Thumbnails and preview icons not being generated in Catalina 10.15.7

I'm working on a project which necessitates reviewing literally thousands of video clips covering a span of 40 years. I just realized that recent video shot with a Panasonic GH5 camera has for the most part not been generating thumbnails/previews. This means that every one of the video clips shot with that camera needs to be opened in VLC to get any sense of content. I have tried every online suggestion for fixing this that I can find — no luck whatsoever. The odd thing is that all these files import into FCPX with no problem, thumbnails and all, and play flawlessly. Can anyone buy me a clue?

Mac Pro, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jun 6, 2021 8:58 AM

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Posted on Jun 11, 2021 3:55 AM

Thanks for taking the time to reply, toastosxDC. The problem here is actually the opposite: this type of 10-bit video file is brand new (the GH5 was introduced in late 2019) and apparently the Mac Finder/QuickLook still does not support it in terms of generating a thumbnail preview. I figured this out because certain files shot with the same camera actually displayed thumbnails, but those shot in 10-bit 4K did not. In any case, the workaround I came up with is pretty simple. I now use EditReady software to generate thumbnails for the 10-bit files within the EditReady app. It's not as convenient as having Finder thumbnails, but it let me preview hundreds of video clips relatively quickly and efficiently. As for the older formats, that's a bummer. In any case, thanks again for your reply.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 11, 2021 3:55 AM in response to toastosxDC

Thanks for taking the time to reply, toastosxDC. The problem here is actually the opposite: this type of 10-bit video file is brand new (the GH5 was introduced in late 2019) and apparently the Mac Finder/QuickLook still does not support it in terms of generating a thumbnail preview. I figured this out because certain files shot with the same camera actually displayed thumbnails, but those shot in 10-bit 4K did not. In any case, the workaround I came up with is pretty simple. I now use EditReady software to generate thumbnails for the 10-bit files within the EditReady app. It's not as convenient as having Finder thumbnails, but it let me preview hundreds of video clips relatively quickly and efficiently. As for the older formats, that's a bummer. In any case, thanks again for your reply.

Jun 10, 2021 10:59 PM in response to Spencer Lambert

Yes, when you updated from Mojave or High Sierra to Catalina, it no longer supports certain codecs from older movie formats. It stinks. I have the same problem. There is no way to fix it other than re-encoding the video files, which is insanity, keep using VLC (had to load it as well) or backup and wipe your drive and downgrade back to Mojave. Sorry. I’m furious about it.

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Thumbnails and preview icons not being generated in Catalina 10.15.7

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