Make sure that you are using QuickTime 2.0 or later. Do not use QuickTime 2.0.9 - it is known to have some bugs. Make sure that you have the QuickTime PowerPlug installed if you are using a PowerMac - be sure that it is the same version as your version of QuickTime. Remove the PowerPlug if you have a 68K machine. Make sure that you don't have multiple versions of QuickTime in your Extensions folder.
If you want to create IMA compressed audio tracks, make sure you have Sound Manager 3.2 or later installed. It is on the program disk for your convenience.
Turn off Virtual Memory when you are playing back movies - VM may cause movies to play erratically or "stutter".
You should always keep 1 Mb of memory free for QuickTime. To double check this, launch Movie Cleaner Pro and then switch to the Finder. Select "About This Macintosh..." from the Apple menu and make sure that in the "Largest Unused Block" there is at least 1 Mb available.
If there isn't at least 1 Mb free, try quitting other open applications and/or lowering the "Preferred Size" and "Minimum Size" of Movie Cleaner Pro. To set these, quit Movie Cleaner Pro, go to the Finder, highlight the Movie Cleaner Pro icon, and select "Get Info" from the File menu. Type values into the memory settings that will leave 1 Mb free when Movie Cleaner Pro is launched.
If you can't drop files onto Movie Cleaner's icon in the Finder:
You may need to rebuild your desktop - do this by rebooting while holding down the Option and Command keys until your computer asks you if you want to rebuild the desktop.
If Movie Cleaner Pro hangs or crashes when you start compressing and you are using a hardware codec (such as Video Vision, Targa, etc.):
Make sure that you do not have multiple movies open at one time. Hardware codecs use the capture card in order to display video. If more than one movie is open at a time, the card tries to support both movies and often crashes. Make sure that you don't have a movie open in the background with another application such as Premiere or MoviePlayer. The fact that hardware codecs support only one movie at a time is one reason that Movie Cleaner allows you to have only one movie open at a time.
If compression seems to run very slowly:
Compression is, by its nature, a slow process. For example, a 15 fps, 320x240, Cinepak movie typically compresses at 45 minutes per minute of actual movie on a midrange PowerMac 7100 with Movie Cleaner Pro. '68K Macintoshes are dramatically slower than Power Macs.
If compression fails for lack of memory:
Compressing movies with large frames (640x480 or larger) may require more than the normal 6 Mb that Movie Cleaner uses. Quit Movie Cleaner, select its icon in the Finder, get information on it and increase its memory allocation as necessary. 8Mb is usually plenty for 640x480. Just remember to always leave at least 1 Mb free for QuickTime - if all of your memory is taken up by the system and your programs, QuickTime can run into problems.
If Movie Cleaner Pro seems to hang when you start compressing (before the first frame draws, but the mouse is still active):
It can often take a while for the first frame of the movie to come up because Movie Cleaner Pro is setting up the compression. If you are on a slow machine, or have a large movie, this pause may take up to a minute. Make sure to give Movie Cleaner some time before assuming it has hung.
If your audio has "clicking" in it:
Apple's Sound Manager 3.2 has a bug in it that may cause some movies' audio to have faint "clicks" when played. This is most common with 11.025 kHz sound. These files will play properly when Sound Manager 3.1 is used. This is a playback problem - the files are not damaged or corrupted, they simply don't play right under Sound Manager 3.2. A new Sound Manager (3.2.1) should be released soon that will fix this problem.
Error Dialog when you try to make IMA compressed audio:
You must have Sound Manager 3.2 or later installed in order to compress movies with IMA compressed soundtracks. It is included on the program disk for your convenience.
Serial Numbers:
Movie Cleaner Pro 1.2 requires that each running copy has a unique serial number. You will not be able to launch multiple versions with the same serial number.
If you are running Movie Cleaner Pro on more than one machine, you should have a licensed copy for each computer. Terran Interactive, Inc. offers special prices on multi-packs and site licenses. Call (800) 577-3443 or (408) 278-9065 for more details or stop by our WWW site at http://www.Terran-Int.com.
If you own a multi-pack, but installed all your copies with the same serial number, throw away the Movie Cleaner Pro preferences in the Preferences folder within the System folder, then relaunch Movie Cleaner Pro. You will be asked to personalize your copy again - type in a unique serial number for each copy.
NOTE: If you throw away the Movie Cleaner Pro preferences, any saved settings will be lost.
If your movie's data-rate is different than what you specified:
The data-rate limited codecs such as Indeo and Cinepak are usually fairly good at limiting their data-rate to what you request. However, sometimes they do not limit the rate properly. You can manually specify a higher or lower data-rate to "trick" the codec into producing the desired rate. It may take a few tries to get the codec to produce the proper data-rate. Make sure to let Movie Cleaner compresses at least 5 seconds of your movie before checking the data-rate because the initial keyframe often makes the data-rate look high at the beginning of compression. Also, fades and blank screens give low data-rates - make sure you are looking at a representative section of your movie before deciding that the rate is wrong.
If you are having trouble resuming a suspended movie:
Make sure you are trying to resume from the original source movie, not the suspended compressed part that ends with "•susp."
If "256 colors" is not an option in the compress dialog on the Advanced Settings Window:
If you're trying to make a 8-bit movie, only some codecs (such as Cinepak) will currently allow you to do this. You must have QuickTime 2.1 installed to make 8-bit Cinepak movies. Make sure to read the section in Chapter 13 - Tips and Suggestions for some details about 8-bit Cinepak.
If your 8-Bit Cinepak movies look "bad":
8-Bit Cinepak doesn't always work well with video sources (as compared to animation, graphics, etc). For more details, check out Chapter 13 - Tips and Suggestions. Make sure you are attaching an appropriate custom palette to the movie before it is compressed.
If the "Before and After" slider isn't present during 8-bit Cinepak compression:
The slider is not implemented for 8-bit Cinepak.
The video seems to "pulse" in and out of focus
You may have your keyframe quality set too high or low.
Since digital video is a series of trade-offs, you must balance your keyframe quality with your delta-frame quality. If there is a wide difference between them, your keyframe will be sharp and the following frames will be blurry, or vice-versa. The video will seem to "pulse" or "flash" in and out of focus.
To fix image pulsing, change the "Quality" slider in the Compress section of the Advanced Settings to a lower setting if the keyframes are sharp and the delta-frames are blurry, or a higher setting if the opposite is true. With Cinepak movies, 50% usually works well.
