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Mac OS X Script: Get Full-Screen Quicktime for Free, No Pro Upgrade Needed
techpwn.com — Do you hate not being able to use full screen mode with basic Quicktime? There is a simple and easy solution to this without paying the 20 dollars to upgrade to Quicktime Pro 7. It is a very simple Apple Script that I have been using for awhile that takes about 30 seconds to compile and can be done by anyone.
econoar- 1435 diggs
- digg it
- buu2, on 10/12/2007, -7/+67Thanks a lot but its easier to just use vlc.
- econoar, on 10/12/2007, -24/+13True, but many people still use Quicktime. Especially the "generic" Mac user who probably hasn't really even heard of VLC. Although most digg users are more advanced then this generic user, so they have.
- pathy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+31"Although most digg users are more advanced then this generic user, so they have."
That made me laugh. - flag564, on 10/12/2007, -27/+4If you have to compile something just to get it to work, then you might as well just use something else for full screen video.
- sx86, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17You don't have to compile anything to get this to work though. Its a script.
Nice find though econoar - smhill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11"True, but many people still use Quicktime. Especially the "generic" Mac user who probably hasn't really even heard of VLC. Although most digg users are more advanced then this generic user, so they have."
That makes no sense. If they haven't heard of VLC, they probably aren't the type who is going to be down for whipping up AppleScripts.
Not only are there a handful of free apps that play full screen, you can easily do the same is with Automator (see link below). Writing an Applescript is probably the last way to do it. - m99stump, on 07/29/2008, -14/+16VLC for Mac is generally pretty mediocre. Sure it plays nearly all the files, but it just doesn't "feel" right to me.
I'd much rather get Niceplayer (http://niceplayer.sourceforge.net/) with the Perian codec pack (http://perian.org/) and AC3 Codec (http://trac.cod3r.com/a52codec/). And of course the real Flip4Mac for WMV.
Niceplayer has an awesomely simple interface, is very fast and light on resources, gives you full screen and aspect ratio switching, and is just far and away the best player on Mac IMO. It will also play about as much as VLC will with that pack except MKV (unless you get a QuickTime plugin for that too) - sakabako, on 10/12/2007, -6/+9Most Mac users have a higher standards for thier user interface than Windows or Linux people. VLC, although it plays everything, has an akward interface.
It is snobby, but I want a menu when I move the mouse and I need to be able to exit full screen without using the keyboard. - 3Den, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Have you checked out the latest VLC? IT feels pretty darn good, the floating controls are just like quicktime, and it now has quick menus for common aspect ratio corrections, cropping to aspect ratios, post-processing, etc.
sakebako: VLC, you get a floating controller when you move the mouse in fullscreen, and there is a right-click menu as well.
Also, you can enter/exit fullscreen by double clicking the video at any time. - KissTheRing, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Here is a quick, free, scriptless way to get quicktime to play full screen. Play it in iTunes, it uses quicktime in the background and it will let you go full screen.
- dAbReAkA, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9haha, that made my day ;)
can we expect a hack to enable stereo in the music player?! - Zafras, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5VLC is great for optical output and oddball formats, but for everything else QuickTime is much smoother, nicer and less buggy.
- retrofitme, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0"Here is a quick, free, scriptless way to get quicktime to play full screen. Play it in iTunes, it uses quicktime in the background and it will let you go full screen."
iTunes' video playback on the PC is *horrible*. Search Apple's iTunes forums for "Choppy Video" sometime.
So does anyone know how to go about playing iTunes content (legally) in VLC? Any good tutorials out there anyone? - morganm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"Most Mac users have a higher standards for thier(sic) user interface than Windows or Linux people."
Yeah, we Windows and Linux cretins like to be able to actually view a full screen video as opposed to looking at a bunch of interface hanging around the border of our movies or TV. Real high standards you've got there. - KissTheRing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@retrofitme
Well iTunes video looks great on my Macs and PC so I'm not sure why it looks choppy on your windows machine (maybe content related). But the article is about an APPLE script to let you go full screen so I don't see how that would be helpful to you at all on windows. - cleverboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's good to know about the script. More options are *always* good... especially when they don't require a software installation or download, just esoteric knowledge and an iron clad memory. It's the stuff true geeks are made of.
- davdav, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1http://www.google.com/search?q=quicktime+pro+7+serial
Wow!
- manikd1, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1nice tip, thanks
- Rodzirra, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Now hook this script app up to a trigger in Quicksilver, and you'll have a hot key. It's groovy.
- eric123abacus, on 10/12/2007, -9/+18or you could just get a serial for it.
- Trat, on 10/12/2007, -6/+9I second that...
- magicmarc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5How many Dawn Fredettes are there on windows?
- Firehed, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I love how that wasn't phrased as "or you could just buy it". *cough*
- SilentSpyder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Been doin that
- drouk1556, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Just a thought, but couldn't you just go to your local Apple Store and jot down one of their QT Pro serials for your Mac? Not that I condone this petty theft, QT Pro is only $30.
- SilentSpyder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2$30 is a whole work day for some people.
- dmron, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5In my mind, quicktime will always be a joke because of this ridiculous limitation. I mean, what the hell kind of video player doesn't allow you to play video full screen without paying money? Luckily on non-Macs (as someone else said) there are many other programs that WILL play quicktime movies, and will play them fullscreen. I use Media Player Classic on Windows and it kicks ass.
- HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20Worse yet, I paid $1500 for my Apple laptop. It comes with Front Row, which can play movies fullscreen. It comes with iLife and iWork, so I can do all kinds of stuff with it!
But can I play a Quicktime movie fullscreen? Nope. That's another $20. How come Apple can bundle in all these programs and functionality, but can't manage to include a free QT Pro serial number? - Trat, on 10/12/2007, -6/+0How can it kick ass on a Wintendo?
- smhill, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"But can I play a Quicktime movie fullscreen?"
Yes, in FrontRow. That is what is for, why are you confused? QuickTime Pro is for advanced video exporting and other things. If you want to watch a movie full screen on your Mac, then to so. It won't cost you a dime and you won't have to download anything. - a0me, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yeah I never understood the logic behind the all for-pay fullscreen QuickTime feature when Apple bundles Frontrow which does exactly that for free...
Actually Frontrow is one of the reason I switched to Mac and I couldn't care less about what QuickTime can do or not.
But that's just me. - HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Why am I confused? I'm not confused. I mention Front Row in my post.
I don't want to do everything with the remote, thanks. I want to play some videos full screen outside of Front Row.
Also, Front Row uses more CPU than just using QuickTime Player. There are HD videos I can play fullscreen in QuickTime Player without losing frames, but not in Front Row. I think Front Row mismanages its frame buffers and causes extra pixel copies, increasing the CPU load on my poor Intel Mac Mini. - smhill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@HappyScrappy
"Why am I confused? I'm not confused. I mention Front Row in my post."
That is why I asked if you are confused, you mentioned Front Row, it is for watching movies in full screen.
"I don't want to do everything with the remote, thanks."
You don't need the remote to use front row, CMD+Esc
"I want to play some videos full screen outside of Front Row."
That makes no sense. if you are watching something full screen, it makes no difference what app you are in. Full screen is full screen, you aren't doing anything else. Makes no sense at all.
"Also, Front Row uses more CPU than just using QuickTime Player. There are HD videos I can play fullscreen in QuickTime Player without losing frames, but not in Front Row."
It is your imagination. Front row uses quicktime for playback. There is virtually no difference. Front row takes a fraction of a percent of CPU when playing. (ssh in and take a look)
It really seems like you are looking for something to whine about, if you want to watch movies full screen you can, it is free and came with the system. Plus, Front Row remembers where you last left off, QT player does not.
- HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20Worse yet, I paid $1500 for my Apple laptop. It comes with Front Row, which can play movies fullscreen. It comes with iLife and iWork, so I can do all kinds of stuff with it!
- HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Just use QTAmateur.
http://www.mikeash.com/?page=software/qtamateur/index.html
It handles encoding and stuff too, bringing many of the pro features to non-pros. - smhill, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Welcome to two years ago.
Who doesn't know this?
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20050430024234333 - dvflameartist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I can understand Apple charging $29.99 for the Export and editing functionality in Quicktime Pro... but for real... why would you leave the Full Screen option out of your media player?!
- Krones, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Because Apple believes they will make more money hats by leaving it out.
- smhill, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Because no one uses the quicktime player. It is just a rudimentary interface for playback. QTPro is for exporting and other advanced features. They don't expect people to pay the $30 to watch movies full screen. There are a ton of apps that do this already. Including iTunes
- dvflameartist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1iTunes is by far the most sluggish video playback software on OSX. Nearly impossible to use, even on a C2D macbookpro. I shouldn't see my processor(s) spike when i open a new video.
- jmreid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Niceplayer is a great video player for the Mac:
http://niceplayer.sourceforge.net/ - brettmeister, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Or you could just use the zooming feature, which is built into OSX.
Ctrl+Scroll Button
Works great for youtube.- catullus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2while it is great for static-quality video sites like youtube, it does not upscale video in the way that full screening a video does. i.e. if you have video playing in a 320*240 window, and zoom it, its quality will still only be 320*240 with that feature.
- UltraNurd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I pay for Quicktime Pro, but I like the editing features as well.
- fusioned, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7Or you could Google "quicktime pro 7 serial" and be done with it ;)
- monergism, on 10/12/2007, -11/+4Why do you encourage theft?
- adstretch, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2That's not theft, thats getting what an app like that should provide from the start. honestly though, you're just better off with VLC, it even works with the apple remote now without the need for a helper app.
- monergism, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4"should" = a right. Who determines the software license? The owner of the IP. You have no rights to what software "should" do.
- Greyarea, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9I really wish Apple would stop charging for QT Pro. This is 2007 for goodness sake.
- monergism, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9You are right. When the calendar changes software should magically become free.
- Greyarea, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6[sigh] I mean that in this day and age charging for full screen and export options is just silly. They don't need the cash _that_ badly.
- monergism, on 10/12/2007, -6/+4You're right. People don't need to feed their families, stocks don't need value.
- Phoenixfury, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Is there a solution like this for Windows? Granted you can play quicktime movies full screen using iTunes, but the problem is as of iTunes 7 video in general hasn't been up to par. However all of my video including video I purchased through iTunes plays perfectly in Quicktime with the exception that I can't play it full screen. It's hard for me to justify purchasing Quicktime pro just to get full screen.
- Tmacman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Yeah? Now you don't worry about buying QT Pro. If you run the script it brings up a full screen QT movie and it looks great.
- Bamborzled, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Tmacman
Learn to read. Phoenix said he wanted a solution for *Windows*.
- dscl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Instead make a droplet.. Now instead of opening a video then running the script just drag your video onto the droplet and let it do the opening and scaling in one step.
---
on open vid_name
tell application "QuickTime Player"
launch
activate
open vid_name
present front movie scale screen
end tell
quit
end open
---- adstretch, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4why is this being dug down? it takes the article you all just dugg a step further, and creates that "ease of use" that mac owners just love. (i'm one of those mac owners by the way)
- trylleklovn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I would rather see full screen ability to the Flip4Mac, or any, quicktime browser plugin.. Why is it i have to save the source file and open it in quicktime to view in fullscreen.. When they could've just put the button there, on the webpage, where the rest of the plugin shows..
- sakabako, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's in RealMedia. The fear is that spammers will use it and fill your screen with full screen ads.
- anmol2k4, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2WOW ppl using apple have to PAY for veiwing videos in full screen. WOW i really dont get it why apple users love apple soo much, sure quality is good and all but apple sutff costs more. What kind of addictive candy apple gives you that you love it soo much ?.
Only thing i have come upon is that you ppl just want to look different.
And even though i use linux still i will say this thing i will choose WMP11 over itunes any day but i will definetely change my mind if i had to choose between WMP iTunes and AmaroK.- venicerocco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's one minor gripe. No need to get in such a tizz over it all.
EDIT: Oh I see, "Linux" - that says it all.
- venicerocco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's one minor gripe. No need to get in such a tizz over it all.
- dgh1973, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Macs are cool and all but it's crap like this that just makes them ridiculous.
- GUESShimself, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3http://www.dashboardwidgets.com/showcase/details.php?wid=605
just drag the file to the widget and it opens in full screen. - KimmoA, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2In the Mac world, everything costs a fortune. $29.99 for fullscreen? Pathetic. *strokes his Media Player Classic*
- dgh1973, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Right, like being annoyed by licenses and wondering which sites are getting marketing data from you when your player "phones home" makes you better off...
- KimmoA, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6dgh1973: You obviously have no idea what you're talking about.
- pyromouse, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3yeah, gotta agree with KimmoA on this one.
- Prysorra, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@dgh1973
Media Player Classis isn't Windows Media Player :-)
- umdigger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I think most people pay for Quicktime Pro for the exporting options, not full screen. There are many other ways to watch files in full screen, as VLC has already been mentioned.
- dwyn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Fantastic! I'm so happy to have my Full-Screen QT back! :)
- pyromouse, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Lol, quicktime not being able to full screen is still the funniest ***** ever. Seriously, name another current player that won't full screen in its most cheap and basic version. That's Apple for ya.
- schwallman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0vlc always plays my porn. other media players are hit or miss
- UltraNurd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1You can also import any Quicktime-playable file into your iTunes Library, and watch it full screen through iTunes (Mac/Windows) or through Front Row (Mac only).
- joaob, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2Who gives a *****? Stop crying.
Download something else. - k4zz4m, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0Instead of compiling his codes. I can just google "quicktime pro" and magical things will happen that enables all features.
Best of all,it only took me more than 20 seconds. - boasap, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1It sounds a easy way to magnify your Quicklime. Itune also works.
- rowlodge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1what difference is there "script"? or "google seria?l"
- ilgaz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Now imagine if iPhone comes with Quicktime asking for $$$ to play fullscreen :)
- Wootery, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I find it odd that in the "I'm a Mac" ads, they try to convince you that Mac is usable out-of-the-box, whereas PC isn't, conveniently failing to mention that on a Mac you can't play videos in full-screen or do word-processing without installing extra software, where most off-the-shelf PCs ship with WMP and Office pre-installed.
Also rather odd how they avoid mentioning gaming whilst making the PC appear boring and business-oriented.
(I'm no Mac-hater, I just think the ads are retarded... as does everyone.)- Rickler, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2There is a lot wrong with the Mac ads; one of the big ones being, a Mac is a PC and a PC is not Windows.
- Wootery, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"There is a lot wrong with the Mac ads; one of the big ones being, a Mac is a PC and a PC is not Windows."
Remember their target audience - the idiot consumer. Mentioning Linux would serve only to scare the victim (command line, aah!).
Any non-idiot users will already know about Windows, Linux and OS X, and won't base their opinions on ads.
(Actually, I expect the real reason is that to say "Windows sucks!" would get them a truck-load of angry MS lawyers.) - bear90039, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It's true Macs are usable out of the box. You can plug it in and it will work. You can't do that with a Windows PC. case closed.
As for software that doesn't come bundled, you must install it. Even with a Windows PC.(and your bundled software is very skimpy)
You can plug in a video camera (your choice) via firewire or usb and a Mac will import it- yes, right out of the box. no driver needed and you may edit and burn it without adding any software, yes- right out of the box.
On my last PC I spent half the day just installing the operating system, and the next two days installing drivers. I can feel your hostility. That must suck.
- BlackCow, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Or you could use Windows Media Player :-P
- powrslave, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1yeah this is only like 2+ years old and anybody with a clue using osx would know about it or regged qt pro....
just driving traffic to techpwn - DanielNielsen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I will just stick with a nice version of Quicktime pro : pirate edition.
- hovland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Just to stick it to you even further, when Apple upgrades from Quicktime 7 to Quicktime 8, they will charge you another $20 to get your fullscreen back.
- coollettuce, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Or you could just register Quicktime Pro 7.
Registered To: Dawn M Fredette
Registration Code: 4UJ2-5NLF-HFFA-9JW3-X2KV- coollettuce, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2don't digg me down until you try it
- Namelessthinker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is pretty cool, I mostly use VLC, but I noticed that window media files work better in flip4mac than they do in the new quicktime.
- diggnationdevon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Well, I'd rather just enter the serial key for quicktime pro.
- gwenkelly, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I tried the Niceplayer ( http://niceplayer.sourceforge.net/ ) after it was recommended here, and I really like that. And I'm definately one of those users more advanced than the average joe, but less than perhaps many of you. It has a great interface, and thats what really matters to me.
- orvtech, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1here is a short video of the script in action http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0Qiiw5Rf8c
- Xenophix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1There's not really all that much constructive to say about this, so I'll stick with 'thanks'. I'm quite a big fan of QuickTime, although I do have NicePlayer and VLC installed. But that's mainly because I'm a little bit of an app whore.
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