How can I format a movie to play through MPMoviePlayerViewController on the iPad?

Question

Hi guys,

I've been struggling to make video on the iPad work. I'm using an MPMoviePlayerViewController and it plays fine in the simulator. I've tried several different converters, including ones dedicated to producing iPad-formatted video, but none of the videos play on the device. The MPMoviePlayerViewController loads and the controls appear.

For most of the videos, the spinning progress indicator never goes away. For a few, the video loads but when I press play the video immediately pauses. I know that the video is there because I can scan through and see various frames.

I know the code works because it plays a different movie file perfectly. I just have no idea what I'm doing wrong that's preventing my movie from playing. Does anyone know a good step-by-step process of getting an iPad-formatted video from any .mov or .mp4?

Thanks,

Luke

Answer 1

Fixed - the one that loaded but couldn't play eventually worked. Why? Who knows.

Answer 2

Also, just for future reference, import target video into iTunes, then highlight it and from the Advanced menu choose "Create iPod or iPhone Version" or "Create iPad or AppleTV Version" depending on your target device.

This guarantees that the right codecs are used and the right bitflags set on the video file.