Weird Quicktime behavior

[Starcrash]

I received QT movies from the picture editor that look pixellated in PT and Quicktime, but look great in other apps like MPEG Streamclip. Anyone ever come across this? I'll throw out some clues and maybe it will ring a bell with someone. Could it be an interlace/ progressive thing or even/ odd field order dominance? I'll run some more tests, but I was hoping a light bulb would go off for someone.

In PT and QT, the video looks bad.

As a test, I transcoded a clip using H.264 (medium quality) and suddenly the picture looks great.

I opened the reel in MPEG Streamclip and the picture looks great.

QT info:
Kind: Quicktime movie
Size: 3.09 GB
Dimensions: 720x480
Codec: DV/DVCPRO - NTSC

PT info: various different machines, versions of 7.x, HD and LE

[Starcrash]

Update:

Ok, so I opened the reel in MPEG Streamclip and did a simple save as... (no change, not an export) and now it looks great in QTPro, but still grungy in PT.

Next, I found the checkbox in PTLE 7.3 prefs called "High Quality QuickTime Image". Problem solved. I don't remember this checkbox in other versions. Did it exist pre-7.3? I do remember the QT playback priority pull-down menu (which I usually leave set to "Medium"). If I import the old grungy vid in PT and have the box checked, it looks great.

Still, I can't figure out why QTPro is displaying the original movie so badly and doing a simple "save as..." in MPEG Streamclip suddenly turns a pickle into a cucumber. I'm stumped. Is there some kind of metadata flag in the QT mov that tells the QT player to display at low quality? Did "saving as..." in MPEG Streamclip strip out the flag for QTPro playback, but not for PT which has the manual control checkbox?


Rundown:

Old grungy vid = bad in QTPro, bad in PT, good in MPEG Streamclip
Old Vid saved in MPEG Streamclip= good in QTPro, bad in PT
Both with "High Quality QuickTime Image" checked = good in PT

[Starcrash]

I'm just going to sit here and reply to my own posts.

I found the checkbox in QTPro called "Use high-quality video setting when available".

Thanks for the help, DUC's!

[sleadley]

Not much to say really. But Thanks for the Heads up
Simon L.

[Starcrash]

Sooo...I guess that the "High Quality QuickTime Image" checkbox is a 7.3 thing. I just checked it at work (HD 7.2) and picture is grungy, no checkbox. It plays clear as a bell at home (LE 7.3). I have the QTPro "Use high-quality video setting when available" checked and still no go. Any ideas?

[lode]

I just saw your monologue about QT. Sorry I didn't reply sooner.

Highquality playback of QTs came with 7.3 It worked fine in 6.x, but stopped working from 7.0 to 7.2

http://duc.digidesign.com/showflat.p...rt=&PHPSESSID=

[Starcrash]

Wow. Thanks, Lode. I suppose it's often best to find the solutions to one's problems on his own. I guess that's what the "Search" function is for, right?

Actually, I would have never thought to look in the Windows forum. Strange that it only seemed to be a Windows issue in that thread. I'm only working on Macs. I'm also surprised that this never came up for me before and, as far as I know, has never been discussed here in the Post forum.

Does this only affect DV-encoded movies? I usually ask for Motion JPEG-A, anyway.

[David Sandwisch]

Dude if I had read this earlier I would have walked to the other side of the building and shown you the setting Sorry I haven't been checking the DUC frequently enough lately.

[Starcrash]

Dude, there is no setting in 7.2! That's the problem. The High Quality checkbox in prefs is new in 7.3. The High Quality checkbox is engaged in QT, but it doesn't affect the picture in PT 7.2 for some reason. You must be thinking of the Playback Priority pulldown menu. I already knew about that one.