Install Steam
login
|
language
简体中文 (Simplified Chinese)
繁體中文 (Traditional Chinese)
日本語 (Japanese)
한국어 (Korean)
ไทย (Thai)
Български (Bulgarian)
Čeština (Czech)
Dansk (Danish)
Deutsch (German)
Español - España (Spanish - Spain)
Español - Latinoamérica (Spanish - Latin America)
Ελληνικά (Greek)
Français (French)
Italiano (Italian)
Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
Magyar (Hungarian)
Nederlands (Dutch)
Norsk (Norwegian)
Polski (Polish)
Português (Portuguese - Portugal)
Português - Brasil (Portuguese - Brazil)
Română (Romanian)
Русский (Russian)
Suomi (Finnish)
Svenska (Swedish)
Türkçe (Turkish)
Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
Українська (Ukrainian)
Report a translation problem
Discussions Rules and Guidelines
Report this post
(Note that there is no reason to export MP4s nor MOVs straight from Source FilmMaker, thus making that an unapplicable reason to install QuickTime.)
I know that doesn't answer your question at all... but really, MP4s and MOVs exported straight from Source FilmMaker using the MPEG-4 compression codec are too dark and saturated, while ones exported straight from Source FilmMaker using the H.264 compression codec are too bright and de-saturated. And uncompressed ones are, well, uncompressed, and fill way too much (file-size-wise).
What you want to do instead is an image sequence render. Done right, this will preserve colours and quality very well while still getting a nice compression (and thus a nice low file-size). To do this, what you have to do is export an image sequence and accompanying sound file from Source FilmMaker (do so to a folder of its own, for the sake of organization and lack of clutter), then use a video editor (besides Windows (Live) Movie Maker) to import all images with the same frame-rate as you exported from Source FilmMaker at, then import the sound too, and then just save it as a video. Here's a guide that covers how to do that using Blender:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=375229570
Obviously, because of the security concerns associated with an unsupported program, but even when it was safe to use, it didn't export in very good quality.
Most of the time, the videos were either too bright or too dark, but sometimes they came out a bit fuzzy (no pun intended) instead of nice and sharp the way image sequence rendering does.
Image sequence rendering really is the absolute best way to get a high-quality render...
Yes, the exploits do require Quicktime trying to open the file, but if you have Quicktime on your computer, it can potentially be exploited through things like webpages trying to play malicious files.
So no, not "100% safe".
But even if Quicktime were 100% safe, Image Sequence exports give more control over video size/quality, have better contrast and colour (Quicktime exports poorly) and are more reliable.
If SFM crashes partway through a Quicktime export, you've got a broken file and have to start from scratch. Image Sequence exports are frame by frame, so can be restarted from anywhere.
Why install potentially harmful software, even if it were only a tiny chance, just to get an inferior export option?
Depending on the hardware you're running, it can be pretty effective for quick exports. If you don't have a plugin for quicktime on your browser and don't use it as your primary media player, there isn't a risk due to execution exploits, even if it's a RAT. I haven't had any shading issues with my exports either.
If I've spent any time whatsoever on an animation, and even a few minutes exporting it, I'd rather spend the twenty seconds it takes me to compile an image sequence and actually get full control over the final video quality.
Even if I just want it as a completely throw-away preview, I can just watch the image sequence in my video editor without even having to worry about encoding it.
If you do that and you've set it up right, I'll concede that the risk is low (not zero, but low - I have certainly opened files with the wrong programs before).
However, that's an "if" - it's far from impossible for an user (particularly an inexperienced one) to miss an installer adding plug-ins or setting default programs for filetypes.
There's another forum* I go on where we treat certain questions as "If you have to ask, don't ask" - things that can be done (mostly) safely by people who know what they're doing, but anyone who has to ask doesn't know what they're doing. They haven't got the experience to know if they're making a mistake or spot things they've overlooked.
Anyone who is asking how to use Quicktime safely is the kind of person who doesn't know enough about computers to be able to use Quicktime safely.
*To be fair, it's not a computing related forum, and the mistakes in question could result in permanent injury or death. Still, the general sentiment applies - don't tell people to do dangerous things, particularly if they're outside their skill level.