I know there's lots of options out there to re-encode video (e.g. Handbrake, MPEG-Streamclip...) but I was wondering if there's such thing as a dedicated video previewing app that allows someone using an older mac to see preview native video smoothly.  Currently I get home from filming, put the SD card into the mac and VLC and Quicktime then stutter along, showing choppy video.  As I pare down much of the video I keep, I'd love a quicker, less painless way of previewing without re-encoding, rather than waiting and seeing it in FCPX, as converted proxy media.  Does such a thing exist?  Until I opt for a new improved computer, it would make things more bearable.

Have you tried VLC, it is free.

Yes.  That's the choppiest of the many that I've tried

Surely the issue is the on-board video card? Software isn't going to fix that, buddy. Unless you re-sample the file to a lower quality/res, etc. But that would defeat your point.

How old is your Mac? With SSD should not be a problem with playback

I got 2012 retina macbook pro, even preview (select+space bar) play back video no problem

Brokenphones Posted at 2017-6-19 06:47
Surely the issue is the on-board video card? Software isn't going to fix that, buddy. Unless you re-sample the file to a lower quality/res, etc. But that would defeat your point.

I suspect you're right...wishful thinking.

simis Posted at 2017-6-19 13:15
How old is your Mac? With SSD should not be a problem with playback

It's a late 2011 MacBook Pro, but I swapped out the optical drive and installed an SSD boot drive  

Won't QuickTime Player perform better at smaller window sizes?

VLC works well on my SSD macbook air 11 inch 2011. I can even play 2 VLC files at the same time.

Turn off everything you can on the apple product.
Everything. Might help, the SSD drive will help some, but again, limited by processor speed, video Ram capacity, and especially if it's an "integrated" video card.
which sounds like a 6 year old machine, which is probably on the edge of working with high file size/bit rates...

Typically when I try to preview videos, I shut down all apps, then reboot and just run the clips on either VLC or QT.  Surprisingly, I tried iTunes the other night and it was smoother (but still choppy) than the other two apps.