Is there a difference in codecs that are used to render the same type of video? In other words, if I find a codec for xvid made by company X and another codec for xvid made by company Y then can I trust both to give me the same results while editing or playing or no? I realized xvid may not be the best example I'm just not familiar enough with all of the codecs so I mention one off the top of my head.

The reason I ask is because I recently DL K-light and I'm wondering if the codecs are good or if I'm better off DL each codec I need individually going with the best choice.... Does it matter?

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I have very limited experience with video editing but working on it. In the past I used Ulead Video Studio and now I'm learning Premier Pro (CS3).

Before learning all of the basics of Premier I want to make sure my codecs are right. I have been having some problems getting premier pro to recognize and/or import some videos. In most cases I'm working with pre-existing videos that I myself did not shoot, in other cases TV or movie spots.

I cannot import MPEG4 at all and other videos would give me sound but on a black screen. I figured it was missing codecs.

BTW doesn't seem better of software programs contained their own codecs installed? If VLC player can play any video by including their own codecs then couldn't a company like Adobe do the same with Premier Pro?

I'm not an expert either but I do know from hard work and pain that not all codecs are the same. Some are better than others, like most things you get what you pay for.

Watch out for codecs that will allow you to playback or decode video but not edit or encode it.

Like I said I'm not anything like an expert so I can't recommend any specific codec to you.

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