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…