Quicktime DRM + After Effects = misery for filmmakers
Ben sez,
Adobe After Effects (the loving companion to any motion graphics pro) has been crippled by the new Quicktime DRM. When After Effects renders out an animation Quicktime throws up an error telling you that you do not have permission to view the Quicktime movie that you just created.Link (Thanks, Ben!)Here you are using a mac as your trusty creative tool and now it's telling you that you are not allowed to access something you just created.
Apple DRM bitch slaps the very creative pros who love their products.
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Perhaps Apple isn't aware that this problem exists?
Quicktime has always been an awful mess on PCs and never, in any sense of the word, actually Quick.
This doesn't seem to be a DRM problem but an OS file permissions bug related to the new version of QT 7.
Whatever the case, I have a big issue with the way Apple deletes Apple Support Forum threads on issues that deal with problems like these. It seems the trotters are working overtime to delete unflattering threads by people sincerely in need of help.
Not bloody likely since they are actively deleting whole threads on the topic.
Although Apple, as a private company, can mod their own support threads however they like I'm also free to completely disagree with the authoritarian, censorship-state style control they wield over the forums. It's as if they've hired Kim Jong-il as their Super Mod to crush dissent and to delete all truths unfavorable to Apple, turning the support forums into a Potemkin Village of happy Apple fanboi love.
(PS, only use Macs, but I vehemently disagree with a number of Apples heavy handed perception control tactics)
This sounds like an Apple problem.
QuickTime has always had a user-antagonistic DRM & Permissions system.
My favorite example is this: If you get a stock OS install , you can view/save quicktime movies off the web. If you ever upgrade QuickTime, the save functionality is taken away until you pay Apple $30. I used to work in an office where we had to reset apples non-stop because Software Update would cripple that functionality. Could we have paid $30 - sure. But paying $30 to get around crippleware from a software update - on a feature that should have been free? Its abhorrent. Shame on Apple.
"Could we have paid $30 - sure. But paying $30 to get around crippleware from a software update - on a feature that should have been free? Its abhorrent. Shame on Apple."
And trying to actually buy it is a nightmare. I needed to purchase a copy for a tax exempt institution and had several Apple CSRs tell me they simply could not sell it to me without charging sales tax for my locale.
Think Different.
BTW, Quicktime upgrades have often been contentious for professional media apps. In the past, a QT upgrade crippled functionality in FCP. Apple now frequently updates QT to enable iTunes/iPod/iPhone features and these updates sometimes have unintended consequences.
At the mega Final Cut User Group meeting at Macworld, an Apple presenter made careful note that the Quicktime you need for Final Cut Pro is the Quicktime that was current when your version of FCP came out and that FCP doesn't need all those iTunes Features, so be very wary of upgrading QT. He was, intentionally or not, warning people not to upgrade to QT 7.4 (so I didn't :) Thank You Mr. Apple presenter...( I could look up your name and include it here, but why get you in trouble for giving us good advice? As I presume you might...))
Apple's "pay $20 for iTouch upgrade while iPhone gets a similar upgrade" free is pretty dumb also.
"Apple's "pay $20 for iTouch upgrade while iPhone gets a similar upgrade" free is pretty dumb also."
It's dumb, but Apple has to do that way because of the different methods they chose to recognize revenue from the iPhone vs. the iTouch.
Pay your $30, but recognize the next "free" update may require you to shell out another $30.
If you need to save a QT file, it is much easier to fish it out of the browser cache.
Or use Firefox, which lets you download media from the Page Info, Media tab. Or use any of a number of Firefox extensions to help you with downloading QTs.
But, on the note of QT pricing. When you by QT Pro, you loose the "Pro" features every time you upgrade a "major" revision--and the installer doesn't warn you that you will be downgrading your functionality. And in some cases you have had to upgrade QT to continue using iTunes and you were forced to by "Pro" all over again. Apple really needs to fix this silly issue.
Export of files shorter than 10 minutes should work fine, as will an image sequence of any length, for those in need of a workaround.
"The full error is After Effects error opening movie - you do not have permission to open this file. (-54) (44::53)"
The official solution from After Effects support sounds like it is "revert to an earlier version, use the image sequence, or pray for a speedy quicktime update".
Apple: "We don't have problems. We just have problem customers."
rendering image sequences has always been my preferred output. from that point on you can easily re-render portions of the sequence for revisions without re-rendering the entire animation every time there are revisions. once it's approved then you can render out a movie file.
i'm using a pc and have upgraded my quicktime recently. i haven't had any problems. i've rendered several quicktime files today, too. must just be a mac thing.
i have nothing against mac computers but i think pc's have more to offer. they're cheaper, there are plenty of 3D apps to choose from and the adobe suites runs on them just fine if not better. i've only been using a pc to do motion graphics and design for about 3 months now and am blown away with how much more horsepower it has over the g5 i was using before. maybe it's time more people switched over to pc for their creative needs.
Workaround thread, ala Creative Cow:
http://forums.creativecow.net/thread/2/925464#925464
This is by far the most ridiculous bullshit ever. This literally cost me money. I've been an apple fan for a bit, but I had no idea they deleted support threads. That sorta makes me want to fight that somehow... spam 'go to this REAL help site' on the very same forums. Course that's not very nice, I know...
I wont even install quicktime on my PCs anymore - I used to because some websites would only offer media in this proprietary format vs an avi or something that everything can play. Now that there is flash video theres no need for quicktime IMO.
I get bitched at everytime I open after effects about there being no quicktime, but I really see no reason to have it.
I'm pretty active on the Apple forums (I'm one of the top-rated users in the iTunes for Mac forum), and I've only seen threads deleted if they contained 1) profanity/flaming or 2) instructions on circumventing DRM (particularly "How do I get a DVD onto my iPod?"). This isn't to say they never delete threads for other reasons — I'm sure the mods there make mistakes and get bugs up their butts like the rest of us — but I've never seen even intense complaining get deleted simply for criticizing Apple.
Apple is like the bitchy IT guy who won't help you but still demands a hefty paycheck.
Thank you BB! I use After Effects 6.5 and managed to reproduce the 10 minute error. Rolled back to 7.31 using Apple's own installer package and http://www.charlessoft.com/ Pacifist. Just open the package with Pacifist and let it do its dirty work (a few dialogs come up, allow it to replace the files) and reboot.
Nothing broke and it unbroke AE, as I rendered a 20:06 video just to be sure. I'm running 10.4 and a PPC G4, so there may be other issues with Leopard's variant (someone on the thread said this trick didn't work for them)
Pretty much soured me on the rental thing. Can't rent movies with 7.31 and probably won't ever.
Apple also deleted forum threads about their poor power cables.
Jere7my, has it occurred to you that you wouldn't see deleted threads?
Enjoy your DRM-laden products. Apple might indeed be trying to monetize this in a nonstandard fashion, but they're still willing to screw you over to do so. And lie about it by hiding the discussion...
Get one of the browser plugins that lets you write notes on other people's sites, like Hoodwink.d, or another.
If Apple starts censoring their forums, start a hidden forum on Apple.com letting people know the truth. There's nothing they can do about it!
I don't see how DRM plays in this. DRM is only mentioned by one user on the linked forum thread, and nobody else is corroborating his assertion that "The newnew quick time 7.4 for itunes film rent, every 10 min, try to check the drm in an open quicktime."
I would tend to agree with Skep - this is probably a bug related to permissions or corruption when rendering out to file. iTunes DRM errors tend to have wording to the tune of "This file is not authorized to play on this computer."
Cory, I'm behind you all the way in your quest to quash DRM, but this is just unsupported alarmist junk.