Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MPEG-4 Trouble w/QT

Mhaddy

Mhaddy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 26, 2005
445
1
Canada
I just got a new Casio Exilim EX-Z750 (7.2MP :D) camera for Christmas, shot some movies with it, and imported them into iPhoto. The camera records in MPEG-4 format (which I believe QT supports), but when I try to play the clips through QT, I have sound but no video (just a white screen). Now if I try to play the clips in VLC, they play no problem.

I've downloaded the 3ivx and Divx codecs but neither of them gave me video. Actually, after I installed the 3ivx codec, I got garbled video, heh. The "Show Movie Info" tab says "3ivx D4 4.5.1, 640x360, Millions DVI ADPCM, Mono, 44.100 kHz" under Format. Does anyone have any idea as to why these clips aren't playing in QT, but play fine in VLC?

Normally, I wouldn't mind using VLC, but when you open clips through iPhoto, it automatically opens up with QT and the only way I know how to get them to play in VLC, is to drag 'n drop from iPhoto onto my desktop, then open from there. Pain in the butt ;).

Thanks!
 
Quicktime is buggy that way. Do you have QT 7? My guess is that your camera records in the MPEG-4 format, but something might be different in the way that it's packaged inside the MPEG-4 container, so quicktime doesn't recognize the video. If you have a sample, post it up and let me take a look at it.
 
Mhaddy said:
Happy New Year! :)

Here's a short clip to check out (snowboarding!): http://www.sitekore.com/temp/testflick.avi

Let me know what you find, and thanks a bunch!
Click to expand...

Night skiing and wind don't mix. :D I wish our park had enough snow (we've had rain for the past 3 weeks solid, but temp hasn't been low enough for snow, so we just get slush).

Quicktime doesn't like .avi's for some reason. I don't know why Apple doesn't support that format, but you are stuck using VLC to play the avi's until Apple decides to add AVI support to Quicktime. :( Sorry buddy.
 
Try this patch...

This camera doesn't create compatiable video files for the Mac with Quicktime until you download this plug-in (Near the bottom):
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/ex-z750_pg3.html

Also about AVI files...
Try those same AVI files on a clean installed PC and you may have the same problems playing them. The problem is the codec and Quicktime not being able to play AVI files. If you are lucky, the AVI file was using the Divx codec for which you can download so that it works with Quicktime.

Probably 50% of my AVI files play fine using Quicktime. The ones that failed were the ones I encoded using ATI's All-in-Wonder series of cards. Even on another PC that never had the video card software installed.
 
Good call! I wish that companies will eliminate their proprietary codecs and standardize on MP4 in the not to distant future.
BornAgainMac said:
Try those same AVI files on a clean installed PC and you may have the same problems playing them. The problem is the codec and Quicktime not being able to play AVI files.
Click to expand...
Don't you mean
The problem is the codec and not Quicktime not being able to play AVI files.
Click to expand...
QT handles AVIs fine as long as it has the right video and audio codecs. e.g. the MJPEG AVIs my camera produces. Lots of info on codecs here. http://www.fourcc.org/

B
 
Finally had a chance to test this driver out -- and it worked! I had to remove all other components from my Quicktime folder for it to work though... which is kind of an annoyance, but whatever, I don't use QT for anything but these movies now (and only because iPhoto opens them with QT). I may try to gradually move the rest of my other components back in, but I think for now, I'll leave things as is.

Thanks BornAgainMac and everyone else for their help! I love this forum. :)
 
can't play .avi on mac mini (powerpc)

i just got a casio exilim Z850. i get the same blank frames in iphoto. what's VLC? where do i find it? i've been resisting the blackhole of codecs, converters, etc. but that won't get me watching my camera's video output. if you would please walk me thru setting up my mini to read the .avi file. (even the casio 1.1 converter doesn't play my video well) also do you know why anyone would update the camera's software - casio offers a video upgrade on their website.
 
Just wanted to give everyone an update on this topic for anyone else who was in my situation. After the Quicktime 7.1.x upgrade, my movies stopped working after my fix in January. It appears as though the component that is conflicting with the Casio drive is the "DivX 6 Decoder.component". Remove that and you're good to go (again).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back