HT201290: If QuickTime Player can't open an audio or video file

Learn about If QuickTime Player can't open an audio or video file
Gunpilot
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: So,  How do I get a MacBook Pro to play mpeg video?  I don't need answers detailing what it won't play.  I know it won't play everything I've tried.  Can anyone tell me what Apple software is necessary to play files?

I've given up, time and time again on trying to play various video's whether from an online community or via CD/DVD file.  Searches offer countless non-Apple software solutions that all have inconsistent functionality.  Is there an Apple product that will actually work?  I have this problem with all my Apple Mac products, even the newest iMac which according to the salesman would work "no problem".  Friends indicate they have never experienced this problem, but based on all the returns on internet searches I suspect I'm not the only one.

 

I am not a computer savy person.  I just need to plug in and have the machine do what it should do. 

 

Anyone?

thanks,

Gunpilot

Posted on Aug 18, 2013 4:31 AM

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Gunpilot

Q: So,  How do I get a MacBook Pro to play mpeg video?  I don't need answers detailing what it won't play.  I know it ... more

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  • by arthur,

    arthur arthur Aug 18, 2013 5:54 AM in response to Gunpilot
    Level 5 (5,193 points)
    iBooks
    Aug 18, 2013 5:54 AM in response to Gunpilot

    VLC is your best bet: VideoLAN - Download official VLC media player for Mac OS X

  • by greg sahli,

    greg sahli greg sahli Aug 18, 2013 6:15 AM in response to Gunpilot
    Level 7 (25,400 points)
    Aug 18, 2013 6:15 AM in response to Gunpilot

    I agree with Arthur's recommendation.

    I'd also suggest installing Perian to get more codec combinations supported.

    http://perian.org/

     

    (PS - you want a simple answer, but there are dozens of file formats that include mpeg!)

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Aug 18, 2013 8:10 AM in response to Gunpilot
    Level 9 (50,793 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 18, 2013 8:10 AM in response to Gunpilot

    I am not a computer savy person.  I just need to plug in and have the machine do what it should do.

    Not a problem, but that indicates you have a lot to learn.

    File extensions like mpeg, mp4., avi, wmv, etc. are just wrappers. It is like a box the audio or video content is placed inside. The audio and video content must be encoded with a codec before it is placed in the box. There are thousands of codecs. Not all are installed on your Mac. You must have the same codec installed that encoded the video in order to play it. So, while Quicktime does support mpeg wrapper, it may not have the codecs to decode the internal video.

     

    Some programs have lots of the codecs available to them, like VLC, Niceplayer, MPlayerX, etc.

    You can also get "plug-ins" for Quicktime that add codecs to Quicktime, like Perian. Although it is no longer being developed, Perian still works well.

     

    Why is it so difficult? Probably because they are always working on ways to compress the video to get better playback.

  • by Joey_P.,

    Joey_P. Joey_P. Dec 13, 2013 8:44 PM in response to Gunpilot
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 13, 2013 8:44 PM in response to Gunpilot

    Hi

     

    I know this is an older post. However I wanted to add the only link I found in Apple's website for Quicktime Codecs and ProRes.

     

    http://support.apple.com/kb/dl1396