Requested WEBM support/plugin that automatically uses ANY media player to play it within IV

[2mg]

As simple as the topic name implies!

Or is there already any plugin that will play WEBM formats in IV, or open automatically and external player?

[Mij]

I have no experience of WebM but I suppose that in theory if you installed a WebM filter for DirectShow and selected the DirectShow option in Irfanview's Properties/Settings then it should play.
It looks as though you would need a Vorbis filter as well if it includes audio.

[2mg]

I have no experience of WebM but I suppose that in theory if you installed a WebM filter for DirectShow and selected the DirectShow option in Irfanview's Properties/Settings then it should play.
It looks as though you would need a Vorbis filter as well if it includes audio.

Is there a way to embed a media player when IV stumbles upon a WEBM (or any other movie clip)?

Or at least automatically open the player and add it to the playlist each time such and such file is viewed while viewing a directory?

[Mij]

I thought I had said enough for you to be able to find out for yourself. However I downloaded a WebM video and checked it out for you.

Look at the Irfanview options by selecting Properties/Settings from the Options menu and then click on Video/Sound tab. There you have the options of what Irfanview will try to use when it encounters a video file (Movie Clip) in the Browser. I am no expert in this field but I will describe what I understand of how this works.

At the top, the first option is to use the External plugin, IV_Player, which is a standalone player that opens in a separate window when a video file is found. It handles the more common video formats but not WebM. The other External player that can be selected, at the bottom of the dialog, is the Apple Quick Time plugin which supports various other formats that are listed there. Again not WebM though.

If you select instead to use the Internal Video/Sound player Irfanview will use the resources of the Windows operating system to try to play your clip. If you use this then you also have the option to check the box "Use DirectShow for playing" which powers Windows Media Player that comes bundled into Windows these days. It can handle a lot of different formats natively which can be extended by installing the correct Codecs for them (DirectPlay calls them Filters). The Internal player opens inside the Irfanview window when a video file is encountered.

So I selected Internal player and checked to use DirectShow as well, and the WebM clip played fine when Irfanview reached it in the folder I was browsing. So obviously the appropriate codecs were already installed on my system, probably by one of the other video players or Web browsers I have installed. Chances are that if you have been viewing WebM video clips you already have them too. So just give it a try and if it does not work go to a site like this and download from there what you need to play WebM files in Windows.

[2mg]

I thought I had said enough for you to be able to find out for yourself. However I downloaded a WebM video and checked it out for you.

Look at the Irfanview options by selecting Properties/Settings from the Options menu and then click on Video/Sound tab. There you have the options of what Irfanview will try to use when it encounters a video file (Movie Clip) in the Browser. I am no expert in this field but I will describe what I understand of how this works.

At the top, the first option is to use the External plugin, IV_Player, which is a standalone player that opens in a separate window when a video file is found. It handles the more common video formats but not WebM. The other External player that can be selected, at the bottom of the dialog, is the Apple Quick Time plugin which supports various other formats that are listed there. Again not WebM though.

If you select instead to use the Internal Video/Sound player Irfanview will use the resources of the Windows operating system to try to play your clip. If you use this then you also have the option to check the box "Use DirectShow for playing" which powers Windows Media Player that comes bundled into Windows these days. It can handle a lot of different formats natively which can be extended by installing the correct Codecs for them (DirectPlay calls them Filters). The Internal player opens inside the Irfanview window when a video file is encountered.

So I selected Internal player and checked to use DirectShow as well, and the WebM clip played fine when Irfanview reached it in the folder I was browsing. So obviously the appropriate codecs were already installed on my system, probably by one of the other video players or Web browsers I have installed. Chances are that if you have been viewing WebM video clips you already have them too. So just give it a try and if it does not work go to a site like this and download from there what you need to play WebM files in Windows.

First of all, thank you for taking your time.

Secondly, here's some irony - pasted from your link:

"How to Play WebM Files in Windows

UPDATE: The newest Version of the popular VLC Player 2.1 is now also capable of playing WebM-Files. Download it here."

And VLC is now at 2.1.3, so that's oldish news by now. Thing is, I'm a VLC user for a loooong time now, so I really am awry of codecs (oh the Kaazaa days...). I even disabled WMP on my PC.

Good news is that I don't need another player, just the IV plugin and webm directshow codec, I can settle for that.

Could I turn this into a request to integrate .webm support natively into IV, or a specific plugin in itself? I do believe that a lot of users are on VLC or VLC-like players these days, so going back to codecs is a bit weird. Yes, .webm isn't an image format, but it's in a way it is a .gif with(out) sounds...

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

Could I turn this into a request to integrate .webm support natively into IV, or a specific plugin in itself? I do believe that a lot of users are on VLC or VLC-like players these days, so going back to codecs is a bit weird. Yes, .webm isn't an image format, but it's in a way it is a .gif with(out) sounds...

It has always struck me as weird that anyone would use an image viewer for playing media files. Why not use a browser or media player?

[2mg]

It has always struck me as weird that anyone would use an image viewer for playing media files. Why not use a browser or media player?

Well, short clips? Things taken by mobile phone along with pics? Webms becoming popular?

Number of reasons. It's more about "if you offer to play other media files, please do it properly".

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

Well, short clips? Things taken by mobile phone along with pics? Webms becoming popular?

Number of reasons. It's more about "if you offer to play other media files, please do it properly".

That's a sure route to producing bloatware. Please see this earlier thread: A Word for the Over-eager.

IrfanView's popularity is due, in large part, to its simplicity, small size, and simple installation.

[Mij]

I agree that it would be ridiculous for Irfanview to try keeping up to date with every Video format that came along and it seems to be unnecessary too.

I decided to update the K-lite codecs/filter pack on my computer using Ninite to make sure that I have got the latest version of everything (something I have not done for years). As a result I can now play WebM from Irfanview using either the Internal player, with the DirectShow option selected, or using the External player (IV_player.exe), with the Media Player Interface selected. What is more the current version of Windows Media Player that comes with Windows 7 will also play WebM too, and lots of other formats that it could not do before.

I know that you do not like codecs, 2mg, and I have no doubt I now have dozens of them that I will never use. I did say that this was not my area of experience - why I let Ninite install everything for me. I suspect that all I really needed was the lightweight video player, Media Player Classic, that came with the K-lite pack and seems to use a lot of the same dlls that your VLC player does. The difference is that, unlike VLC, the K-lite approach is to share its resources with other players and not keep them all to itself.

[2mg]

That's a sure route to producing bloatware. Please see this earlier thread: A Word for the Over-eager.

IrfanView's popularity is due, in large part, to its simplicity, small size, and simple installation.

Maybe I should re-phrase myself:

A plugin/option that would simply emulate (copy from registry?) "Add to MEDIA PLAYER's playlist right mouse click option" when you are viewing a directory and open .webm (or any other video filein that matter) and continue viewing as normal doesn't sound like a huge deal to ask?

[2mg]

I agree that it would be ridiculous for Irfanview to try keeping up to date with every Video format that came along and it seems to be unnecessary too.

I decided to update the K-lite codecs/filter pack on my computer using Ninite to make sure that I have got the latest version of everything (something I have not done for years). As a result I can now play WebM from Irfanview using either the Internal player, with the DirectShow option selected, or using the External player (IV_player.exe), with the Media Player Interface selected. What is more the current version of Windows Media Player that comes with Windows 7 will also play WebM too, and lots of other formats that it could not do before.

I know that you do not like codecs, 2mg, and I have no doubt I now have dozens of them that I will never use. I did say that this was not my area of experience - why I let Ninite install everything for me. I suspect that all I really needed was the lightweight video player, Media Player Classic, that came with the K-lite pack and seems to use a lot of the same dlls that your VLC player does. The difference is that, unlike VLC, the K-lite approach is to share its resources with other players and not keep them all to itself.

I completely agree - I just see .webm is to .gif what HTML5 is to Flash... Even more so with audio-less .webm!