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QuickTime Codec for Ubuntu

During the Christmas holidays, I shot some videos using my Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 digital camera. Today, when I tried to watch the movie files in Ubuntu, Totem Movie Player reported that it couldn't find the codec; Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 saved the video files in MOV (QuickTime) format. Through this process, I found out how easy it is to install the QuickTime codec so that you can watch the videos on Ubuntu.

And I'll show you how in this wiki document. After you follow the procedures in this document, you will be able to play the following formats on your Linux computer: MMS, WavPack, QuickTime, MusePack.

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Easiest Way to Install QuickTime Codec

The easiest way to install the QuickTime codec is to simply double-click (opening) a QuickTime video (MOV) that you've made. If you don't have one handy, you can also find them online. I'll make a sample one for you to click on in the future.

Once you do, Totem Movie Player will start and report that it can't find the codec to play your movie file. It will ask whether to look for the codec to install (see screen shot below). Answer favorably for it to do its work.

After searching, it will present the following screen to you.

Check the boxes to install the package; it contains the codec you need. You will be presented with the "Restricted Software" dialog box (shown below). Click "OK" to accept. The box becomes checked (see screen shot below).

Click "OK" to continue. The application installer will ask you whether to apply changes as shown in the screen shot below.

Click "Apply" and Totem Movie Player will instruct Ubuntu to install the package automatically. When installation is complete, you will be able to play QuickTime movies.

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Installing QuickTime Codec Manually

If you are comfortable with the UNIX command-line interface, you can also install these codecs manually. Simply type in the following commands in order and the codec packages will be installed. 

sudo apt-get install gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad

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Warning

The version I installed and I'm showing you how to install is "Version: 0.10.4-1ubuntu1 (gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad)". Apparently, this set of codecs aren't quite complete:

"Gstreamer Bad Plug-ins is a set of plug-ins that aren't up to par compared to the rest. They might be close to being good quality, but they're missing something - be it a good code review, some documentation, a set of tests, a real live maintainer, or some actual wide use."

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