MediaInfo confirmed that the files were encoded with XviD, so I went ahead and re-installed the codec, making sure to get an Intel Mac compatible binary.

This did not fix the problem. Upon rebooting (probably not necessary anyway) I continued to receive the same error, and the same link to the XviD page.

Long story short, a quick install of Perian cleared up all my problems. I’m still not entirely sure what was at fault; maybe the DivX codec which I believe is a pre-requisite for XviD on Mac.

Anyway, I’ll wrap with a plug for Perian. It’s a great package of Quicktime components, and is super-easy to install. I use it on every Mac that I use regularly (somehow this one got overlooked, probably due to a recent reformatting).

Why would you choose this over the multitude of free GUI transcoding programs out there?

• Mencoder is super-fast
• Allows the process to be scripted
• Wide range of codecs
• Cross-platform compatible

Once you get the feel for it, you can append videos much quicker with Mencoder than a more “user friendly” GUI program. And, it works on Linux, Macintosh, and Windows machines, so you don’t have to learn 3 different programs if you work on multiple operating systems.

Here’s the basic format of a Mencoder append command:

mencoder -oac copy -ovc copy -o 'combined_clip.avi'
'clip1.avi' 'clip2.avi'

Simple as that. The breakdown is as follows:

• -oac
  Tell Mencoder what audio codec to use. For a complete list of options, check out the Mencoder documentation. In this case we have simply used “copy”, which will keep the current audio codec the same without transcoding (this option should only be used if the audio codecs are the same for all the clips).
• -ovc
  Tell Mencoder what video codec to use. Otherwise, same as above.
• -o
  Define the paths to input and output files. First list the output filename, then all the clips in the order which they will be appended.

Knowing this, it is easy enough to script the process. Say I have a whole directory of video files that I want to combine (ex: VID001.AVI, VID002.AVI, VID003.AVI, etc.). I could use the following ruby script to string them all together in their numbered order:

vlist = String.new()
vpath = "/path/to/my/video/directory/"
vdir = Dir.new(vpath)
vdir.each do |v|
  if v.include?(".AVI") == true
    vlist << "\'#{vpath}#{v}\' "
  end
end

cmd = "mencoder -oac copy -ovc copy -o \'combined_clip.avi\'
#{vlist}"
system cmd

Save the script as VAppend.rb and run it like so:

ruby VAppend.rb

(you must be in the same directory as the script in order to run it with the above command)

Final Notes
The command in the first code box is all one line, and the line in the second code box starting with "cmd =" is also all one line that continues onto a second for formatting purposes (in other words, #{vlist}" belongs at the end of the previous line).

Avidemux will only accept segments from up to 100 clips.

If you are appending each clip manually, there may or may not be an error message (this is not how I encountered the limit, so I’m not sure). However, if you, like me, are using scripting to append a large number of files, there will be no error message; just a crash file. This crash file will show one app.load() entry and 99 app.append() entries, and the comments will state something like // 100 Videos, regardless of how many more your script attempted to append.

My workaround was an obvious one: if I have 300 videos to splice together, I create three or more smaller videos first and then splice those together.

For example…

• Vid_A.avi = clips 1 – 100
• Vid_B.avi = clips 101 – 200
• Vid_C.avi = clips 201 – 300

…and then…

• Vid_Final.avi = Vid_A.avi + Vid_B.avi + Vid_C.avi

Of course, this takes a little longer, but when automated from the command line with another script, it’s not so bad.

If anyone else has a different tactic for dealing with this limit, please leave it in the comments.

Now, assuming that you haven’t recently dropped the player, or rubbed sandpaper across the bottom surface of the disc, this could very well be a firmware issue.

Since Blu-Ray is a relatively new format, the technology is still being refined. Some newer discs may contain data that is incompatible with earlier generations of players, resulting in playback problems.

Luckily, this is relatively easy to resolve. All you need is the following:

• Computer
• Internet Connection
• CD Burner
• Blank CD-R

First, write down the model number of your Blu-Ray player. Then look for your model on this page:

http://www.blu-ray.com/firmware/

The download link on your model’s page will bring you to the official company website (Sony, Panasonic, etc.) where you can follow their directions to download and update your firmware. This will involve downloading a zipped .iso file (disc image) and burning it to a CD, which you then load into the player and input a series of menu commands.

You should ALWAYS follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer when upgrading your firmware. Failure to follow the steps they outline may “brick” your player, effectively converting it into a doorstop / giant paperweight.

yeah, i know this is a PS3.

If you cannot find your model at the above link, search for the brand’s site directly, locate your player in the product, download, or support pages, and there should be links to firmware upgrades there.

Once completed you should be able to play the most recent Blu-Ray discs without any problem.