Media Players - please share views

Have just found out that some people seem to have real issues when using QuickTime and RealPlayer. People state that they have loads of other "crap" to deal with when running their media players..... but what, exactly?

just trying to nail down what problems they're having (and also offering any friendly words of advice in the meantime..... if possible.... like "get a Mac"...... JOKE! )

I run, QuickTime, no probs..... RealPlayer, no probs (occasionally asks for a new codec update etc)...... Windows Media Player, a little slow sometimes but that's a Mac/PC thing I've established.... VLC, it rocks and plays literally every file out there...... DivX, seemingly no problems there as well.....

interested hearing people's views and gripes - maybe I can offer a helping hand?

(but then again, maybe not..... try me.....)

Chris

Quicktime is one of those things that likes to install itself everywhere on a PC whether you like it or not and then it's difficult to get control of when you want to run it. That qttask.exe process keeps coming back even if you don't need it and disable it with msconfig. Possibly other Quicktime-related processes too, I don't remember.

Real Player is just bloated and overkill for what I use it for (which these days is mainly streaming BBC Radio 6 )

The "Alternatives" I mentioned in that other thread use less system resources and are more under my control.

VLC Media Player works very well on Windows, Mac, Linux, & so on. It can even be configured as a streaming server.

(more)

 

QTTASK.EXE will not start at boot by removing the Registry entry at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

 

Hope this helps

cheers Nick - you've totally highlighted my inadequate knowledge of anything PC-based

I've not a clue as to how to make QuickTime any friendlier for you but it looks like you're well on the case anyways - checked out that QuickTime alternative and it looks like just the ticket....

Am intrigued that QuickTime gets everywhere, though, and screws things up all over the place - purely for my own benefit, can you please expand on that a little so as I can try to serve my clients a little more efficiently rather than blindly stating "QuickTime rocks"..... I'm just a little confused as to what else it is doing to PC systems as opposed to simply playing media for you.... is there nothing in the preferences that can be changed?

As Dan states - VLC is a great little player and pretty much opens everything - on everything......

tada for now.....

My favorite player on the PC is Zoom Player combined with the ffdshow codec package. You may have to install other software for the best final configuration, but it ROCKS. Don't try this unless you are a gearhead, though. It can take some tweaking to make it perfect.

VLC is the easy way out. It works well.

Neither of these approaches make Quicktime work well on the PC.

My favorite player on the PC is Zoom Player combined with the ffdshow codec package. You may have to install other software for the best final configuration, but it ROCKS. Don't try this unless you are a gearhead, though. It can take some tweaking to make it perfect.

 

VLC is the easy way out. It works well.

 

Neither of these approaches make Quicktime work well on the PC.

But I still don't get what the actual issues with QuickTime on PCs.....

can you please expand on that a little so as I can try to serve my clients a little more efficiently rather than blindly stating "QuickTime rocks"

Here's some problems I have had with it over the years. Some may not be true of the current release:

- starting by default when Windows starts

- installing itself in the quick launch bar (minor but irritating. Most programs offer the choice these days)

- installing automatic update checking

- hijacking files types/MIME types from other programs

- and the browser plugin does not work on XP x64. Everything else on this machine works OK, and that's a lot of programs. There are quite a lot of XP x64 users but Apple don't seem to care about getting this fixed. So if you or Shawnh or Nickj or whoever embeds a Quicktime video in their site, I have to go and find a different machine to watch it on.

Here's some problems I have had with it over the years. Some may not be true of the current release:

 

- starting by default when Windows starts

- installing itself in the quick launch bar (minor but irritating. Most programs offer the choice these days)

- installing automatic update checking

- hijacking files types/MIME types from other programs

- and the browser plugin does not work on XP x64. Everything else on this machine works OK, and that's a lot of programs. There are quite a lot of XP x64 users but Apple don't seem to care about getting this fixed. So if you or Shawnh or Nickj or whoever embeds a Quicktime video in their site, I have to go and find a different machine to watch it on.

alright then - in the interests of getting myself, Shawnh and Nickj et-all other QT posters a means to enable you guys to watch our vids as easily as possible lets see what we can sort out...

going through each of these quirks in numerical order....

1. do you mean QT actually launches as Windows launches? With a QT window opening and displaying all the annoying latest available online content? That would be bugging, for sure...... Is this enabled / disabled in "preferences"?

2. Can't you customise the quick launch bar?

3. should be able to disable this in "preferences".

4. This sounds like a bug that Microsoft have inside the OS? or is it just a compatibility thing - have you ever tried to go back a few versions? All the way back to the first H.264 version number 7..... ?

blimey - does this mean you can't watch my Ocean Rover vid then, Nick?

Windows XP x64 users who have problems with watching QT movies inside their browser window.....

Right-click and save target as (or other option) and download the linked file......

if it still crashes then opening it with VLC should provide the cure-all.....

hope this helps - a little?

Thanks for all the help and suggestions Chris

1. do you mean QT actually launches as Windows launches? With a QT window opening and displaying all the annoying latest available online content?

Is this enabled / disabled in "preferences"?

2. Can't you customise the quick launch bar?

3. should be able to disable this in "preferences".

4. This sounds like a bug that Microsoft have inside the OS? or is it just a compatibility thing

have you ever tried to go back a few versions? All the way back to the first H.264 version number 7..... ?

blimey - does this mean you can't watch my Ocean Rover vid then, Nick?

Right-click and save target as (or other option) and download the linked file......

Followed by this (IE7):

or this (Firefox):

Followed by the browser crashing.

Followed by much cursing because I've lost all those tabs I had open

Personally speaking, the sooner Quicktime goes the same way as Real Video, the better.

Use Flash video for embedding! Everyone can play Flash and the quality is great these days with the On2 VP6 codec

I second Eric's recommendation for ffdshow codecs... seems to have solved a lot of compatability issues but I just use it with WMP. VLC is a nicea lean program that handle any codecs that WMP can't, especially if you want to view native m2t files.

I also second Nick's complaints about QT on windows... Without the registry trick, the thing just keeps coming back to the task bar on startup and checking for updates, slowing down the windoze start up process AND keeps hijacking windows into making it the default media player.

this has been a great thread - delivering the informative posts that I was hoping for) and I definitely feel a bit more informed as to the woes that the Windows user has when running QT on their machine.... (I still reckon they should all convert to a certain fruity brand that's available but, hey..... )

thanks all for all the info so far - I'm sure there'll be more in future!

I'm off to reconsider how I encode my videos for online viewing purposes - I reckon flash is definitely the way forward, eh?

cheers again WPers.....

chris

Oooh, Nick - the OR vid you would've seen (if it was ages ago) was definitely the old-school 2005 Andaman cruise.... the latest is their N Sulawesi video - literally first public viewing was during DEMA.... hope you can get it.... cheers for all your time and patient explaining

Well, I just got a nice email from our office IT telling me they noticed I have QT installed and it is not an authorized program for our office PC's and I have to remove it ASAP...

if there was a smiley with tears cascading down his face, then i'd be frantically clicking it now..... this will do, though

this is a right little bugger - but definitely good to have established in firm black and white through all you guys out there...

looks like I gotta go and work out how to get these teensy weensy files that H264 creates via QT into a format that all and sundry can enjoy viewing - namely FLV!!!!!

cheers everyone...

Just for good measure - I'm still well entrenched in the saddle of my high-horse.... it's just that his legs suddenly don't seem to be as long as they used to and he isn't as high as I previously reckoned..... when it comes to biggin' up QuickTime, that is.....

Here's some pointers Chris. Not sure if all work on a Mac though

Go for the On2 VP6 codec. Forget the others like Sorenson which at the moment are not quite as good.

Adobe Flash itself will only do single pass, but the result is still nice.

On2 Flix Pro is what I use. It does 2-pass and it makes a nice job. I had a problem on a couple of encodes of it not encoding all the way till the end though, so do some Googling on reliability before investing.

There's a method here for doing it for free.

Finally if you let www.brightcove.com host your file you can use their free Publishpod to do a very nice 2-pass encode at 480 pixels wide and embed it on your site. I'm pretty sure it's got On2 Flix under the bonnet. They're bringing in pre- and post-roll ads, which is something you might not really want. To be really naughty you could use the Publishpod to encode your file, upload it to Brightcove and play it, then find the flv in your browser cache and, ehem, host it on your own site. But I didn't say that

Unfortunately setting up players with the Publishpod takes quite a bit of time, especially on a slow connection. But setting up Flash hosting on your own site is a bit complex too, if you haven't done it before.

I'm sure the Mac will revel and excel in it's new role as a mere Flash encoder

sweet man, cheers for the heads up - I'd gotten as far as using the On2 VP6 but was still rather alarmed at the file size (in comparison to H264)......

I'll continue banging my head into it - I reckon it's a good excuse to get fully immersed in CS3 now, eh?

I will also try my best to get everything done on my own - headaches and all - as I'm FAR too self-righteous to want to be seen using all these thrid-party options.... B) B)

will post up any results I have in the not too distant, eh? workflows etc.....

many, many thanks again....