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After installing the update to latest yosemite Quicktime does not recognize .AVI. Before the update it would convert it to .MOV and I could view the video and also save it in .MOV

After installing the latest update for Yosemite, Quicktime does not recognize .AVI format. Before the update Quicktime would convert the file to .MOV and I could save it. My Quicktime version is 10.4 and is not the Pro version. Help please.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3), Quicktime

Posted on May 31, 2015 8:52 AM

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12 replies

May 31, 2015 12:10 PM in response to 3AC

Wondering why the feature stopped working after the update?

If the AVI files previously played and/or converted using QT X v10.3 under Mavericks or QT X v10.4 under Yosemite, then the "same" files should continue to do so after the latest Yosemite update. Normally for the files to play and/or convert in the QT X player, the Perian codec package must be installed on your system. It is, however, sometimes possible that the Perian codec package can become "orphaned" during the update process and a user may have go to the Perian Preference Pane to "Remove" and then again "Install" the software to regain its functionality. On the other hand, if these are new and different files, then you would have to use an alternative player like VLC or a dedicated utility like MediaInfo to determine what codecs were used to create these new files and ensure that they are supported by the Perian codec package.

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Jun 1, 2015 7:56 AM in response to 3AC

I could not find the Perian Pane.

If already installed, the Perian Preference Pane can be accessed in the "System Preferences" window as shown below:

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So I downloaded it again but does not seem to work. Is their instructions on how to install it. .I am new to MAC so it is sometimes challenging.

Not sure what you mean by "does not seem to work."


1) If you are receiving a " 'Perian.prefPane' can’t be opened because it is from an unidentified developer." modal message, then go to the "System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General" window tab as seen below:

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At this point you can either override the "blocking" by your installation setting or click on the "lock" icon to sign in and change the default level of automatic blocking by your system. (I.e., if you download and install much software by "unidentified" developers, then you may want to set the download from "Anywhere" option. Otherwise, you will have to override blocking manually either in the "System Preferences" as above or via the "Context Menu > Open or Open With" option and press the "Open" button.


2) If you are receiving an "The preference pane you are installing is already installed. Do you want to replace the existing preference pane?" modal message, then either cancel the installation and open the already installed preference pane as described above or replace the old install with the new one and continue normally.


3) If you mean the codec seems to install properly but QT 7 won't open/play the file and/or QT X doesn't convert the file, then

a) Check the "~/Library/QuickTime" folder to ensure the "Perian.component" file is indeed installed on your startup drive. If it isn't, then re-install.

b) Open the problem file in MediaInfo or a similar utility to determine what codecs were used to create the problem file to see if it is actually supported by your system's current codec configuration.


4) If "does not seem to work" means something else, please explain in more detail.

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Jun 1, 2015 7:48 PM in response to 3AC

I cannot find the Library/QuickTime on my machine. Intact when I search for Library it turns up a blank.

The "Library" folder you are looking for is at the top level of your "startup" drive. I.e., open the startup drive as you would any normal folder as seen here:

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Then open the "Library" folder to find the "QuickTime" folder as seen here:

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Inside the "QuickTime" folder you should be able to find the "Perian.component" if it is properly installed as seen here:

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Jun 1, 2015 8:03 PM in response to 3AC

I reinstalled Perian as per the instructions. I still get the below message. And the file is not damaged as it is the same file that I could convert before the update.

If the Perian codec component is installed and you still get this message, then it is time to find out what components were used to create the AVI file. As previously noted, one way to this is to open the file in the free VLC player app. VLC has its own built-in components and does nut rely on the Perian components for playback and/or conversion by the various QT X/7 players. If the file plays in VLC then that would confirm that your AVI file is still good and may indicate that either the Perian codecs are still not installed properly or that something is wrong with the QT player app. If the file will not open in VLC, then that would tend to indicate something is wrong with the AVI file itself. In any case, if the AVI file opens in VLC, check the "Window > Media Information > Codec Details" menu option to learn which codecs were used to create the AVI file.

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Jun 3, 2015 1:30 PM in response to 3AC

I checked and found the Perian Component in the Library> Quicktime. So I checked the codec in VLC. Please see the picture below

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Not sure if this is good news or bad news. The DV codec is quite common and is supported by virtually all systems and players. In fact, it is so common that it remains one of the few video codecs that QT 7 Pro can still export to the AVI file container. Chances are, that if you try to play the AVI file in QT Player 7, it will likely play natively—assuming the audio is in any "recognized" compatible compression format. In fact, most of the common DV and audio format combinations will play in the QT X player without any conversion whatsoever if they were in an MOV file container instead of your AVI file container.


Okay... This brings up the question of what you really want to do here. Your normal workflow seems to have been to simply load the AVI files into the QT X player and let it convert the files to compression formats and file containers that are natively compatible with QT X which, for some unexplained reason, no longer seems to work on your system. This could still be due to an audio codec problem, corruption in the operating system, corruption in QT X player, or some software or hardware conflict on your system. If the system and QT X player seem to be otherwise working normally, then we can

  1. Continue to look for a solution for using the QT X player to perform your conversions,
  2. Move the AVI data to an MOV file container, or
  3. Use an alternative application to perform the conversions.


Basically each option has its own advantages and disadvantages:

  1. Some people simply like knowing what is causing a problem and fix it if possible. Unfortunately, there may or may not be such a "fix" and the process could be very time consuming,
  2. Moving the data from AVI to MOV is a simple process if you have an app lQT 7 Pro ($29.99 but may have a limited period of future use) on your system. Unfortunately, some apps may copy the data at an incorrect display aspect ratio. (I.e DV content, whether 640x480 "Full Screen" or 853x480 "widescreen" display, is encoded to a 720x480 encoding matrix which some apps use for the final display dimensions.)
  3. The last option would be to transcode the AVI files to MP4 or M4V files using any free or commercial converter. I would normally recommend the free HandBrake app here. If VLC was able to play your file normally, then HandBrake can convert it to MPEG-4 AVC video with AAC audio which is compatible with all Apple OS and IOS devices and software players by using either preset or custom settings. The major advantage here is that the files produced should be much smaller than your original AVI files with little on no loss in visual quality.



You may want to consider these options in more detail. To help, here are some sample files I created this morning. You can download and examine them on your own system by "Option-Clicking" the URLs below in Safari or using the "Context Menu > Download Linked File" option:


Example 1 (Letterbox Trailer DV/U-Law AVI used as source for tests)

AVI File Created by QT 7 Pro: http://downloads.walker4.me/Temporary_files/Queen_of_Outer_Space_DVb.avi


Example 2 (Letterbox Trailer with same DV/U-Law data in MOV at correct aspect ratio)

AVI Data copied to MOV file using QT 7 Pro: http://downloads.walker4.me/Temporary_files/Queen_of_Outer_Space_DVb2.mov


Example 3 (Letterbox Trailer with same DV/U-Law data in MOV at incorrect aspect ratio)

AVI Data copied to MOV file using MPEG Streamclip: http://downloads.walker4.me/Temporary_files/Queen_of_Outer_Space_DVb.mov


Example 4 (Conversion of DV/U-Law data to H.264/AAC in MP4 reduced file to about 1/16th its original size)

AVI file converted to MP4 by HandBrake: http://downloads.walker4.me/Temporary_files/Queen_of_Outer_Space_DVb.mp4



ADDED:

Sorry for the delay. Made these files this morning and ran some errands before posting them to my personal server. During a final check of the material, I noticed a drift in the AV sync for the AVI file that was carried through to all other sample files. In any case, I went back and corrected the original error, recopied the MOV files, re-converted the MP4, reposted everything to the server, and updated this response. Hope it's enough for you to decide where you want to go from here...

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After installing the update to latest yosemite Quicktime does not recognize .AVI. Before the update it would convert it to .MOV and I could view the video and also save it in .MOV

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