Is a .mov file created using the H.264 codec really a .mov file?

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Level 1

4 points

Is a .mov file created using the H.264 codec really a .mov file?

I'm using Yahoo!'s built-in website tool SiteBuilder to create some simple websites. SiteBuilder doesn't support .mp4 video files but it does support .mov video files. Using Quicktime 7 Pro I can create a .mov file that SiteBuilder accepts as a .mov file, but I'm concerned that it's not really supporting the file.

Also, is a .mov file created using the H.264 codec incompatible with older versions of Quicktime?

Thanks,

TW

Windows XP Pro

Posted on Feb 14, 2006 5:46 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 14, 2006 5:57 PM in response to twood

H.264 video codec requires QuickTime 7 be installed to view.
The .mov extension is just a "container". Think of it as a bucket. You can fill it with water, dirt or strawberries. What makes up a .mov file is the audio and video compression schemes know as codecs.
A codec stands for compressor-decompressor.
If you own QT Pro you can use Save As (File menu) to save your .mp4 files in the .mov format. No re-compression and the same codecs are used.
If your current .mp4 uses H.264 it will remain in the .mov file.

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Answer 2

twood Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 14, 2006 6:07 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Thanks Kirk,

Could you please take a look at my other post here:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=363785&tstart=0

About why QT7 Pro won't open files above a certain size?

Thanks,

TW

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Answer 3

twood Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 15, 2006 9:34 PM in response to twood

I notice that when I save QT movies from the web, and then look at the file details, a lot of QT movies use the Sorensen 3 codec. I notice too that I can take a .mov file that was compressed using the H264 codec and re-save it with the Sorensen 3 codec and get a pretty good image.

Is the Sorensen 3 codec old enough that most versions of QT will play it?

Thanks,

TW

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Answer 4

Feb 16, 2006 6:03 AM in response to twood

Sorenson 3 video (they made an even older version named Sorenson 2 for QuickTime) works with version 5 and higher.
MPEG-4 requires version 6 and H.264 requires version 7.
I don't think the quality compares to H.264 but the encoding time is a lot faster. The file size is also a consideration because they will be larger than an H.264 file from the same source.
If your goal is backward compatibility to older version of QT Player it is a good codec choice.

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