Quicktime settings for Mac + PC? at DVinfo.net

Justin DeAre · September 6th, 2005, 03:00 PM

I have a short sequence in Final Cut Express HD that I need to put on a CD so it can played on a PC laptop. I exported it to Quicktime but I used H.264 (it was the default, and I haven't heard of the others) and it won't play on the PC. What encoder is the one to use for universal compatibility (quality would be good too)? I'd be happy to experiment but I don't have a PC to test the various encodings on and I'm kind of running out of time on this one.

FWIW, it's an ~5 minute clip. I was able to export it for the web successfully, also.

Thanks!

Meryem Ersoz · September 6th, 2005, 03:56 PM

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/preview/

you can just download QT 7 for the PC instead of re-compressing. or you can re-compress--having researched this a bit (thanks again, dave!), sorenson 3 or mp4 seems to be able to reach most viewers in the most backwardly compatible way, if you decide you need to re-compress.

only a few PC techno-geeks seem to have QT 7 access, to date....

personally, having experimented, i still think QT 7 H.264 is way better than some of those other hunka-junk formats...it compresses tighter, runs more smoothly. the drawback is it is not a standard yet.

Les Wilson · September 6th, 2005, 06:02 PM

Justin,
Maryem is correct. Export use "MPEG4-Video" or Sorenson 3. You can save yourself some headaches by first selecting the preset LAN/Intranet and then click the Options and then the Video buttons to get at where you can change the Compression type.

As far as terminology goes, H.264 is a standard but what Maryem meant was that it isn't widely adopted yet. It will improve greatly when QT 7 for Windows comes out. It provides superb results.

Justin DeAre · September 6th, 2005, 07:42 PM

Thanks guys! It's a long story, but basically when I get to where the laptop is, there is no internet access, and since it's a hospital room I don't wanna be messing around with the computer. So it has to play in QT6. For some reason I thought H.264 would play on that but who knows why I thought that.

The H.264-encoded video does look superb on my Mac though... :)

Anyway, thanks again. My grandfather will appreciate it!

Dan Euritt · September 6th, 2005, 08:14 PM

justin, the last time i looked, qt 7 beta for the pc was released weeks ago... so you should be able to download it without installing it, and burn the install to a cd, so that it could be installed on his laptop on location.

h.264 is so much better than the other qt codecs that it's worth investigating... the only downside is that h.264 has greater overhead than other pc codecs of comparable quality, so if his laptop is really old, there could be an issue there... you also might have to copy the video file off to his local hard drive to get it to play back fast enuf.

September 6th, 2005, 03:00 PM	#1
Justin DeAre Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Wheaton, IL Posts: 42	Quicktime settings for Mac + PC? I have a short sequence in Final Cut Express HD that I need to put on a CD so it can played on a PC laptop. I exported it to Quicktime but I used H.264 (it was the default, and I haven't heard of the others) and it won't play on the PC. What encoder is the one to use for universal compatibility (quality would be good too)? I'd be happy to experiment but I don't have a PC to test the various encodings on and I'm kind of running out of time on this one. FWIW, it's an ~5 minute clip. I was able to export it for the web successfully, also. Thanks!

September 6th, 2005, 03:56 PM	#2
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/preview/ you can just download QT 7 for the PC instead of re-compressing. or you can re-compress--having researched this a bit (thanks again, dave!), sorenson 3 or mp4 seems to be able to reach most viewers in the most backwardly compatible way, if you decide you need to re-compress. only a few PC techno-geeks seem to have QT 7 access, to date.... personally, having experimented, i still think QT 7 H.264 is way better than some of those other hunka-junk formats...it compresses tighter, runs more smoothly. the drawback is it is not a standard yet.

September 6th, 2005, 06:02 PM	#3
Les Wilson Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Boca Raton, FL Posts: 3,014	Justin, Maryem is correct. Export use "MPEG4-Video" or Sorenson 3. You can save yourself some headaches by first selecting the preset LAN/Intranet and then click the Options and then the Video buttons to get at where you can change the Compression type. As far as terminology goes, H.264 is a standard but what Maryem meant was that it isn't widely adopted yet. It will improve greatly when QT 7 for Windows comes out. It provides superb results.

September 6th, 2005, 07:42 PM	#4
Justin DeAre Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Wheaton, IL Posts: 42	Thanks guys! It's a long story, but basically when I get to where the laptop is, there is no internet access, and since it's a hospital room I don't wanna be messing around with the computer. So it has to play in QT6. For some reason I thought H.264 would play on that but who knows why I thought that. The H.264-encoded video does look superb on my Mac though... :) Anyway, thanks again. My grandfather will appreciate it!

September 6th, 2005, 08:14 PM	#5
Dan Euritt Trustee Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Carlsbad CA Posts: 1,132	justin, the last time i looked, qt 7 beta for the pc was released weeks ago... so you should be able to download it without installing it, and burn the install to a cd, so that it could be installed on his laptop on location. h.264 is so much better than the other qt codecs that it's worth investigating... the only downside is that h.264 has greater overhead than other pc codecs of comparable quality, so if his laptop is really old, there could be an issue there... you also might have to copy the video file off to his local hard drive to get it to play back fast enuf.