Quicktime .MOV file plays audio only - no video

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Level 1

4 points

Quicktime .MOV file plays audio only - no video

Okay, here goes...

I created a .MOV file from Avid via the H.264 codec. This file contains video and audio and was made on a Mac using Leopard. I played it back successfully on that machine.

I then copied it to a data DVD and put it on my XP PC with all OS software up to date. I have a freshly updated QT 7.6 install. The files will only play back audio on my PC - video appears black (if preferences are set to Direct X) or white (if preferences are set to safe mode). Video card is an NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT/GTO; driver is up to date.

Anybody have any insight into what I need to do to my PC to get this video to play?

PC, Windows XP

Posted on Jan 25, 2009 8:32 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 26, 2009 5:14 AM in response to charlzm

Open the file with QuickTime Player and then open the Movie Inspector window.
Report the video format and codecs used.

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Answer 2

charlzm Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 26, 2009 6:22 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Hmm... when I opened the file now, a pop up informed me that "Additional software is required for QuickTime to playback this media." Wonder why that never opened before? I browsed the 3rd party add-ons page that this leads to, but nothing seemed relevant.

Anyway, the format reported by movie inspector is "Avid Meridien compressed, 864 X 486, millions. 16 bit integer (Big Endian), stereo, 48.000 kHz.
Movie fps: 24. Playing fps: 24. Data rate: 9.96 mbits/sec."

Interesting, as this was not made on a Meridien but on Media Composer 3.1.2.

No codecs are noted as such in the Movie Inspector window.

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Answer 3

Jan 26, 2009 6:31 AM in response to charlzm

http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/45/870195
This page shows the issues. The video codec is Avid Meridian and that is why you get the "pop-up" message about third party components. Media Composer is Avid software:
http://www.avid.com/products/Media-Composer-Software/index.asp

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Answer 4

charlzm Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 26, 2009 5:43 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, it doesn't directly address the issue I am having (though it does show me the world of hurt out there when FCP and Avid bump up against each other in the same post process).

And the third-party page doesn't have any codecs for Avid.

Again, I am at a loss. I created the QT files from my Avid project on a Mac. The files played back properly on that Mac. They won't play back on my Windows machine, so I can only assume that there's something missing or different between the QT versions for Mac and Windows.

Since I can't figure out how to get these files to play properly on a PC and since my home machine is a PC, I guess I will not output footage from Avid to a .MOV file in the future. I will try to find a format that Windows Media Player likes, I guess.

Thanks for the help.

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Answer 5

Jan 26, 2009 5:55 PM in response to charlzm

Just use the H.264 video codec and avoid the proprietary ones.

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Answer 6

charlzm Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 26, 2009 9:29 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

From the original post -
+"I created a .MOV file from Avid via the H.264 codec..."+

Guess I'll chalk this one up to experience and just avoid QuickTime if possible in the future.

Thanks for taking the time to read and respond.

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Answer 7

charlzm Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 1, 2009 5:36 PM in response to charlzm

As an update...

Same issues when trying to make an uncompressed .MOV (same settings except for the codec) - audio only with no picture. Movie plays back fine on the Mac it's made on, so the only way to know if it will work is to take it home and try to play it there. PITA.

I did get a .MOV to play video on my PC with some slight changes to the creation settings in Avid using the H.264 codec. Not sure why.

WHEE!

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