Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

MARINEOSX · Jul 17, 2006, 03:28 PM

I hope that this is in the right place for this. I have some video footage that I am helpping a friend with and he does not have a Mac. The only thing is that it is a .mpg format. I thought that it would work with quicktime but it does not. some of them just show a white screen and some of them wont even open. some of them will open in VLC and other will play only audio. they will all work on his PC just fine. I thought that Mac's were suppose to be this multimedia Machine. it seems like there is less support for video than there is on windows. is there anything that I can do to fix this? I have already put mpeg2,xvid,divx,zygo,3ivx,appleintermed,divix6 decoder and encoder, and on2vp3 codecs on my machine. i have a powerbook G4 1.67. any help would be great thank you.

wulf · Jul 18, 2006, 04:26 AM

You could try opening them with MPEG Streamclip or ffmpegX. I have also found Gumby useful when working with MPEG files.

badidea · Jul 18, 2006, 04:51 AM

Play them with MPlayerOSX!
If some of the videos still do not work in MPlayerOSX then they are not real MPEG files even though the name might suggest that!

(Note: If a video is called "something.mpg" then it should either be MPEG1 or MPEG2.
MPEG1 should play right away in QT but for MPEG2 you need the mpeg2 plugin which you have to pay for!
VLC and MPlayerOSX play MPEG2 files without the need for this mpeg2 plugin.
If VLC and MPlayerOSX do not play the movie, it's NOT a mpeg movie!)

wulf · Jul 18, 2006, 05:01 AM

Originally Posted by badidea

Play them with MPlayerOSX!

*slaps forehead* Yes! Mplayer! Mplayer should be your first port of call after (if not before) VLC.

MARINEOSX · Jul 18, 2006, 11:33 AM

I dont think you understand what i am trying to do. I have purchased the mpeg2 from apple. I have it listed in the first post. I understand that VLC MPlayer all of those otherones will play files that quicktime does not, however comma pause for effect.... I want to be able to use quicktime player because I have wuicktime pro and want to use the features. Also I need the support so I can use the files in imovie, idvd, finalcut HD and so forth. Also some of the files will not play on vlc either. and they are .mpg and work fine in windows media player. so any insight into how I can make these work in QuickTime would be great.

wulf · Jul 18, 2006, 01:06 PM

Well, initially you did not say you were trying to edit the files, nor do you say what kind of mpegs they are. There are significant differences between MPEG-1, 2 and 4.

It is worth bearing in mind that editing mpeg files will likely cause you problems, whatever software you are using. Mpeg is really intended as a delivery format, used to compress video once it has been edited.

Although there are forms which can be edited (e.g. HDV is based on MPEG-2), I would recommend converting your mpegs to a more edit-friendly format - DV is most straightforward. Whichever format you use you'll want them all the same size and, ideally, bit rate.

All of which makes my initial post even more relevant, see if you can convert your files using MPEG streamclip or ffmpegX. Once your sources are in DV format you can edit them with QT pro, iMovie, whatever, then encode back to a delivery format when you're finished.

plastiqueusa · Jul 18, 2006, 01:22 PM

If you've already installed the Apple MPEG-2 codec (make sure it's the universal codec if you're on an Intel Mac), then try adding the A52 audio codec (search on Versiontracker)--that may be where Qucktime's tripping up. Quicktime plays MPEG files with no problems for me; good luck.

memento · Jul 18, 2006, 03:38 PM

If you can view them on the PC, then look up the details of the files. By all rights, you should be able to play mpeg files with no issue. I suspect that it's not really an MPEG. This has happened to me.

If you want to use them in imovie, etc, then you want to convert them to DV format anyway. Download ffmpegx or visualhub and convert to DV. No quicktime needed.

Uncle Skeleton · Jul 18, 2006, 04:25 PM

Also install flip4mac. It sounds like some of the files at least are not really mpeg (named wrong), and WMV is common on windows these days. Also see here to find out for sure what file type you're working with (it's about avi not mpeg, but it's true for your case as well):

http://www.applesolutions.com/bantha/movieFAQ

MARINEOSX · Jul 20, 2006, 02:17 PM

I am sorry that I gave you the benefit of the dobt and thought that if i listed everything and sid " I am trying to help a friend with his video footage" you would think that maybe I want to edit them. I am glad that you keep telling me the same thing over and over as well. assuming that mpeg streamclip and ffmpeg wich I both have as well as every other media player that I could get my hands on is based using quicktime, which it is on mac. or at least that most tie into the codecs that you have installed. I have tried to play them in everything. I will try the flip for mac. that is a great idea thank you for the help on what could be the problem and not on the common sense crap that you should try first like some have said more than one time. I am not an idiot. and if you say I am you dont know what the hell is causing the problem so shut up wulf. thanks for the help everyone else. i will let you know if that took care of it

MARINEOSX · Jul 20, 2006, 02:24 PM

uncle you were exactly right. I thank you. that was starting to get on my nerves. LOL thanks again. I will have to get the flip4mac.

wulf · Jul 20, 2006, 04:08 PM

Dude, I never implied you were idiot. Sorry if it came across that way.

Glad you found a solution to your problem.

MARINEOSX · Jul 22, 2006, 03:02 PM

its all good man I am sorry if I spazzed out. I have been stuck over here for 6 months already have a little longer and i get to come home for a couple weeks and then I have to go back out. I just get a little crazy sometimes. sorry for being an ass man. LOL thanks for the sugestions.