Vista Media Center & Quicktime

I just spent the weekend setting up vista on my in-law's computer, and hooked
up their tv to the computer to use the Media Center.

We all use Kodak cameras, which use quicktime (.mov) for video.

But apparently the Media Center is blind to .mov files.

I don't want to use a 3rd party app for this. Will the vista media center
have .mov functionality, or are they (and me) pretty much screwed when it
comes to watching our home movies on the TV?

Tegler wrote:
> I just spent the weekend setting up vista on my in-law's computer,
> and hooked up their tv to the computer to use the Media Center.
>
> We all use Kodak cameras, which use quicktime (.mov) for video.
>
> But apparently the Media Center is blind to .mov files.
>
> I don't want to use a 3rd party app for this. Will the vista media
> center have .mov functionality, or are they (and me) pretty much
> screwed when it comes to watching our home movies on the TV?
=================================
I see that you prefer not to use 3rd party
apps but maybe the following info will
offer some ideas anyway.

If you simply wish to view the .mov files...
try the free version of Apple QuickTime.
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

Actually, I can view .mov files in Windows
Live Photo Gallery but it may be because
I have the QuickTime Alternative installed.

Windows Live Photo Gallery
2008 Beta Build 12.0.1320.823
http://tinyurl.com/2oqcom
(runs on: Windows XP SP2
or Windows Vista)

QuickTime Alternative
www.free-codecs.com
(look under 'tools' in the left pane)

If you plan to edit the files in Movie Maker.
I'm thinking that for the foreseeable future...
converting is your only option

Try using the following apps to convert
QuickTime .mov files to a format that
can be used in Movie Maker (.avi, .wmv).

QuickTime 7 Pro
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/pro/
(this would be the retail version
not the free one)

SUPER © Simplified (free)
Universal Player Encoder & Renderer
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/SUPER_1
(the mirror download site is faster)


--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

I just rechecked the viewing of .mov files
in Windows Live Photo Gallery...the files
I was viewing were *converted* .mov files
that are now in the *.wmv* format.
(I used Super to convert them)

Sorry for the mistake.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk



> Tegler wrote:
>> I just spent the weekend setting up vista on my in-law's computer,
>> and hooked up their tv to the computer to use the Media Center.
>>
>> We all use Kodak cameras, which use quicktime (.mov) for video.
>>
>> But apparently the Media Center is blind to .mov files.
>>
>> I don't want to use a 3rd party app for this. Will the vista media
>> center have .mov functionality, or are they (and me) pretty much
>> screwed when it comes to watching our home movies on the TV?
> =================================
> I see that you prefer not to use 3rd party
> apps but maybe the following info will
> offer some ideas anyway.
>
> If you simply wish to view the .mov files...
> try the free version of Apple QuickTime.
> http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
>
> Actually, I can view .mov files in Windows
> Live Photo Gallery but it may be because
> I have the QuickTime Alternative installed.
>
> Windows Live Photo Gallery
> 2008 Beta Build 12.0.1320.823
> http://tinyurl.com/2oqcom
> (runs on: Windows XP SP2
> or Windows Vista)
>
> QuickTime Alternative
> www.free-codecs.com
> (look under 'tools' in the left pane)
>
> If you plan to edit the files in Movie Maker.
> I'm thinking that for the foreseeable future...
> converting is your only option
>
> Try using the following apps to convert
> QuickTime .mov files to a format that
> can be used in Movie Maker (.avi, .wmv).
>
> QuickTime 7 Pro
> http://www.apple.com/quicktime/pro/
> (this would be the retail version
> not the free one)
>
> SUPER © Simplified (free)
> Universal Player Encoder & Renderer
> http://www.videohelp.com/tools/SUPER_1
> (the mirror download site is faster)

Hey -

Thanks very much, John!

My issue with the 3rd party stuff, etc. is that it's on my in-law's rig, and
I am not around to do tinkering/fixing that much. I would like it to be
automatic. I had read about the QuickTime Alternative, and may try that
before I go all out and pay Apple $30 for Quicktime Pro and convert
everything, or even spend the time with a free converter. There are about
100 movies, and I can't imagine they have a batch convert on their software
(free or Apple).

I got a video card with a component video out for the new Vista rig so I
could set up the Vista Media Center with a remote, and they could sit down
and have an old-style slide show on their computer. The Media Center has
done a great job (automatically) configuring itself to show on the TV, but
when it is on, it shuts down the computer screen - - this is fine, and
actually preferable (b/c the comptuer screen is widescreen and the TV is
regular TV). I am really impressed by this. The photos work great.

I guess I should be miffed at Kodak for using a proprietary format (Apple's
Quicktime) for their movies, when they use JPEG for their photos. I am
generally less than impressed with the Kodak decisions on that and their own
complicated software.

Anyway, thanks again - - I'll try the Quicktime Alternative.

So we shall see.

"John Inzer" wrote:

> I just rechecked the viewing of .mov files
> in Windows Live Photo Gallery...the files
> I was viewing were *converted* .mov files
> that are now in the *.wmv* format.
> (I used Super to convert them)
>

Tegler wrote:
> Hey -
>
> Thanks very much, John!
>
> My issue with the 3rd party stuff, etc. is that it's on my in-law's
> rig, and I am not around to do tinkering/fixing that much. I would
> like it to be automatic. I had read about the QuickTime Alternative,
> and may try that before I go all out and pay Apple $30 for Quicktime
> Pro and convert everything, or even spend the time with a free
> converter. There are about 100 movies, and I can't imagine they have
> a batch convert on their software (free or Apple).
>
> I got a video card with a component video out for the new Vista rig
> so I could set up the Vista Media Center with a remote, and they
> could sit down and have an old-style slide show on their computer.
> The Media Center has done a great job (automatically) configuring
> itself to show on the TV, but when it is on, it shuts down the
> computer screen - - this is fine, and actually preferable (b/c the
> comptuer screen is widescreen and the TV is regular TV). I am really
> impressed by this. The photos work great.
>
> I guess I should be miffed at Kodak for using a proprietary format
> (Apple's Quicktime) for their movies, when they use JPEG for their
> photos. I am generally less than impressed with the Kodak decisions
> on that and their own complicated software.
>
> Anyway, thanks again - - I'll try the Quicktime Alternative.
>
> So we shall see.
==================================
Quicktime Alternative...will play the .mov files
but will not convert them. Super may be your
best bet...it can convert a batch.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! -
Digital Image MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk

So over the weekend, I tried the "tvtonic" program (www.tvtonic.com) and it
seems to work well. I chose it because it seems like a program that has
backing and will update itself when new versions of Quicktime come out.

The downsides are (a) it seems to run as a service and downloads video RSS
feeds (so it may take up some system resources), and (b) when you launch the
Vista Media Center it shows a one frame preview of the Quicktime movies, but
the one frame is upside down. The movies do not play upside down, however.

The bonus is that the .mov files also show up in the photos center as well,
and I didn't expect that.

We'll see how this goes. If the program is a drain on system resources, I
may delete it in favor of something else, but so far so good.

The quicktime alternative seems to have licensing or other legal issues, and
although that may just be FUD spun by the Apple Lawyers (there are apparently
a lot of them) I didn't want to go on an abandonware route.