This article covers downloading and installing additional resources that allow your computer to work with a wide variety of video file types. For an overview of what problems these might solve, and an explanation of why codecs are so important, please see the section below titled Background Information - Why do I need these?
Download and Installation Instructions
PLEASE REVIEW THIS ARTICLE IN ITS ENTIRETY BEFORE DOWNLOADING AND INSTALLING THE FILE. FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS FULLY AND CAREFULLY TO ENSURE PROPER FUNCTIONALITY WITH MEDIASHOUT.
The K-Lite installer will ask you to close Internet Explorer if you are using it, so we have included a PDF Version of the instructions at the bottom of this article so you can print it or leave it open and refer to it during installation. There are many steps, but they are all very easy steps. We've created this simple step-by-step guide so that you will know which options to choose and when!
Important Note: If you are using MediaShout from within a limited or standard user account in Windows, it is possible that some codecs will not work correctly unless this codec pack is installed from the user account in question. To do that, you will need to change the type of account to an administrator account, install K-Lite, then change the account back to a limited account. This may also be necessary if your computer is part of a network domain which has restricted installation permissions.
- Download and 'Save' the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 11.3.0 Please note where the file is being saved so you can find it later.
- Go to the start menu search bar and type Control Panel to bring up the Windows Control Panel. Then go into the Add/Remove Programs, or "Programs and Features" and uninstall any existing installation of Klite Codecs. (Even if the version is current).
- Double-click on the new K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 11.3.0 file you downloaded to run it. Click Next on the first screen.
If you are prompted for a username and password when running the installer, you will NOT be installing the codecs for use by the current user account. Please see the Important Note above!
- Choose the Advanced installation mode when prompted, and then click Next.
- Select Windows Media Player for both the Preferred video and audio player and uncheck Install MPC-HC as a secondary player and click Next.
- VERY IMPORTANT STEP! Choose Profile #10: Lots of stuff (without player) from the drop-down list of options, then click Next.
- The presets for Additional Tasks and Options are fine, just make sure Reset all settings to their defaults is CHECKED and click Next again.
- Unless you are a power user who knows how to set the Hardware Acceleration settings, leave the defaults and click Next. See below for more information.
- Click Next again for the language. Make no changes on this page.
- You can click Next on this screen. Leaving the default settings.
- You do not need to change the File Association settings, so click Next again.
- Click Next on the Speaker configuration page.
- IF YOU SHOULD SEE THE FOLLOWING SCREENS (you usually will not), THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT-- Be sure that you click Decline on the first page and UN-CHECK the 3 boxes on the second page and click Decline again.
- You are ready to install, so click Install to continue.
If during installation you get an error that says "The following DirectShow filter was detected as broken", click Yes to have K-Lite remove the erroneous registry entry. See example to the right, below.
- Check "Run Codec Tweak Tool" and click Finish to close the installer.
- Click on Fixes in the top left corner.
- Check the first four check boxes, and then click Apply & Close.
- Click on Preferred Splitters
- In the Left Hand Column, make sure that all settings are set to the one that has (recommended) listed.
- Click Apply & Close, then Exit. You should be good to go!
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Previous versions of the codec pack have required additional settings to be modified using the Coded Tweak Tool that K-Lite installs. While this may occasionally be needed, it was not necessary on our systems. Please see below for additional settings that may occasionally need to be changed.
Hardware Acceleration Settings
This version of the K-Lite Mega codec pack allows you to use hardware decoding for video if you have certain hardware from NVidia or Intel. See this link for more information. This is an advanced option, and you do not need to use it unless you are a 'power user' who wants to tweak your video playback. We will not be able to provide detailed support for this option, so USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. (But have fun doing it!) There is a lot of information about this option if you search Google on CUVID hardware acceleration in LAV.
Background Information - Why do I need these??
Codecs are a common cause of several problems or errors in MediaShout. They are the components that allow a computer to decode or encode video and audio files. Codecs for many of the most common audio and video formats are included with Windows, but which ones -- and the capabilities of those codecs -- varies depending on which version of Windows you have, what software was bundled with your computer, and a number of other circumstances. The most common issues caused by codecs are:
- No sound when playing a DVD cue
- An error such as "The file C:\Documents... can't be loaded" when attempting to play a video or sound cue
Sometimes the problem is not that there is no codec for the type of file, but that the codec that is installed is not capable of processing the file using the components of Windows that MediaShout calls upon -- most notably DirectX 9. This can cause confusion because in these situations the file can be played by a player (or other software) that is not utilizing the more advanced functions of DirectX, but the codec will not support the functions that MediaShout needs. In some cases another piece of software may have installed a competing or incompatible codec, and Windows is attempting to use the wrong codec when playing the file in MediaShout.
There are a couple of easy things to check to help determine if you need to install additional codecs:
- If you can see video when playing a DVD cue, but cannot hear any audio, first check your audio control panel and mixer in Windows to be sure that the correct hardware is selected and that it isn't muted or turned down. Can you hear any other audio/sounds from your computer? If you can hear other sounds, but not the DVD, then you very likely need a more advanced codec.
- Check the type of file that you are trying to play. If the file is a Windows Media Format (WMV, WMA, etc.) or MPG (most common MPG files are MPEG-1 files), then the problem is likely to be elsewhere. (Windows Media Player version 9 or higher needs to be installed for MediaShout to work correctly, so make sure that your installation of WMP is up to date.) If your file is not one of these file types, you will likely benefit from installing additional codecs.
It is possible to cause more problems by having too many codecs installed. Therefore, we recommend that you use the default codecs that are already installed in Windows from the factory first. If you do run into codec issues, then we recommend only installing this package of codecs using the instructions provided. (This is a free download.)
For additional information, see this Microsoft Codec FAQ page. For instructions on how to tweak the settings, see this article Tweaking the Codec Settings
NOTE: MediaShout is not affiliated with K-Lite and does not provide technical support for their products or services.