I have a number of MOV files (shot in full 1080 resolution) that won't play on a Windows PC. When I attempt to open them I get a warning stating that Quicktime may need extra files (or plugins?) in order to play the file. When I select the link it takes me to a page with all sorts of other providers such as DivX. With that said, what is the best format to enable smooth playback on a Windows machine?
MacPro (Tower),
Mac OS X (10.6.2),
Final Cut Studio
As I said they're MOV files (my JVC records to SDHC cards in the MOV format) and then I export them as Quicktime movies (still MOV files) and they won't play on a Windows machine. So no, they're not raw, these are finished projects that I need to somehow be able to show to clients for them to review.
iMovie converts the media to the Apple Intermediate Codec, which is not available on the PC. You can use Compressor to convert your media to a QuickTime codec that's compatibe with your software on the PC.
Thanks for the ongoing suggestions Studio X. Trouble is I do have the Windows version of QT on my laptop. What I am trying to do is get these files to play on my Dell laptop so that I can save them to a thumb drive off the Mac, transfer to the laptop and then review with a client. Ultimately the client(s) will be using these pieces for their websites and/or e-mail distribution (I produce customer testimonials, product demos and the like). With that said, how should I be saving these so that even a lowly Windows user can view them, and with good resolution?
Thanks for the input Tom. Could you share which of the many output settings would work best? There are so darn many to choose from and it's not immediately obvious to me which I ought to utilize.
Get a copy of [Flip4Mac|http://www.telestream.net/flip4mac-wmv/overview.htm] and convert the files to .wmv. You need a paid version -the free one is playback only.
I have no idea what you're going to do with thus video. H.264 will play on a PC. ProRes will play on a PC. You can get DiVX codecs that will work and with Flip4Mac you can convert to WMV.
If you are headed to the web, what about flash movies? They are about as universal as anything gets these days. Though (again) it is necessary for people to have current technology (flash 9 players).
If Flash might be the answer, simply encode as H.264 files and change then suffix from mov or mp4 to FLV.