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Quicktime says my video "is not a movie file"

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Yikes. I tried to save a bit of space by using MPEG4 compression while recording clips. They were saved as Quicktime files, supposedly, but Quicktime doesn't recognize them.

When I use the "Get Info" feature on the MacBook Pro, I can see that I've shot lots of megs of content, but it seems that it cannot be read.

Couldn't get it to upload to You Tube properly either. Just multi-colored snow.

Ideas?

Thanks in advance.
 
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Quicktime is supposed to play back "compliant" MPEG-4 videos. It may yet playback in VLC as suggested, but there's still something inherrently wrong with your files. Exactly how did you record these clips? (software and settings used)
 
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Quicktime is supposed to play back "compliant" MPEG-4 videos. It may yet playback in VLC as suggested, but there's still something inherrently wrong with your files. Exactly how did you record these clips? (software and settings used)

I recorded them in a program called Digital Viewer which came with a USB microscope. In the compression settings I selected MPEG4, then shot the video. At the conclusion of shooting the pop-up message read "Your movie has been saved". Not sure what went wrong.

I'm also wondering whether it's possible to unscramble the data if it's been saved as the wrong type of file.
 

vansmith

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You can try to use something like Handbrake to convert the video if the file is indeed free from corruption. It also can't hurt to ensure that you have Perian installed if you don't already. I doubt that this will solve the problem but it can't hurt for future reference.
 
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usually the file, if it really is a video file, is corrupt. The video file also might not be playable with quicktime, which is usually when you can install a plugin to play the format, for example Windows media Video. You can get a plugin called flip4mac, which lets you play wmv in quicktime.
 
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Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Will follow up.
 
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Allow me to pick up on this one:

I have mpg files on my external hard drive and can neither play them with Quicktime ("This is not a movie file"), nor edit them with iMovie (impossible to import the file). I'm a very happy new Mac user, but this is a bit of a blow! Can anyone advise on what I can do to make it work?

Thanks.
 

vansmith

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Have you tried the previously mentioned ideas? Can you play it in something else?
 
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Perhaps I could, but I have been sold a Mac with software for playing and editing video, and I expect it to work! =)
 
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I am facing the same issue. I have around 400 MPGs recorded by my Sony Camcorder and the main reason to buy a Mac was to edit them using iMovie. When I copy the MPG and click on it , it says not a movie file. Someone please help.
 

vansmith

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Give this article a quick read and note the supported video formats. As noted there, QT is responsible for processing videos for iMovie so if it can play in QT, it will work with iMovie. That said, install Perian to expand the number of supported formats by QT.
 
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Hello,

Most likely your files are corrupt. This means that they have become unplayable due to some information gone missing.
Most of the time, such files can be recovered using movie repair techniques, because video and audio media is still present inside the file.

I suggest you try searching for those words:
movie repair techniques
fix corrupt video
...
 

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