3ivx
Encyclopedia
3ivx is a video codec
suite, created by 3ivx Technologies, based in Sydney, Australia, that allows the creation of MPEG-4
compliant data streams. It has been designed around a need for decreased processing power for use mainly in embedded systems. First versions were published in 2001. 3ivx provides plugins and filters that allow the MPEG-4 data stream to be wrapped by the Microsoft
ASF
and AVI
transports, as well as Apple's
QuickTime
transport. It also allows the creation of elementary MP4
data streams and provides an audio codec for creation of AAC
audio streams. It does not support H.264 video (MPEG-4 Part 10). Only MPEG-4 Part 2
video is supported.
Official decoders and encoders are provided for Microsoft Windows
, Mac OS
and BeOS
, with unmaintained older releases for the Amiga
and Linux
. In addition, FFmpeg
can decode 3ivx encoded video.
The company is notable for its support of the Haiku
OS, providing a port of the 3ivx codec. The 3ivx port maintainer has also produced a QuickTime MOV extractor and an MPEG-4 extractor for Haiku. As of 2005, they are the only company to support Haiku in any way.
The 30 day trial version of 3ivx is associated via Microsoft Windows operating systems to such media players as QuickTime and iTunes. Uninstalling 3ivx does not reset the 3IVX.dll file if the media players have been updated.
Uninstalling and restoring the media players does not solve the problem
as Windows still associates them to 3IVX.dll which is expired or been
uninstalled. Therefore .mp4 files can not be played in QuickTime or
iTunes where Windows is seeking the absent 3IVX.dll. Installing 3ivx MPEG-4 5.0 or greater will correct the issue (you can then uninstall if you wish).
The 3ivx software is also available (in Mac OS X and Windows versions) with the Flip Video
series of camcorders from Pure Digital.
Video codec
A video codec is a device or software that enables video compression and/or decompression for digital video. The compression usually employs lossy data compression. Historically, video was stored as an analog signal on magnetic tape...
suite, created by 3ivx Technologies, based in Sydney, Australia, that allows the creation of MPEG-4
MPEG-4
MPEG-4 is a method of defining compression of audio and visual digital data. It was introduced in late 1998 and designated a standard for a group of audio and video coding formats and related technology agreed upon by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group under the formal standard ISO/IEC...
compliant data streams. It has been designed around a need for decreased processing power for use mainly in embedded systems. First versions were published in 2001. 3ivx provides plugins and filters that allow the MPEG-4 data stream to be wrapped by the Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
ASF
Advanced Systems Format
Advanced Systems Format is Microsoft's proprietary digital audio/digital video container format, especially meant for streaming media...
and AVI
Audio Video Interleave
Audio Video Interleave , known by its acronym AVI, is a multimedia container format introduced by Microsoft in November 1992 as part of its Video for Windows technology. AVI files can contain both audio and video data in a file container that allows synchronous audio-with-video playback...
transports, as well as Apple's
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
QuickTime
QuickTime
QuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
transport. It also allows the creation of elementary MP4
MPEG-4 Part 14
MPEG-4 Part 14 or MP4 is a multimedia container format standard specified as a part of MPEG-4. It is most commonly used to store digital video and digital audio streams, especially those defined by MPEG, but can also be used to store other data such as subtitles and still images...
data streams and provides an audio codec for creation of AAC
Advanced Audio Coding
Advanced Audio Coding is a standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates....
audio streams. It does not support H.264 video (MPEG-4 Part 10). Only MPEG-4 Part 2
MPEG-4 Part 2
MPEG-4 Part 2, MPEG-4 Visual is a video compression technology developed by MPEG. It belongs to the MPEG-4 ISO/IEC standards. It is a discrete cosine transform compression standard, similar to previous standards such as MPEG-1 and MPEG-2...
video is supported.
Official decoders and encoders are provided for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
and BeOS
BeOS
BeOS is an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Inc. in 1991. It was first written to run on BeBox hardware. BeOS was optimized for digital media work and was written to take advantage of modern hardware facilities such as symmetric multiprocessing by utilizing...
, with unmaintained older releases for the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
and Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
. In addition, FFmpeg
FFmpeg
FFmpeg is a free software project that produces libraries and programs for handling multimedia data. The most notable parts of FFmpeg are libavcodec, an audio/video codec library used by several other projects, libavformat, an audio/video container mux and demux library, and the ffmpeg command line...
can decode 3ivx encoded video.
The company is notable for its support of the Haiku
Haiku (operating system)
Haiku is a free and open source operating system compatible with BeOS. Its development began in 2001, and the operating system became self-hosting in 2008, with the first alpha release in September 2009, the second in May 2010 and the third in June 2011....
OS, providing a port of the 3ivx codec. The 3ivx port maintainer has also produced a QuickTime MOV extractor and an MPEG-4 extractor for Haiku. As of 2005, they are the only company to support Haiku in any way.
The 30 day trial version of 3ivx is associated via Microsoft Windows operating systems to such media players as QuickTime and iTunes. Uninstalling 3ivx does not reset the 3IVX.dll file if the media players have been updated.
Uninstalling and restoring the media players does not solve the problem
as Windows still associates them to 3IVX.dll which is expired or been
uninstalled. Therefore .mp4 files can not be played in QuickTime or
iTunes where Windows is seeking the absent 3IVX.dll. Installing 3ivx MPEG-4 5.0 or greater will correct the issue (you can then uninstall if you wish).
The 3ivx software is also available (in Mac OS X and Windows versions) with the Flip Video
Flip Video
The Flip Video camera is a tapeless camcorder for digital video created by Pure Digital Technologies, a company bought by Cisco Systems in March 2009...
series of camcorders from Pure Digital.