SimpleMovieX v2.8.1

SimpleMovieX claims to be a replacement of QuickTime Pro, but feature xxx is missing.
SimpleMovieX is not a QuickTime Pro clone. Some features are missing, like skins or slideshows, and will not be added in the future, because we consider they are not widely used. Other missing features will be added in future versions of SimpleMovieX. For instance, track editing features and scripting support will come in next major release. We will exceed what QuickTime Pro does.
Our endeavour is not to mimic QuickTime Pro, but to deliver a better experience, which means better features, better usability and better value.

The Movie Gallery drawer sometimes pops up at a random location. Why and how can I restore it ?
This is a well known problem that appears when ExposÈ is used. This actually happens with any application when a drawer is opened or closed while ExposÈ is active. As this is an operating system level bug, it cannot be solved within SimpleMovieX scope.
Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger should solve the problem. In the meantime, you can use this trick to restore the correct drawer position : Trigger then quit ExposÈ in "All windows" mode by typing two times F9 hot key.

Does the 2GB file size limitation also apply to SimpleMovieX ?
It depends. SimpleMovieX is built on QuickTime technology, and it inherits from either features and limitations from its QuickTime underspinnings. One of this limitations is a 2GB file size limit for mov files. Luckily, this limitations does not apply to imported and exported files in other formats, like dv, mp4 or mpg. This means that you can perfectly edit a 5GB MPEG2 and then save it as MPEG2 (but not as mov).

What is a RefMovie and when should I save as RefMovie ?
The QuickTime file format is actually storing two types of data : a structure that describes the organization of the movie in terms of tracks, edit points and media references, and a repository for media itself. But the media doesn't need to be inside the movie file, it can be in other files or on optical media like CD or DVD. A RefMovie is a movie that only stores the structure, but does not include the media. Saving as RefMovie is very fast and the file size is usually under 100KB. This is perfect if you want to store the editing work you have been performing, without copying a big amount of media.
Be aware that a RefMovie is fragile, as it relies on external files. You should use RefMovie only for temporary stages of movie authoring.

I have edited MPEG media and exported to mpg. The transitions at edit points are inaccurate and some artefacts appear during playback.
This is a product limitation that can be explained by the nature of MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 media. It is organized in group of pictures (GOP) that represent about half a second each, and a GOP cannot be edited. When you export an edited movie to mpg, SimpleMovieX rounds to edit points to the nearest GOP, so the transitions in the mpg movie are not as accurate as with other media types.
Regarding artefacts or problems during playback, this is mainly due to the poor support of MPEG by some playback programs. QuickTime Player, for example, will sometimes stick in a transition while the soundtrack continues playing. Even if the mpg file created by SimpleMovieX is standard-compliant, some programs may give problems. We recommend VLC for good playback experience.

Search Pane doesn't seem to work. I only can get a series of solid color boxes.
This problem occurs when a movie contains DivX media. We look forward to solve it in the next version of SimpleMovieX.

How do I get more help?

For more information about a specific SimpleMovieX feature consult the SimpleMovieX Documentation.
Or contact us.

SimpleMovieX MPEG Capabilities

MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 medias are not well supported by QuickTime, to say the least. MPEG-4 is natively supported by QuickTime 6 and above, but is still not widely used by the public. H264 AV codec may change this situation during 2005, but even though MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 will remain dominant for several years.

MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 media are usually distributed in files with .mpg extension. MPEG-4 media uses the .mp4 extension. All 3 types can also be packed inside a native QuickTime .mov file.

Due to native support of MPEG-4, it behaves as any other Audio/Video codec.
But MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 codec have some limitations that we explain below :

MPEG-2

MPEG-2 media is supported by SimpleMovieX only if you have installed the QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component.
Even though, SimpleMovieX MPEG-2 support has some restrictions. Those restrictions are inherited from the MPEG-2 Component, and are listed here. Remember those 3 points :

• MPEG-2 transport streams are not supported .
• MPEG-2 with AC3 audio (typically ripped from DVDs) will play without audio. (Only MP2 audio is supported)

NEW in v.2.6.3 :

• MPEG audio tracks can be transcoded. This means you can export to any other QuickTime format without loosing the audio. This is an exclusive feature of SimpleMovieX.

We will improve MPEG-2 support in next versions of SimpleMovieX to overcome those limitations.

Accuracy of Edition

MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 were designed in the early nineties for the distribution of video contents at medium to low data rates, and have been successfully implemented in 2 popular applications : VideoCD and DVD.
Unlike most of other codecs, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 are quite difficult to edit, because they use temporal compression, which means that the information required to display a frame is not at one particular location, but distributed along the last 10 to 20 frames, or Group of Pictures (GOP).
Technically, it is not possible to cut or paste inside a GOP with reencoding media, which is very slow and involves a loss of quality. For this reason, MPEG is not an edition codec.

SimpleMovieX is capable of :

• Frame accurate editing in .mov files
• GOP-accurate editing when exporting to .mpg (around half a second)

Note that QuickTime Player is not very good at MPEG playback, and some artefacts may appear at cut point. This will not happen with other players like VLC.

Export Limitations

SimpleMovieX can export your movie as an .mpg file. This is possible when : All the media inside the movie is either MPEG-1 or MPEG-2. (Mix of both not supported) The media segments have the same characteristics : pixel size, streams types, bit rates. NEW in v.2.6.3 : Export to other formats or to other codecs (like DV or Sorenson3) no longer removes the audio track. SimpleMovieX does not reencode MPEG when exporting to .mpg. This is why it is super-fast. Furthermore, the file size in not limited to 2GB !

Support of individual streams

Usually, MPEG media is "muxed", which means that video and audio information are interleaved inside the file. In some cases, video and audio are separated in two different files or "streams".
SimpleMovieX does not officially support individual streams, but usually it works fine.

• MPEG-1 video (.m1v) not officially supported
• MPEG-2 video (.m2v) not officially supported
• MPEG-1 audio (.mp2 or .mp3) is supported