Adding Chapters to QuickTime .mov Movies.

Can anybody help with something I may have missed doing in my fruitless exercise in movie chapterizing to date, please?

I am running OS X 10.11 on iMac 21.5" (late 2009).

The first thing I would do is determine whether or not the "chaptered" videos actually contain a chapter (text) track. The best way to do this is to open the file in QT 7 Pro and check the "Properties" window to see if the text track is both present and targeted by the video track as the "chapter" track. However, if you don't have QT 7 Pro, simply open the file's "Info" window under El Capitan as depicted below:

As you can see, these files contain a QT Text track which, in this case, is the chapter track. Don't use the "Inspector" window to check for the text track. It only lists tracks that are enabled (chapter tracks are normally disabled while the "Info" window shows enabled and disabled tracks.

What you do thereafter will depend on what you learn here. For instance, if the text track is not present, then either your workflow is incorrect or the utility is out of date with your current operating system. If the text track is present, then it may need to be properly "associated" with the video track to to be recognized as a "chapter" track to trigger menu use by the various player apps, as well as, be recognized by iDVD.

How do I 'associate the text track with the video track, please? What should I do after that, please?

Unfortunately, the only way I know how to do this manually is by using QT 7 Pro to select the "Video Track > Other Settings tab > Chapters: Text Track option" in the properties window as depeicted below:

All of the converters and dedicated chapter utilities I use do this automatically. I only resort to QT 7 Pro to check the setting, turn it on/off for testing, or to manually create and add a chapter track manually. If you current app is not setting this automatically, it may be time to get a different utility.

I added chapters to a short .mov file which ( 'Get Info' window) shows "Codecs" to include H264, AAC and QuickTime Text but not the AC3 component.

My workflow is the opposite of yours. I start with DVDs and BDs and convert them to M4V files for my iTunes managed video library. The AC3 track is a secondary "Surround" audio track for TV playback on my home entertainment system. Unless your are creating your own AC3 track during your editing/export process, it will not be present in your files.

Thank you for your detailed response to my text/video track associating questions. I'll look to upgrade my free QuickTime Player 10.4 (integral to OS X 10.11 El Capitan) to QuickTime Pro and see if I can then associate the video track with the text track as you describe.

Only the classic version of QT (i.e., QT 7) can be upgraded to "Pro" use. And, unfortunately, it may have a limited life expectancy since QT X is being developed to replace the older software.

Hopefully the resulting .mov file will, when burnt to DVD, enable the external LG DVD/VPR combo to recognise the separate chapters thereby allowing selection of different play points in the movie via combo's remote.

Since that was key point in your previous posting, I tested "The Hobbit" clip I used as an "Info" window example in the iDVD "Preview" mode before posting my response and markers were correctly recognized on my iMac system under El Capitan.

Have I missed something, please?

As the primary QT X player is installed in the "Applications" folder by default since its introduction in Snow Leopard, the older QT 7 player is automatically installed in the "Applications > Utilities" folder to keep the two separate.

I located QuickTime 7 Player in Applications/Utilties older. I tried to purchase the Pro version but, apparently, the QT 7 Pro version can only be purchased by US residents - my Australian phone area code "is not a valid entry. Please check...".

Unfortunately, I am not familiar with purchase restrictions by country or what purchase alternatives might be available to you. In any case, you are not trying to purchase a "Pro version" but rather a registration key that unlocks the editing features already built into the QT 7 app but that are unavailable without the key. Old FCP software also has the ability to "unlock" these editing features but I don't know if the FCPX version can also do this. Perhaps someone else here can provide more information.

Just went through my "Applications" folder to see what other chaptering apps might be worth trying for you. I have used several ranging from older versions of GarageBand and the free Metadata Hootenanny app to RoadMovie and AVT ChapterIt. Most are a little "clunky," have not been updated for some time, or are no longer supported. In any case, I ran a test on Metadata Hootenanny v2.1 (free app but no longer actively supported) it produced a correctly chaptered file. If interested, here is the link: http://www.applesolutions.com/bantha/MH.html