QuickLook Video

This package allows OSX Finder to display thumbnails, static previews, cover art and metadata for most types of video files.

QuickLook and Spotlight on OSX 10.9 and later understand a limited number of media files - mostly only MPEG audio and video codecs within MPEG container files. This package adds support for wide range of other codecs and "non-native" media file types, including .asf, .avi, .flv, .mkv, .rm, .webm, .wmf etc.

Installation

• Download the .pkg file of the latest release.
• Double-click on it.
• The Installer app will walk you through the installation process.

Alternatively, if you have Homebrew installed, you can install using Homebrew Cask:

brew cask install qlvideo

Limitations

• To see thumbnails of video files you may need to relaunch Finder (ctrl-⌥-click on the Finder icon in the Dock and choose Relaunch) or log out and back in again.
• You may experience high CPU and disk usage for a few minutes after installation while Spotlight re-indexes all of your "non-native" audio and video files.
• QuickLook struggles with .mp4 files. In particular, QuickLook on recent versions of OSX cannot preview a .mp4 file containing H.265-encoded video. Rename your .mp4 files as .m4v, or use another container for H.265 content - e.g. Matroska.
• The QuickLook "Preview" function displays a static snapshot of "non-native" video files. You'll need a media player app (e.g. VLC or MPlayerX) to play "non-native" files.
• Interlaced content is sometimes not de-interlaced in QuickLook thumbnails and previews.
• Requires OSX 10.9 or later. Use Perian for equivalent functionality under 10.8 and earlier.

Uninstall

• Run the Terminal app (found in Applications → Utilities).

• Copy the following and paste into the Terminal app:

    sudo rm -rf "/Library/Application Support/QLVideo" "/Library/QuickLook/Video.qlgenerator" "/Library/Spotlight/Video.mdimporter"
  

• Press Enter.

• Type your password and press Enter.

Reporting bugs

• First, please check that you're running the latest version, log out of OSX and back in again and see if the problem remains.

• Open a New issue and describe the problem.

• To help diagnose the problem please run the Terminal app (found in Applications → Utilities) and type:

    qlmanage -m
    qlmanage -p -d1 /path/of/some/video/file
  

but substitute the path of some video file by dragging a video file from the Finder and dropping it on the Terminal window.

• In the Terminal app choose Edit → Select All then Edit → Copy, and paste the results in the "New issue".

Acknowledgements

Uses the FFmpeg libraries.

Packaged using Packages.

License

Copyright © 2014 Jonathan Harris.

Licensed under the GNU Public License (GPL) version 2 or later.