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litefish
Inspiring
January 9, 2019
Answered

can no longer play qt movs that were rendered in AE 6.5

  • January 9, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 1003 views

a lot of my old QT movs that i generated in AE have

mcdb after the .mov extension.

None of these movs can be played on my newer computer

with newer quicktime.

Can anyone explain what mcdb means?

Is there any way to salvage these old movs?

Thanks!

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Vinay Dwivedi

The files do have the mov extension - but  Followed By the .mcdb extension.  (like Old.mov.mcdb

So those were never playable?  But the icons were mysteriously duplicated from real movs, and the mcdb extension was added?

If that is the case, I'll have to hunt around.  Maybe the actual files no longer exist.

They're taken from an external hard drive.


MCDB file is a Media Cache Database. MCDB file records the location of cache files and related media files

2 replies

imeilfx
imeilfx
Inspiring
January 9, 2019

Ok so:
a) mcdb files are not a mov files - mcdb files are PPro cache files or to be more specific a links to source footage that PPro use for not caching multiple times the same source file.
b) so to find out if you can play your old mov files you have find your mov files not mcdb files
c) Dave is right - Adobe is removing/removed obsolete QT support Dropped support for QuickTime 7 era formats and codecs 


If you are sure that you have mov files (not mcdb) and you can't play them in newest AE you can:
- use previous AE version
- convert your old files (with AME or any other converter) to some other more modern codec that is compatible with AE

    Dave_LaRonde
    Dave_LaRonde
    Inspiring
    January 9, 2019

    Yeah -- download CC 2017.  2018 killed off a boatload of QT codecs.

      L
      litefishAuthor
      Inspiring
      January 9, 2019

      Guys- thanks for the trove of information!

      I no longer have After Effects on my hard drive, so this seems to be an Apple QT problem.

      I'll check with apple, and post what they say when I get time.

      Thank you again!

      L
      litefishAuthor
      Inspiring
      January 9, 2019

      Wait? You don't have AE installed? I thought that you wish to playback animations generated with older AE in newer AE. If you can't play your files in some player like qtplayer etc.  and it payed before - that is not AE fault.
      But you have to remember files with .mcdb extension are not playable and never were so if you wish to playback your old animations you have to find your mov (or any other movie clip files) files thyat you originally generated.


      Apologies for my lack of clarity.  They were movs that I'd rendered from AE, but now only want to play

      them back on QT.

      I don't understand why the unplayable mov icons would even be visible.

      Possibly because the old computer they were on (G5) went belly up, and the files were retrieved

      by a half-assed Mac repair shop that that did a botch job, and didn't even retrieve content from the 2nd internal drive.

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