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missing "none" compression in Quicktime 7.6.6 pro in Lion

I used to be able to compression a set of TARGA sequence to Quicktime Uncompressed file with export movie to "None" compression in my MBP (Lion).

But I can't do that in MBA (Lion). I can't find it in the Compression Type drop down menu now... Where did it go? I can't convert or do a "None" compression Quicktime movie in Quicktime 7.6.6 Pro and FCP. But I can see all the compression type in After Effects CS5.5. Why is that happening? I don't want to compress the final movie in any compression than "None" compression (I know that I can still use "Animation" compression, but I need the highest quality possible for my work). Any advice how I can fix it or get it back into the compression type list in Quicktime 7.6.6 Pro or FCP?

MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.7.1)

Posted on Sep 8, 2011 3:51 AM

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18 replies

Sep 28, 2011 9:10 AM in response to lorcanf

lorcanf wrote:


I'm having this problem too - from FCP and Quicktime Pro on Lion. Did anybody find a solution? I thought it I might need to enable legacy codecs for quicktime but can't figure out how to that in Lion either - it used to be in the system prefs but not any more!

Legacy codecs only work in QuickTime Player 7 and not QuickTime Player X. Lion does not come with QuickTime Player 7. However it is possible to download it and install it. See http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3678


On a slightly different topic, Apple have a codec specifically aimed at editing which is intended to minimise any loss of quality. This is Apple Intermediate Codec and can be downloaded here http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1396

Sep 28, 2011 9:30 AM in response to John Lockwood

I have QuickTime Player X and QuickTime Player installed (upgraded to pro) but it's exporting as with compression set to 'None' that is the problem. I have no prob on my other MacBook which is running Snow Leopard. 'None' as a compression type from QuickTime seems to be missing only from Lion, across all software. 'None' was never a legacy codec before..


However do you know how to enable legacy codecs on Lion? There are no options is system prefs or QuickTime 7 pro prefs either. I use sorenson3 sometimes so it would be handy..


Thanks!

Sep 29, 2011 2:08 AM in response to lorcanf

I have never seen a none but I never looked for it. The AIC codec part of the ProRes set is as far as I can see the nearest thing in that it is intended as a lossless format that you would export to for editing with. I think you could think of AIC being like a PNG graphic file while MPEG2 or H.264 would be more like JPEG in that a PNG keeps all the original data but a JPEG does not, or from a music point of view think of it as FLAC vs MP3.


You would never want to use this as a final choice for shipping to people because the files are far too big. All commercial videos (DVds, Blu-Ray and TV broadcasts) and camcorders use a compression format typically MPEG2 or H.264.

Sep 29, 2011 7:37 AM in response to John Lockwood

Thanks John. I get codecs and how they work (I've been making film and commercials for broadcast and cinema for over 10 years) what I find confusing is that apple have removed the choice to render / export with no codec at all - 'none'. We shot a film on Sony F3 with S-Log using an Aja Ki Pro to record directly to an external drive as ProRes 422, there's a weird problem with s-log and prores where the white highlights are clipped but the information is still in the file, because we recorded prores the only way to fix this problem is to apply 3way color correction in FCP (because prores is native to fcp) and bring the highlights down to 99IRE. We are adding CG set extension etc to a few shots so VFX dept are looking for 16bit tiff sequences so that there is no colour loss on their clips so everything will composite together properly in Nuke before online and grade. The only way to do this is to apply the colour correction in FCP, render as uncompressed 'none' then bring the uncompressed file into AE and export the tiff sequences. That way there is no loss of colour information or how the a codec will interpret colour. I've had to export with 'none' hundreds to times but with Lion that option has vanished. It's still there on Snow Leopard, which is what I have to use, but it's gone from Lion. Which is weird, no? Maybe Apple want to force us to use one of their codecs

Sep 29, 2011 7:50 AM in response to lorcanf

Not something I have tried myself (none). For what it's worth it is still technical possible to run Snow Leopard on all current Macs even those shipping with Lion. I can certainly understand this option (and others) not being accessible in QuickTime Player X, but QuickTime Player 7 and FCP being that they use the older QuickTime libraries I would have expected to behave as before.

Sep 29, 2011 8:38 AM in response to lorcanf

Maybe Apple want to force us to use one of their codecs

Or maybe Apple now considers "Apple FCP Uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2" and "Apple FCP Uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2" the proper codecs to use in place of the "None" compression codec. Since Apple rarely, if ever, bothers to inform the public when or why it adds or removes their codecs it is unlikely that anyone here will be able correctly answer "why" Apple has removed the "None" option. You can, of course, send feedback complaining of the removal and requesting it be returned at some future time.


User uploaded file

Sep 30, 2011 11:19 AM in response to lorcanf

4:2:2 is not lossless though, you are still losing information, Prores 4:4:4 maybe

As I understand it, ProRes is, in and of itseft, a compressed format—therefore, information is, in your words, lost. The "None" format is both uncompressed and without sub-sampling (i.e., straight RGB). On the other hand, "Uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2" is uncompressed but each of the two chroma components are sampled at half the sample rate of the luma component, thus halving the horizontal chroma resolution and reducing the bandwidth of an uncompressed video signal by one-third with little or no visual difference.


User uploaded file

Sep 30, 2011 11:53 AM in response to seq2

Or I'll export it in FCP with "Animation" compresssion which is the closest to "none" compression.

I believe that if you run comparison tests on the same source data you will find that an "Uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2" file requires approximately one-third less bandwidth than your "None" file with little or no difference in visual quality. Further, the "Uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2" file would require about half the bandwidth of the "Uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2" file with your "Animation" file at 100% quality coming in with a bandwith of only about 75% that of the "Uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2" file making it the most highly compressed (most data thrown away) format of those mentioned.


User uploaded file

Apr 8, 2012 12:56 PM in response to seq2

In order to enable one of the “legacy video codecs” open /Applications/Utilities/Terminal, copy/paste the appropriate line (or all of them) into a terminal window, and hit return. The effect is instantaneous.


qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs ApplePlanarRGB enabled

qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs SorensonVideo enabled

qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs SorensonVideo3 enabled

qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs AppleBMP enabled

qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs AppleCinepak enabled

qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs AppleH261 enabled

qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs AppleH263 enabled

qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs AppleMotionJPEGA enabled

qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs AppleMotionJPEGB enabled

qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs ApplePNG enabled

qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs AppleNone enabled

qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs AppleVideo enabled

qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs AppleGraphics enabled

qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs AppleTGA enabled

qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs AppleTIFF enabled

qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs AppleComponentVideo enabled

qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs AppleJPEG2000 enabled

qtdefaults write LegacyVideoCodecs ApplePixlet enabled



If you also want to enable all of the “legacy audio codecs” you can copy this line to your terminal:


qtdefaults write LegacyAudioCodecsEnabled yes



It’s reasonable for Apple to try and fade out really old codecs like Cinepak, but removing the possibility to export uncompressed video is more than unwise. I get the feeling that Apple is neglecting us pro users more and more. God knows what will happen, the day QuickTime 7 is no longer supported, and all that’s left is QuickTime X – which is nice for consumers, but totally inappropriate for us…

missing "none" compression in Quicktime 7.6.6 pro in Lion

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