March 99


March 30, 1999

If you're using your Mac to capture DV via FireWire, you should know that there's a new version of the Apple FireWire software, version 2.0. You can read more about this software and download it at the Software Updates for FireWire 2.0 page.

Apple released a new beta of QuickTime for Java. You can read more and download at Apple's QuickTime for Java page.

The release version (1.0) of Spritz (the new freeware tool that lets you create interactive QuickTime movies) is now available; go to the Spritz web site and click on the Download page.

PuppetTime Inc. has released a beta of its PuppetTime Director software to enable digital story telling. It's built around the QuickTime architecture; you can read the press release about PuppetTime Director and find out more at the PuppetTime web site.

The Aurora Fuse card drivers are at version 1.8; you can download them at the Aurora Fuse Software page.

Pinnacle Systems has released an update of the drivers for their miroMOTION DC30plus card. You can download it from the DC30plus Updates page.

There's an interesting mainstream article talking about how the Star Wars trailer is a big boost for QuickTime.


March 16, 1999

Apple has made QuickTime for Java available in a public beta release! You can read more and download it at Apple's QuickTime for Java Introduction page.

The new trailer for Star Wars: Episode I was released last week. You can see high-quality QuickTime versions at the Star Wars: Episode I trailer page. (This is only available as a QuickTime movie; Apple reports over 1 million downloads of the movie and over 600,000 QuickTime downloads in the first 24 hours of it being posted!)

Macintouch is reporting, in a MacOSX Server Special Report, that MacOS X Server will include a QuickTime Streaming Application.

A short article on Final Cut at MacWeek contains more info from "sources", but still nothing official from Apple. (Final Cut is Apple's forthcoming digital video editing and composition tool.)

TrueVision has updates for the drivers for their Targa 1000 (Mac and Windows NT) and Targa 2000 cards (both Nubus and PCI; Mac and Windows NT). If you have one of these cards, go to the Truevision ftp site, and click on the directory for your platform and then the directory for your card.

Here are some additional QT-related updates noted at VersionTracker:

There's a new version of LiveStage, the tool for creating interactive QuickTime movies. Use this link to download the file: ftp://ftp.totallyhip.com/Products/LiveStage/.

VideoScript 1.3b3 trial version for Mac OS is available for download. Get it at the VideoScript Download page. (VideoScript is a tool that can be used to write scripts for processing video.)

The shareware QuickTime editor, QuickEditor for Mac OS, has been revved to version 6.2. Info and a download are at the QuickEditor web site.

Digital Origin (formerly Radius) has a driver update that allows you to use EditDV with the new blue G3, taking advantage of the built-in Firewire ports in that computer. Get it at the Digital Origin Software Downloads page.


There's a new QTVR Tips and Tricks page as well as a good list of QTVR-related links, both created by Ponyboy.

Ken Turkowski has a new QTVR calculator at his QuickTime VR Authoring Tricks page. This one helps you if you want to crop your panorama.

We'll be taking next weekend off, so expect the next Little QuickTime Page on March 30th.


March 9, 1999

Terran has updated their "How to Produce High-Quality QuickTime" article. (They now also have a PDF version and a $19 print version available.)

Public Beta 6 of Spritz (the new freeware tool that lets you create interactive QuickTime movies) is now available; go to the Spritz web site and click on the Download page.

For more examples of interactive QuickTime movies (using wired sprites and created with LiveStage) check out Publish & Co.'s QuickTime Sprites Samples page.

AppleInsider ("Veronica goes beta; QT4 gets face lift", March 8) has some screen shots of what are reported to be new QuickTime 4 icons.

Aurora Design has announced a new $1300 high-quality capture card for Macs only, the Igniter card. Check out Aurora's Igniter page for more info.

If you're a K-12 student (or you know one) that's been working with QuickTime, you may be interested in a contest that Apple's running. The contest theme is: "Web to the Edge: A Student's Look at the Future of Technology" and must be created in the English language and must use at least one QuickTime movie. Prizes include G3s, iMacs, and assorted other software and hardware for both the winner and the winner's school. For more info, see the Web to the Edge Contest page.

VideoScript 1.3b2 trial version for Mac OS is available for download. Get it at the VideoScript Download page. (VideoScript is a tool that can be used to write scripts for processing video.)

For rumored ship dates for Final Cut (Apple's forthcoming digital video editing and composition tool) see the 3/5/99 Mac the Knife column.

Check out Apple's 71st Academy Awards page where you can see movie trailers for this year's Oscar nominees and can cast your own vote. (There are close to 2000 votes already.)

Version 1.7. 1 of Panorama Tools (a freeware plug-in that works with a number of graphics programs for manipulating QTVR panos, available for both MacOS and Windows and now Linux) is at the Panorama Tools page.

Milton Aupperle, creator of MyVidCap and MyVidEdit has put together an illustrated guide for configuring MyVidCap for capturing DV on a B&W G3 via firewire. (He's written this for use with MyVidCap, but much of what he covers may translate to other programs.)


March 2, 1999

If you're interested in seeing some examples of interactive QuickTime movies (created with the new product, LiveStage) check out Apple's iMac puzzle and Apple's Click & Match game.

Iomega has a support page concerning the incompatibility of the Buz capture card with the new blue G3 Macs.

The old QuickTime-Dev mailing list has been discontinued, and in its place are two new, more targeted mailing lists: QuickTime-Talk (primarily for content creators) and QuickTime-API (primarily for API-level developers). If you're interested in signing up for either of these, go to the Apple Mailing Lists page and do a search for "QuickTime".

Apple's QuickTime 3 Movie Trailers page has been redesigned, and some new trailers have been added.

There's a review of Electrifier Pro at Internet World. (Electrifier is a wired sprite creation tool, allowing you to create interactive QuickTime movies.)

There's a new version of VideoScope ( software for Mac G3s which allows you to analyze and tweak an incoming video signal before digitizing, or to analyze an existing QuickTime movie). Check out the VideoScope home page for more info.

We'll be doing a live chat at World Without Borders this Wednesday (3/3) at 6pm pacific time. More info at the Peachpit Press News Page. Come with your QuickTime and MoviePlayer thoughts and questions.


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