Atkinspedia:Media help (Ogg)

Installing audio and video software

To enable your computer to play both video (Theora) and audio (Vorbis) files, please select a program from the listings below. Look under your operating system (Microsoft Windows, for example) and follow the instructions to install the software of your choice.

It is highly recommended that you use a program which is capable of playing both Vorbis audio and Theora video since these two different media formats are often in the same container format, Ogg.

Windows

Your existing media player may be able to support some of Atkinspedia's content.

• Installing codecs from Illiminable will allow DirectShow players such as Windows Media Player to play all Atkinspedia audio. Realplayer from Real Networks can play Atkinspedia content with its latest releases. Downloading and installing it can be a little tricky, and Realplayer's installer may feel coercive to some people. If this is the case, they should use "Advanced" options when prompted. See Set Program Access and Defaults for a possible remedy after installation or the Realplayer article for more information.

1. Most Windows users will already have Windows Media Player installed on their computer. If you don't have Windows Media Player, or you want to use a different DirectShow player, please install one from the list below. Otherwise, skip to step 2.
   1. Windows Media Player (CNET user rating (3.5/5), CNET editor's rating (5/5)) (download)
   2. Winamp (CNET user rating (4/5), CNET editor's rating (4/5)) (download)
   3. Media Player Classic (CNET user rating (4.5/5)) (download)
   4. Core Media Player (no review available) (download)
   5. Zoom Player (CNET user rating (3/5), CNET editor's rating (5/5)) (download)
   6. Zinf (no review available) (download)
2. Go to illiminable.com.
3. Click on "Download Now" at the right hand side of the page.
4. Wait for the setup program to download. This should take less than 2 minutes on a 56k modem.
5. Once downloading has finished, run the setup program and follow the instructions on screen.
6. When the Setup Wizard finishes, your DirectShow player should now be able to play Ogg audio and video.

• Winamp

1. Go to the Winamp download page
2. Select a link under Go Pro (buy) or a free version: BUNDLE or FULL (Not the LITE version as it doesn't support video)
3. Wait for the setup program to download. This should take around 20 minutes on a 56k modem, or quicker if you have a faster connection.
4. Once downloading has finished, run the setup program and follow the instructions on screen.
5. After the setup wizard is done, go to Preferences (click Winamp main screen, then press CTRL-P) > Plug-Ins > Input, select Nullsoft DirectShow decoder, Configure and add ;OGG to final of extension list.
6. You can use Winamp to play Ogg audio and video.

• jetAudio (CNET user rating (4/5), CNET editor's rating (5/5))

1. Go to the jetAudio download page
2. Click the download button for jetAudio 6 Basic on the right of the page.
3. On the next page click Download Now.
4. Wait for the install program to download. This should take less than 40 minutes on a 56k modem, or quicker if you have a faster connection.
5. Once downloading has finished, run the setup program and follow the instructions on screen.
6. When the Setup Wizard finishes, you can use jetAudio to play Ogg audio and video.

• VLC media player (CNET user rating (4.5/5), CNET editor's rating (4/5))

1. Go to the VLC player Windows download page
2. Select a link under Windows self-extracting package
3. Wait for the setup program to download. This should take around 20 minutes on a 56k modem, or quicker if you have a faster connection.
4. Once downloading has finished, run the setup program and follow the instructions on screen.
5. When the Setup Wizard finishes, you can use VLC media player to play Ogg audio and video.

• RealPlayer (CNET user rating (3/5), CNET editor's rating (4/5))

1. If you already have RealPlayer, you only need to install the plugins, please skip to step 6.
2. Go to the RealPlayer free version download page
3. Select Download link along from Windows 98/NT/2000/XP
4. Select a location near you to begin downloading. If an advert is displayed, wait for the download to commence in a few seconds.
5. Once downloading has completed, run the setup program and follow the instructions on screen.
6. Go to the Helix Community Xiph Player Plugins page. Click to download, for example xiph_player_plugins_0.6.exe (the latest versions are near to the top of the page).
7. Once downloading has completed, run the setup program and follow the instructions on screen.
8. You should now be able to use RealPlayer to play Ogg audio and video.

• MPlayer for Windows (CNET user rating (4.5/5)). The Windows version of MPlayer is a command line driven application without a graphical user interface. For this reason, it is recommended only for users with previous experience of using a command line interface.

1. Go to the MPlayer download page
2. Look at the table under Source and Binaries. Click any of the links along from Windows releases.
3. On the following page, click on one of the links ending in 'zip' (for example MPlayer-mingw32-1.0pre7.zip)
4. Wait for the zip archive to download. This should take around 20 minutes on a 56k modem, or quicker if you have a faster connection.
5. When the archive has downloaded, it can be opened using a utility such as 7-Zip

Macintosh (Mac OS X)

• MPlayer OS X is a media player which can play Vorbis and Theora files.

1. Go to the MPlayer Mac OS X download page
2. Click the Download Now button.
3. Select an appropriate location (mirror) from which you want to download the software.
4. Click the corresponding icon under the download column.
5. Wait for the zip archive to download. This should take around 18 minutes on a 56k modem, or quicker if you have a faster connection.
6. Once downloading has finished, double click the zip archive to extract the files.
7. Copy the MPlayer Application to your Applications folder.
8. When the copy operation finishes, you can use MPlayer to play Ogg audio and video.

• iTunes

1. Download iTunes from Apple
2. Install iTunes.
3. Obtain the XiphQT plugin
4. Follow the installation instructions in the readme
5. You may now use iTunes to play (and convert) OGG files, or subscribe to OGG based podcasts (RSS feeds)

• VLC media player is a media player which can play Vorbis and Theora files.

1. Go to the VLC player Mac OS X download page
2. Select an appropriate version of the software to download.
3. Wait for the disk image file to download. This should take around 18 minutes on a 56k modem, or quicker if you have a faster connection.
4. Once downloading has finished, double click the disk image to mount it.
5. Copy the VLC Application to your Applications folder.
6. When the copy operation finishes, you can use VLC to play Ogg audio and video.

Unix (Including Linux, BSD, Solaris, etc)

Many recent free Unix systems are able to play Vorbis audio without any installation. If you don't have any audio software installed, use your preferred packaging system to browse the players list and pick one. For example, you may install Totem, Amarok, MPlayer, xine, VLC media player, XMMS and others.

• libtheora is required for Ogg Theora video support.

1. Use your distribution's package management system, such as APT or YUM, to search for and install libtheora.
2. Now media players such as MPlayer, xine, or VLC should be able to play Ogg Theora video as well as Ogg Vorbis audio.

• To play Theora video with GStreamer-based players such as Totem, you must install the Theora GStreamer plugin. Again, your package manager should take care of this.

Category: Atkinspedia help