ABOUT THE FAN VIDEOS:
All the Richard Armitage fanvids hosted on this site are from fan video artists ("vidders") who have their work available for download on Foolishpassion.org and RAFanVids.com (originally on Richard-Armitage.net). They have graciously allowed their videos to be hosted here as well.
Almost all videos in this collection are less than 15 MB in size and are MPEG-1 files. MPEG-1 is a video format that has been around for a long time, and because of that, will play on vintage hardware and outdated media player software. The problem with MPEG-1 is that the quality isn't as good as newer video formats like DivX or H.264. But if your computer is so old that it won't play those other formats, then MPEG-1 is the way to go!
About your computer system
Old computers:
If you are using an old computer (maybe less than a 500 MHz processor, or with an old operating system like Windows 95, 98, Macintosh System 9, etc) then it might be better for you to stick with good old MPEG-1, even if you currently are on a broadband connection. However, many of the videos on RAFanVids.com (R-A.net) or FP.org have Sorenson 3 MOV files, which only require Quicktime 6 (for Mac and PC), which is available for older operating systems. In addition, those fan sites are relatively "old computer friendly" (with limits) so navigating those sites should not be too arduous if you're using outdated browser software.
Dial-up connection:
If you're still on dial-up but have a new(ish) computer, you are better off downloading the dial-up versions of the fan videos available on RAFanVids.com or FP.org. The picture quality will be better, and often there are dial-up iPod versions for you to use, and the selection of videos is much broader than what we have here.
If you are timid about installing codecs or the needed software in order to play some of the file formats available on the other sites (like H.264 MP4 files or DivX/XviD AVI files) then you can still get your videos from here—but it's really unnecessary because your computer is fully capable of playing the more modern (and higher quality) codecs! If you stick with the MPEG-1 files available on this site, you're needlessly limiting yourself and settling for lower quality.
This page will give you some pointers on what codecs and software are "safe" to use, and which will allow you to play a wider variety of video file formats.
Comparison between MPEG-1 and more modern video formats:
In case you're not convinced that upgrading your media player software is worth the bother, here are some comparison screenshots of two dial-up files, from the same video:
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 From "Spooks"—H.264 MP4, video bitrate of 500. |
I used the exact same dial-up quality video settings in making both these files (therefore, the download file size is similar), but look at how much "blockier" the MPEG-1 file is, compared to the file with the H.264 codec. MPEG-1 is fine if that's all your machine can play well, but if your computer is approximately 600 MHz or above, with 256 MB of RAM or more, then you should be able to play most dial-up quality H.264 files, and many DivX/XviD AVI files. Don't settle for MPEG-1 unless you have no other option. Again, consult this page for more information on upgrading your media player software so you're able to view a wider variety of video codecs.
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