Videos won't play in Photos slideshow

Question

Level 1

19 points

Videos won't play in Photos slideshow

Mac Mini version 12.6.1

Photos version 7.0

iPhone 12 Pro

In a previous (less than one year ago) slideshow created with pictures and videos imported into Photos from the iPhone via USB cable (group 1), the videos play fine. In a new slideshow (group 2) made the same way with the same devices and with all the same Theme, Music and Duration settings, the videos don't play and the video slide is visible for about one second.

As a test, I went back to Library and selected four videos that I previously used in the (group 2) slideshow, created an album, and then created a slideshow and they don't play. They will play individually in Library, but show an exclamation point in a triangle and say "Unsupported Video Format, The full-resolution video is unsupported."

I did the same with four videos from (group 1), which also show the exclamation point and warning, but they play just fine. All the videos in Library are .MOV files. Any ideas will be appreciated.

Mac mini, macOS 12.6

Posted on Nov 12, 2022 01:54 PM

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Answer 1

Xp47jif22 Author

Level 1

19 points

Nov 12, 2022 07:59 PM in response to Old Toad

Thanks for helping. Both slideshows are in Classic theme, but only the earlier slideshow will play videos. The later slideshow does not play videos in any theme. I updated the OS from 12.6.0 to 12.6.1 recently, but the older slideshow plays just as it did before. I thought it might make a difference that the older slideshow has 104 slides, and the newer slideshow still has 641 slides, but a four-video slideshow from the later group will not play. I'm stumped.

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

199,927 points

Nov 13, 2022 10:25 AM in response to Xp47jif22

Do the videos, that are showing the triangle with the exclamation point play in QuickTime Player, when you export them to a folder in the Finder with the command "File > Export > Export unmodified original"?

It is suspicious, that you are getting the warning about "Unsupported Video Format, The full-resolution video is unsupported."

The upgrade to macOS 10.15 Catalina deprecated several older video codecs, because the support for this format is missing in the newer system versions.

Another possible reason for unsupported video formats is the location of the Photos Library. Photos may not be able to play a video, if the Photos Library is on a volume with an incompatible file system format. If the library is o an external volume, the file system format should be MacOS Extended (Journaled) or APFS, and the file system format must not be case-sensitive, or Photos may be unable to access the video component of the video.

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Answer 3

Xp47jif22 Author

Level 1

19 points

Nov 13, 2022 11:29 AM in response to léonie

Yes, the videos play when exported from Library to desktop and opened in QuickTime. It's so odd that within the space of a year, video functionality in Photos slideshow was lost for newer videos but not older ones. I suspect the recent software update from 12.6.0 to 12.6.1 could have been the cause.

My Photos Library is and has always been stored by default in the Pictures folder of my home folder. Photos is able to access the video component of the file because I can play them in Photos, but they won't play in a Photos slideshow. Thanks for your help.

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Answer 4

Old Toad

Level 10

214,296 points

Nov 12, 2022 02:34 PM in response to Xp47jif22

It depends on which theme you're using. Videos will play in the Classic and Magazine themes.

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Answer 5

Old Toad

Level 10

214,296 points

Nov 13, 2022 10:04 AM in response to Xp47jif22

I forgot to mention I'm running Ventura whih may be the difference between working and not working.

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Answer 6

Xp47jif22 Author

Level 1

19 points

Nov 13, 2022 11:20 AM in response to Old Toad

Yes, I have a suspicion that ultimately solving this odd problem will involve buying a new Mac Mini. My 2014 Mac Mini won't run Ventura. Thanks for your help.

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