[geeks] Apple software: the stuff you "gotta have"

[Michael Parson]

On Sat, 13 Oct 2007, Bill Bradford wrote:

> Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2007 18:08:48 -0500
> From: Bill Bradford <mrbill at mrbill.net>
> Reply-To: The Geeks List <geeks at sunhelp.org>
> To: The Geeks List <geeks at sunhelp.org>
> Subject: Re: [geeks] Apple software: the stuff you "gotta have"
> 
> On Sat, Oct 13, 2007 at 05:06:31PM -0500, Michael Parson wrote:
>> On this page, you list the Quicktime mpeg-2 playback component.  Out
>> of curiosity, what do you use it for?  I had my sister buy it for her
>> mac so she could import the de-DRMed mpeg2 files off her TiVo into
>> iMovie/iDVD, but it didn't let her do that.  I did some more reading
>> on what the component is supposed to do, and I just couldn't figure
>> out the usefulness of it at all.
>> So, out of curiosity, what do you use it for?
>
> .. playing back MPEG-2 files?  I've never had problems playing MPEG-2
> files converted from my TiVo (w/Tivotool).  Of course, I usually
> convert them to .mp4 using VisualHub after dumping them to my HD as
> MPEG-2 files.

I've not been able to make Quicktime play mpeg2 files, even with that
component.  I'll get the first frame, but the picture never changes.
The audio plays fine, however.  If I try and seek into the file, I just
get a black screen (still have audio though).  If I seek to near the end
of the file (last minute or so), I will sometimes get the video started.

In any case, that plugin doesn't seem to allow me (or her) to import the
mpeg2 files into iMovie.  For now, I've got her set up with ffmpegX and
have her converting to .mp4 files that iMovie can then import.

I shelled out the money for Toast 8, so I can go straight to DVD without
having to jump through those hoops, but she's not willing to spend the
money and is willing to use the free/cheaper alternatives.

-- 
Michael Parson
mparson at bl.org