Can't play .mov file when downloaded (does play in preview window within dropbox)

Question

Have found others with similar issues a year or so ago, but nothing that states if/how it was resolved.

Have a 1.3Gb file, which plays on clients end and within the preview window. When I download it however, it simply says "cannot play file" and "not compatible with QuickTime player". Same file crashes VLC, will not play within Premiere or After Effects, nor does it work on a second Mac or a PC.

Have downloaded it many times in both regular and incognito, and on multiple platforms.

Client is super-frustrated obviously, as every other piece they uploaded is fine. Would be amazing if I could rectify it!

Thanks in advance.

Hannah · Answer

Thanks for the update here, Wilfred, and happy Monday!

Is it possible that your machines are missing some codecs and that's why they cannot play this video on your media players?

It can't be corrupted if it previews on our website and on your client's end, but it is strange that you're having this issue on two different computers.

I found this article online, can you check it out, to see if it helps?

Wilfred Kirby · Answer

Hi Hannah,

It's a link, however one of five video files; the other four work. The odd thing with this, is that it previews fine within the dropbox environment (same as the others) - can play it in there. However when downloaded, it has no preview image of the video as an icon (others do) and there's no way to play it in any player or program. Client swears it plays fine on their end.

Hannah · Answer

Hey @Wilfred Kirby, thanks for reaching out today!

Is this a file that was shared with your through a link, or is it saved in your Dropbox account?

If it's saved, do you perhaps have the Dropbox application installed on your computer, to check if you can play it from your Dropbox folder?

Also, when you download it, does it get downloaded as a .mov file or is it zipped?

Keep me posted!