Other people can’t play the videos I made

如果您在 Linux 系统上制作了一个视频，并把它发送到 Windows 或 Mac OS 机子上，您可能会碰到视频播放问题。

要能够播放您的视频，接收方必须安装正确的编解码器。编解码器是一种小软件，知道如何读取视频并在屏幕上播放该视频。有很多不同的视频格式，每种格式都需要用不同的编码解码器来播放。您可以使用下述方法了解视频的格式：

Open Files from the Desktop.
Right-click on the video file and select Properties.
Go to the Audio/Video or Video tab and look at which Codec are listed under Video and Audio (if the video also has audio).

Ask the person having problems with playback if they have the right codec installed. They may find it helpful to search the web for the name of the codec plus the name of their video playback application. For example, if your video uses the Theora format and you have a friend using Windows Media Player to try and watch it, search for “theora windows media player”. You will often be able to download the right codec for free if it’s not installed.

If you can’t find the right codec, try the VLC media player. It works on Windows and Mac OS as well as Linux, and supports a lot of different video formats. Failing that, try converting your video into a different format. Most video editors are able to do this, and specific video converter applications are available. Check the software installer application to see what’s available.

There are a few other problems which might prevent someone from playing your video. The video could have been damaged when you sent it to them (sometimes big files aren’t copied across perfectly), they could have problems with their video playback application, or the video may not have been created properly (there could have been some errors when you saved the video).