We've got new, improved versions of the PDF versions of the MoviePlayer
documentation. (These are the docs that we wrote for Apple that are on Apple's
Web site in html. These PDF versions should be on Apple's site soon, too.They're
better than the previous PDF versions we posted because they now have working links.)
Here's the Mac version and here's the Windows version; each is a single file of about 3.5 megs.
For those interested in learning more about compression, the June
issue of DV live magazine has an article by Ben Waggoner on compression called
"Making a Great First Compression". (The articles a PDF file; you'll see
it in the table of contents there.) There's also a piece that goes with it, a
page showing movie samples compressed using different compressors.
VersionTracker notes a couple of QuickTime-related
updates:
There's an update to 1.0b3 of FrameBlenderQT (which lets you export a movie as a blended still image, from MoviePlayer) at the DragonFly Software page.
The Movie Utilities CMM (a set of shareware contextual menu managers: PlayMovie CMM, ConvertToMovie CMM, MovieConverter CMM, and MovieMerger CMM) has been updated to version 1.3.
MacCentral announced a contest for programmers to develop "killer"
QuickTime applications. Read "Coming
soon: The QuickTime 3 Programmer's Challenge".
The MacFixIt June 98-a
Archive page reports a conflict between Premiere 5.0 and Miro drivers.
The QuickTime Discussion
Board: Frequently Asked Questions page in Apple's Technical Information Library
is either new or has been recently updated. (We've actually never seen it before,
but it has creation date in Februrary and a modification date of yesterday. Regardless,
it's worth a look if you haven't seen it before.)
The Little QuickTime Page will be on vacation for a few weeks as we complete the work on our upcoming book, "QuickTime and MoviePlayer Pro 3: A Visual QuickStart Guide" (Peachpit Press). It's a little premature, but if you're anxious, you can already order it at Amazon.com! (The title is wrong,though: they say QuickTime 3 and Movieplayer Pro.)
See you soon,
Judy & Robert
In a report ranking
the most owned and used software on Windows, it's reported that QuickTime
is the software the most owned outside those bundled with the Windows operating
system.(QuickTime was installed on 67.6% of the Windows computers as of a
couple of months ago.)
A demo version of the Pro edition of the QDesign Music Codec is now available
from Terran. You can download it from the QDesign
Music Codec page.
A new, cross-platform version of the Multimixer Xtra for Director is now available.
The primary purpose of this tool is to let you control volume and panning of multiple
QT audio tracks via script, but it has a bunch of other features of interest
even if you're not working with audio, including support for QuickTime Access Keys
(so you can prevent people from looking at your movies outside of your Director
presentation). Get more info and download a demo at Turntable's Multimixer
Xtra page.
VersionTracker reports that a new QT
3-compatible version of Peter's Player (a $10 shareware QuickTime movie player
application that has some playback features that MoviePlayer doesn't) is available.
You can read the abstract
for Peter's Player; and/or download
the file directly .
Pinnacle Systems announed the DC30 plus capture card for Macintosh.
It will sell for under $1000, will support QuickTime 3.0 and will come bundled
with Premiere 4.2.1 which can be upgraded to 5.0 for free. You can read a Pinnacle
System's press release about the DC30 plus.
Synthetic Aperture has released Video Finesse, a new collection of plug-in
filters for Adobe Premiere on the Macintosh. You can read more about them at
Synthetic Aperture's home page.
MacWEEK has a story
on QuickTime VR stitching tools, including a new tool from Enroute Inc. called
QuickStitch 360, and an upgrade to Roudabout Logic's Nodester.
For fun, you might want to check out a cool QT
movie about the iMac.