How to deal with .rmvb video files

[Craig Hagerman]

Hi,

I have been searching and searching on the net with no luck. Wondering
is someone here has the answer I want.

I want to know if it is possible to either play a *.rmvb video file or
convert it into something I can play (xvid avi for example). RMVB is a
real video format. I know that real has a free download player for
Linux but it doesn't work under amd64 Ubuntu. Totem, mplayer and vlc
all balk at the file. I read somewhere that mplayer *should* be able
to play real video files, but maybe that is only *.rm files ?? and not
*.rmvb files ?? Likewise I read in a couple places that mplayer or
maybe ffmpeg might be able to convert the file, but no info on how
this would be done.

So - does anyone know if there is anything that can be done with
*.rmvb files in Ubuntu?

Thanks,

Craig