How do you make Winamp handle .flv files?

[pile0nades]

When I download Flash Video files from youtube, I have to use MPlayer to play them. Is there a plugin way to play them in Winamp?

Edit: I have FFDShow installed. FLV is set to libavcodec but that doesn't work. libavcodec is the only option other than disabled.

Solution

[J_Darnley]

Add ;flv to the DirectShow Decoder extension list.

Preferences -> Input plugins -> Nullsoft DirectShow Decoder [in_dshow.dll] -> Configure -> Add ;flv to the end of the list of other extensions.

[pile0nades]

I tried that and it didn't work.

[Koopa]

It just work, if you've installed the needed DirectShow filter for Flash files.

[DJ Egg]

How to play YouTube/Google Flash Videos (FLV) in Winamp:

For Winamp 5.54+

1. Make sure Nullsoft Flash Decoder (in_flv.dll) is checkmarked on the Choose Components page in the Winamp Installer Options.

2. Install the 'Additional FLV Decoder' from the latest Essentials Pack


Note that most FLV files from Google use the H.263 video codec, and that the additional decoder from the EP is an H.263 decoder (Winamp\System\f263.w5s)

You still won't be able to play FLV files encoded with the newer H.264 codec by using this method.
H.264 support (H.264 video in MP4, AVI, MKV & FLV containers) is one of the features unlocked by purchasing a Winamp Pro license.


For Winamp 5.53 and earlier:


1) Download and install the FLV Splitter (required to demux the FLV container)

FLV Splitter | mirror | Direct Download


2) Install the latest 32-bit version of FFDShow, which is required to decode FLV content.

Make sure 'FLV1', 'VP6', 'VP6F', 'H.264/AVC' and 'H.263' are set to 'libavcodec' in:
Start > Programs > ffdshow > Video decoder config > Codecs page.

If it says 'disabled' next to FLV1, VP6, VP6F/FLV4, H.264/AVC or H.263 (+), click on it and change it from 'disabled' to 'libavcodec' via the drop-down menu.


3) Add ;FLV to the Extension List in:

Winamp > Prefs (Ctrl+P) > Plugins > Input > DirectShow (in_dshow.dll) > config

so it now looks something like:

MPG;MPEG;M2V;AVI;FLV


You will now have playback support for FLV in Winamp.


More in-depth instructions/info here


IMPORTANT
If you are using the DirectShow Decoder workaround with Winamp 5.51 or higher, you will need to disable the Nullsoft VP6 FLV Decoder (in_flv.dll) first: Further instructions & workarounds

____________________________________________________________________


ps. for GVI (google video) just use GVI2AVI (more info) which automatically strips the "goog" info out of the headers and changes the extension to .avi (note, requires .NET Framework 2.x to be installed).

[Bubba Smith]

Very good, Egg! Works beautifully.
I downloaded a couple of 'test' .flv files, and all is working well, following your above instructions.

[pile0nades]

This works perfectly, thank you DJ Egg!

Edit: one tiny, insignificant little thing, is that flv files dont show the time in the Winamp playlist, but invididual files show the time when I play them. Do you know why this is?

[Koopa]

Maybe a limititaion of the splitter/decoder.

[DJ Egg]

Yup, probably. Note how there's also no bitrate/bps/frequency Info in Alt+3.

The pledit reads metadata info in the headers to get the file time, so if it doesn't show it means that the file format/splitter/decoder combo doesn't provide Winamp with that information. Whereas the main window shows the length/time of the actual file after it's been properly scanned for playback. Or something along those lines anyway.

The main thing is that flv playback works, heh.

[Edit]

It's actually in_dshow that doesn't support those things.
Alas, it was only written to support AVI and MPEG (and originally, also WMV) container formats. The only other format it will show tracklength/bitrate/etc for is WAV.

Alas(2), we aren't licensed to play any other formats.
All of H.264/AVC/MPEG4, Sorenson H.263/SVQ1/3, QT RLE/PZA/8BPS/MOV, etc, require a (fairly costly) license for us to be able to provide official native decoding support.
So basically, support for these codecs wasn't added to the in_dshow specification.

[Edit #2]

The above-referenced limitation is fixed/addressed in Winamp 5.51 :-)

[seyss]

dj egg you are a god man.. u know everything

[IQpierce]

Any chance on someone making a Winamp Plug-in such that I could stick a YouTube URL into Winamp and have it automatically start playing the video through winamp?

This would be nice so that I could use Winamp's features (like always-on-top with Video Dominator, and of course my global hotkeys to pause, etc.) to use on any YouTube videos I might watch.

Anyone know of anything like this?

[kraps]

flv still not visible

Done all that: flv added to in_dshow, flv splitter registered, flv1 set to libavcodec, and I'm still getting blank video window. Tested a few media players: some play it ok, some don't. WinAmp is, unfortunately, the latter.
I'd really like to know what's going on.

Using klmegacodecpack 1.61
and winamp 5.32

[bishely]

yup. im having the same prob. dedicated flv player handles them no probs, but media player classic and winamp give me sound only... this is surely something simple and obvious, but im retarded and cant work out what im not doing right...

help would be much appreciated!
Tx

[anunea]

Wauuu

Ya funciona y se puede ver *.FLV

1. Bajar (descargar) Total Video Converter (T.V.C)

2. Instalar T.V.C

3. Desinstalar T.V.C

4. Disfrutar de los videos *.FLV en WinAmp

HG

P.D. Los codecs (vp6dec.ax, FLV.ax, QuickTime.ax, RealMediaSplitter.ax, Mpeg2DecFilter.ax, ac3filter.cpl) de T.V.C. quedan instalados en PC y utilizados por WinAmp.

[DJ Egg]

Originally posted by DJ Egg
youtube/google flash videos play fine for me by adding ;FLV to the Extension List in in_dshow config (prefs > plugins > input) and using the FLV Splitter to demux and ffdshow to decode (yes, make sure FLV1 is set to libavcodec in ffdshow video decoder config).

To install the splitter, extract it to your %system% dir, then go to:
Start > Run
Type: regsvr32 FLVSplitter.ax
Hit Enter

(note: you might need to install 7Zip to extract from .7z)

More info here


Note: %system% refers to wherever the system dir is for your Windows OS.
eg. the default for WinXP is usually "C:\Windows\System32"
for Win2k it's "C:\WinNT\System32"
for Win9x/ME it's "C:\Windows\System"