Can I/Apple fix Quicktime in El Capitan?

Is there some kind of fix coming for this, because otherwise, untold numbers of people are going to be inconvenienced and I for one can't wrap my brain around the idea that an upgrade has given me less functionality than I had before.

What compression format are you using for these video tutorials? This will likely determine what, if any, "fix" may be available.

All major browser makers are moving towards the use of standardized video playback support built directly into their browsers. While some offer support for Ogg files and others support WebM files, all 5 major browsers (I.E., Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Opera) now support MP4 videos. The means that all of these browsers can now understand the following simple code that tells the browser how to define the video's display dimensions, to add user controls for manual playback or play the video automatically without controls (not fully supported), what MP4 video to play, and what to say if the viewer is using an older browser that does not support the "<video>" tag:

<video width="320" height="240" controls>

<source src="movie.mp4" type="video/mp4">

Your browser does not support the video tag.

</video>

Your basic problem is not the browser but the website. Web pages are probably only coded for plugin use. Instead, they should be conditionally coded to handle both plugin and HTML5 <video> tag (non-plugin) use during the current "transition" period. Had web sites started updating for HTML5 when it was initially adopted (Chrome v4.0, I.E. v9.0, Firefox v3.5, Safari v4.0, and Opera v10.5), then it is likely few would have even noticed the disabling of the QT plugin under El Capitan.

The videos I make are MP4 and/or MOV files produced using Camtasia 2.

Not a Comasia user, so I am not sure what specifics are offered. Would normally expect the MP4 files to contain "standard" MPEG-4 video (either H.264/MPEG-4 AVC or MPEG-2) with MPEG-4 audio (AAC) encoded data. Since the MOV file container is generic, it could contain many different compression formats and you would have to be more specific regarding the content or provide a sample clip for examination.

They get posted to our digital learning environment (we use Blackboard) and if I go there in Safari, I can't load them.

Since you did not provide provide a link to a problem web page (if even available for a guest visit), I went to the main Blackboard site. All of the sample videos I looked at were standard H.264/AAC MP4 files coded to display in everything from "Pepper" plugins to various custom media players used by a number of services like SDL Media, Vimeo, YouTube, etc. Basically, the files used on the main Blackboard site should be playback compatible with any of the "big five" browsers with or without plugins. (I viewed the content using Safari with the QT plugin disabled but El Capitan didn't disable RealPlayer, Shockwave Flash, or Silverlight plugins.)

This brings up the question of whether all of your posted files are unplayable or just some of them. In addition, can you play the video on this web page?:

http://www.blackboard.com/new-learning-experience/index.aspx

or this one?:

http://www.blackboard.com/sites/design/index.html

I am trying to learn if there your problem is associated with the specific content, manner in which pages are coded, alternative system configurations, a possible problem with the Safari/El Capitan software installation or some combination thereof. (E.g., following my installation of El Capitan, Safari worked fine but Firefox behaved in a weird manner until I re-installed it.)

I don't doubt that the age of the website plays a role, but it remains odd that after upgrading, I can't do something I used to be able to do which is frustrating because if I can't view the videos I post, there's a good chance that a lot of students can't either.

I'm not a web programmer, but from what I saw on the main Blackboard site, their coding appears reasonably "up to date" and able to support the latest versions of Safari, Firefox, and Chrome without problem on my system. Of course, I don't know how/who maintains/updates the individual school/university web areas or if the same coding practices are the same in all areas.

I spoke to a service rep yesterday and they have suggested re-installing El Capitan, which I will try, but it's worth noting that when I googled the problem, I found other forums where people were having the same problem, and the consensus on those forums seemed to be that the new Safari is simply not supporting older types of video content anymore, which isn't a problem if you only need up to date sites, but folks working in education, and some other fields, aren't able to upgrade everything so quickly.

My personal experience is somewhat limited, but looking into a problem with what appears to be a Rice University undergraduate multimedia learning site set up in 2003 and later "transplanted" under an NSF grant, it appears that the QT plugin.plugin (which handles QT 7 "legacy" content) is not fully compatible with the latest version of Safari which seems to access QT X AVFoundation playback routines—which may be why the plugin was disabled. In the case of the web site above, media content was compressed as CinePak video with PCM audio in an MOV file container. It appears the plugin accesses the content using the QT plugin specific page code but since the AVFoundation routines don't support playback of this video, the player seems to get stuck in an endless "loading" loop. So, yes, there does appear to be a Safari problem with the "legacy" compression formats which were turned off by default when Lion was released. However, I would have expected your MP4 content to be compatible using the QT plugin and likely without the plugin if the Blackboard page coding is consistent with the coding used on the main web site. The suggestion of re-installing ElCapitan may indicate the service rep feels the content should be playback compatible but some sort of Safari/El Capitan corruption is causing your playback problem. This is why I was wondering if the main web site videos in the links given above are playback compatible with Safari. Another thing you might wish to do is use a different computer updated with El Capitan or try using a different user account on the same computer. If you don't experience the same problem on a different computer, the the problem is localized to your computer, In a similar manner, if a different user account works correctly, then the problem is localized to the specific user account—usually the app PLIST file for that user.

Sorry! "(either H.264/MPEG-4 AVC or MPEG-2)" should read "(either H.264/MPEG-4 AVC or MPEG-4)"

Is there anything else I can try? Or do I have to wait until we finally upgrade to a new Digital Learning Environment?

If your files are already in the H.264/AAC MP4 recommended format and the content is not viewable (with or without the QT plugin) as page coded by the older version of Blackboard, then the only thing you can really do is use an alternative browser that works (e.g., the Firefox workaround for El Capitan or downgrading your OS back to Yosemite to work with the older Safari browser) until such time as the service updates the web site. These transitions are a real pain and while some users can "temporize" with an interim workaround, I suspect these suggestions are not what you want to hear for your general student populace.

I too had a problem, post El Capitan, playing some old QT movie files.

The easy solution for me was to simply convert those files into mp4 files, using the downloadable app "iPad Video Converter by iSkysoft"

There are many other converter apps also available (at reasonable price points) at the Apple App store. Just type a search for "video converter." What you want is a simple interface that will convert .mov and .avi files into mp4

All you have to do with these apps is drag and drop your non-working movie file into the app window and set the output conversion to mp4. Once the new file is created, you can trash the old format and keep the newer, more universal format, anywhere you want.

Worked for me!

Good luck!

Hi,

I am now experiencing identical problems with all my browsers not playing video along with qt version 10 not working. I had this problem before too and eliminated the disabled qt in that folder under the internet plug ins and that worked for a while but now the gremlin is back. Wondering if this is a permanent bug for el capitan or not? Any advice would be appreciated or research positive or negative.

best,

M

Just discovered that my quicktime will play if I enable internal speakers. I have an apogee One that I was using as my audio interface. So... it must be the audio drivers that are the problem and it is the audio that is preventing the video from playing. Will look to update my drivers for the apogee. The problem began when my Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6 drivers would not work with El Capitan. Switched over to the One and now it seems the One and the audio is the root of my QT problems both in browsers and stand alone mode.

Finding the cause of the problem is always the beginning of finding the solution.

whew.

M

Most of the problems in the forum Quicktime Plug-In Missing in Safari 9/El Capitan, about re-inserting missing plugin from disabled (which worked for most people), was finding it. It is in the main Library, and inside there are two folders of disabled plugins, one actually inside the enabled ones. Well, a reset after that is necessary, at least of the browsers.

Maybe this does not help the original post, but others who got here