Seamless loop in QuickTime Player impossible?

[Tudor “ted” jelescu]

I agree with what Dave says and even if you wanted to edit in QT to multiply the loop you could just trim that frame off and save the clip like that- however my understanding is that you want to play that loop using QT. If that is the case, just use VLC or another player that does a better job of playing a loop.

Tudor “Ted” Jelescu
Senior Compositor/VFX Artist
Bucharest, Romania

[Tobias Becker]

Hey there,

thanks for your reply.
Maybe I worded it the wrong way:
It’s not so much about sticking it together (thats a different story, but I’m usually happy to use FCP / AE etc. for that) the point is playback.
Although Im looking into “proper” playback options like PlaybackPro Plus from DTvideolabs and others often the only thing available is Quicktime (Pro if your are lucky ;).

Now before you are all over me for playing out with Quicktime instead of a “proper” playout server: my background is data switching which involves 1080p50 via DVI (think Folsom Encore and such) – no conventional HD-SDI possible here. So the goal is to get the 1080p50 onto a Desktop via the GPU with 1920×1080 @ 50 Hz that is then further processed (via DVI).

Hope that helps for understanding the issue 😉
Tobi

[Walter Soyka]

[Tobias Becker] “Why does QuickTime (Player) add 1 frame to every video?”

I can’t replicate the problem you’re seeing — I’m working on a piece of looping media now, and I’m not seeing any phantom frames directly out of AE like you are. Sometimes I get extra frames when I compress media to h264 — possibly because it needs to close a GOP — but I see that you’re working with ProRes media, so that shouldn’t be the issue here.

I’d do what Ted suggested and trim the bogus frames off of the file and save.

Also, make sure the Cache (hint) checkbox in Window > Show Movie Properties > Other Settings is checked; you can use it to force Quicktime to cache tracks in RAM to improve looping performance.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Steve Roberts]

I’ve found that Quicktime has to think, check its BlackBerry and call its mother before it goes back to the first frame of a loop. Accepting that, I’d take a page out of the DVD playbook and make a long QT movie that contains many (say, 10) copies of the clip butted up against each other so the viewer only see the pause once in every, say, 10 sightings of the clip, thus decreasing the odds that a viewer will see the hiccup, since most people will only watch it once or twice.

… I’m assuming.

[Walter Soyka]

[Steve Roberts] “I’ve found that Quicktime has to think, check its BlackBerry and call its mother before it goes back to the first frame of a loop.”

Absolutely — that’s why hinting all the tracks in a looping movie is critical. I’ve also had success making RAM disks to play media from. Disk seek and access doesn’t get much faster than that!

Tobi, I saw you mentioned Playback Pro — it’s a great app, and I’d certainly prefer that for live playback over Quicktime Player.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Steve Roberts]

Thanks Tobi and Walter for mentioning Playback Pro — it looks terrific.

[Walter Soyka]

[Steve Roberts] “Thanks Tobi and Walter for mentioning Playback Pro — it looks terrific.”

Steve, Playback Pro is fantastic. I work on a lot of live events, and we’re seeing PBP replace DDRs like the Grass Valley Turbo. It’s cheaper, faster, more reliable, and more flexible. If you do any live playback, it’s absolutely worth having in your toolkit.

Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events

[Kristine Halmrast]

Hei,

I´m also trying to create a seamless loop, with video and audio. My audio ends and starts with a high volume. Playback Pro works, but cannot afford it at the moment. I´m testing the Ableton free trial, and it adds a black frame for the video and a pause for the audio. Can I avoid that extra frame somehow?

Best wishes
Kristine

[Ken Geary]

Hello all.

I see this is an older thread but found it looking for something else.
Anyway, after fighting this myself for a low cost digital signage app, I found a solution.
Create your videos in H264 as Quicktime .mov
download Media Player Classic
https://mpc-hc.org/
this player does seamless loops but only of quicktime, not sure why but it works.