Six Colors:
Among the casualties of the impending transition to 64-bit apps is one long-lasting oddity: QuickTime 7 Pro.
What makes this app so unusual are a few factors. For one thing, it’s one of Apple’s own apps. For another, it was first released in 2005, making it almost 13 years old, though it hasn’t seen an update in about 8 years.
But despite its age and the fact that the writing was on the wall for QuickTime 7, news that it wouldn’t see an update when macOS makes the jump to all-64-bit-all-the-time sparked some cries of frustration from users, including both myself and Jason, who have carved out a place in their workflows—and their hearts—for this little anachronism.
Probably the single thing that pisses me off most about the (completely understandable) move to all 64-bit is that Apple has crippled QT over the years and is now forcing us to use less suitable and functional apps. QuickTime Player X is utterly useless as a production app.
There was a time when QuickTime was Apple’s crown jewel. Remember this is what Microsoft wanted to kill when they demanded Apple “knife the baby.”
I am still bummed out that Apple deprecated QuickTime Streaming Server. I still think it had some technical advantages over all current streaming solutions.
Absolutely. I was the first podcaster to use QuickTime Streaming Server and was asked about QT, streaming and podcasting by Apple on many occasions. Apple encouraged podcasters like myself and other companies to build their business based on QT. They *owned* the market for years and then seemingly lost interest in the whole thing.
QTSS was written in Perl so I suppose we could fork it. But do any modern web clients support rtsp?
I’m gonna miss QT 7 Pro, but at least it won’t be as soon as early OS adopters might.
Yup. I have *zero* intention of upgrading my OS past the point of where it is now, simply because there are far too many apps I use regularly that will break. 🙁
Yeah, I’m still waiting for Quicken 2007 to break before paying another subscription fee for a new version’s fewer features. I know that makes me sound like a Macintouch geriatric, but here we are.
Qt7 Pro has been a staple of mine since its inception. This is sad. I use the Import Image Sequence all the time. No other app is as quick and dirty for that function.
What a shame.
Jim in Boulder
I really hope Apple updates it.
“it was first released in 2005, making it almost 13 years old, though it hasn’t seen an update in about 8 years.” There’s *zero* chance Apple updates QT 7 or to update QT X to include the functionality lost from QT 7.
I can still hope man! Don’t kill the dream!!! (I know the reality)
I use QT7 Pro with Applescript to trim off intros and outros of downloaded how-to videos. I find the “in” frame with the arrow keys, hit the “i” key to set the “in” point, play it, and then hit the “o” key to set the “out” point. I then select the Applescript “service” script I created with Automator to save the trimmed vid where I want it.
Guess I’ll have to try scripting Adobe Premiere Pro to do something similar. . .
Never understood why Apple didn’t keep all of the original functionality from QT7. I mean who the hell could possibly need frame by frame editing in a modern Mac besides me? Apple, I understand the value of FCP, been paying for it forever, but sometimes QT7 was just faster and easier when I needed to slice up a vid. RIP QT7
Perhaps but like I said on Twitter, I exported a video via ScreenFlow’s “iPad” settings to my desktop. File won’t open in QT X but opens just fine in QT 7. That’s ridiculous.
I’ve been using it since I bought my first version of Final Cut Pro Studio that also had DVD Studio Pro in the suite of products. I’ve used QTP7 for so many different projects over the years, it’s been my goto app.
It will forever be my single favourite Apple app. I’ll always keep an older Mac in my studio so I can run apps like this. It’s been something I’ve done for years to keep using gems like QT7!
I’m not sure why Apple didn’t keep it, but I know why I would have dropped it in their shoes: Attack surface. It supported just too many formats that were rarely used but could have been used to attack Mac OS X. And all that code written before sandboxing could have made it safe.
When QuickTime first started getting really complicated codec-wise (let’s say QuickTime 4 in 1994), it made sense. Most of those formats were equally used. You needed to be able to support all those formats. You needed to be able to plug in additional formats. You needed that kind of power.
These days, a couple formats make up the vast majority of media. The others have become irrelevant, and those few that need them can get a converter somewhere.
As much as I appreciate QuickTime 7, it doesn’t make much sense in 2018.
Maybe. But it might be a sign of how out-of-date ScreenFlow’s export profiles are, too. I don’t have ScreenFlow and can’t check. 🙂
LOL Well, it’s ScreenFlow version 6, released in 2016. You’d think that if it had an “iPad” export option that QT 7 recognized, then QT X would as well. 🙂
You’d think. What codec is it using, though?
Oh God, QuickTime Player X is just garbage for any sort of production, and it’s not that great a player, either. QT Pro 7 does stuff I need five other apps to do… and still use it for simple quick-and-dirty tasks. I don’t need to open Adobe Premiere to just trim a video clip or swap a format…
What the HELL, Apple? Did they lose interest during the “Flash” years?
QT X won’t even open a lot of still fairly common formats that QT 7 handled with no complaints.