OT: You OS/X Users...question for ya...

[Fairlight]

This public service announcement was brought to you by Bill Campbell:
> On Tue, Feb 27, 2007, Fairlight wrote:
> >Is it preferable to have .mov videos for Mac?  I heard they made great
> >strides in being able to play .wmv now, but I'm just wondering, because the
> >option is open to me to obtain a codec to do that as well.
> 
> I'm hardly an expert in video for anything so take this with a grain of
> salt.
> 
> The .mov QuickTime format may well be the best on Macs as it's the native
> format if you will.
> 
> WMV files are now supported under QuickTime using flip4mac, available from
> versiontracker.com, and, I think, from Microsoft.
> 
> I generally avoid using any Microsoft proprietary binary formats if at all
> possible.

I broke down and got QT7.1 Pro and the re-encoder for my video
converter.  Interestingly, QT looks like it converts it directly in just
seconds...maybe 10 seconds to convert 85MB or so.  And then when I tried
converting with my converter, it went on for an hour and a half.  The
difference?  QT Pro just "wraps" the current content from an AVI into MOV
format--it "flattens" it into that format, which is kind of like AVI in
that it can contain damned near any codecs, both audio and video.  When I
did it through the converter, it hard-recoded it into pure H.264 video and
IMA 4:1 audio.  There's a definite difference, in that you won't need extra
codecs like the original ADPCM or MS Video 1 (in this particular case)
from the original AVI to play it...what I got makes it a truly native MOV
without just faking the conversion.  You can tell if you look at File
Information in QT Player.  It's something to definitely watch out for if
someone wants to make MOV's.  Just having QT Pro won't help you make
-native- ones, from what I've tried so far.  It cheats.

The MOV comes out a bit bigger than the WM9.  Maybe -slightly- better video
encoding on it.  When zipped, they're within 1MB of each other, give or
take.  Overall, WM9 and H.264 are the best codecs on their respective
platforms, having tried...a cartload.

Now I have both formats available at: 

http://onegate.fairlite.com/fp30minweb.shtml

At least now I feel like I have the whole bloody arsenal of encoders at my
disposal.  I feel prepared to encode the world!  :) :) :)

Only slightly annoyed that it takes 28min to encode a WMP, but 1:30:00+ to
encode a MOV.  Still...at least it's doable, with comparable quality and
size.  The result is the important thing.

> Stuffit isn't used much any more, with most things being distributed as zip

I keep looking at Stuffit.  I like the idea of handling all the formats,
but also the self-extracting executable maker all under the same roof for
50% of the cost of WinZip's SEA creator.  When it comes time to get a new
WinZip, if ever, I'm switching.  Stuffit had a LOT more features.

The only thing that makes me pause is that it seems like it'll do Win32
SEA's but not necessarily Mac SEA's if you have the 'doze version.  If I
knew for sure it did -both-, I'd get it now.  Selecting your bootstrapper
would just rock.

> These aren't your father's Macs any more :-).

My father would have gone through a crate of mice out of frustration.  :)
He really dislikes computers.  Came to tolerate them, but like?  Never.

I still remember the original footprint Mac.  Had a teacher whose husband
was a dealer and service rep.  Their authorised service centre status
entitled them to something like a $600 piece of plastic that was the key to
open the darned things safely.

My favourite was the Mac IIcx.  Slower, but more stable than the PowerMacs.
They looked a lot nicer than anything until the G3/G4 models came out, too.

mark->
-- 
Fairlight->   ||| Eagles may soar, but weasels don't | Fairlight Consulting
  __/\__      ||| get sucked into jet engines.       |
 <__<>__>     |||                                    | http://www.fairlite.com
    \/        |||                                    | info at fairlite.com