H.264 / AC3 .MPG won't play in QuickTime

[Pinksteady]

Hi guys,

Firstly, apologies if this has already been covered/answered. I have just taken ownership of my first Mac and haven't had any luck so far searching the Internet etc.

I have a number of videos that were originally in MKV format that I converted to MPG using MKV2VOB in order to play them on my PS3.

I would now like to play them on my Mac, but so far it won't play them, QT just shows a black window.

The Mac identifies them as using codec H.264 and AC3, and they play fine in VLC. I have downloaded Perian but still no joy.

My questions are:

1. Is my Mac capable of playing these files without further conversion?
2. If yes, how!?
3. If no, what is the best free tool to convert them and what format do I need to convert them to in order for them to work (with iPad and iPhone as well)?

Thanks in advance for your help. Ideally I want all of these files in iTunes and the ability to put them on my iPad/iPhone (I realise that may require further conversion).

 

[MisterMe]

Exactly which format are the files that you are trying play in the QuickTime Player? I suggest that you transcode your MKV files on your Mac using MKVtools.

 

[Pinksteady]

They are in *.mpg format.

I can't transcode MKV because I have already converted the MKVs into MPG

 

[thedon1]

I had a few problems playing some of my videos in quicktime too.

Just get VLC player, it will play everything.

 

[jackerin]

I can't transcode MKV because I have already converted the MKVs into MPG

And from this we learn that it is best if you store the original file instead of the one you convert to play on a device.

I think Quicktime has a different decoding path for Mpeg-files, which means that it can't be picked up by Perian, even though that contains all the necessary decoders for the audio and video.

You could try MPEG Streamclip to see if you can get it into some more compatible format.

 

[Pinksteady]

And from this we learn that it is best if you store the original file instead of the one you convert to play on a device.

I think Quicktime has a different decoding path for Mpeg-files, which means that it can't be picked up by Perian, even though that contains all the necessary decoders for the audio and video.

You could try MPEG Streamclip to see if you can get it into some more compatible format.

Thanks, I will look into MPEG Streamclip and see if that works.

Regarding storing the originals, the new MPGs were meant to be the originals, as that format (to my old-school mentality) is a standard video format that should be readable by anything. I didn't want to have one copy for PS3 and one copy for PC as MPG would work for both. Likewise, I will now start to convert all these movies into MP4 so they can be played by mac, PS3, iTunes, iPhone and iPad without any further copies or conversions being required (as I believe this format is recognised by all these devices).

 

[q64ceo]

Damn, my reading comprehension is terrible

 

[jackerin]

The Mac identifies them as using codec H.264 and AC3, and they play fine in VLC. I have downloaded Perian but still no joy.

If you wish to use QuickTime exclusively, this should install most modern codecs for QuickTime http://perian.org/

Reading the post you are replying to will help you give advice.

 

[emmgunn]

You could give MKVtools a try with your mpg files. It's not really common knowledge, but MKVtools can process videos other than mkv's, though it's only been tested on mp4's and avi's. If mplayer/mencoder can handle the video then MKVtools should too, though there could be issues with the track numbering convention. There is a pre-beta on the MKVtools website that does a better job of handling track information so you could give that a try too. If it works, you should be able to quiclky passthru the tracks into an mp4, though you might want to change the audio to aac. If it doesn't work for you, and you have a sample you can get to me, I can try to add the capabilities in the next update.