We'll be taking a bit of a break. We'll post our next Little QuickTime Page on January 11, 2000. Hope to see some of you at Macworld SF; we'll be doing a talk, QuickTime Pro 4 on the Web, on Thursday, January 6 at 3:30 p.m., and we'll be signing books at the Peachpit booth on Saturday January 8 at 11 a.m. Happy New Year! Judy and Robert.
The 4.1 version of QuickTime Player is AppleScriptable which means you can automate a lot of the things you do with the QuickTime Player. Check out the AppleScript Scripts for QuickTime 4.1 page where you'll find lots of useful scripts that you can try out as soon as QuickTime 4.1 has been released. (Though QuickTime 4.1 hasn't been released as we write this, it looks like it will be out any day now, perhaps by the time you read this.)
Beta 1 of VRHotWires (a tool which attaches actions to QuickTime VR hot spots) is available (for purchase or as a disabled demo) at the VRHOTWIRES page. (When you're there, you might want to check out a new example created with the tool which shows the use of QuickTime effects in going between two pano nodes; it's the first one listed.)
Updates:
Apple's Final Cut Pro video editing software has been updated to version 1.2. This version adds support for PAL, Mac OS 9, the G4 processor, among other features. Check out the Final Cut page for details.
QDesign is shipping MVP 1.1 (MVP is a tool which lets you create, play, and manage MP3 and QDesign Music files.) You can get more info and download MVP 1.1 for either MacOS and Windows at the MVP site.
OneApp Slide Show (formerly CineSlider), a shareware presentation tool that can create movies that can be distributed as standalone applications, is at version 5.2, and can be found at the OneApp Software page.
iView Multimedia (cataloging software that can handle many file types, including QuickTime) is at version 3.7.1. Go to the iView Multimedia Online page.
For $8.95 you can get SoundSpinner MP3 (an MP3 player and Album manager for QuickTime 4 that plays music files in MP3, AIFF and several other file formats.) Check out the SoundSpinner MP3 Web Site.
Mac QuickTime Pro users who've recently upgraded to Mac OS 9 may be interested in a new article in the Apple Tech Info Library: Mac OS 9: Reregistering QuickTime Pro After Installation.
Aurora Video Systems (formerly Aurora Designs), announced that their Fuse and Igniter capture cards are Macintosh G4 compatible. Details are at a 12/14/99 Aurora press release.
A new QuickTime component (Mac-only) lets you import IPTC files into most QuickTime-aware applications. (IPTC is a file format used by news agencies; if you don't know what it is, you probably don't need this component!) Get a demo version at the J2S QuickTime component for IPTC support page
Software updates:
Media Cleaner Pro 4 owners can update to version 4.0.2 at Terran's Media Cleaner Pro 4.0.2 page.
Version 1.5 of SoundJam MP (a tool that converts from QuickTime and other formats to MP3) can be found at the SoundJam site.
Steve Jobs' January 5th keynote at Macworld 2000 will be broadcast in QuickTime. You can tune in at the QuickTime Showcase - Macworld San Francisco 2000 page.
Streamsearch.com was launched last week; this is a site that serves as a directory to a very large number of audio and video clips in a variety of formats, including QuickTime.
Peter Burrows has an article titled "Can Apple Take Its Game to the Next Level?"; of note is mention of the possibility of Apple spining off QuickTime.
Mac users: If you want your movies in QuickTime Player to appear in a window with a normal title bar (containing a close box, a collapse box, and a zoom box), check out Raul's QuickTime Patcher page.
There's a 12/6 MacWeek article on FinalCut 1.2, noting improved performance on G4s, as well as some color shifting problems.
A very extensive report on last month's QuickTime Live conference (with plenty of insight into QuickTime and QuickTime products) can be found at Douglas Alder's QuickTime Live Conference Report page.
CreativeMac.com is a new web site focusing on content creation. Check out the Dynamic Media section for some interesting stories about higher-end productions, an After Effects tutorial, and a review of Digital Origin's RotoDV.
Apple has released an updater for iMovie, bringing this iMac video capture and editing application to version 1.0.1.The update addes Mac OS 9 compatibility, MP3 import, and changes in the way certain transitions work. You can get the updater at Document #11549 of the Apple Software Library.
If you're interested in the iMac DV and iMovie, you may be interested in Apple Demo Days, events at participating Apple resellers where they'll be showing these easy-to-use products for doing digital video. Check out the Apple Demo Days page for more info.
Be Here Inc.announced iVideo, a suite of tools to enable "live panoramas" (i.e. web viewers can look around 360 degrees during a live event). Check out a 12/7 Be Here press release for more info.