MacFlim - how can I prepare a video file for it?

[Tx76]

Hi!

I am trying to get some short videos on my SE/30 and I tried using MacFlim, which sounds great. However, when I convert the videos with MacFlim, they do not play. The demo videos that came with MacFlim play without problems.
Does anybody know if there are specific requirements for the videos (before converting), apart from their being mp4? I cannot find any specific information on this.
Thanks!

 

[adespoton]

For those unfamiliar with MacFlim: https://www.macflim.com/
What do you mean by "Do not play"? Does it show an initial image? Fail to load in MacFlim at all? Something else?

If it's a "fails to load" issue, see the instructions at the bottom of the MacFlim webpage about files that have lost their type/creator.

 

[Tx76]

For those unfamiliar with MacFlim: https://www.macflim.com/
What do you mean by "Do not play"? Does it show an initial image? Fail to load in MacFlim at all? Something else?

If it's a "fails to load" issue, see the instructions at the bottom of the MacFlim webpage about files that have lost their type/creator.

It loads and shows up in the MacFlim library, it also shows an initial "preview" image. But when I click it, it doesn't play and there is an error message: "DoSilence: PBWrite failed".

 

[luRaichu]

What system are you using to encode the MacFlim? What are the command line arguments you're passing to flimmaker?

 

[Tx76]

What system are you using to encode the MacFlim? What are the command line arguments you're passing to flimmaker?

I see now, I should have provided more details: I created a very simple and short (10 s) black and white animation with Apple Motion on a Mac with the latest MacOS and exported it as H.264 (mp4). I then used the latest version of Flimmaker (installed using Homebrew) to create the .flim file. I used the most simple arguments: flimmaker [input file] —flim [output file]. I also tried modifying the profile (—profile se30) and the fps (—fps 15) and combinations of these. Nothing worked.
On System 7, I tried the latest 3 versions of MacFlim (2.0.x).

 

[luRaichu]

I've successfully encoded flims on Linux, if you can't get it to work from Mac OS then I can try and encode your video on my system

 

[Forrest]

Interesting program. FYI the latest Macfilm v2.0.11 was just released 2 weeks ago. All previous releases were from 2022 and 2023.

 

[croissantking]

That’s the Irish spelling of film lol

 

[Tx76]

I've successfully encoded flims on Linux, if you can't get it to work from Mac OS then I can try and encode your video on my system

Thanks, that is very kind of you! I will try to get it to work and if I don't succeed I will maybe get back to you. Thanks again!

 

[fstark]

Thanks, that is very kind of you! I will try to get it to work and if I don't succeed I will maybe get back to you. Thanks again!

Hi, I am fred, the author of macflim. Sorry you have issue with it, let's fix that.

First www.macflim.com was the initial more joke release. It had even larger flim files, did not compress them and had no sound. The reaction here was so positive that I spent month doing the "real" one (unfortunately all the posts of macflim creation here have been lost).
The current "marketing" website is https://www.macflim.com/macflim2 . I need to clean that up, but didn't.

If you are using the old player, you will not suceed in playing and it is very limited (it does have a couple fun features that are much harder to implement on the real macflim -- for instance I don't have enough users to spend another few weeks implementing seek)

Download the proper .dsk from https://www.macflim.com/macflim2/releases/Mac Flim 2.0.10.dsk
However, I am moving into a pure automated github delivery model, which I worked on a couple of weeks ago, but the dsk file is not automatically put in the release as I am concentrating at getting the flimmaker utility out in a usable way (ie: with pre-compiled binaries). This is why I implemented "brew install fstark/macflim/flimmaker" for both x86 and ARM Macs + deliver a self-contained .exe file (I cannot release a .dmg file due to signature issues).

A this moment, https://github.com/fstark/macflim/releases/tag/v2.0.10 contains the .dsk with the vintage MacOS stuff but https://github.com/fstark/macflim/releases/tag/v2.0.11 contains .exe files.
As I am unfortunately hard to reach because there are too many places on the internet, I just created a Discord MacFlim server as I generally have Discord opened. You can reach me there to troubleshoot the issue:

Join the macflim Discord Server!

Check out the macflim community on Discord - hang out with 1 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.

discord.gg

 

[fstark]

Interesting program. FYI the latest Macfilm v2.0.11 was just released 2 weeks ago. All previous releases were from 2022 and 2023.

There are no change in the code itself. I worked into CICD through github, as the release process is *the* thing that prevent me to really add things to MacFlim. Also the lack of pre-compiled binaries for encoder makes enbording new users painful. My next challenge is to CICD the .dsk with the THINKC compilation. I am not looking forward to the kind of gross hacks I'll hae to make
There is no functional improvement in the latest changes (even if there is quite some code in the encoder that have been improved -- IIRC), but the goal is to enable this.

 

[Tx76]

Hi, I am fred, the author of macflim. Sorry you have issue with it, let's fix that.

First www.macflim.com was the initial more joke release. It had even larger flim files, did not compress them and had no sound. The reaction here was so positive that I spent month doing the "real" one (unfortunately all the posts of macflim creation here have been lost).
The current "marketing" website is https://www.macflim.com/macflim2 . I need to clean that up, but didn't.

If you are using the old player, you will not suceed in playing and it is very limited (it does have a couple fun features that are much harder to implement on the real macflim -- for instance I don't have enough users to spend another few weeks implementing seek)

Download the proper .dsk from https://www.macflim.com/macflim2/releases/Mac Flim 2.0.10.dsk
However, I am moving into a pure automated github delivery model, which I worked on a couple of weeks ago, but the dsk file is not automatically put in the release as I am concentrating at getting the flimmaker utility out in a usable way (ie: with pre-compiled binaries). This is why I implemented "brew install fstark/macflim/flimmaker" for both x86 and ARM Macs + deliver a self-contained .exe file (I cannot release a .dmg file due to signature issues).

A this moment, https://github.com/fstark/macflim/releases/tag/v2.0.10 contains the .dsk with the vintage MacOS stuff but https://github.com/fstark/macflim/releases/tag/v2.0.11 contains .exe files.
As I am unfortunately hard to reach because there are too many places on the internet, I just created a Discord MacFlim server as I generally have Discord opened. You can reach me there to troubleshoot the issue:

Join the macflim Discord Server!

Check out the macflim community on Discord - hang out with 1 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.

discord.gg

Wow! Thanks you for your answer and help! MacFlim is a wonderful idea, I think the problem is my file/conversion. I will contact you via Discord!

 

[fstark]

(we haven't solved everything yet, but if anyone is wondering, the flim plays no problem on real hardware, the issue seems to be around Basilisk II and system 7.5)

 

[Tx76]

Quick update: It runs fine on a Colour Classic with 7.5.3. The problem was probably Basilisk. Thanks again to the developer for his great support!

 

[Tx76]

Another update: It also works great on an SE/30 with 7.1 and a Classic II with 7.5.3. It is really a great program! QuickTime video is really slow on these machines (if at all usable)...

 

[dankcomputing]

That’s the Irish spelling of film lol

 

[croissantking]

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