Flip4Mac
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:Main other
Flip4Mac from Telestream, Inc. was a digital media software for the macOS operating system. It was known for being the only QuickTime component for macOS to support Windows Media Video, and was distributed by Microsoft as a substitute after they discontinued their media player for Macintosh computers.[1]
Features
Telestream previously offered a free standalone player also known as Flip Player while charging for their Pro and Studio features until the release of v3.3 on May 1, 2014, when they began charging for Flip4Mac Player[2] (plug-in and standalone player combined).[3]
There are four versions of Flip4Mac Player:[4]
- Flip4Mac Player ($9.99)
Play Windows Media files (.wma and .wmv) directly in QuickTime applications and view Windows Media content on the Internet using a web browser
- Flip4Mac Player Pro ($29)
Adds the ability to import WMV and WMA files for editing and conversion to QuickTime formats or iOS devices
- Flip4Mac Studio ($49)
Includes all the features of Player Pro, and adds the ability to create standard definition (up to 768 x 576) WMV files using preset templates and custom encoding profiles
- Flip4Mac Studio Pro HD ($179)
Includes all the features of Studio, and adds two-pass HD (up to 1920 x 1080), VBR encoding and pro audio features
Technical specifications
Below is the following technical specifications for Flip4Mac Player:[5]
Codec support
| Supported audio codecs | Play and import | Export |
|---|---|---|
| Windows Media Audio 9 Professional | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
✓* Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
| Windows Media Audio 9 Lossless | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
✓* Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
| Windows Media Audio 9 Standard | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
| Windows Media Audio 7/8 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
|
| Microsoft G.726 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
|
| Microsoft IMA ADPCM | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
|
| Microsoft ADPCM | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
|
| Supported video codecs | Play and import | Export |
| Windows Media Video 9 Advanced (WMVA) — Broadcast Profile | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
✓* Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
| Windows Video Codec 1 (WVC1) | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
|
| Windows Media Video 9 Standard (WMV3) | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
| Windows Media Video 8 (WMV2) | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
|
| Windows Media Video 7 (WMV1) | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
|
| ISO MPEG-4 V1.1 (M4S2) | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
|
| ISO MPEG-4 V1.0 (MP4S) | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
|
| Microsoft MPEG-4 V3 (MP43) | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
|
| Microsoft MPEG-4 V2 (MP42) | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
|
| Microsoft Motion JPEG (MJPG) | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
|
| Supported file formats | Play and import | Export |
| Advanced Systems Format (ASF) | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
| Advanced Stream Redirector (ASX) | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
|
| Audio/Video Interleaved (AVI) — WMV media wrapped in AVI file format | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
- *NOTE: Exporting WMV9 Advanced and WMA Professional and Lossless is supported only by Flip4Mac Studio Pro HD
Network stream protocols
| Stream type | Name | Protocols |
|---|---|---|
| MMS | Microsoft Media Server Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
MMS, HTTP, RTSP, and TCP Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
| HLS | HTTP Live Streaming Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
HTTP and TCP Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
Frame sizes available for export
| 4:3 | Studio | Studio Pro HD |
|---|---|---|
| 160 x 120 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
| 240 x 180 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
| 320 x 240 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
| 384 x 288 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
| 480 x 360 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
| 640 x 480 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
| 768 x 576 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
| 960 x 720 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
| |
| 1280 x 1080 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
| |
| 4:3 CCIR | Studio | Studio Pro HD |
| 720 x 480 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
| |
| 720 x 575 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
| |
| 16:9 | Studio | Studio Pro HD |
| 320 x 180 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
| 640 x 360 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
| 960 x 540 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
| |
| 1280 x 720 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
| |
| 1920 x 1080 | ✓ Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
|
System requirements
In order to run Flip4Mac, you need to meet the following specifications:[6]
- Intel-based Mac
- Mac OS X Snow Leopard or later
- *NOTE: Please note if running on Snow Leopard, you need to update to 10.6.8 via Apple Software Update.
Windows Media Components for QuickTime
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".
Windows Media Components for QuickTime allow free transparent playback of the most common Windows Media Video and Windows Media Audio formats on macOS inside QuickTime applications and web browsers.
On January 12, 2006, Microsoft discontinued the Macintosh version of Windows Media Player and began distributing Flip4Mac Player for free[7][8][9][10][11] until May 1, 2014, when Telestream began charging for Flip4Mac Player.[2] Microsoft's website refers the product as Windows Media Components for QuickTime while Telestream just refers to Flip4Mac.[12]
By 2024 Telestream rebranded Flip4Mac to Switch Player.[1]
Windows Media
Advanced Stream Redirector
Advanced Stream Redirector (ASX) file format is a type of Extensible Markup Language (XML) metafile designed to store a playlist of Windows Media files for a multimedia presentation. Flip4Mac currently supports the following MIME types:[13]
video/x-ms-wmvaudio/x-ms-wmavideo/x-ms-wmvideo/x-ms-asfvideo/x-ms-wvxvideo/x-ms-wmxaudio/x-ms-waxvideo/x-ms-asx
Advanced Systems Format
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".
Advanced Systems Format (ASF) is Microsoft's proprietary digital audio/digital video container format, especially meant for streaming media.
Windows Media Audio
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".
Windows Media Audio (WMA) is an audio data compression technology developed by Microsoft. The name can be used to refer to its audio file format or its audio codecs.
Windows Media Digital Rights Management
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".
Flip4Mac is unable to play content that has been protected using digital rights management.[14]
Windows Media Video
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote".
Windows Media Video (WMV) is a video data compression technology developed by Microsoft.
Version history
- Flip4Mac 2.1 was released in July 2006 with support for Intel-based Macs.[15]
- Flip4Mac 3.0 was released in September 2012 with support for 64-bit improvements as well as Gatekeeper. It also includes Flip Player, a new multi-format video player with the ability to play the most common Windows Media formats.[16][17]
- Flip4Mac 3.1 was released in February 2013 with support for the third generation MacBook Pros, MacBooks (relaunched version of the original MacBook line), and iMacs with Retina display. It also includes the ability to export videos to iTunes from Flip Player.[18][19]
- Flip4Mac 3.2 was released in May 2013 with support for dramatically improved load time for ASF (.wmv, .wma, .wm, .wmp, .asf, etc.) file formats.[20][21][22]
- Flip4Mac 3.3 was released in May 2014 with several minor 3.3.X updates with 3.3.7 being the latest update. Several updates include re-supporting Mac OS X Snow Leopard[6] (after the support being removed in 3.0), and natively supporting OS X Yosemite (10.10)[6] and OS X El Capitan (10.11).
- The software is no longer supported higher than OS X El Capitan (10.11).[23] As a replacement Telestream advises users to try their Switch4Player software.
See also
References
Further reading
Flip4Mac has been mentioned in the following books:
- Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, OS X Yosemite Edition (Template:ISBN)
External links
- Template:Official website – official site
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Why is Telestream charging for Flip4Mac Player? – Telestream
- ↑ Flip4Mac versus Flip Player – Vimeo
- ↑ Flip4Mac's overview – Telestream
- ↑ Flip4Mac's technical specifications – Telestream
- ↑ a b c Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedsource1 - ↑ 'Microsoft quietly ditches WMP for Mac' by Ed Oswald (January 11, 2006) – BetaNews
- ↑ 'Windows Media content goes Mac OS X' by Digital Trends Staff (January 11, 2006) – Digital Trends
- ↑ 'Microsoft confirms: WMP for Mac dead' by Nate Mook (January 12, 2006) – BetaNews
- ↑ 'Music stops for Mac Windows Media Player' by Ina Fried (January 12, 2006) – c|net
- ↑ 'Microsoft bails on Windows Media Player for Mac' by Jim Dalrymple (January 14, 2006) – Macworld
- ↑ Windows Media Components for QuickTime – Microsoft
- ↑ Flip4Mac's technical specifications – Advanced Stream Redirector (ASX) support – Telestream
- ↑ Flip4Mac v3.3 User Guide – Telestream
- ↑ 'Flip4Mac 2.1 adds Intel Mac support' by Jim Dalrymple (July 28, 2006) – Macworld
- ↑ 'Telestream releases Flip4Mac 3.0 including new multi-format video player' (September 2012) – Digital Production Buzz
- ↑ Flip4Mac v3.0 release notes – Telestream
- ↑ 'Flip4Mac 3.1 released with Retina display support and iTunes export' (February 23, 2013) – iClarified
- ↑ Flip4Mac v3.1 release notes – Telestream
- ↑ 'Flip4Mac 3.2 brings dramatically improved load times for WMV and ASF video' (May 2, 2013) – iClarified
- ↑ 'Flip4Mac 3.2 brings dramatically improved load times for WMV and ASF video' (May 2, 2013) – iHash
- ↑ Flip4Mac v3.2 release notes – Telestream
- ↑ Is Flip4Mac supported on OS X El Capitan? – Telestream