Quicktime movie on Mac won't play on PC

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Quicktime movie on Mac won't play on PC

Hi,

I have a Quicktime movie that was created using IMovie on a Mac. It plays fine in Quicktime on a Mac but not on a PC. I have Quicktime Pro 7 on both Mac and PC. The .mov is DVCPro 50 NTSC with audio. Any ideas?

Thanks.

G5, Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Posted on Nov 17, 2005 2:49 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 17, 2005 3:25 PM in response to olobay1

That must be a huge file!
DVCPro 50 is an editing and archiving codec. It's meant to be used by DV editing apps like Final Cut Pro or iMovie HD.
Try exporting the file using MPEG-4 codecs and AAC audio compression if all you want to do is view it on the PC.
If your goal is to edit the file on a PC you could use DV Stream (.dv) or the Animation video codec and pass through on the sound.
These will also be huge files.

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Answer 2

olobay1 Author

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Nov 17, 2005 5:53 PM in response to olobay1

The file is just over 9 Gigs. It is 25 minutes long. I made a mistake in my earlier post; it does not have any audio. It is in DVCPro 50 NTSC format and it works fine on my Mac but when putting it on a PC, I just get a white screen. It seems to play the file but because there isn't any audio, I can't be sure. When I press play on Quicktime PC, it starts playing without any error message at all. I get movie info and it gives me the same info that I get in my Mac: 720x480, DVCPro 50 NTSC 29.97 frame rate. I want to do some colour correction on my PC before I transfer it to tape so I don't want to use any compression other than DVCPro 50.

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Answer 3

Nov 17, 2005 6:15 PM in response to olobay1

You may want to do the color correction with some Mac software instead.
I just did some searches for DVCPRO50 codecs for Windows and they look sorta pricey.
What Windows software were you planning on using? Just curious, now.

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Answer 4

olobay1 Author

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Nov 17, 2005 9:07 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

I was going to do the colour correction on an Avid system. The offline editing was done on Final Cut Pro but I don't have access to my editor's computer. The Avid can't import my Quicktime file because of a codec issue. I converted the file in Mac Quicktime to an AVI using DVCPro 50 codec but it doesn't play in Windows Media Player and the Avid doesn't want to import it either. I can't get either the AVI nor the MOV to play on PC. What are some of the codecs for Pc that you found?

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Answer 5

olobay1 Author

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Nov 17, 2005 9:28 PM in response to olobay1

I just went to Avid support and it seems that they have a codec for DVCPro50 for Quicktime. I will try it and let you know how it goes.

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Answer 6

Nov 17, 2005 9:36 PM in response to olobay1

I would export to .mov file using the Animation codec at the highest possible settings.
It's a "loss-less" codec and renders very fast.
Another option would be to .avi and the "None" video codec. This will end up as WRAW format but it will be a monster file and I have no idea how long your file would take to render.
You may want to test a one minute sample and test for compatibility before committing to see which works best on the PC Avid equipment.

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Answer 7

olobay1 Author

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Nov 18, 2005 10:38 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

I downloaded Avid's DVCPRO 50 codec and MainConcept's DVCPRO 25/50 codec but I still get the white screen. I converted the file to TGA from Quicktime and the Avid accepted that. Would it be better quality had I used the Animation compression? I know that using the AVI compression gives an enormous file that I don't think will be recognized by Avid. I haven't have good quality conversions using the AVI compression either.

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Answer 8

Nov 18, 2005 10:49 AM in response to olobay1

I don't know which may be better because I don't work with Avid.
Targa is older and I think(?) it supports alpha channels (if needed). It offers the same (millions of colors+) as the Animation codec.
A one minute sample using both codecs may be the only "on screen" test you need to run.

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Answer 9

olobay1 Author

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Nov 18, 2005 11:03 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

I was on the MainConcept forum and he told me that whatever codec I downloaded, Quicktime would use its own codec always. Seeing as how Quicktime PC does not have a DVCPRO 50 codec, would it be impossible to play my file in Quicktime on a PC?

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