QuickTime Category

Apple releases ProRes codecs for non-FCP machines

A couple of days ago, Apple released Apple ProRes QuickTime Decoder 1.0 for Mac and Apple ProRes QuickTime Decoder 1.0 for Windows. This allows Windows users and Mac users without Final Cut Pro 6 installed on their machines to view ProRes-encoded files. This is great because in my experience, there are very few options when it comes to sending high-quality files to Windows machines and it should aid adoption of the ProRes format.

It should be noted, however, that you still need Final Cut Pro 6 in order to write ProRes files.

P.S. Sorry for the lack of updates but I haven't had internet access in about a month, which sucks big time.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Saturday August 30 2008 9:53 AM to Video Editing, Apple, QuickTime
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QuickTime 7.5 released

"QuickTime 7.5 improves application compatibility and addresses security issues."

The timing suggests it is related to the recent iPhone announcements so I doubt this patch does much for ProApp users.

I have heard reports of crashes, choppiness and missing audio although of course your mileage may vary. It is always better to sit on updates for a while to check for problems before installing. I would not advise installing this one though because it probably won't offer ProApp users anything new.

And remember the Golden Rules - never update in the middle of a project and always have a clone.

Edit: This update points directly to the QuickTime site rather than a specific file on the server. This makes me think that Apple will no longer be keeping old versions around so make sure to back this up.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Monday June 9 2008 11:54 PM to Apple, Software, QuickTime
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Why does QuickTime report a different resolution?

Ever wondered why QuickTime reports a completely different resolution to the one you exported at?



Welcome to the world of non-square pixels. NTSC and PAL use rectangular pixels to fill up space on the screen and save transmission bandwidth, which was more of an issue when the standards were invented. Computer monitors use square pixels and so QuickTime has to squeeze one side of the image in order to prevent it looking stretched. This is purely for display and the file is not modified.

The pixel aspect ratio of NTSC footage is 0.889 meaning 720 x 0.889 = 640 so it is displayed at 640x480. For PAL it is 1.067 so 720 x 1.067 = 768 and it is displayed at 768x576.

QuickTime also has some options for controlling how the movie is displayed. Open up your movie, go to Window > Show Movie Properties and click on the Presentation tab.

You will see an option marked "Conform aperture to:" with the following options:

Classic - Classic is identical to having the conform aperture setting switched off.




Clean - Scales the image to compensate for the pixel aspect ratio and crops it to mimic the overscan on a broadcast monitor.




Production - Scales the image to compensate for the pixel aspect ratio but does not crop the image.




Encoded Pixels - No modification is made to the footage. Note the stretching caused by non-square pixels.




This is one of the many reasons why a broadcast monitor is essential.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Sunday April 13 2008 3:02 AM to Video Editing, Analysis, QuickTime
9 comments Posted Permalink

QuickTime 7.4.5 released

Apple just released QuickTime 7.4.5 to coincide with the release of iTunes 7.6.2 and Front Row 2.1.3. The coincidence of these releases suggests that the QT update specifically affects those applications and offers no specific benefits to Final Cut Studio. If you have a working system, DON'T install it!

On the other hand, if your system is not working, you have nothing to lose. I'd advise cloning your system beforehand though, as a non-working system could potentially be made even worse by this update.

Here are the links... use at your peril!
QuickTime 7.4.5 for Panther
QuickTime 7.4.5 for Tiger
QuickTime 7.4.5 for Leopard

I have also updated our list of QuickTime downloads.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Thursday April 3 2008 12:17 AM to Video Editing, Apple, QuickTime
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Using Pacifist to downgrade QuickTime

Since I often need to use this information for reference, I am posting a guide here. As you may already be aware, certain versions of QuickTime can cause havoc with Final Cut Pro and other professional applications like After Effects. For example, many users of FCP 4.5 HD have been unable to capture long clips after installing QuickTime 7.3 and up.

Apple does not offer a means of uninstalling a rogue version of QuickTime so the solution is rather "hacky". It will solve the problem but for best results, you are recommended to perform a full Erase and Install to reinstall Mac OS X.

Also, don't perform this process unless it is absolutely necessary.

1. Download Pacifist.

2. Check which version of QuickTime works best with your software.

3. Download the version of QuickTime you wish to downgrade to.

4. Start up Pacifist and drag the QuickTime package onto the Pacifist logo in the main window.



5. A new window will pop up. Use the disclosure triangles to select the following two directories:
System/Library/Components
System/Library/QuickTime



It might be worth backing up the existing /System/Library/Components and /System/Library/QuickTime directories on your hard disk before performing this.

6. Now click Install up the top.

7. You will get this message, click Install and then type in your admin password:



8. It will spend a minute or so extracting and verifying files then this message will appear:



Click "Don't ask again for this installation" and then hit Replace.

9. When it finishes, restart your machine. If you go to QuickTime Player, it will still say the version number of the old version but if you open Final Cut Pro, it will now work as it did previously.

Full credit for this tip goes to Fred Turner.

Edit 2/17/08: Fixed a couple of errors.

Update 11/16/08: Erik Smith sent me another solution to the issue, although I would definitely say try it at your own risk.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Friday February 15 2008 10:00 AM to Apple, Final Cut Studio, QuickTime
17 comments Posted Permalink

QuickTime 7.4.1

Apple today released an update to QuickTime, to bring it up to version 7.4.1. This update "addresses security issues and improves compatibility with third-party applications".

The big question everyone is asking is: does it fix the dreaded After Effects 10 minute rendering bug? Initial testing would indicate yes.

As always, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And definitely don't install it if you have a Final Cut Pro version lower than 6.0.2.

QuickTime 7.4.1 for Leopard
QuickTime 7.4.1 for Tiger
QuickTime 7.4.1 for Panther

Update: Macworld claims that an Apple spokesperson confirmed to them that this fixes the After Effects issue.

Update 2/7/08: Adobe confirms this.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Wednesday February 6 2008 4:42 PM to Video Editing, Apple, QuickTime
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Recommended QuickTime and Mac OS configurations for Final Cut Pro

As the recent QuickTime 7.3 and 7.4 updates show, it is important to choose your Mac OS and QuickTime configurations carefully to match your Final Cut Pro version.

I have been developing this list of optimal configurations for a while now. It is based on my own experiences and the recommendations of others. As such, it is somewhat subjective. If your own experiences differ, feel free to let me know and I will update the page.

Note: This page is designed to give the most compatible configurations for old versions of Final Cut Pro. If you have the latest version of FCP, you should simply use the latest OS X and QuickTime versions. But don't upgrade in the middle of a project.

Final Cut Pro VersionMac OS VersionQuickTime Version
6.0.610.5.87.6.6
6.0.510.5.67.5.5
6.0.410.5.57.5.5
6.0.310.4.11 / 10.5.27.4.5
6.0.210.4.11 / 10.5.17.3.1
5.1.410.4.117.1.6
5.0.410.4.117.1.6
4.510.3.96.5
3.0.410.2.8 Update 26.2
3.010.2.8 Update 25.0.6
2.0.29.2.25.0.1
1.2.59.2.24.1.3
1.2.18.64.1.1
1.0.18.64.0.3
1.08.64b16

Posted by Jon Chappell on Friday January 25 2008 8:15 AM to Apple, Final Cut Studio, QuickTime
22 comments Posted Permalink

Workarounds for the QuickTime 7.4 rendering issues in After Effects

I have heard claims that it is caused by DRM and I have heard claims that it is just a case of adjusting a preference.

The preference in question is the "Show legacy encoders" option. Unfortunately I can't test this out myself as I don't have the CS3 version of AE and I wouldn't really want to install QT 7.4 even if I did. However, people are reporting that adjusting this preference makes no difference. I would imagine that this is correct, as the option simply shows and hides encoders in the QuickTime menus.

This problem only affects sequences longer than 9:59 (I have also heard 9:57 but it doesn't make much difference) in length. If you are exporting sequences shorter than this, you will not be affected.

The bug only affects QuickTime exports. A workaround is to export to an image sequence (I recommend TIFFs). Final Cut Pro doesn't work well with image sequences and it will really slow down your timeline, so I recommend then converting the images to a movie in QuickTime.

To do this, fire up QuickTime and go to File > Open Image Sequence. Choose the first frame of the sequence and click Open. Select your desired frame rate and click Ok.

You now have two options: you can go to File > Save As and save it as a self-contained movie or the second option is to go to File > Export and choose an export format. The former will make no changes to the quality of the images and the second one will recompress it to a given format (such as DV). The latter option is recommended if you are placing it in a Final Cut Pro sequence, as it will not require rendering if you match the sequence settings.

This workaround can be applied to any application that is having difficulties with the latest QuickTime update.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Thursday January 24 2008 1:37 AM to Apple, Visual Effects, QuickTime
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Using QuickTime 7.4 with Final Cut Pro 6

I've seen a lot of questions about this lately. Some people have tried installing QuickTime 7.4 in order to fix problems they were experiencing with Final Cut Studio. There is no need to install QuickTime 7.4 on your Final Cut Pro machine as the 7.4 update does not offer any new features relevant to Final Cut. In fact, it causes a lot of incompatibilities with non-Apple software.

You should only install a QuickTime update when you are updating Final Cut Pro and the FCP update demands a later version of QuickTime. It is best not to do this in the middle of a project, and make sure you have a clone of your current system before you do so.

I understand that some people use their machines for multiple purposes and the temptation to install QuickTime 7.4 in order to get iTunes movie rentals must be great. I would advise people in this situation to at least wait for a 7.4.1 patch before upgrading. The bugs in the current release mean that such a patch is likely. Don't forget to clone your drive before you do it.

And don't install it at all unless you have the very latest version of Final Cut Pro (6.0.2) or it will break your Final Cut Pro installation.

Posted by Jon Chappell on Wednesday January 23 2008 11:46 AM to Apple, Final Cut Studio, QuickTime
0 comments Posted Permalink

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