How to Play .264 Files

VLC should be able to play the .264 format. See the article here. You'll need the codecs pack.
http://www.h264info.com/playh264.html

Thank you for the quick response, but that didn't do the trick. When I try to play a video using the VLC media player, it just sits there; no video plays. When I try to play it using Media Player Classic, it says "cannot render the file." The codecs pack had an update, but that didn't work either. When I open a file with a text editor, on the first page it contains the text MDVR96NT_2. I don't know if this means anything to anybody.

Can u try to rename it to .mp4 or something else?

Did you complete the profile steps? If not, you need to in order for the codecs pack to work with the .264 file format. That's what that guide is showing you in the pictures (namely, pic #2).

I've tried every file extension I can think of and it still won't play in VLC or MPC.  

Try what aford10 posted for u, it may work.

Yes, I've completed the profile steps several times without any luck. The screen shots are a little different from the setup. I'm assuming they represent an older version. There's also some confusion between figure 1 and 2. Figure 1 says to select "Profile 1: Default". However, Figure 2 has "Custom Selection" selected in the drop-down, even though it says for #2 "Scroll down a bit until you see the “H.264″ option under “DirectShow video filters” section, select the checkbox and select “ffdshow” as the decoder to use." It didn't seem to matter, though. For #2, the options under 'DirectShow video decoding filters/H.264" are 'use system default', 'LAV' and 'ffdshow'. I selected ffdshow as directed, but the screenshot does not show LAV or 'use system default'. There's also other options which are not mentioned like 'Prefer LAV over ffdshow' and 'Prefer ffdshow over LAV'. I tried both.

Try

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=htt...

There may be more options now then when that screenshot was taken. Just make sure to choose ffdshow. Then, you need to download the latest ffdshow software, as noted in step 5.

Guys, I really appreciate all the assistance, but I still can't get it to work. I wonder if the problem is with the .264 files? I purchased the DVR on eBay from some Chinese company and it just says H.264 DVR, model 6508D-V. I'll keep trying. Thanks again.

The DVR should have a player with it. If it does not, try the player on the Q-See website. It will allow you to watch the .264 files directly and also to convert it to .avi . I have a QS434 from Q-See and it uses the same player as my old LTS machine. When you install it you get the codecs too. I am not able to download files from the DVR using Windows 7 64 bit, but I can on my XP machines. Another thing you might try is a program called Multi-Client from Q-See - I don't know if it will recognize your particular DVR, but according to the user guide, it might.

Great idea. I downloaded some software from Q-See, but I still couldn't get it to work either with the Q-See software or VLC media player. The problem might be that all I have are 64-bit Windows 7 boxes. I'll see if I can find an older box and give it a try. At least I'm able to convert the .264 files to other file types that I can play, but the quality is not as good. It's like the image has been stretched out horizontally, but I can't find a way to change the aspect ratio. I should have more time to look at it this weekend.

Thanks so much everybody.

Install the K-lite codec pack, full version and you'll be able to play all files with any media player.
http://codecguide.com/download_k-lite_codec_pack_full.h...

I have 64 bit Windows 7 on one of my machines and this player will work to play an already downloaded .264 file - it cannot download them. The ActiveX does not work on the 64 bit, but it does everything ok except download. I had this problem on an LTS DVR and on my Q-See QS434 DVR - oddly enough, the player for both is the same. I made a WAG that the DVR that you have might be using the same dvr guts as my two do and that the player would also be the same.

BTW the K-lite codec pack does not have the .264 file listed as one of its supported extensions either. xsited, I don't believe you indicated the make and model of your DVR.

Another thing, I think that the Multi-client program available at Q-See will work on other DVRs than Q-See. I have not tried it yet on my old LTS dvr. But the program has a lot of nice features once you figure out how to get it set up. The Q-See website had some help which got me going. The only problem I had was that I plugged a cable into the unit's outputs (video and audio) and until I plugged the other end into a tv (on or off), the dvr would not send info to the remote over the LAN or to the hard drive for recording. Once plugged in, all worked fine. Also worked fine when no output cable was plugged in at the unit end.