Missing codecs in QT7 Pro on Lion

I'm aware the post was about Lion.

I've been doing a lot of research regarding this issue.

I have read equal number of posts that have given similar solutions about restoring legacy codecs through terminal in Mavericks which seemed to have worked for some people but they haven't worked for me.

Summarising my query again, is there a solution to this in Mavericks besides posting to Apple who might not be able to give me an immediate resolve?

Or is it that I just have to:

a) switch to Pro-Res and deliver lesser quality to my clients, or

b) backup all my volumes of data and format back to Leopard or Lion and then use these codecs so I can function normally - which again is clearly not an immediate solution

Confirming again, I need to export a quicktime file with the PNG codec directly from After Effects. I could take it back to FCP after exporting an image sequence or use MPEG streamclip but all have visible quality loss.

If there's a better solution, I'm all ears!

Summarising my query again, is there a solution to this in Mavericks besides posting to Apple who might not be able to give me an immediate resolve?

Based on the direction taken by Apple in the development of Mac OS X and the embedded QT structures since July of 2011, my guess is that posting to Apple regarding this situation will have no effect whatsoever at this time. Further, it now seems obvious that when the legacy codecs were turned off by default in Lion, Apple programmers were already actively developing the now separate and independent QT X structures found in both Mavericks and Yosemite.

Or is it that I just have to:

a) switch to Pro-Res and deliver lesser quality to my clients, or

b) backup all my volumes of data and format back to Leopard or Lion and then use these codecs so I can function normally - which again is clearly not an immediate solution

I don't believe these options are necessary—unless there is an incompatibility issue in After Effects itself and especially given the fact that you don't really want to do this.

I have read equal number of posts that have given similar solutions about restoring legacy codecs through terminal in Mavericks which seemed to have worked for some people but they haven't worked for me... Confirming again, I need to export a quicktime file with the PNG codec directly from After Effects. I could take it back to FCP after exporting an image sequence or use MPEG streamclip but all have visible quality loss.

Am a bit confused here. Are you saying you can't turn the PNG codec back on or that it is on and can be accessed normally by MPEG Streamclip and FCP but not be used by After Effects? If the latter, then the problem may be in After Effects application and I, as a non--AE user, have no way to test this hypothesis to see if it's normal. If the former, I would normally suspect you might be entering the line code incorrectly as it often takes me as many as a half dozen attempts to enter the line code correctly in the Terminal utility. (Lesser possibilities would be that the Mavericks OS and/or the Terminal app could be corrupted or conflicted.) However, it goes without saying that the Terminal utility should work the same under Mavericks for any platform on which it can be installed and assuming there are no conflicts or corruption. If it doesn't, then you should probably find out why it doesn't.

If there's a better solution, I'm all ears!

If AE still supports use of the user modified system codec configuration, then I don't believe there is any better solution than turning the desired codec(s) back on for AE to use directly.

I guess an AE user might understand better.

Basically, I have a limited number of options to export a lossless output from AE. I can get a .mov file which is created using PNG or animation codecs or I can create image sequences. The former I cannot do because they both don't read by the OS once they have been exported (which is my issue - all other exports work fine except exporting with these codec settings which I've seen work perfectly on other Windows and older Macs).

I can convert that .mov file using quicktime player, FCP or other software but that depreciates quality.

And if I do the latter I HAVE to take it via an offline software so I can slap the audio and video together and that depreciates quality also.

In short, I guess it's a lose - lose

Thanks for trying to help anyway

I can get a .mov file which is created using PNG or animation codecs or I can create image sequences. The former I cannot do because they both don't read by the OS once they have been exported (which is my issue - all other exports work fine except exporting with these codec settings which I've seen work perfectly on other Windows and older Macs).

So you are saying you have a PNG and Animation playback issue and not an export issue? The codec restoration described in Sept of 2015 refers to the turning back on of codecs for "active" (export) use. The legacy codecs are still, at this time, supported passively (playback wise) under both Mavericks and Yosemite but they can only be accessed by classic apps that can directly use the 32-bit embedded structure to access the user system codec configuration or has its own built-in codec support. Any QT X app sends the data to the AVFoundation which either plays/reads the data or passes it off to the Modernizer to evaluate whether or not file can be converted. If the file cannot be converted, then the original app issues a modal message indicating the data is corrupted or not supported. If the data can be converted, then it is sent to the Convert framework for conversion which may or may not produce a file that is fully QT X/QT 7/QL compatible. If you or your clients want to open/play Animation or PNG files directly, then open them in a "classic" player like QT 7 or VLC under any reasonably current OS—including Mavericks and Yosemite (and I assume Windows which does not have a QT X support structure).

In short, I guess it's a lose - lose

As I currently understand your problem, you have two options:

1. Export the content to a lesser quality codec having greater player/reading compatibility with the player you want to use or
2. Export the files using the higher quality, less compatible codecs but then use software that is compatible with these codecs to open/play the data

in which case you may wish to query your clients as to their own preferences here. It is this current dichotomy that leads me to believe that the turing off of the legacy codecs for active export use back in Lion was a well planned, logical prelude to the changes made in Mavericks and which continue in Yosemite.

Sept of 2015

Sorry, this should have read "Sept of 2012" instead.

If you or your clients want to open/play Animation or PNG files directly, then open them in a "classic" player like QT 7 or VLC under any reasonably current OS—including Mavericks and Yosemite (and I assume Windows which does not have a QT X support structure).

It doesn't playback without jerks/glitches and sometimes a complete freeze in the video with either of the software.

QT 7 - the only application I usually trust - plays it smooth for about 2 seconds and then stops completely.

The PNG codec playback looks like I've added a strobe filter.

Now if I take the file into Mpeg Streamclip and convert it to H.264 to upload, I can get a file that plays normally.

But the distinct loss in colour is bad. For purely previewing purposes it may be alright but I cannot deliver or backup a lossy master file.

It is this current dichotomy that leads me to believe that the turing off of the legacy codecs for active export use back in Lion was a well planned, logical prelude to the changes made in Mavericks and which continue in Yosemite.

Maybe so but aren't the changes taking away a vital feature?

Won't professional Mac loyalists become skeptical if constant impositions are being made that aren't benefitting them (us)?

It'll help to know why these changes have been made.

It doesn't playback without jerks/glitches and sometimes a complete freeze in the video with either of the software.

QT 7 - the only application I usually trust - plays it smooth for about 2 seconds and then stops completely.

The PNG codec playback looks like I've added a strobe filter.

Now if I take the file into Mpeg Streamclip and convert it to H.264 to upload, I can get a file that plays normally.

But the distinct loss in colour is bad. For purely previewing purposes it may be alright but I cannot deliver or backup a lossy master file.

Okay. Now we may be getting somewhere. Your problem is not that you can't export the data to PNG or Animation which was the original topic of this discussion. And, the problem is not that you can't access these codecs to open and play the files in QT 7—but rather that the playback is jerky and/or freezes. Based on this latest information and the fact MPEG Streamclip converts the data without such playback issues, your problem now appears to be the use of excessive encode data rates. QT 7 is a legacy media player and was not designed to handle large amounts of data due to excessive encode data rates settings and/or excessive encode dimensions without dropping an excessive number of frames during normal playback. This is likely one of the main reasons Apple re-wrote QT to be able to handle more modern codecs encoding higher resolution content at increasingly higher data rates. Do the stats for your PNG and Animation files look something like these?:

In the case of the PNG encode above, the encode using the highest quality setting produces the smallest file. Unfortunately, the codec is very complex and in terms of time is not very efficient for the encoding and playback rendering of data. On my system, the higher quality encode (roughly 230 mbps) only averages about 5-8 fps during the playback of action sequences or 14-18 fps during static sequences. On the other hand, when I reduce the encode quality settings, the larger (greater than 310 mbps) file averages 12-18 fps for action sequences and 18-21 fps for static sequences. In other words, QT 7 simply cannot render all of the data fast enough for smooth playback. And while this codec may be fine for the archiving or editing of video data, it is not designed for routine distribution and playback of video content on average consumer systems.

The Animation codec is older and simpler. This codec is very fast but its quality settings are directly proportional to the final output data rates for a given resolution. In the case of my example above, running the encoder wide-open produced a file with a data rate on the order of 750 mbps (almost 6 GB/min of storage space) and the effective playback frame rate can be anywhere from 1-24 fps when the plauback is not frozen. On the other have, if I use the default (Medium) quality setting for the Animation encode, the total average data rate is reduced by 2/3s to about 255 mbps which the QT 7 player can handle at the file's full 24 fps frame rate.

In short, I suspect that in your quest to maximize file quality you are overdriving the playback capabilities of the QT 7 player. Archiving and editing do not require realtime playback capabilities but media proofing and distribution workflows do.

My results are similar.

The Data rate in Animation is closer to 900 mbits/s though.

This has definitely helped me understand it better.

It hasn't, however, solved the issue since I would require realtime playback capabilities for presentation and screening purposes.

I guess I'd have to re-work the saturation and colours on AE to an amount that exceeds my usual grade to eventually export at a lower-res and work by trial and error. Painful! But I might be able to salvage some of the colour loss.

The sharpness, however, can't be retained.

Thanks for your time!

You've helped in every way you could

My results are similar.

The Data rate in Animation is closer to 900 mbits/s though.

Looks like you are running a faster system and/or using RAID or SSD storage to manage such data rates. Unfortunately, that just makes matters worse since player playback rendering capabilities don't seem to be able to support such a fast throughput.

It hasn't, however, solved the issue since I would require realtime playback capabilities for presentation and screening purposes.

Did you try reducing the "Quality" setting? Anything above 80% is just "placebo" as far as visual quality is normally concerned. Try something in the 60% to 80% range and see if it drops the data rate enough to allow the player to keep up without lowering the visual quality of your animation encoded data or making you switch to an alternative codec.