playback speed selector available for use.

Additionally, while WMP (v.9) will allow use of the playback speed selector for .VOBs (which, as we all know are actually expanded capability MPEG-2s), the playback speed selector is not available for use with "plain vanilla" MPEG-2s (with audio) - but also will allow use of the speed playback selector for silent .M2V MPEG-2 videostreams...

[EZ]

Well, here is a challenge for members/visitor of this forum:
Write an add-on to WMP V11 or earlier, to change the frame rate of a xvid.avi video clips by writing into the clip header via a hot keys, the way it is done by AviFrate.
Write back the original parameters into the header upon exiting.
The best way to do it, in my mind, is to have 2 hot keys, one for increasing rate (in 10 or 25 % steps) and the other for decreasing it, the way GOM player does.
Coming to think about it, it should not write into the file header but rather provide the changed values to the Rate variable of WMP (then you do not change the file header).