DV format Quicktime issues at DVinfo.net

Simon Wyndham · January 22nd, 2008, 03:45 AM

I've just had to send some Quicktime footage over to a client in the US from XDCAM. This is sort of a Mac/PC crossover problem, so it could really be asked in the PC forum too.

I imported the footage onto my machine using the Sony FCP transfer tool, so no recompression has been applied. I then FTP'd the footage to the client.

Now the issue here, and it is one I used to come across on the PC, is that when you have a Quicktime file that uses the DV25 compression scheme, when you play the footage back in the Quicktime player on a PC, or you import it into a non Apple NLE the footage looks extremely low resolution and very, very highly compressed. However, if you import that same Quicktime footage into an NLE, when you render out a final edited file from the NLE into a different format, such as an AVI file on a PC, or a different Quicktime codec, that same footage looks fine again!

So, the problem here is that the client is complaining that I have sent them low resolution footage when they were expecting the originals (which I have sent!) Now I have to try and convince them that the footage they have received is fine and that they should try a render of the edit whereby they will see that the footage looks okay.

Does anyone know why Quicktime does this?

John Miller · January 22nd, 2008, 07:45 AM

IIRC, Quicktime on the PC is deliberately configured to decode DV to either half or quarter resolution by default. You can change it but I can't recall where within the QT player you do it (it's been many years since I used QT due to it's rather flakey implementation on Windows).

Claire Watson · January 22nd, 2008, 04:13 PM

This problem is with QuickTime Player and is years old, I am surprised it is still going on, it is a year or more since I was working (heavily) with varous QT formats.

Unlike John I found some quite wonderful codecs in QT on the PC and nothing equivalent in AVI format at that time, eg QT PNG or QT Animation, both lossless video compression for archiving or as an intermediate codec for such as After Effects.

If my memory serves me right the PC user needs to purchase the QT Pro licence to access QT Player's "high quality" mode for DV otherwise as John says it defaults to a low quality preview. This is only for DV, seems all other QT codecs are displayed correctly.

Simon, you are correct that an NLE on a PC will be able to view or render it in it's full quality as it's purely a QT Player issue, oh and with QT Player Pro you can select full quality and save it in that fornat, this only changes some flag in the file, no re-rendering so maybe you could do that yourself with QT Player before FTP'ing it?

John Miller · January 22nd, 2008, 05:22 PM

Hi Claire,

Long time, no read. We used to co-habit the EditDV forum - a QT-based NLE and, of course, greatly loved by all its users.

Nice to see your name again.

John.

Claire Watson · January 22nd, 2008, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Miller

Hi Claire,

Long time, no read. We used to co-habit the EditDV forum - a QT-based NLE and, of course, greatly loved by all its users.

Nice to see your name again.

John.

When you mentioned the EditDV forum the penny dropped. How NICE that you are THAT John Miller and good to bump into you here!

January 22nd, 2008, 03:45 AM	#1
Simon Wyndham Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Malvern UK Posts: 1,931	DV format Quicktime issues I've just had to send some Quicktime footage over to a client in the US from XDCAM. This is sort of a Mac/PC crossover problem, so it could really be asked in the PC forum too. I imported the footage onto my machine using the Sony FCP transfer tool, so no recompression has been applied. I then FTP'd the footage to the client. Now the issue here, and it is one I used to come across on the PC, is that when you have a Quicktime file that uses the DV25 compression scheme, when you play the footage back in the Quicktime player on a PC, or you import it into a non Apple NLE the footage looks extremely low resolution and very, very highly compressed. However, if you import that same Quicktime footage into an NLE, when you render out a final edited file from the NLE into a different format, such as an AVI file on a PC, or a different Quicktime codec, that same footage looks fine again! So, the problem here is that the client is complaining that I have sent them low resolution footage when they were expecting the originals (which I have sent!) Now I have to try and convince them that the footage they have received is fine and that they should try a render of the edit whereby they will see that the footage looks okay. Does anyone know why Quicktime does this?

January 22nd, 2008, 04:13 PM	#3
Claire Watson Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Stocksfield, England Posts: 86	This problem is with QuickTime Player and is years old, I am surprised it is still going on, it is a year or more since I was working (heavily) with varous QT formats. Unlike John I found some quite wonderful codecs in QT on the PC and nothing equivalent in AVI format at that time, eg QT PNG or QT Animation, both lossless video compression for archiving or as an intermediate codec for such as After Effects. If my memory serves me right the PC user needs to purchase the QT Pro licence to access QT Player's "high quality" mode for DV otherwise as John says it defaults to a low quality preview. This is only for DV, seems all other QT codecs are displayed correctly. Simon, you are correct that an NLE on a PC will be able to view or render it in it's full quality as it's purely a QT Player issue, oh and with QT Player Pro you can select full quality and save it in that fornat, this only changes some flag in the file, no re-rendering so maybe you could do that yourself with QT Player before FTP'ing it? __________________ Claire

January 22nd, 2008, 07:45 AM	#2
John Miller Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hillsborough, NC, USA Posts: 968	IIRC, Quicktime on the PC is deliberately configured to decode DV to either half or quarter resolution by default. You can change it but I can't recall where within the QT player you do it (it's been many years since I used QT due to it's rather flakey implementation on Windows).

January 22nd, 2008, 05:22 PM	#4
John Miller Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hillsborough, NC, USA Posts: 968	Hi Claire, Long time, no read. We used to co-habit the EditDV forum - a QT-based NLE and, of course, greatly loved by all its users. Nice to see your name again. John.