Frequently Asked Questions

These are some Questions we are Asked Frequently, culled from support emails as well as forum posts.

If your question isn't answered here, consider dropping by the Forums and asking for help. There are plenty of people there who might be able to lend you a hand, including RiffTrax Support staff. If you have an emergency you can always email us at support at rifftrax dot com.

Q: What is RiffTrax?

RiffTrax are comedic MP3 tracks that you play in-sync with your favorite movies. Written and performed by the stars of the award-winning TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000, RiffTrax brings the unique humor of "Satellite of Love" partners Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett to Hollywood's hit movies.

Q: What kinds of RiffTrax can I enjoy?

There are several different ways to enjoy RiffTrax. We have riffs of feature length movies available for download in mp3 and .riff format, we have merged video downloads riffing on hilarious educational shorts and select feature titles, we have guest riffs of feature titles, and we even have your own riffs available in our iRiffs section!

If you’d like to watch on your TV, we also have DVDs available, including compilations of our Shorts, a growing collection of feature length DVDs, and live tapings of our RiffTrax Live events!

Q: What do the different formats, NTSC and PAL, mean?

The short answer is that NTSC files are for people in North America, including the United States and Canada. PAL files are for users in regions other than Region 1, such as the United Kingdom and Australia. The long answer has to do with technical specifications of each format. NTSC and PAL have different framerates - meaning a PAL video actually is a bit faster than its NTSC counterpart, making it somewhat shorter. It's difficult to notice unless you have two versions of the same movie (or audio file) playing side-by-side; but eventually you'll notice the PAL version being ahead of the NTSC version. Sometimes the difference is as much as a few minutes! If you find that your mp3 file is constantly out of sync with the DVD you're watching, first make sure that you've downloaded the correct format of mp3 (NTSC for Region 1, PAL for elsewhere) and then check other things, such as the DVD version (Collector's Edition, Director's Cut, etc.) is correct for that mp3 file. These details are usually found on the product page. For more information on NTSC, as well as a list of countries that use it, click here. For PAL information use this link.

Q: How do I Synchronize my RiffTrax?

Each RiffTrax contains verbal instructions to help you synchronize it. Alternatively, you might try using our free RiffTrax Player. PLEASE NOTE: this version of the player is currently not supported and no longer in development. We are working on a new version of the player that will include more features and better stability, as well as cross-platform compatibility (Windows and OSX). Stay tuned!

Q: Where can I receive technical support?

Please contact us through our Support Department or the Community Forums.

Q: What do I need to know about Video on Demand?

When you purchase a Video-on-Demand title, you receive a single pre-synchronized video file, as opposed to an audio file that you must synchronize yourself. Video-on-Demand Shorts are provided as DRM-free DivX, .mpg and .wmv files, suitable for your portable media device. Video-on-Demand Features are provided as DRM-free DivX files.

Q: Can I riff with Mike?

Yes! The creators of the best iRiffs will be invited to work with Mike on an official RiffTrax Presents.

Q: What is an iRiff?

An iRiff is a home-made audio commentary that you can upload to the RiffTrax Store and sell to our thousands of daily visitors. You'll make 50% of the net revenue your iRiff generates, paid in quarterly installments on balances over $25.

Q: What is RiffTrax Presents?

RiffTrax Presents are RiffTrax that are officially sanctioned by Mike, but feature other Mystery Science Theater 3000 alums, comedians and special guest celebrities.

Q: I've downloaded the burnable content... what now?

A: Some burnable content will be listed as a single .iso file. These files can simply be downloaded, and burned to disc using your favorite burning program. However, some burnable content has been compiled into a RAR file that's been broken up into numerous smaller files for ease of download. Here are the steps required to make sure you can properly extract and burn a DVD Image file that has been compressed into a RAR format. Please check to see if you have downloaded the entire Archive, before attempting to extract files. You can verify that you have all of the files, by looking at the description location in your files section. If the description displays, "Part 1 of 4", then you will need to download pieces 2, 3, and 4 as well as have them reside in the same directory as part 1, in order for the extraction to work. Because we wish to include album art, and other goodies, we have opted to put them all together as a single file. If your computer does not know what to do with the file download, please download WinRAR here (PC) or RAR Expander (Mac) here and install it. You can associate the .rar file type with your favorite rar-extraction program. If you are having trouble seeing whether or not you have successfully extracted the file, please ensure that you are able to see file extensions. Please open up Windows Explorer -> Tools -> Folder Options... -> View -> "Hide extensions of known file types should" should not be checked Because of the way that WinRar works, you will know that you have a perfect working copy if you have an ISO file in your directory. You will not be able to successfully extract an ISO unless you have all the files, and they are complete. NOTE: If you are having an issue extracting the ISO file from your archive, you can test the validity of the files downloaded by clicking on the TEST button located along the top of the WinRAR program. This will check the archive for any errors and inform you if there is an error in your archive. Whether you are missing a file, or one of your files is corrupted. If this is the case, please download and replace the damaged file If you are unfamiliar with the burning process, and have no burning programs on your computer, follow the following steps...

Check to make sure that you have a drive capable of burning the downloaded content. DVD-R drive for DVD's, or a DVD-R/CD-R drive for the audio album
Download ImgBurn here and install it (Mac users can use Disk Utility as described here).
Use ImgBurn to browse to the ISO (for a downloaded DVD) or CUE (for a downloaded album) you extracted with WinRAR
Insert a blank DVD-R disc into your DVD Burning drive. For the Audio album, insert a blank CD-R disk into your DVD-R/CD-R drive
Click the Burn it! button

After the file has been successfully burned to your CD/DVD, you can play the CD/DVD like any other disc. If this answer doesn't help, please email support@rifftrax.com so we can better assist you. Common Questions and Answers

Q1: I extracted the files from a Burnable DVD archive, and only see an AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS directory, instead of an ISO file. What happened? A1: This happens from clicking one too many times while inside of WinRAR. An ISO file is essentially a container, and you opened that up and extracted the contents. Please try opening the archive again, and clicking on the Extract To button and choose a location. Then please burn the ISO file using one of the programs listed earlier Q2: When attempting to extract the ISO file, I keep receiving an error informing me that I am missing the file filename.r01. What happened? A2: This happened because you accidentally forgot to download one of the archive files. Please visit your Riffrax Files section and download the missing files. Please remember that a DVD ISO is a very large file, and we have split it up to ensure that if the downloaded file has been corrupt, that you do not need to download an entire 4 gig file again. The smaller structure, while a bit more work, can save you from another four hours of waiting to try again. Thanks for being patient! Q3: When attempting to extract the ISO file, I keep receiving an error informing me that file filename.r01 is corrupted. What happened? A3: This happened for any number of reasons. Generally, the reason for this error is because the file download stopped early and some of the content of the file is missing. This can be remedied by resuming the file download, or downloading the file over again from scratch. NOTE: Optionally, in your My Files section, you will notice that if you hover over the MD5 link for a file, it will display the MD5 hash for a given file. You can use this information to check the integrity of your files if you are having corrupted file problems.

Have a question that you don't see answered here? Please feel free to e-mail support@rifftrax.com and ask. We're constantly updating this section to ensure that all of your questions are answered, and you can be watching your movies in a timely manner

Q: What is RiffTrax Live Online?

RiffTrax Live Online is our new, streaming delivery of live events, where the guys will riff on whatever they want - live, on the Internet! It's powered by Watershed from UStream, who are leaders in delivering live and on-demand streaming events around the globe.

Q: How can I learn about other RiffTrax titles?

You can sign-up for the RiffTrax Mailing List to be notified of all new releases, upcoming events and to learn about special discounts! We'll also announce our new releases (along with contest giveaways and ticket contests for RiffTrax Live) on our Facebook page and our Twitter stream!

Q: I need to attach my gift certificate code to my account! How do I do that?

Go to My Account and select My Settings. Once in the editing screen, scroll down until you reach the Gift Certificates field and enter your code into the box. Save the page and your certificate is attached!

Q: I got a gift certificate! How do I use it?

It’s easy! If the certificate is already attached to your account, all you have to do is log in, select the products you wish to purchase and add them to your cart, then select Pay with Gift Certificates in the check out screen!