Quicktime7/Tiger problem with AVI(Open DML Motion JPEG)?

[The Void]

I have a Pentax Optio S40 camera, which takes videos in AVI (Open DML Motion JPEG codec). These files played fine in Panther, but Tiger doesn't like them: Finder hangs when trying to preview them, and Quicktime 7 just seems to ignore them, when trying to open them.

Trouble is, I'm not sure if this is a problem with Quicktime 7, or with Tiger, since I didn't notice the problem until 10.4.2. (It's still there with 10.4.3). I've had a google, and I can't find any mention of this problem.

I can play the files in Xine (and VLC, but that seems a bit confused about how long the file is), but I'd prefer not to have to.

Anyone got any ideas?

The Void
.................
Planet Miron

 

[MisterMe]

My guess is that you uninstalled the QuickTime codec that handles your camera's video.

 

[Makosuke]

Could be a QT 7 vs 6 issue, but more likely when you upgraded to Tiger the video codec for the camera got removed. If you did an archive and install and still have the Previous Systems folder around, have a look in /Library/QuickTime and see if there's anything that looks like it might relate to your camera in there.

Alternately, poke around on the discs that came with your camera or Pentax's download site and see if there's anything you could try reinstalling...

(Ooh, just thought of another possibility; if there was a specific codec for this camera, it might still be installed, but doesn't work with QT7 anymore--most do, but not all. Have a look in both of your current library folders and see what's there; if something looks like that codec, your best bet is to look for a newer version. Although, just moving it out of the Library folder and restarting might be worth a shot, since QT has at least two built-in Motion JPEG components, and there's a chance one might handle your video without help.)

 

[VanNess]

I don't have a digital cam, but I found one quicktime movie on my hard drive that was encoded with Open DML Motion JPEG and it opened and played back just fine. I'm using Tiger 10.4.3 and the latest QT (7.0.3).

The movie was a .mov file and not an avi, but avi's should play fine in QT provided QT has the codecs that are contained in the avi file. You might try reinstalling QT and see if that corrects your problem. The codec required to play back Open DML Motion JPEG is included in the standard installation.

 

[The Void]

Thanks for your replies, folks. Alas, no joy yet.

MisterMe: I never installed any codecs in the first place - the avis just worked out of the box with QT in Panther. (PS What happened to "and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry"?)

Makosuke: Nothing on the install disc, apart from ACDSee, which I don't need. I can't find any codecs hiding anywhere, but unfortunately I've deleted my Previous System (alas! too soon, obviously) since everything seemed fine.

VanNess: I tried re-installing QT (7.03), but the problem persists. Interesting about the file you have. I would've said that the QT7 vs 6 theory was the best bet at the moment, (wasn't there an Xvid-compatability issue too?) but your evidence would seem to refute that.

I guess I'll have to be careful with my finder browsing until I figure this out. :-(

Unless anyone else has any bright ideas?

Cheers,
The Void
...................
Planet Miron

 

[VanNess]

Well, my example was a .mov file and not an avi, so there could be an issue with avi file handling and not the codec itself. Again, I don't have a cam, but off the top of my head I seem to remember that the latest and greatest iPhoto 5 was supposed to be able to play back camera based movies. So it might be worth a try to see if iPhoto can swallow them and play 'em back.

I don't remember anything about an Xvid problem, there was a big problem with Divx 5 and QT 7. Apparently, that one was recently resolved starting with Toast 7, which, all of a sudden, from out of nowhere was able to play, compress and burn QT Divx content via Divx 6. Interestingly, Divx "6" was nowhere to be found on Divx's website (which provides the Divx playback codec for QT free of charge) at the time; only notices to the effect that Divx engineers were still struggling to resolve the problem. Just recently, Divx released a "beta" version for Divx 6, going by the name of "Fusion" now I think.

Who knows what was going on there, but something tells me money had something to do with it, lol.

 

[joshjohnson]

Well, my example was a .mov file and not an avi, so there could be an issue with avi file handling and not the codec itself. Again, I don't have a cam, but off the top of my head I seem to remember that the latest and greatest iPhoto 5 was supposed to be able to play back camera based movies. So it might be worth a try to see if iPhoto can swallow them and play 'em back.

I don't remember anything about an Xvid problem, there was a big problem with Divx 5 and QT 7. Apparently, that one was recently resolved starting with Toast 7, which, all of a sudden, from out of nowhere was able to play, compress and burn QT Divx content via Divx 6. Interestingly, Divx "6" was nowhere to be found on Divx's website (which provides the Divx playback codec for QT free of charge) at the time; only notices to the effect that Divx engineers were still struggling to resolve the problem. Just recently, Divx released a "beta" version for Divx 6, going by the name of "Fusion" now I think.

Who knows what was going on there, but something tells me money had something to do with it, lol.

you are right about money. I had read somewhere that Roxio had done an agreement with the folks at DivX to be the exclusive distributor of DivX 6 on the mac through the end of the year 2005.

 

[Sedulous]

Same. No problems with playback here.

I don't have a digital cam, but I found one quicktime movie on my hard drive that was encoded with Open DML Motion JPEG and it opened and played back just fine. I'm using Tiger 10.4.3 and the latest QT (7.0.3).

The movie was a .mov file and not an avi, but avi's should play fine in QT provided QT has the codecs that are contained in the avi file. You might try reinstalling QT and see if that corrects your problem. The codec required to play back Open DML Motion JPEG is included in the standard installation.

 

[The Void]

Update:

The problem seems to be with the audio codec, and not the video. I've downloaded another OpenDML AVI and that plays fine in QT7.

I've managed to open my troublesome files in QT 6.03 in Classic. The audio codec is "16 bit Little Endian, Mono, 8 kHz, 16 bits" (according to QT 6), "araw" according to VLC, and "Linear PCM" according to Xine.

Digging around on Google, it seems that Apple renamed the audio profile (or whatever it's called) from "None" to "Linear PCM" in QT7. Since the file I downloaded has an audio codec of "None" (according to QT 6), then I think it's safe to say I've found out what the problem is.

Trouble is, I still don't know how to fix it. :-(

Does this shed any light on things for anyone?

The Void
..................
Oh yeah, and my exhaust's making a racket too. Cars, computers..... what can you do?

 

[VanNess]

If you don't have a ton of files, the one thing that comes to mind is try DivX Doctor II. You'll also need to install the 3ivx codec, it won't work without it.

Divx Docotor II converts otherwise unplayable .avi files into regular, playable QT .mov files. I've used on several occasions to fix .avi's that balked when using trying to use regular QT to open them, including files that QT would playback video but no audio.

Another possibilty - and this is just a pure guess, a shot in the dark - is to download the last version of QT 6 for OS X (I think it's billed as a "reinstaller" to downgrade from QT 7), then use Pacifist to extract just the QT player from the disk image. The old player should continue to work along side the QT 7 player; it just can't access QT 7 specific features (such as H.264). Then try the QT 6 player and see of it will open your .avi's properly.

 

[The Void]

Thanks for the ideas, VanNess.

I tried the install of QT652, which worked okay, but it still won't open the files. I just dragged out the .app file, but not the Library or System files - I don't want to overwrite something irreparably.

I could use DivXDoctor, but I've got ~50 files, and I don't think I can be bothered, especially since I'd have to do it for any new clips too.

The main problem isn't that I can't play the files, but that Finder freaks out when trying to preview them in column mode (which I use almost exclusively).

The Void
..................
OK, at least the exhaust's fixed now.

 

[The Void]

Update: Seems like Perian has fixed this problem. Yay!