alvin256
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Can't play .MOV files in Quicktime after upgrading to OSX 10.6

Recently upgraded from OS X (10.5) to OS X (10.6).  .MOV files played fine in Quicktime before the upgrade.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Dec 24, 2012 12:15 PM

by Jon Walker,Solvedanswer
Jon Walker Jon Walker
Level 6 (18,620 points)
A:

I recorded the movie using a camera, and the file plays on the camera as a movie... I'm stumped.

Then I suggest you compare the size of the playing file on your camera with the size of the non-playing file on your computer—they may not be the same. As QTKirk indicated, 40.37 KB seems unreasonable for any normally encoded non-anamorphic 1280x720 MPEG-4/AVC file more than a few frames long. For comparison purposes, a typical 1280x720 JPEG photo compressed to its smallest file size setting on a Mac would have a file size on the order of 100 KB. Other ways to look at your file would be...

 

a) if it is one second long, then its data rate is on the order of 322.96 Kbps

b) if it is two seconds long, then its data rate is on the order of 161.48 Kbps

c) if it is three seconds long, then its data rate is on the order of 107.65 Kbs

 

etc., etc., etc. which is unheard of for any reasonable amount of quality for 1280x720 HD dimensions in this compression format.

 

SJAUG.png

Posted on Dec 26, 2012 6:07 AM

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alvin256

Q: Can't play .MOV files in Quicktime after upgrading to OSX 10.6

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  • Helpful answers

  • by QuickTimeKirk,

    QuickTimeKirk QuickTimeKirk Dec 24, 2012 12:22 PM in response to alvin256
    Level 9 (53,318 points)
    Dec 24, 2012 12:22 PM in response to alvin256

    Snow Leopard includes QuickTime X (ten) and it doesn't support many older codecs:

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3678?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

  • by alvin256,

    alvin256 alvin256 Dec 24, 2012 12:43 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 24, 2012 12:43 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

    Thanks for the suggestion; regret it did not help.  I downloaded and installed QuickTime 7 and I get the same outcome; the file opens, I can see the movie, but when I click on the play button, nothing happens.

  • by QuickTimeKirk,

    QuickTimeKirk QuickTimeKirk Dec 24, 2012 12:45 PM in response to alvin256
    Level 9 (53,318 points)
    Dec 24, 2012 12:45 PM in response to alvin256

    Open the Movie Inspector window and report what it says about the file.

  • by alvin256,

    alvin256 alvin256 Dec 24, 2012 1:06 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 24, 2012 1:06 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

    Source:  /Users/alvinvansteenbergen/Documents/Calavera Hills.mov

    Format:  H.264, 1280 x 720, Millions

    Data Size:  40.37 K

    Normal Size:  1280 x 720 pixels

    Current Size:  1280 x 720 pixels (Actual)

  • by QuickTimeKirk,

    QuickTimeKirk QuickTimeKirk Dec 25, 2012 4:26 AM in response to alvin256
    Level 9 (53,318 points)
    Dec 25, 2012 4:26 AM in response to alvin256

    That data size suggests the "movie" is just a still frame.

  • by alvin256,

    alvin256 alvin256 Dec 25, 2012 10:37 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 25, 2012 10:37 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

    I recorded the movie using a camera, and the file plays on the camera as a movie.  Also, i have other movies that I had recorded with the same camera, and they played in QuickTime using OS X 10.5.x.  It was only after upgrading to OS X 10.6.8 that I could no longer play these movies.  I'm stumped.

  • by Jon Walker,Solvedanswer

    Jon Walker Jon Walker Dec 26, 2012 6:07 AM in response to alvin256
    Level 6 (18,620 points)
    Dec 26, 2012 6:07 AM in response to alvin256

    I recorded the movie using a camera, and the file plays on the camera as a movie... I'm stumped.

    Then I suggest you compare the size of the playing file on your camera with the size of the non-playing file on your computer—they may not be the same. As QTKirk indicated, 40.37 KB seems unreasonable for any normally encoded non-anamorphic 1280x720 MPEG-4/AVC file more than a few frames long. For comparison purposes, a typical 1280x720 JPEG photo compressed to its smallest file size setting on a Mac would have a file size on the order of 100 KB. Other ways to look at your file would be...

     

    a) if it is one second long, then its data rate is on the order of 322.96 Kbps

    b) if it is two seconds long, then its data rate is on the order of 161.48 Kbps

    c) if it is three seconds long, then its data rate is on the order of 107.65 Kbs

     

    etc., etc., etc. which is unheard of for any reasonable amount of quality for 1280x720 HD dimensions in this compression format.

     

    SJAUG.png

  • by alvin256,

    alvin256 alvin256 Dec 26, 2012 9:07 PM in response to Jon Walker
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 26, 2012 9:07 PM in response to Jon Walker

    Jon:  Appreciate your help.  I had been 'exporting' the file from iPhoto, which apparently resulted in one frame of the movie instead of the whole movie.  Instead, I copied/pasted the file to my hard drive, and the whole movie resulted (which is a much larger file and also plays correctly in QuickTime).  What I can't explain, however, is that .mov files are now playing correctly in iPhoto, and they were not doing that when I posted the question initially.  Again, thank you for your help.  Joe

  • by sukhmeet12,

    sukhmeet12 sukhmeet12 Sep 11, 2013 10:34 AM in response to alvin256
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 11, 2013 10:34 AM in response to alvin256

    I need an urgent help, I made some audio on my iphone 5 and then I wanted to see it on Windos VIsta 7 however by mistake I did a cut paste from Windows explorer and pasted it in desktop and now I cannot play that file, also the size of that movie was 1 hour 39 minutes and of 11 GB however now I can see that it has become of 117 MB on my desktop.

     

    Please please please help this is very important for me..

  • by BryanUtah,

    BryanUtah BryanUtah Aug 5, 2015 12:15 PM in response to alvin256
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 5, 2015 12:15 PM in response to alvin256

    so how do i fix it so i can view a video i edited in adobe premiere when quicktime wont play it ?

  • by Jon Walker,

    Jon Walker Jon Walker Aug 5, 2015 12:39 PM in response to BryanUtah
    Level 6 (18,620 points)
    Aug 5, 2015 12:39 PM in response to BryanUtah

    so how do i fix it so i can view a video i edited in adobe premiere when quicktime wont play it ?

    If edited by Premier in compression formats not natively compatible with QT, then either export the edited results to compression formats that are QT compatible or use a player that supports the data in its native form. Since you have not provided any specific information regarding the codecs, settings, player, or system in use, all we can do here is provide this general response.

    SJAUG.png