Mov files are not playing

[jjt015]

Hello

i am trying to watch mov files recorded with a canon hd camera
that were first imported via imovie on my mac
when playing them through the boxee i just get the sound (perfect quality) but no image (just the visual equalizer of the sound)
i have been playing heavier files (mts) without any problem
the boxee is connected directly to my mac; i tried to copy a small file on a usb and connect it immediately to the boxee but got the same result
im sure this is not a hardware issue like i said ive been playing much heavier files without any problem


the mediainfo report of one file i tried says the video has a bit rate of
54.6mbps format intermediate codec apple
codec id icod
width 1416 original width 1440
height 1062 original height 1080
constant framerate of 25000fps
bits (pixel/frame) 1452
aspect ratio 16:9

it was playing perfectly on my previous dvico player

help !!!

[darcilicious]

I'm not sure what you mean by "heavier" files but a bit rate of 54.6mbps may be the source of the problem (but that's just my guess). Prospero424 will be able to provide a more expert opinion.

[jjt015]

I AM POSTING THIS ONES MORE HOPING SOMEONE WILL HELP ME AS LAST TIME I ONLY GOT ONE ANSWER AND DID NOT FIND A SOLUTION...

Hello

i am trying to watch mov files recorded with a canon hd camera
that were first imported via imovie on my mac
when playing them through the boxee i just get the sound (perfect quality) but no image (just the visual equalizer of the sound)
i have been playing heavier files (mts) without any problem
the boxee is connected directly to my mac; i tried to copy a small file on a usb and connect it immediately to the boxee but got the same result
im sure this is not a hardware issue like i said ive been playing much heavier files without any problem


the mediainfo report of one file i tried says the video has a bit rate of
54.6mbps format intermediate codec apple
codec id icod
width 1416 original width 1440
height 1062 original height 1080
constant framerate of 25000fps
bits (pixel/frame) 1452
aspect ratio 16:9

it was playing perfectly on my previous dvico player

help !!!

[Prospero424]

.MOV is just a container. It can contain video streams in any number of formats (codecs).

The problem is that this file uses the ICOD (Apple Intermediate Codec) format, which is a Mac-only format and didn't really enjoy widespread adoption. It's not supported on most non-Mac platforms.

You'll have to convert the video to a different format, and hopefully one that uses a more reasonable bitrate.

There's a Handbrake encoding guide for doing this in my signature. The quality loss should be unnoticeable, and the file size will be much, MUCH lower. You can convert it to an AVC-based .mp4 or .mkv and it will play just fine on Boxee.

In general, it's not really feasible to use the raw video from an HD camera for presentation. They use bitrates and formats that are intended for editing and primary archival, not for presentation. They're intended to be imported into a video editing suite (like iMovie or Final Cut) and then output/exported to standardized formats and bitrates before being used for normal playback.

[jjt015]

Thank you so much
jj

[Prospero424]

Sure thing!

Additionally, it may be easier for you to simply export directly from iMovie to a different format rather than exporting to ICOD and then using Handbrake to transcode. Here's a guide I found for advanced ("expert") export settings. It details exporting to h.264, which is perfect for Boxee.

[jjt015]

Thank you

unfortunately when i try to upload the source mov in handbrake it says "no valid source found" (although the file is playing perfectly on my mac)
any idea ?

[Prospero424]

You can try changing the extension to .avi. If that doesn't work, you may have to export in a different format from iMovie or try a different encoding program.

[jjt015]

THANKS PROSPERO
I USED IMOVIE TO EXPORT SOME MOV FILES USING THE H264 SYSTEM AND IT PLAYED FINE
JUST A LAST QUESTION
WHAT KIND OF BITRATE WOULD YOU SUGGEST ME TO USE ?
ALL MY MOVIES ARE ORIBIALLY AROUND 55mbps SO FAR WITH A FRAME RATE OF 25 MOST OF THE TIME
THEY WERE ALL SHOOT IN 1440*1080 OR EVEN 1920*1080
NOW I HAVE NO STORAGE PROBLEM AT ALL (OVER 20TB OF DISK SPACE) AND THE CABLING I USE IS REALLY OF GOOD QUALITY . SPECIALLY INTENDED TO STREAM HD MOVIES
MY TV IS A FULL HD SAMSUNG LED
MY EQUIPMENT IS QUITE GOOD ACTUALLY

COULD I KEEP THE SAME SETTINGS AS IN THE ORIGINAL FILE AND JUST CHANGE THE CODEC TO H264 (IT DID REDUCE THE FILE SIZE BY ROUGHLY 50% WHEN I TRIED ON A SHORT CLIP) OR DO YOU SUGGEST ME TO REDUCE THE BITRATE OR DO OTHER CHANGES WITHOUT AFFECTING TOO MUCH THE QUALITY OF COURSE

PS SORRY FOR MY ENGLISH IM DUTCH ...

THX A LOT

[Prospero424]

For 1080p movies I'd suggest anywhere from 8,000-15,000Kbps (8-15Mbps), depending on your priorities and the compressibility of the video. Since space isn't a concern for you, it'd be safe to start out at ~12Mbps.

55Mbps is definitely overkill.

As for settings: all of that is covered in detail in my guide(s) in my signature. In short, it's best to use the original frame rate rather than changing it, set iMovie to use best quality during encoding, don't resize the movie by changing the resolution, and do a multi-pass encode. Deinterlacing will almost certainly be unnecessary in your case.

Also, you MAY be able to simply pull the raw video off of your camcorder (it should have a .mt2s or .mts or .dv extension) and point Handbrake at that instead of a .mov; bypassing iMovie altogether. This will allow you to use my encoding presets, making the choice of advanced settings much easier, and will result in better quality as an intermediate step is removed. Just an option to try.