Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Video
After Effects 7 users: QuickTime 7.4 update a nono
After Effects 7 users, take note: there have been some interesting and unfortunate developments with the recent release of the QuickTime 7.4 update. Apparently, it disables After Effects 7 and will not permit users to complete rendering videos. There have been some arguments about what is causing this error, with some claiming it is related to DRM issues (let's hope not), while others claim it is nothing more than a preferences bug.
Nevertheless, you can not revert back to a previous version of QuickTime once you have updated. In short: After Effects 7 users, beware! Avoid the QT7.4 update at all costs, unless you want to deal with a major headache.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ehm_jay29 said 5:41PM on 1-23-2008
It's also screwed with Final Cut Pro - ruined some of my plugin bundles (the boris FX text plugins that ship with FCP) - had to get in contact with boris for the fix.
clearly 7.4 is Bad Juju!
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paul said 5:52PM on 1-23-2008
I'm running Leopard 10.5.1, QT 7.4, and AE 7.1. Everything appears to be working fine. I'm not having any trouble rendering.
Is it a specific codec or other particular setting that people are having trouble with?
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D said 5:59PM on 1-23-2008
You can still output to TIFF sequences without a problem. The renders usually fail at 9:57seconds.
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Jon said 5:59PM on 1-23-2008
The links don't work.
Paul: It happens when rendering more than 10 mins of footage.
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Balazs Hollos said 6:00PM on 1-23-2008
This has been mis-reported. All it does is cause a file permission change, which means the permissions are set incorrectly on some files, so when you try to import or add a file in AA, it gives a error explaining you do not have the correct permissions, as in UNIX permissions.
Nothing to do with DRM.
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james said 6:29PM on 1-23-2008
It is possible to revert to previous version of Quicktime. I did it using Pacifist and you can find download link for quicktime 7.3.1 from google. The problem with 7.4 for me was that it also broke subtitles with Perian.
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DonVerduras said 6:49PM on 1-23-2008
Yes the problem with the subtitles with Perian and Quicktime is the worst. I hope they release an update quicky!
Paul said 7:52PM on 1-23-2008
I've posted on my website the steps to take to downgrade from QT 7.4 if you're an After Effects user who needs the render functionality back.
This is indeed a well documented in the online community and there is no fix for it yet.
http://www.paulescandon.com/blog/?p=39
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Michael Coleman said 8:24PM on 1-23-2008
The issues are not limited to After Effects 7.0. AE CS3, Premiere Pro and a handful of non-Adobe applications (some of which are mentioned here) are also apparently impacted by QuickTime 7.4.
The good news is that After Effects is not completely disabled by the QuickTime 7.4 update. It would be more accurate to say that rendering to QuickTime is disabled. If you are rendering sequences of PSD, Tiff, or OpenEXR images, there should be no problem.
As far as I know, the main reason to upgrade to QT 7.4 would be to rent movies via iTunes. If you don't need to rent movies from iTunes, it's probably best to hold off on this update.
I'll post more information on my blog as it becomes available:
http://blogs.adobe.com/keyframes
Regards,
Michael Coleman
Product Manager, Adobe After Effects
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jack said 11:45PM on 1-23-2008
Perhaps I'm tempting the render gods to smite me by saying this, but I've been running QT 7.4 with both AE CS3 8.0.1 and 8.0.2 for over a week now, and in my daily workflow, everything's worked fine; I've been able to render Avid-codec QuickTime movies as usual, as well as PICT sequences.
Like David said, no problems so far. Whew!
David Hildreth said 8:41PM on 1-23-2008
I've had no problems so far.
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Fritz Laurel said 8:50PM on 1-23-2008
Another weird thing I had after updating to QT7.4 was that some of my codecs (for FCP) disappeared (and no, I'm nowhere near Bermuda).
Cheers,
FL
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Jon said 9:59PM on 1-23-2008
They're not gone, they're just hidden. Go to Sys Prefs, click on QuickTime and select the option for showing legacy codecs.
russdogg said 8:51PM on 1-23-2008
Any word if you are using AE CS3 (aka version 8)?
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Fortunato said 9:04PM on 1-23-2008
QT 7.4 + AE 8.0...rendering fails for NTSC Widescreen with "error -54 : no permission to open video."
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Martin Massel said 10:44PM on 1-23-2008
7.4 screws up itunes as well. I couldn't watch videos in iTunes until I downgraded to 7.3.1 :)
just download 7.3 from here
Leopard
http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/quicktime731forleopard.html
Tiger http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/quicktime731fortiger.html
Then get pacifist and install 7.3 over 7.4 and OVERWRITE IT don't update. Repair permissions reboot and everything should work good again
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AlanSla said 7:08AM on 1-24-2008
No matter what OS you use, if you need your computer for work you NEVER update until you are fully sure that whatever applications you need will work with the update. Updating and hoping for the best is just stupid - especially if you work with video or audio and you update QuickTime. Just be patient. Let someone else make the mistake!
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Benjibuls said 6:58PM on 1-29-2008
I had this issue two in the midst of a tight motion graphics deadline where I work and it prevented us from using two of our Mac workstations for rendering.
However using Pacafist to install Quicktime 7.3.1 and the previous version of iTunes worked a treat. Now those two machines are back in action.
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Mechthild said 10:12AM on 1-30-2008
Thank you for your tips! I spent a good part of the day trouble-shooting and had copied an old QT version into the apps folder -- did not work, but Pacifist did the trick.
To answer one of the questions above, QT 7.4 aborts any render in AE that takes longer than 10 minutes. The 'permission' error does not have anything to do with your file or drive (was my first thought as well) - but it assumes (!!) that you are illegally copying material. I DO hope this is an unintentional bug... + we get a quick fix from Apple.
Hey Steve Jobs, don't make me leave your Mac fan club!!
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