Quicktime files not importing correctly

[Gabriel Guerrero]

hi John thanks for your reply
I followed your instructions
Under video format says:
XDCAM EX 1080 p24 (35 Mb/s VBR) 484 x272Millions
16bit Integer (Big Endian) Mono 48.000 kHz

The file is 6.77 GB it was recorded with a professional camera and the quality is great. i am able to see it on a mac but when i open on windows quicktime the software ask me to cancel or continue to download something at this website https://www.apple.com/quicktime/resources/components.html?os=Windows&ctype=696d6463&csubtype=78647664
i don’t know which one i have to download of all of those.

[John Rofrano]

[Gabriel Guerrero] “it was recorded with a professional camera and the quality is great. i am able to see it on a mac but when i open on windows quicktime the software ask me to cancel or continue to download something at this website”

Well… you’ve successfully identified the problem. XDCAM EX is normally found in an MP4 container but the Mac puts everything in a QuickTime MOV container.

Here are my guiding principals of acquisition:

1. If you plan to use footage on a PC, you should acquire the footage from the camera on a PC.
2. If you plan to use footage on a Mac, you should acquire the footage from the camera on a Mac.
3. Never under any circumstance, acquire footage on a Mac if you plan to edit it on a PC (the reverse is not always the case).

I’m guessing you acquired the footage on your Mac. Here is something to try: rename the files with a .mp4 extensions instead of .mov and see if Vegas Pro will open them up. It might work because MOV and MP4 and very similar structures. If that doesn’t work, try and find a program on the Mac that an convert them to MP4 files without re-encoding and loosing quality.

If neither of those work, you should do what you should have done to begin with, and that’s go back and re-aquire the footage on your PC from the camera media using Vegas Pro’s menu option View | XDCAM Explorer (Ctrl+Alt+5). This will place the video in an MP4 container. Otherwise Vegas Pro will not be able to edit the footage because you don’t have a QuickTime XDCAM EX codec on your PC (and it may not even exists for the PC).

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Gabriel Guerrero]

Thanks for your reply
The person who shoot the video owns the camera, he used a SD card
then transferred the file to me either on a DVD or copied to a disk.
Is there a way I can re-aquire the footage using this file but from a different source than the camera since i dont have access to that one?

[Mike Kujbida]

Gabriel, I ran into the exact same problem a year or two ago when I used my JVC camera to record in MOV instead of MP4 format. Nothing I tried could get the file to open on a PC until someone suggested the free XDCAM .MOV to .MXF converter from Convergent Design.
https://convergent-design.com/Downloads.aspx#tptab7
Good luck with it.

[John Rofrano]

[Gabriel Guerrero] “Is there a way I can re-aquire the footage using this file but from a different source than the camera since i dont have access to that one?”

No, once it’s been copied into a QuickTime format you’re stuck with it unless you have the original SD card contents.

I would try Mike’s suggestion. If that tool or one like it can’t do it, you’ll need to edit that video on a Mac since you no longer have access to the SD card contents.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Gabriel Guerrero]

Mike thanks so much that worked perfect!
now I have some other clips also on Mov with the same problem
but they are different format

This one is HDV 720p2, 1248×702, Millions 16-bit Integer (Little Endian)
Left 48.000 kHz 16-bit Integer (little Endian), Right 48.000 kHz

how could I get this one on to Vegas?

thanks

[John Rofrano]

[Gabriel Guerrero] “This one is HDV 720p2, 1248×702, Millions 16-bit Integer (Little Endian) Left 48.000 kHz 16-bit Integer (little Endian), Right 48.000 kHz how could I get this one on to Vegas?”

Same thing. You need to find a program to convert them. HDV belongs in an M2T container but once again, the Mac places EVERYTHING in a QuickTime container and the PC does not handle this. I did a quick Google search and most programs place M2T into a MOV container, not the other way around.

I would try MPEG Streamclip, a free converter, found here (https://www.squared5.com/) I don’t know if it will read HDV in a QuickTime container without buying the MPEG2 encoder for QuickTime but it’s worth a try.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Gabriel Guerrero]

hi John
that program didn’t work, i can not play that file on windows,
is there a program may be on mac that i can use to convert it? or other ideas?
thanks a lot

[John Rofrano]

[Gabriel Guerrero] “is there a program may be on mac that i can use to convert it?”

No, I tried it on my Mac and it didn’t work there either. I was hoping the Windows version would work.

[Gabriel Guerrero] “or other ideas?”

Use Apple Compressor ($49 USD) to convert it to ProRes 422 on the Mac. Vegas Pro can read ProRes files just fine.

~jr

http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com

[Gabriel Guerrero]

thanks a lot!