Video Problems

Whenever I try to view a .mov file that I have compressed from iMovie, it plays very choppy. The Video starts to stutter, and then the sound follows soon after. I always try to use Quicktime first, but I also use VLC, which also won't play these files without stuttering. Others can view my files without issue, and I can view other video files using both Quicktime and VLC, just not my own. The error I get when VLC player tries to run these files is something to the effect of: "More than 5 seconds lag... Computer too slow??" Could it be that my iMac 800 is just getting old and doesn't cut it anymore?? I don't understand why I can play any internet file but not my own... Any ideas??? RAM problems maybe???

yaa i think its ur comp.
try to drop the quality!

Sure sounds like it's hardware related.

If buying a new mac isn't an option right now, you might want to try using a less hardware intensive codec when encoding your Movies. It'll probably result in larger files, but your iMac might play them better.
I'd try to avoid the H.264 codec in particular: It's really cpu intensive, but apple is pushing it as default in quicktime now...

So if I were playing the same video, one in DV through Quicktime, one in H.264 through Quicktime, the DV file should play better right? B/c it's not encoded? B/c that's what is happening now; It plays DV flawlessly, but not my encoded movies. I will be getting a new Mac within 6 months... Been toying with the idea of a Quad b/c I get student discount... Either way it will be a PowerMac of some sort, something thats made to handle video apps.

Thanks guys!

Yeah, the DV stream should play alright since it's completely uncompressed.

(It's the same as with audio: Any old computer can handle .wav file playback, but you need a slightly better machine for mp3 playback - not that relevant nowadays, but back in the day I remember choppy mp3 playback on my older PC's...)

Try using the mpeg4 basic codec - or just go with the dv stream setting if you can afford the disk space.