On April 14, 2016 the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released an alert (TA16-105A) regarding QuickTime for Windows. DHS states that Apple will no longer be providing security updates “leaving this software vulnerable to exploitation." They also state "the only mitigation is to uninstall QuickTime for Windows."

As you may be aware some functionality in Vantage and CaptionMaker is reliant on certain elements of the QuickTime for Windows software, so a complete uninstall of QuickTime will compromise some functions.

The recently announced security flaws are only in the actual QuickTime player component of the software. We therefore recommend only removing the QuickTime player component from machines running Telestream software, rather than completely uninstalling QuickTime for Windows. This should circumvent the security flaws while leaving Telestream software fully functional. Instructions for removing the QuickTime player component are given below.

If you actually use the QuickTime player on machines running Telestream software, we recommend installing Telestream’s Switch player on those machines to replace the functionality previously provided by QuickTime player.

 

Instructions to Remove QuickTime Player:
1. Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\QuickTime
2. Delete file ‘QuickTimePlayer.exe’
3. Select Yes at the confirm delete dialogue box.

Please contact Telestream technical support if you require assistance.
 

 

If your IT policies require you to completely uninstall QuickTime for Windows from machines running Vantage and CaptionMaker then the following functionality will no longer be available:

For Vantage:

  • Proxy playback in all portal software applications including the Tempo Portal, the DAI Portal, the DPP portal and the user configurable portal application. Note that the Web based portals will be unaffected.
  • Insert QuickTime Movies in the Media Expansion filter in the Flip action.
  • Movie overlay when using the Legacy 8-bit video processor in the Flip action.
  • Image overlay when using the Legacy 8-bit video processor in the Flip action.
  • Audio overlays.
  • All Graphics Factory functionality
  • Apple 3GP encoder in the Flip action
  • Apple MPEG-4 encoder in the Flip action
  • QuickTime encoder in the Flip action


For CaptionMaker

  • Playback of movies using the "Use QuickTime" option (DirectShow and Microsoft MMF alternatives are available, but playback compatibility or performance may be reduced. For MP4 playback please use Microsoft MMF option)
  • Export: (Encode CC) Black QuickTime 720x486 for NLE (line 21 movie)
  • Export: (Burn Subtitles) into QuickTime mov/mp4
  • Export: (Encode Subtitles) Black QuickTime 720x486 for NLE (subtitle overlay movie)
  • Export: (Encode Subtitles) HD Black QuickTime for NLE (subtitle overlay movie)
  • Tools > Find Shot Changes (when the movie is a QuickTime mov/mp4)

Note: The following CaptionMaker features, despite having QuickTime in the name, don't use the Apple QuickTime APIs and will continue to work even if QuickTime is uninstalled:

  • Export: (Encode CC) QuickTime Podcast/Web Closed Captions (QT 608 CC track)
  • Export: (Encode CC) DV QuickTime 720x480
  • Export: Webcast - Quick Time Script (*.txt)
     

For FlipFactory
Note: Simply uninstalling QuickTime will render FlipFactory (including  TrafficManager and AdManager) almost totally non-functional. If you currently have a valid Maintenance and Support contract then our support team can assist you to remove QuickTime from your FlipFactory system without this happening. In this case we strongly recommend that you consider upgrading your FlipFactory to Vantage, as the potential impacts of running without QuickTime are far less severe.

  • Insert QuickTime Movies in the Media Expansion
  • Movie overlays
  • Image overlays
  • Audio overlays
  • All Graphics Factory functionality
  • 3GP Encoder
  • Final Cut and QuickTime NLE encoder
  • MPEG-4 (Apple) encoder
  • QuickTime encoder
  • QuickTime Streaming encoder
  • Playback editor