What is the most popular Video format for pc's and Mac's to just play

Question

What is the most popular Video format for pc's and Mac's to just play

I made a video that had some shots in HD using my Canon HG10 and some shot were regular NTSC. I made a final quicktime output, and gave it to my client. It plays the sound but not the video. So I condensed the video to a smaller format NTSC w/ 16:9 aspect ratio, and no she says the quality is almost not playable. Everything plays and works fine, even the same files that I give to her. She also wants to be able to play the video in loops. What is the best program for a PC to do that?

Thank you

powermac quad 2.5, Mac OS X (10.4.3), 2 gb ram 250 gb HD Quadro FX video card

Posted on May 15, 2008 9:29 AM

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Answer 1

May 15, 2008 11:11 AM in response to Caleb Kingston

If you want your video to play in a loop for say a tradeshow, then your best bet would be to create a DVD with the video set to loop endlessly. At the tradeshow use a stand alone DVD player to play the DVD not a computer (Mac or PC). The stand alone player will be cheaper, easier and more reliable.

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Answer 2

gogiangigo

Level 6

8,035 points

May 15, 2008 11:42 AM in response to Caleb Kingston

Hi Caleb,
if what you need is a file and not a DVD then ask your client if she has QT 7 or higher (if not she could download that). That's because if you export as H.264 you can customize settings and get high quality (i.e. the higher the bit rate the better) . QT can play the video full screen and to loop it in a PC simply hit Ctrl+L or select the option in QT main menu>view.

G.

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Answer 3

May 15, 2008 3:43 PM in response to gogiangigo

I have installed the latest quicktime pro on her machine, and it still doesn't play the high resolution .mov. I just want to know what format can play. I've been trying to fix this all day. please help me. Could it be that she can't play the high resolution movie because of her video card?

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Answer 4

gogiangigo

Level 6

8,035 points

May 15, 2008 4:03 PM in response to Caleb Kingston

So you installed QT 7.4.5 in your client's PC.
H.264 plays in my PC perfectly (Nvidia GE Force FX 5600 XT).
Did you try to export your movie as H.264?
If not try now,
If size does not matter:

bit rate 5600 kbits or higher.
frame size as source.

Do some tests,

G.

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Answer 5

May 15, 2008 5:33 PM in response to gogiangigo

I'm not sure why this is so hard for me. I cant find any settings to change the format to H.264 I got it to a format that can play on the computer but it shows worse quality played on her computer than on mine and its the same file

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Answer 6

joey848

Level 2

405 points

May 15, 2008 5:44 PM in response to Caleb Kingston

Try exporting in Uncompressed 8 bit or Animation. Also save the file in the Quicktime Player to play in High Quality. If you export in NTSC/DV, quicktime will play a low quality version by default. Go to Window > Show Movie Properties > Video Track > Visual Settings, and check the High Quality checkbox and save the file.
I wouldn't recommend H.264. It's a lossy codec for mobile devices and the web.

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Answer 7

joey848

Level 2

405 points

May 15, 2008 5:47 PM in response to joey848

By the way, all of the codecs that are camera specific - and the ProRes codec - only install on machines with FCP. If you export in one of these formats and the client doesn't have FCP, they won't be able to play the file in Quicktime Player.

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Answer 8

May 15, 2008 8:25 PM in response to joey848

That was exactly what I was looking for (the checkbox thing) I spent 7 hours of my day trying to figure this out when all I had to do was press that checkbox. It played high res on my computer, then when I transfered it, it lost quality. It was beyond me until now.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

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