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MOV or MP4?

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I know there's no difference in quality, it's just different wrapper. But it's confirmed that native Quick Time video player on OS X doesn't interpret MP4 files accurately, resulting with somehow washed out colors. So - editing Inspire 1 Pro footage on my Mac - would I benefit from files recorded in MOV format native to Apple platform, rather than more popular MP4?
 
Playing the footage is one thing, Editing is another.

If you want to play the files and not editing them and you are in a mac, MOV is best.

If you are editing them ( Final Cut ProX, Premiere, etc ) it doesnt matter.
 
I know there's no difference in quality, it's just different wrapper. But it's confirmed that native Quick Time video player on OS X doesn't interpret MP4 files accurately, resulting with somehow washed out colors. So - editing Inspire 1 Pro footage on my Mac - would I benefit from files recorded in MOV format native to Apple platform, rather than more popular MP4?

There is no difference on a mac between MP4 and MOV. and there is no difference in playback. MP4 is optimized for graphics and MOV is a great format for editing.
 
Old Mac software used to support MOV better than MP4 and require stupid thing like entirely reencoding MP4s before you could do anything with them even if the actual content in the wrapper was identical but that was many years ago, it's completely irrelevant now and both work jsut as well.
 
It depends what editing system you use. If you're using Adobe CC (e.g. Premiere, Aftereffects, or FrameCycler) it shouldn't matter, you'll have complete control of the workflow. I can't speak for open source tools, for example, FFMPEG is NOTORIOUSLY difficult when it comes to subtleties of colorspace workflow (Proper Rec 709 in to Rec 601 Out? NEVER gotten that to work with FFMPEG, at least the public G/A versions).
 
Playing the footage is one thing, Editing is another.

If you want to play the files and not editing them and you are in a mac, MOV is best.

If you are editing them ( Final Cut ProX, Premiere, etc ) it doesnt matter.
Perhaps I didn't explained my worries good enough ...
There is no difference on a mac between MP4 and MOV. and there is no difference in playback. MP4 is optimized for graphics and MOV is a great format for editing.
The MP4 or MOV issue is irrelevant when working with rough footage inside - say - Premium Pro CC on iMac. However, as soon as you export media and play back on standard Quick Time player you'll notice slight discrepancies in saturation. The same file imported back into project looks fine when compared on source and project monitors. This is apparently QT Player issue, confirmed by Adobe PP experts as well...
I guess I have to experiment with recording in both formats and rendering output test files in both as well to find out which one QT player is digesting better ...
 
Perhaps I didn't explained my worries good enough ...

The MP4 or MOV issue is irrelevant when working with rough footage inside - say - Premium Pro CC on iMac. However, as soon as you export media and play back on standard Quick Time player you'll notice slight discrepancies in saturation. The same file imported back into project looks fine when compared on source and project monitors. This is apparently QT Player issue, confirmed by Adobe PP experts as well...
I guess I have to experiment with recording in both formats and rendering output test files in both as well to find out which one QT player is digesting better ...

..And this is why God invented DPX, CIN, and DNG RAW files. Buy an X5R gimbal, and all of this becomes irrelevant. Unless you use substandard tools in Post. If not, you're going to have struggles in your workflow maintaining log or some semblance of dynamic range.

Cheers
 
..And this is why God invented DPX, CIN, and DNG RAW files. Buy an X5R gimbal, and all of this becomes irrelevant. Unless you use substandard tools in Post. If not, you're going to have struggles in your workflow maintaining log or some semblance of dynamic range.

Cheers
No, this is not going to happen :( ... I'm just a hobbyist, not a professional filmmaker. With UHD resolution X5 camera provides more than my wildest expectations for display on home theater screen, Adobe Premiere Pro CC and Resolve more than I'll ever need to post my footage, D-Log, Cine or whatever. All I'm trying to find the answer for is why Quick Time Player (native to all Apple computers) is playing my MP4 renders with washed out colors? Interestingly, the Elmedia Video Player doesn't exhibit any issues of this nature.

Cheers,
 
I've seen this before with QuickTime. It usually boils down to Quicktime assuming "legal" video values e.g. Y=16-235 instead of "computer" video values e.g. Y=0-255 in spite of metadata in the file that tells it otherwise. VLC will read and honor that metadata, so agreed with Kilinahe Media -- use VLC instead, Quicktime is broken and has been for years...

Cheers
 
Keep in mind that if you want to play your videos on a big 4k screen, only mp4 works. Smart TV's do NOT play .mov files.
I've edited all my videos with mp4 and they are just fine.
 
I've seen this before with QuickTime. It usually boils down to Quicktime assuming "legal" video values e.g. Y=16-235 instead of "computer" video values e.g. Y=0-255 in spite of metadata in the file that tells it otherwise. VLC will read and honor that metadata, so agreed with Kilinahe Media -- use VLC instead, Quicktime is broken and has been for years...

Cheers
William, you talking language I don't understand, unfortunately. Y value ... WTF is this? :D ... Anyway, the bottom line is that QT player is no good. Case closed.

Thank you all,
Cheers.
 
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Keep in mind that if you want to play your videos on a big 4k screen, only mp4 works. Smart TV's do NOT play .mov files.
I've edited all my videos with mp4 and they are just fine.
The option here is playing from within iMac, using Thunderbolt to HDMI adapter. Anyway, QT player seems to be the culprit. Too bad since I really like the simplicity of it's interface and frame-by-frame playback feature in both directions, missing in other players for some reason.
 
William, you talking language I don't understand, unfortunately. Y value ... WTF is this? :D ... Anyway, the bottom line is that QT player is no good. Case closed.

Thank you all,
Cheers.

LOL Matthew.... Just for reference for others, when I say "Y" this is the luminance channel of a YUV image or video, which is the colorspace that encoders like H264/MPEG/JPEG use... There is a "legacy" to this colorspace that goes back to 1954 when they designed the NTSC ("never the same color", for those of you who appreciate snark) color system for color TV broadcasts, where the "legal" values for luminance were set at voltage/signal levels where, when digitized to 8-bit, would be between values of 16-235, instead of the full range of 0-255. Computers and such happily deal with 16-235, but old TV's and most legacy broadcast equipment throw a fit if they see anything outside of 16-235... but agreed, Quicktime=broken. Use VLC instead.
 
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LOL Matthew.... Just for reference for others, when I say "Y" this is the luminance channel of a YUV image or video, which is the colorspace that encoders like H264/MPEG/JPEG use... There is a "legacy" to this colorspace that goes back to 1954 when they designed the NTSC ("never the same color", for those of you who appreciate snark) color system for color TV broadcasts, where the "legal" values for luminance were set at voltage/signal levels where, when digitized to 8-bit, would be between values of 16-235, instead of the full range of 0-255. Computers and such happily deal with 16-235, but old TV's and most legacy broadcast equipment throw a fit if they see anything outside of 16-235... but agreed, Quicktime=broken. Use VLC instead.

Well that's part of the reason. The reason that it was 16-235 is that's because it corresponded to 7-100 IRE. Superblack (0-6 IRE) is illegal in NTSC because it intrudes on the color sync burst. The 100IRE limit was to prevent tv tubes power supplies from buzzing and causing interference in the receivers front end.
 
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Well that's part of the reason. The reason that it was 16-235 is that's because it corresponded to 7-100 IRE. Superblack (0-6 IRE) is illegal in NTSC because it intrudes on the color sync burst. The 100IRE limit was to prevent tv tubes power supplies from buzzing and causing interference in the receivers front end.
o_O
 
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...Or blowing up.... details, details. It's sad that no one seems to know analog electrical/signal engineering anymore... I guess it's up to us greybeards from here on out.
 
What's sad is that these things still exist and come to bite you in increasingly unexpected occasions when they should be completely irrelevant with today's technology...
 
What's sad is that these things still exist and come to bite you in increasingly unexpected occasions when they should be completely irrelevant with today's technology...
I don't agree there. There are still some countries that still use those standards which is a pain when you need to broadcast worldwide. But you still need to deliver according to what the cutomers needs are. True today's technology's should rid us of this problem, but not everyone in the world has the ability to get these technologies!
 

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