10.6: QuickTime Player X doesn't handle AC3 soundtracks

Sep 09, '09 07:30:05AM

Contributed by: robelkin

This may or may not work in all situations, but if you are struggling with opening a video file using the new QuickTime Player in Snow Leopard, this may help you.

I have found that Quicktime X has a little bit of an issue with opening video files that have an AC3 soundtrack. When I attempt to open a file with an AC3 soundtrack, QuickTime will state that "The document could not be opened." These files work without an issue in QuickTime 7 on Snow Leopard, so I know the files are fine.

The solution to this issue is to open the file in QuickTime 7, remove the AC3 soundtrack from the file, and then re-save it. That way, you will be using the stereo track for your sound (should it exist). You can do this by going to the Window » Show Movie Properties dialog and deleting the AC3/Surround track, and ticking the box beside the Stereo track. Re-save and you should be able to open in QT X.

A couple of things to note:

I have posted about this on the Apple Discussions forum, as well as called Apple technical support and provided feedback to them via their website, as it is just not OK for a program like QuickTime to go backwards so staggeringly and stop playing over half of my movie collection! I am hopeful that they will soon release an update to rectify the issue. However, if anyone else comes across the issue, make your thoughts known to Apple, as this will make them work harder on it.

[robg adds: I can't test this one, as I don't have any AC3-enabled movies on my machine -- please post in the comments if you can confirm (or not!) the existence of the problem. Another playback option, of course, is to just continue using the QuickTime 7 Player in Snow Leopard, which is what I've done in general (as I dislike the UI in the new QuickTime Player).]

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