quicktime video choppy

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quicktime video choppy

I use quicktime 7.1.5 on my iBook G-4 and the video is choppy... voice doesn't match picture and skips a little. The same material on dvd runs without any problem on my iMac G-5. Is it more likely a problem with the software or with the drive on the G-4? Should I try to reinstall quicktime? Can I download this from the support site? If not a software problem, is there anything I can do at little expense.

ibook g-4, Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Posted on Apr 26, 2007 9:34 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 26, 2007 10:10 AM in response to johnny semi

No, don't reinstall.

Can you give a little more info on the video in question?

Fomat: .mov?
Codec: h.264?
Size xy: 720 pixels by 480 pixels

More info on you computer.

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Answer 2

George F

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Apr 26, 2007 10:31 AM in response to David M Brewer

I have a similar problem. Player is Quicktime 7.1.5

Format .mp4
Codec mp4v
Size 544x416
Frame Rate 25

computer is new Intel-based Mac Mini

Video playback is choppy and has green and purple artifacts. I tried playing it back with another program called VLC and it played fine. All other videos I have with the extension .avi play fine in Quicktime. Do I need to get a plug-in for Quicktime to play .mp4 files?

Intel Mac Mini Mac OS X (10.4.9)

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Answer 3

johnny semi Author

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Apr 26, 2007 6:16 PM in response to David M Brewer

Can you give a little more info on the video in question?

Fomat: .mov? My format is MP4; is that the same as .mov?
Codec: h.264? I could not locate this.
Size xy: 720 pixels by 480 pixels... size is 640 x 480

The video was made on a Sanyo Camcorder, Xacti VPCC 6

More info on you computer.
The computer it does not run on, the G-4, is 1.42 gh2 with 1GB DDR S DRAM

thanks for your thoughts

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Answer 4

Apr 26, 2007 6:43 PM in response to johnny semi

Your iMac G4 is too underpowered to view that dimension H.264 Video file.
The DVD version would be MPEG-2 and your machine wouldn't have any troubles.

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Answer 5

Apr 26, 2007 7:19 PM in response to johnny semi

Just to confirm that your computer is underpowered to view that dimension. Try viewing on of the trailer on Apples web site.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/

Pick one of the HD trailers, size 480p.

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Answer 6

johnny semi Author

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Apr 26, 2007 7:27 PM in response to David M Brewer

The trailer played fine with no problem...

How can I determine if my format is H.264? Does this matter?

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Answer 7

Apr 26, 2007 8:52 PM in response to johnny semi

Look under info in the menu....If you have Quicktime pro look under properties.

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Answer 8

johnny semi Author

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Apr 27, 2007 5:08 AM in response to David M Brewer

I don't have quicktime pro. There is no info command in the normal place. The info command on the movie does not mention H.264. Any other suggestions?

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Answer 9

Apr 27, 2007 5:14 AM in response to johnny semi

Open the file using QuickTime Player.
Under the Window menu choose Movie Info.

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Answer 10

johnny semi Author

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Apr 27, 2007 5:28 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

The relevant portions show:
Format: Apple MPEG4 Decompressor, 640x480 Millions
AAC, Stereo (LR), 48.000kHz
FPS: 29.97
Playing FPS 22.96
Data Size 668.43 MB (just happened to be a big file, small ones have same problem
Data Rate: 3080.16 kbits/sec
Normal Size 640 x 480

One other comment. I had been trying with great difficulty to edit my videos with Imovie and my recollection is that is when I started having problems with the videos generally. I never attempted editing on my G-5 and never had any problems playing the raw video.

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Answer 11

Apr 27, 2007 1:05 PM in response to johnny semi

Not H.264 Video but the file has a very high data rate.
The one shows 29:97 as a frame rate yet you barely get 23 frames per second during playback.
Because your computer can't decode the file fast enough is the reason you're not getting the proper frame rate during playback.
Without a proper frame rate the video will appear choppy.

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Answer 12

Apr 27, 2007 9:17 PM in response to johnny semi

I have an ibook G3 14 inch 700mhz processor, 640 RAM. I can't get movies to play in quick time, but they play on the dvd player fine. In quick time, the video is very choppy and then stops while the audio goes for a little while longer until it eventually starts to get choppy. How would I be able to rip movies so that thay they are on my harddrive and play through the dvd player so that I can save some battery life?

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Answer 13

johnny semi Author

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Apr 28, 2007 6:41 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

ok makes sense, thanks. One last matter that still puzzles me. I was able to run these videos 8 or 10 months ago without problem. About 3 or 4 months ago, they stopped running smoothly, so I ignored it and used by
G-5, 1.8 gighz which worked fine. I tried again today on the G-4 after closing all the other applications and still have choppy video. Any idea what changed?

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Answer 14

johnny semi Author

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Apr 29, 2007 9:25 AM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Found this related pod cast from David Bankston and thought it was really helpful:
http://web.mac.com/bankman2/iWeb/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html

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Answer 15

Apr 29, 2007 9:38 AM in response to johnny semi

I would have a hard time taking serious anyone that can't even properly compress a file for Web playback. Audio track is "raw data" and that makes his mono audio track as big in file size as the video track.

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