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Same .mov file behaves differently in Mocha on two machines
Here’s the dealio: I have a desktop computer and just got a new laptop, both running Win 8.1 with all updates. I am subscribed to Adobe cloud, so I have the exact same versions of AE on both (and, I would assume, the exact same versions of Mocha). I have the same version of Quicktime installed on both and, as much as possible, the exact same other software (like VLC). The exact same .mov file, loaded from an SD card (so it’s definitely the SAME file) loaded into AE and then tracked in Mocha works fine on my desktop, but says it is an unsupported file on my laptop (in Mocha — it plays fine in AE on both systems as well it should).
What the frak? How can the exact same file, working on what we would presume is the exact same system, work in one and not in the other? Is Mocha brain dead or something? I assume it has something to do with some video codecs that are different on the two systems, but in point of fact Mocha shouldn’t care, not for an .MOV file (which should be loaded in via the QT codecs, I would assume). I don’t really have any way of determining what other codecs are available on my desktop that are not on my laptop, but I really shouldn’t have to do so — no other piece of software really cares (IOW, I can load up this .MOV file in ANYTHING else and it works just fine — just not in Mocha on this laptop). In VLC on both machines it says it’s playing with the same codec (the h264 – mpeg-4 avc (part 10) (avc1) codec).
Anyone have a clue? Because Mocha sure doesn’t.
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5 Replies
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The person you sent the file to couldn’t get it to work or? Basically why does it matter?
Make sure both your systems are (equally) up to date. -
Actually, it’s even more embarrassing than that.
It was my own two computers, and the laptop I was using had been updated to the latest QT. As you might know, if you don’t have QT installed AE will complain when it comes up. So I installed QT, and AE was then fine and QT worked just fine in it and VLC and anything else I tried… but not Mocha.
The problem was I hadn’t rebooted the laptop. Why that made a difference to Mocha I don’t know (perhaps Mocha makes an “official” call to some table or file that isn’t updated until after booting that other programs don’t, or perhaps it uses some backdoor that isn’t right — who knows?) but since the .MOV file worked fine everywhere else I never even thought of rebooting, particularly since I just shut down that laptop by closing the lid and letting it sleep.
But after examining both computers thoroughly and finding they were exactly the same the thought that rebooting might be the problem occurred to me and after a reboot all was well. I learned something, although I’m still not sure exactly what.
But thanks for playing…
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Hi Mike,
That is a really weird defect! I replied to your same post over on the Adobe forum, but it looks like you recovered.
So to be clear, the problem was you couldn’t load a simple QuickTime file on the Windows version of mocha AE, but after rebooting you were fine?
I need to document this so we can flag the problem for testing, so want to be sure that’s what happened.
Martin Brennand | Product Manager | mocha – Imagineer Systems
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Right. The basic steps were (after installing Adobe Cloud):
1) Started AE. It complained about not having Quicktime installed and would not play an .MOV file on the timeline.
2) Exited AE. Installed Quicktime, latest version. Did NOT reboot.
3) Started AE again, without complaining message and now .MOV files worked fine inside of AE.
4) Tried to track in Mocha the same .MOV file on the timeline I was using in all testing — Mocha complained and I could not even directly load the .MOV file inside of Mocha without it telling me it was unsupported.
5) Rebooted PC — now all was well.It was just a *bit* odd because the .MOV file worked fine in all apps (included AE) without the reboot, but Mocha obviously did not. Might not have been an issue for me on my desktop, where I shut down after each session, but on my new laptop I’ve gotten used to just closing the lid to send it to sleep, so it actually never got rebooted unless the software I was installing specifically told me (or initiated) a reboot.
Win 8.1, latest updates.
As a somewhat experienced IT person (over three decades in the industry) I should have known to at least TRY to reboot, but because the .MOV file worked properly otherwise it just never occurred to me. But after closely examining all the drivers on both systems the idea popped into my head that somehow things weren’t getting reset properly and then I remembered I hadn’t rebooted the laptop for quite a while.
Anyway, all is good but could help someone else sometime (it was frustrating to me, as you could probably tell from the tone of my original message :>).
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Thanks for the thorough explanation Mike, i’ll add this to our defect list and see if we can narrow it down.
The workaround is nice and simple at least.Martin Brennand | Product Manager | mocha – Imagineer Systems
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