Why do my Quicktime movies look so pixelated? at DVinfo.net

Marco Leavitt · February 25th, 2009, 11:20 PM

The same quicktime footage encoded and burned to DVD plays back much, much better on my iMac. Why is that? If I play the Quicktime file directly it looks very pixelated. I don't like to let clients see footage played back in FinalCut or Quicktime player for this reason, and it's a hassle burning everything to DVD everytime I want to show it. Can anyone explain why this is happening? Footage is originating on an XL2.

Aric Mannion · February 27th, 2009, 01:29 PM

In quicktime open the movie's properties window (command+J), click on the video track, click the Visual Settings tab, on the bottom right you can check high quality. Then save. Be careful when you save, because it will also save where you are in the movie's timeline; so the next time you open it, the movie won't start from the beginning.
If you look at the visual settings and the high quality box is already checked, it means that your preferences are set to play back HQ by default... I think it's safest to have HQ OFF in the preferences, so that the pixelated video reminds you to check and save high quality -so when you give it to a client you are sure it will open in HQ.

Marco Leavitt · February 27th, 2009, 01:40 PM

Thanks Aric. That did it. I'm puzzled why Apple would have it default to lower quality playback. Bizarre.

February 25th, 2009, 11:20 PM	#1
Marco Leavitt Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Albany, NY 12210 Posts: 2,652	Why do my Quicktime movies look so pixelated? The same quicktime footage encoded and burned to DVD plays back much, much better on my iMac. Why is that? If I play the Quicktime file directly it looks very pixelated. I don't like to let clients see footage played back in FinalCut or Quicktime player for this reason, and it's a hassle burning everything to DVD everytime I want to show it. Can anyone explain why this is happening? Footage is originating on an XL2.

February 27th, 2009, 01:29 PM	#2
Aric Mannion Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Boston, Massachusetts Posts: 616	In quicktime open the movie's properties window (command+J), click on the video track, click the Visual Settings tab, on the bottom right you can check high quality. Then save. Be careful when you save, because it will also save where you are in the movie's timeline; so the next time you open it, the movie won't start from the beginning. If you look at the visual settings and the high quality box is already checked, it means that your preferences are set to play back HQ by default... I think it's safest to have HQ OFF in the preferences, so that the pixelated video reminds you to check and save high quality -so when you give it to a client you are sure it will open in HQ.

February 27th, 2009, 01:40 PM	#3
Marco Leavitt Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Albany, NY 12210 Posts: 2,652	Thanks Aric. That did it. I'm puzzled why Apple would have it default to lower quality playback. Bizarre.