You may have read Apple's article about "legacy media" being phased out in the next version of macOS or even been alerted by an error message in the new version of FCPX. The article is fairly sparse and doesn't go into detail about the change or explain why it is occurring.

To be clear, it's not that 32-bit codecs are going away, it's that all 32-bit software is going away. But it affects video software the most because the only reason for an app to still be 32-bit in 2018 is because it uses QuickTime.

Why would an app still use QuickTime over the newer and non-deprecated AV Foundation? Because AV Foundation does not support third-party codecs. I filed an enhancement request to support third-party codecs several years ago and Apple closed it as "won't fix" so their position on that seems pretty clear. (Sure, you can go to a lower level and write your own parser but if you've reached that point, why bother using Apple's media frameworks at all?)

There is a Reddit thread with quite a lot of misunderstandings about what the change means. So to clear up some of the misunderstandings in that thread: there isn't really such a thing as a 32-bit file. You can have a file stored on a 32-bit file system or in a container with a 32-bit size header but the result of this is that these files will be limited to 2 or 4 GB in size. It has no bearing on which apps can read them, so they can still be read by both 32- and 64-bit apps or codecs. Also, do not confuse the QuickTime container (.mov) with the QuickTime API - the container is alive and well and still supported by the new frameworks. (The MP4 standard's container is about 99% identical to a regular MOV container after all.)

This isn't really about 32- vs 64-bit, it's about Apple no longer allowing extensibility. Next year's version of macOS won't support third-party codecs at all, so converting 32-bit codecs to 64-bit isn't a solution. A codec is a central piece of code that handles reading and writing to a particular format. Now instead of using that central code for free with no extra effort, every app needs to create its own version of that code.

But remember: this only affects macOS's native video frameworks. Developers don't have to use them and there's nothing to stop someone writing their own DNxHD parser. You don't need to worry about your files becoming unreadable because ffmpeg will always be there. (It still supports ancient long-dead codecs like Indeo!)

This is unlikely to change much with Adobe or Blackmagic. They use their own parsers for a lot of formats so will be immune to this change. The people it affects the most are small developers, who now have to come up with solutions to problems that Apple was taking care of for them in the past. By licensing certain codecs or allowing users to install their own codecs, Apple was providing an easy, free and legal way for these developers to read these files. They may not have the manpower to write their own parsers or the legal or financial ability to license the codecs in question. ffmpeg is a solution to the technical problems, but legal ones still remain - the code has to be compiled directly on the user's computer in order to be legally compliant, which can be complicated and user-unfriendly.

It may also affect FCPX negatively too. If the cross-platform NLEs are immune to this change, it means that FCPX is the only major NLE that will be affected by it. Apple's advice in the article is essentially "buy a new camera" but will people really shelve the cameras they paid thousands of dollars for to continue using FCPX? Or will they go for the cheaper option of switching to an NLE that can open them? I think the FCPX team are great, but they are sometimes hamstrung by corporate Apple which may not have the same interests as them or may be unable to see the bigger picture of how large changes like this affect Apple's smaller divisions.

Some people have speculated that the reasons for this are because Apple is planning to merge iOS and macOS or create ARM chips for desktop computers. Apple may well do these things in future, but I think this change was made for two more mundane reasons: security and efficiency. AV Foundation is fast because it is efficient so inefficiently-coded third-party codecs may cause performance or battery life problems. Supporting third-party codecs opens up the operating system to maliciously-crafted movie files meant to exploit bugs in third-party codecs that Apple doesn't have the ability to fix themselves. (I would argue that the benefits are still worth it despite these two potential costs.)

You may be wondering what solution we are planning for our products. The majority of our apps don't use QuickTime and the only one that relies on it heavily is QT Edit. For the apps that use QuickTime, we will convert them to have some level of base functionality with the default OS frameworks. When you launch the app for the first time, it will ask if you want to enable additional codecs and if you answer yes, it will install ffmpeg for you (the exact technical way this will work and the exact codecs that will be supported is still being figured out). Advanced users will also have the ability to compile ffmpeg themselves and link the executable to our apps to ensure they can definitely read the files they need to or to have greater control or better support  for their hardware. We feel that this is the best we can make of both worlds: trying to make it as user-friendly as possible while still giving power users control.

If this change affects you, here are the feedback links for macOS and FCPX. But Apple shouldn't postpone or cancel the death of QuickTime (it absolutely should die) - the solution is to allow third-party extensibility in the new frameworks. I'm not holding out hope that this will happen, and our ultimate goal is to be cross-platform so we'd probably go down the ffmpeg route regardless, however if enough people complain they may at least continue to support some additional codecs in FCPX.

Yesterday Apple released Pro Video Formats 2.0 (an apparently renamed version of Pro Apps Codecs), which is a set of professional codecs to coincide with the FCPX 10.1.4 update with MXF integration.

The release notes imply this only adds MXF support to FCPX, Motion and Compressor, however it is actually much broader than this. It adds MXF reading to any application on the system that uses the QuickTime APIs.

You can test this by taking an MXF file on your system (such as from an Avid_MediaFiles folder), right-clicking and choosing to open in QuickTime Player 7. This will work in any app that uses the QuickTime 7 APIs and does not require the latest version of OS X.

There are however some limitations:

• You cannot QuickLook MXFs
• You cannot encode to an MXF container
• The files do not open in QuickTime Player X or any app that uses AV Foundation (this includes CinePlay)
• You cannot edit metadata (QT Player forces you to save to a .MOV)
• Some metadata was appearing garbled for me

We would also recommend users do not use MXFs with any of our apps that make changes to movie files. So Edit Detector will work fine but QT Edit will not.

This update will appear for anyone with Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5 or Compressor 4 installed on your system. If you don't have these apps and still want the MXF functionality, I recommend buying Compressor from the App Store for $50.

Sometimes you need to swap out an audio track if there's a problem or you need to provide multiple languages or different soundtracks.

Instead of compressing the video again, QT Edit makes it really easy to do this in just a few steps.

1. Open up the movie file in QT Edit.

2. Select the existing audio track and press the - button to delete it.

3. Click the + button and select Audio. Browse for the new audio, which can be an AIFF, WAV or another movie file.

Important: QT Edit inserts the track at the current playhead position so make sure the playhead is at the beginning. If you make a mistake, manually set the start point of the new track to 00:00:00:00.

4. Double-check sync in the preview window and then hit Save.

5. You will be asked if you want to flatten the movie. This makes the movie self-contained. In most cases you will want to flatten, but if you want to create a reference movie select Don't Flatten.

QT Edit is just one of many useful utilities in the Pro Media Tools suite. To find out more, check out the feature list, watch the overview video, read the user manual or download the 15-day trial.

I had this question asked to me the other day so I thought I'd write a quick article on it. You may have noticed that Compressor does not create H.264 files with timecode tracks when using the Apple Devices presets.

The reason for this is that MP4 and M4V files do not support timecode. However, the MP4 specification is based on the QuickTime file format so it's easy to create a QuickTime movie (.mov) instead of an MP4 and the file will still be recognized by iOS devices and the Apple TV.

To do this, simply add an Apple Devices preset to a file and then change the file extension to mov in the Encoder tab of the Settings window. Compressor will then create an iOS and Apple TV-compatible H.264 with a timecode track.

QuickTime Player 7 can be very useful for quickly trimming a clip or outputting different sections of a movie to separate files. This can be accomplished by setting the in and out points, going to Edit > Trim to Selection and then exporting the file or doing a Save As.

However, if you accidentally hit Save instead of Save As and then close the movie (this happens more often than you'd think), the movie will be permanently trimmed.

Luckily QT Repair in Pro Maintenance Tools can fix this. The repair assumes that the trimmed data still exists in the file and that the movie is capable of being opened in QuickTime Player and played back, albeit at a shorter length.

1. First of all, check that the trimmed data is still in the file. Open the file in QuickTime Player and press Cmd+I to view the Info window. Compare the Data Size section to the size listed by the Finder - if the size on disk is significantly larger, that means the data is still within the file.

2. Launch QT Repair and open the movie clip.

3. In the Quick Start dialog, choose the option to restore trimmed edits.

Once the backup is complete, processing should be very quick.

There are widespread reports of problems with the latest version of QuickTime (QuickTime 7.7 on Leopard and QuickTime 7.6.6 build 1787 on Snow Leopard and Lion). This update is installed as part of Security Update 2011-006 for Snow Leopard and OS X 10.7.2 for Lion.

(The security update is the most likely culprit but it may alternatively have been caused by the iTunes 10.5 update that was released at the same time.)

The problems include:

Unable to play certain movies

Several people have been getting the message "An invalid public movie atom was found in the movie" when playing back in QuickTime Player. Final Cut Pro will either crash or display a white screen.

This seems to especially affect HDV files created by Focus Enhancements storage products. Focus has acknowledged the issue here (PDF).

The recommended solution is to downgrade QuickTime or restore an earlier version of your system from a backup or clone.

Update 2011-11-09:
Matt Geller of Meta Media Creative came up with another way of solving the problem. Replace the following files with the versions from a computer without Security Update 2011-006 installed (or alternatively extract them using Pacifist):

/System/Library/QuickTime/ApplePixletVideo.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/AppleVAH264HW.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTime3GPP.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeComponents.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeFireWireDV.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeH264.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeIIDCDigitizer.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeImporters.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeMPEG.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeMPEG4.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeStreaming.component
/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeVR.component

Reboot your computer and the problem should be solved. Remember to make a backup of the files you replace, just in case.

Related forum threads:
Apple Discussions: Invalid public movie atom was found in movie
Apple Discussions: Help!!! Upgrading to iTunes 10.5 has destroyed all video in Final Cut Pro
Apple Discussions: Problems after QuickTime 7.7 update
DV Info: Public atom?
LAFCPUG: Invalid public movie atom was found in movie

QuickTime-based applications crashing at startup

Some people have had problems with Compressor, Cinema Tools, Final Cut Pro and QuickTime Player crashing at startup.

The crash log says:

Dyld Error Message:
Symbol not found: _ValidateAudioChannelLayout
Referenced from: /Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeComponents.component/Contents/MacOS/QuickTimeComponents
Expected in: /System/Library/Frameworks/QuickTime.framework/Versions/A/QuickTime

To fix this, copy /System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeComponents.component to ~/Library/QuickTime, overwriting the existing file in that location. Backup the file before you do this.

If you are using Lion, your user Library directory will be hidden by default. Use System Toolkit to make it visible.

Related forum threads:
Apple Discussions: Compressor 4 crashes at startup
Apple Discussions: QuickTime crash on Lion
Apple Discussions: Quicktime 7.6.6 (Pro) quits on launch when in Lion

Because of these issues, I would recommend steering clear of the latest security and iTunes updates on your editing machine, especially if you're using Focus Enhancements products. Anyone with this issue should notify Apple so they understand how widespread the problem is.

15" MacBook Pro

13" MacBook Pro

MacBook Air

Snow Leopard

• Snow Leopard takes up around 6 GB less space than Leopard
• "Fewer wait cursors"
• Exposé is built into the dock - click and hold on a Dock icon and the app's windows will zoom out
• Browser plugins are put in a separate process so that they do not crash the browser when they fail (it's unclear whether browsers other than Safari will be able to take advantage of this)
• QuickTime X has been rebuilt from scratch, is hardware accelerated, has built-in ColorSync support and can stream data from any HTTP server (unfortunately more detailed information was not given)
• QuickTime X has a minimal UI - it's very similar to QuickLook. Simple editing and uploading to popular video sharing sites built-in (essentially QuickTime Pro for free).
• All system apps run in 64-bit
• Grand Central allows developers to manage threads to make multi-threading more efficient

Safari 4

iPhone 3GS

Final Cut Studio 3

The Golden Rules (TM) of Updating