Quicktime: Everything You Need to Know

If you have been using Quicktime, you probably get fed up with the fact that it rarely plays a file you want. One way around this is to simply use VLC, which will play practically anything. The only problem with this is you can't export files to another format. Once you upgrade to Quicktime Pro, you can export any file you open to a variety of formats. The ones you are probably the most interested in are Apple TV, iPhone and iPod. The other way, is to install a couple of codec plugins, that will allow Quicktime to play everything VLC does. If you use Quicktime without registering, you will only be able to play videos, if you want to export, you'll have to upgrade to Quicktime Pro ($29.99)

There are 3 plugins you want to install: Perian Tools, Flip4Mac, and DivX. Of these, the only one that costs money is Flip4Mac, but only if you want to export. If you use Flip4Mac without registering, it will place a watermark over anyting you export, even though you will be able to play whatever you want perfectly fine. Flip4Mac allows Quicktime to play WMV and WMA files.

Once these 3 plugins are installed, Quicktime can play practically anything except for DRM Windows Media files. It can also export all of these files using .h264 encoding, which allows your files to have a small size and high quality, as well as being the encoding the iPhone, iPod and Apple TV use. .h264 is also used in HD Video formats such as Blu-Ray.