Filed under: Audio, Software, Video
Flip4Mac breaks QuickTime export?
Some users,
myself included, are reporting that the 3rd party Flip4Mac plugin Microsoft recently purchased and offered
for free seems to break QuickTime Pro's ability to export movie files. This morning I was trying to compress and export
to H.264 some AVI files I shot with my Canon digicam over the weekend, but was met with relentless "error
-2126" messages. Some research revealed a few articles and Apple Support threads, like this one, that have found
this and various other buggy issues with the WMV plugin, but most of them pointed to this Flip4Mac support topic on the grubby process of
uninstalling and/or Flip4Mac. A future release of the plugin promises a true, automated uninstaller option, but for
now: if you're having QuickTime issues like this after installing Flip4Mac, try going through their uninstallation process to reclaim the software's
abilities.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
djones said 3:42PM on 2-06-2006
Yep, that, and a billion other reasons have led me to stick to version 1.0.2. I paid $200 for a pro 2-pass license, and their support for said individuals is incredibly sad. This company's goals are noble, and the 1.0.2 product *usually* behaves, but I get the impression that they don't really know what they are doing, and just kind of figure things out as they go along. I mean, their tech support has two stock answers: "uninstall, reinstall, repair permissions" and "did you repair permissions?" Or worse "we aren't getting significant reports of that, so you must be wrong."
My two cents: if you don't NEED this product, don't install it, even the free one.
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Chris Meisenzahl said 3:48PM on 2-06-2006
I just threw in the towel and removed it.
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ct77 said 3:50PM on 2-06-2006
Why does anything even remotely related to Microsoft always break my Mac?
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GG said 3:55PM on 2-06-2006
FlipOutMyMac has done nothing but cause problems on my iBook. I uninstalled it and everything is lovely again.
My suggestion, DON'T INSTALL THIS PIECE OF GARBAGE. I just avoid wmv files, but if I absolutely have to watch one, I use VLC, even though I find it to be buggy with wmv's.
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Chris Meisenzahl said 3:56PM on 2-06-2006
I just threw in the towel and removed it.
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Stacey said 4:05PM on 2-06-2006
I've had very good luck with it so far. I don't use QT pro, though, so maybe that's the reason.
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Rob Perkins said 4:22PM on 2-06-2006
I had to uninstall the latest version because every time I tried to play Video clips while browsing it would crash Safari.
The only reason I bought this piece of crap is so I could play Porn clips that were crappy Windows Media.
I'm sure now that Microsoft is running the show, they will never update it and eventually discontinue it all together.
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James Donevan said 4:24PM on 2-06-2006
In point of fact the most recent release of Flip4Mac includes an Uninstaller in the Flip4Mac Folder (after installation). Simply run it and 'hey presto' everything is gone. Based on various in-depth discussions in the Apple Support Forums and on various third party forums (including ffmpegX), the generally accepted theory is that Quicktime 7.0.4 is the real problem. Various users have reverted to QT 7.03 and found the Export problem (including the common -40 and -50 errors) disappeared.
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Ralph said 4:33PM on 2-06-2006
Isn't there a way for Apple to add WMV support to QT on their own? What am I missing here?
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Eric B. said 4:36PM on 2-06-2006
I have had nothing but problems since I installed it after MS dropped the free version on us. I'm glad you posted the uninstall for it.. now I don't have to go hunt those down. Good bye F4M.. maybe we'll see you on v2.0!
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djones said 4:40PM on 2-06-2006
"the generally accepted theory is that Quicktime 7.0.4 is the real problem"
No other QT-based apps I (or anyone else) have broke because of Quicktime 7.0.4. The only thing that it means is that Flip4Mac is not compatible with Quicktime 7.0.4. If Flip4Mac has problems with QT 7.0.4, the "real" problem is with Flip4Mac's compatibility and underlying code. After all, they're hooking into QT, not the other way around.
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erdojaro said 4:41PM on 2-06-2006
Dear TUAW readers,
I've had the same problem with Flip4Mac, and I found out, how to solve it. First I tried to import the wmv file to m4v as it is, and obviously it didn't work.
As a second try I selected a part of the movie and after pasting it into a new player I could import it already. So keep on trying, and tell me, if I was wrong or it's working.
erdojaro from HU
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Natrino said 4:50PM on 2-06-2006
I installed 2.0 and it would crash Safari and QuickTime after watching a WMV file.
Since updating to 2.0.2, it has performed flawlessly.
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iomatic said 4:55PM on 2-06-2006
Is THAT why audio is not exporting! Ah.
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Chris said 5:08PM on 2-06-2006
I had the old version that would stop playing after 50% of a WMV. Since I installed the free version, ALL quicktime movies in Safari or Firefox stop playing after 50% and there is no more sound. Uninstalled it, reinstalled quicktime, still the same behaviour. Right now I don't see any other way than to reinstall OSX completly! I switched to Mac recently and had no majoir problems since, isn't it funny the first big issue I have is M$ related?
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eccramer said 6:10PM on 2-06-2006
Hell, this app is a steaming loaf. It broke the autosync function on iPhoto. If I tried to sync any of my photos, iPhoto would crash. After I figured out what was wrong I uninstalled it immediately. After that iPhoto has worked fine. AVOID THIS PROGRAM.
-E-
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paul said 6:10PM on 2-06-2006
I'm running WMV Player Pro 1.0.2 with QT Pro 7.0.4 with no problems.
FYI... I'm pretty sure Microsoft did NOT buy WMV Player. They are simply offering it as a download on their site. Flip4Mac still owns it!
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mickimicki said 6:52PM on 2-06-2006
Lucky me then! I got an Intel iMac last week, which F4M isn't compatible with yet. So it never got to screw anything up. While the free version was doing fine on my Dual USB iBook and QT 7.03 . Not that I particularly care about WMV formats anyway. Unfortunately though, here (in Germany) most free children's TV streams are WMV, so my 5-year old son is pretty mad at F4M for not playing his cartoons.
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Xenedar said 7:57PM on 2-06-2006
Once again, Microsoft did NOT buy Flip4Mac, either the parent company (Telestream) or their products.
Microsoft appears to have made certain agreements with Telestream about providing information for them to develop future versions ( http://www.flip4mac.com/faqs_wmv.htm#6 ), but there was no buy-out or take-over or anything.
The actual facts: http://www.flip4mac.com/pr_06_01_10a.htm
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Tim O. said 7:59PM on 2-06-2006
I love this piece of software. It has been great for me in almost everything.. except for exporting. Even there, I found an easy way to get around it's problems. I think the reason that this happens at all is because the free version is not supposed to be able to export to any other formats. The problem lies in how they blocked users from doing this, which evidently blocks them from exporting in general. The solution is simple, though. When you have the movie you want to export open (whether it is a wmv or anything else) hit control a, then control c, control n, and finally control v. This selects all, copies it creates the clipboard, creates a new player and then pastes it back in. It takes about two seconds and lets you then export the result as you should have been able to from the start.
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