Solution to play .mov files in Chrome?

[David N.]

Our user-base is on Mac and when they take a screen recording, the Mac produces a .mov file. 

Once uploaded, that .mov file is embedded as expected in Safari, but not in Chrome. 

Is there an easy solution, or does one need to get a 3rd party video conversion tool to convert the .mov into a supported movie file format? 

Thanks!

[Nathan Explosion]

https://www.videoconverterfactory.com/tips/chrome-mov.html

[David N.]

Thank you. I finally figured out an even easier solution: just change the .mov extension to .mp4, and the file plays in Chrome. 

[John Horton]

I need users to be able to upload .mov files from their phones and have the files play without being manually edited. Is there a solution? 

[Marc]

7 minutes ago, John Horton said:

I need users to be able to upload .mov files from their phones and have the files play without being manually edited. Is there a solution? 

Thats a question you would need to ask of google. The issue is not one of the software, but rather the browser

[David N.]

58 minutes ago, Marc Stridgen said:

Thats a question you would need to ask of google. The issue is not one of the software, but rather the browser

I agree - although I suppose that it would be nice if there was an option in the Invision Community to automatically convert .mov file extensions to .mp4 so  that unknowledgeable members could have a seamless experience. 🙂 

[John Horton]

So the bottom line is -

Safari users can play MP4 and mov embeds.

Chrome users can not play mov embeds.

Mov files will upload & download inside IPS in the Chrome browser.

There is no backend conversion to make the file types universally play.

Is that correct?

 

 

Edited December 29, 2023 by John Horton

[David N.]

2 minutes ago, John Horton said:

Is that correct?

Yes however all you need to do is change the file extension from .mov to mp4 and the files become play the files. So the files are perfectly playable in Chrome, it's just that Chrome does not understand the .mov extension. 

[John Horton]

Yeah, the conversion is easy enough to do manually but as you said we want users to have a seamless experience. 

25 minutes ago, David N. said:

that unknowledgeable members could have a seamless experience.

 

[Clover13]

I'm always hoping a dev will come up with an app that allows an upload that goes directly to YouTube, Vimeo, etc and then embeds the video URL into the content (topic, etc).  This saves on server/storage space while also eliminating the browser vs device incompatibility issues.  I'd be willing to pay quite a bit for it, I'm sure many would and collectively it would be worthwhile for the dev.

[opentype]

I think Gallery on cloud installation should take care of MOV and other formats. 
https://invisioncommunity.com/news/invision-community/whats-new-in-gallery-r1270/

Quote

For communities that are able to leverage our cloud platform non MP4 videos will be automatically converted to support these features.

 

[David N.]

23 minutes ago, opentype said:

I think Gallery on cloud installation should take care of MOV and other formats. 

Yes but it doesn't work automatically when a user attaches a video to a post in the forum. Also available only starting with the $229/month "Team" plan. 

Edited December 30, 2023 by David N.

[Marc]

On 12/29/2023 at 8:23 PM, David N. said:

I agree - although I suppose that it would be nice if there was an option in the Invision Community to automatically convert .mov file extensions to .mp4 so  that unknowledgeable members could have a seamless experience. 🙂 

That isnt something we would do. While I understand it may work for you in the browser, it doesn't make it correct. mov and mp4 are 2 different formats

[David N.]

16 hours ago, Marc Stridgen said:

That isnt something we would do. While I understand it may work for you in the browser, it doesn't make it correct. mov and mp4 are 2 different formats

Ok, I understand, then I suppose there would need to be an actual file conversion going on for this to work properly. 

[Marc]

27 minutes ago, David N. said:

Ok, I understand, then I suppose there would need to be an actual file conversion going on for this to work properly. 

That would be the only way, which is not something we have planned for attachments at present. The reality is, there isn't actually anything that doesn't work here. Its simply the browser doesnt support the format.

[David N.]

3 hours ago, Marc Stridgen said:

The reality is, there isn't actually anything that doesn't work here. Its simply the browser doesnt support the format.

Yes, I understand that, however a solution can (and hopefully will) be implemented. For example if I upload the same video in Facebook, Facebook automatically converts the video so that it plays back in any browser. Users are used to this, and our Mac-based members don't understand why they can upload a video in a Facebook group but can't upload that same video in our Invision Community. 

My understanding is that that is something that Invision already does for the Gallery, so hopefully that feature will be added to the forum as well in the not-too-distant future. I remember discussing this with Charles during a Live Topic last year. 

Edited January 2 by David N.

[Nathan Explosion]

If you want to take the "user renames the file extension" element out of the equation, then here's a different kludge which can be applied by a moderator/admin after the file has been uploaded...

1. Edit the post
2. View the 'Source' in the editor
3. In amongst the HTML, you will see type="video/quicktime"
4. Change quicktime to mp4 (therefore type="video/mp4")
5. Save the edit.

I've added something to my "HTML5 Video/Audio Player" resource which will apply that kludge to content without the need for editing the content.