I haven’t been able to find out who created the clip yet, but somebody created a 30 second psa clip to be used by Comcast for my nonprofit. (I wasn’t happy with the quality of the clip, and I think next time I might look into creating the psa myself.) Somebody handed a dvd to me, and asked me if I could 1) burn a copy and 2) convert the video clip on it to a web-ready format. (Well, they asked that in the usual layperson terms which I always find amusing, in a gentle way.) The DVD was in a “Comcast | Local Edition” cd sleeve, and when I tried to open it using Windows Media Player, it told me I needed to purchase a codec pack, as the version of Windows Media Player on my computer couldn’t play an mpg-2 video file.

Oh, Windows, let me count the ways you remind me why I will always be a Mac person.

Opening up the CD itself, it seems the file we needed to be able to play was a .vob file. At least at this point, I have no idea what a .vob file is, but the IT person finally found out how to play the DVD: download the VLC media player. (He troubleshooted this while I busied myself with the other 10,000 things on my plate.) I downloaded and installed the VLC Media Player, and finally, 2 hours of troubleshooting later, I could finally open and play the psa clip.

What I need to do now:
1) figure out what a .vob file is (here’s what wikipedia has to say)
2) make it so my computer can not only duplicate dvds, but also can create and convert, in a way that can manage multiple video formats
3) research the world of 30 second psa (public service announcement) creation
4) anticipate that I will most likely start doing video production for my nonprofit as well. (breathing deep)