One of the main characteristics of V2V is that we use only open source software in order to provide free and equal access to the video source. There are many reasons for this decision such as true cross platform compatibility. In this handbook we try to organize a collaborative support platform that enables users without further knowledge about video encoding, p2p-distribution etc. to watch the video no matter what operating system they are using.

How to download the video file?

We distribute all V2V video material via peer2peer networks: Bit Torrent is a very comfortable and stable client, that also enables you to pause the download as many times as you need to, without having to start over and over again. This is how it works:

1. Download and install a Bit Torrent Client (check here for our recommended clients)

   After you installed BitTorrent, all you need to do is

2. Get the torrent file: a small file that you download from this page. After downloading, just double click and it will start the BitTorrent client which connects you to all available servers or peers with whom you can then share the video file. Again, this can be started and stopped as often as you like.

How to play the video on your machine?

Windows: The most common solution is VLC: Download and installe VLC. Open the player first, then open the video file out of the player. If you try to double-click just the Ogg Theora file, it might not be recognized unless you configured your system to do so.

Mac OS X: We strongly recommend VLC: Download the binaries and then all you need to do is to drag and drop the VLC player icon to your Applications folder and everything will be fine.

Linux: Your default media player should support Ogg Theora out of the box. Try Totem or VLC.

A list of more players that support Theora can be found here