OMG They Finally Fixed H.264!!!

[stevemiller]

can anyone confirm this???

I updated to 10.7.4, and was recently lamenting my inability to generate h.264s that don't look washed out without ridiculous hacks, when to my utter SHOCK the output on a file came out PRISTINE... PERFECT... NO GAMMA SHIFT.

For all of its frustrations and quirks, 10.7.4 is now without a doubt my new favourite iteration of OSX

 

[MisterMe]

This all sounds like a local issue. H.264 has been the standard codec for the .mov container for years. I seriously doubt that it has been "broken" lo these many years or that in its infinite wisdom Apple suddenly decided to "fix" it.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

... many years or that in its infinite wisdom Apple suddenly decided to "fix" it.

Its def. not out of the range of reality this has been Apples MO at times. Could have just been a plist or cache file causing the issue and the upgrade replaced those files.

 

[MisterMe]

... Could have just been a plist or cache file causing the issue and the upgrade replaced those files.

Local issue like I said.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Local issue like I said.

I agree but you didn't really give him anywhere.

 

[MisterMe]

I agree but you didn't really give him anywhere.

The point of the OP's post is that his problem is fixed. He mistakenly believed that Apple fixed a problem that Apple created. The truth is that he inadvertently fixed a problem that he created. Hopefully, he now understands the truth of the matter.

I certainly would not want to move the OP from a place where his problem is fixed. It is my hope that you share these sentiments.

 

[stevemiller]

The point of the OP's post is that his problem is fixed. He mistakenly believed that Apple fixed a problem that Apple created. The truth is that he inadvertently fixed a problem that he created. Hopefully, he now understands the truth of the matter.

I certainly would not want to move the OP from a place where his problem is fixed. It is my hope that you share these sentiments.

if you read discussions within the video production community, you'll see the issue is FAR from local:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2263070?start=0&tstart=0
http://community.avid.com/forums/p/101346/583706.aspx
http://vitrolite.wordpress.com/2010/12/31/quicktime_gamma_bug/

that said i was probably premature in my declaration. i still experience the shift if i say, open an image sequence in quicktime 7 and then export it as a .mov file.

but at very least, i have successfully been able to maintain a consistent gamma for footage going between final cut and after effects and ultimately h264 output. whether it was 10.7.4 or some other happy alignment of the planets, i don't know!

OH! it is worth noting that they were at least doing some sort of tinkering in quicktime in this update, as myself and at least several others found that 10.7.4 broke the looping option in quicktime 7.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3947580?start=0&tstart=0

regressing the qtkit.framework to a pre-10.7.4 version repaired that issue (although thankfully i still seem to be able to export non-washed-out h264s)