Up: SGI movie Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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Subject: -2- I cannot play a QuickTime movie on my Silicon Graphics
computer. How can I make it work?
Date: Thu May 2 16:33:54 PDT 1996
Here is a checklist of things to try:
- You should be using the 5.1 MR version of the OS or later. Later
versions, in particular Irix 6.2 support more QuickTime files.
- The QT movie must be "flattened". Use the Apple Movie Converter
program and choose BOTH "Make playable on non-Apple systems" and
"Make self-contained" in the Save As dialog. The file must
also be compressed with an algorithm we support. For example,
do not choose "Cinepak" or "Compact Video".
- Try changing the compression to something else, say "none" to see
if that may be the problem.
SGI has licensed the QuickTime movie file format and three
compressors from Apple. In IRIX releases 5.1 through 5.3, you can
display QuickTime movies compressed with the RLE or RPZA algorithms
(Apple Graphics and Apple Video) with the bundled SGI movieplayer.
If you have IRIX 5.3, you can download the Digital Media Tools 5.5
product. This will allow you to create and view QuickTime movies
using Cinepak compression, and it can also read QuickTime movies on
Macintosh filesystems which have not been "flattened". See the first
question in this FAQ for information on downloading the tools.
If you have IRIX 6.2, CinePak and Indeo3.2 decompressors are included.
The CinePak compressor requires a license which is included with SGI's
WebForce software product.
Prior to OS release 6.2, the SGI movie tools did not support QuickTime
movies which contain an edit list; version 6.2 and beyond supports
QuickTime movies with edit lists, and with multiple image tracks.
Typically, a QuickTime file on the Macintosh stores all of the movie
parameters and header information in the resource fork, and the
actual media (sound + video) in the data fork. To be used on a
computer which has a conventional file system (such as the Indigo),
you must first "flatten" the movie on the Macintosh before
transferring it to the Indigo. This is what the "Make playable on
non-Apple systems" option in the Apple Movie Converter does.
The Apple Movie Converter is part of the QuickTime Starter Kit, a
software package sold by Apple Computer for Macintosh systems. It is
available from retail software distributors.
Up: SGI movie Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Next: -3- I cannot play a QuickTime movie created on a Silicon Graphics computer on my Macintosh. How can I make it work?
Previous: -1- Is there a QuickTime movieplayer available for SGI?