Quicktime

TechShop: Quicktime Guides

This is a selection of guides on saving, exporting, converting and compressing media files using Quicktime.
To find out more info about Quicktime, check out the application's Help menu or look at the links below.

Simply open your file in Quicktime, or in an application that uses Quicktime such as Final Cut Pro or iMovie, then follow the steps in one of the guides below:

FAQ's

Q: What format (codec) should I use when I export a Quicktime movie?
A: Choose a codec that suits the content of your video, and also what you want to do with it:

  • Use the Animation codec for a high quality movie when the content of your video is mainly animation, illustration, text, etc.
  • Use the DV-PAL codec for a high quality movie when the content of your video is mainly moving image from a video camera, digital camera, mobile phone, etc.
  • Use the H.264 codec for a good quality movie that is a small enough file size to upload to the web or play from a memory stick.

Q: Why does my DV-PAL encoded video appear low quality when played with Quicktime Player?
A: By default, Quicktime Player does not use high quality playback for DV-PAL videos. This is to ensure it plays back smoothly on all computers.

To enable high quality playback in Quicktime:

  1. Open your DV-PAL video in Quicktime
  2. Choose Window > Show Movie Properties
  3. Select the Video Track, click Visual Settings and tick High Quality and Deinterlace:
    DV_HQ.png
  4. Choose File > Save to save these playback settings for this file. This does not alter the quality of the video itself or permanently deinterlace it. It only affects how Quicktime plays this particular file.

Links

Apple's Quicktime webpage
Apple's Quicktime tutorials
Apple's Quicktime support page
Quicktime User Guide

Adding a new Guide ?

In the add a new page type in the following - type quicktime then a : followed by your own page name and click new page like this quicktime:pagename

Last but not least dont forget to add back links (at the bottom) after editing to add the breadcrumbs and link the page on the tech guides (type in Quicktime) page if you have not done so when you created the page.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License