There's a new beta (b24) of QuickTime 4 available today. If you've already got a version of QuickTime 4, run the application QuickTime Updater to get this new beta.Or download it from the QuickTime download page.
Macromedia has released an update to Director, making it 7.02; it supports QuickTime 4 Streaming cast members. Read more about 7.02 and download the updater at Macromedia's Director Downloads page.
Andrew Nemeth has a new nemeng.com - equipment page which lists descriptions of equipment for doing QuickTime VR.
Here are a few QuickTime Streaming Server articles from Apple's Tech Info Library:
QuickTime Streaming Server: Verifying The Version (#24913)
QuickTime Streaming Server: Making Streamable Files Available (#24914)
QuickTime Streaming Server: Limiting To A Specific IP Address (#24915)
Macintouch has a report on Final Cut Pro and playback of DV movies. (Actually, what's in the report also applies to other tools, like Premiere, that you may use to play back DV movies.)
Dispatches has an article titled "QuickTime strikes back" about Apple using Star Wars to bloster QuickTime interest.
Apple has a Press Release titled "QuickTime 4 Downloads Pass Three Million in First Month"
PuppetTime has released a new beta of PuppetTime Producer. This tool (for 3D storytelling) now supports Multiple Cameras and has other new features; check out PuppetTime Inc's home page.
The Portable RT[S]P Internet Streaming Server page provides a download point for an early Linux x86 version of Apple's Darwin Streaming Server.
IPIX has posted the IPIXô-QuickTime Component, which lets you view IPIX movies in QuickTime applications; get it at the IPIX QuickTime page in their Developer Area. (IPIX is a company that many in the QuickTime VR community dislike greatly because of what are considered unfair and monopolistic business practices; see the International QuickTime VR Association's No IPIX page.)
The Little QuickTime Page will be on hiatus for a while as we work on our new QuickTime 4 book. We hope the page will return on or about June 15th.
The keynote from Apple's WorldWide Developers Conference is now available as a stored QuickTime 4 stream at the WWDC Keynote page.
Also, see a Macworld online article, "Apple Plugs QuickTime at WWDC" for a summary of what Apple showed off about QuickTime 4 at last week's World Wide Developers Conference.
You can now view the Weather Channel as a QuickTime 4 stream. Check out the Weather Channel page at Apple's site.
Check out a WebReview.com article, "QuickTime 4 Takes on Streaming". It's clearly written, and summarizes what's new in QuickTime 4, as well as how QuickTime 4 stacks up as a streaming technology.
There a Tech Info Library article titled "QuickTime 4: Common Issues After a Basic Install"; it deals with problems that may occur after choosing the Basic Install option in the QuickTime 4 installer.
The Powerbook Zone mentions Apple's latest marketing of QuickTime; see "Apple Hits the Streets With QuickTime 4.0 Promotion", which has links to photos of Appple's latest urban-style marketing.
There's been a reorganization at Ken Turkowski's QuickTime VR site. (If you do QuickTime VR, you should know about this site. He's got lots of tricks and tools that you may find helpful.)
Michael C. Amorose, has the created a FireWire Watch page that tracks companies that make products that use FireWire.
Version Tracker notes that there's an update to the Media 100 qx and qxc software that provides compatiblity with the Blue and White G3. Follow the steps on the Media 100 Blue & White G3 Compatibility page.
If you're interested in high-quality, low-bandwidth audio compression, check out the QDesign Music Codec 2 for QuickTime 4 page, where you'll find a chart comparing QDesign to MP3, as well as links to pages where you can hear to how QDesign compares with Real Audio and MS Audio, and how it compares with MP3. You can also download a 15-day demo version of QDesign Music Codec 2 - Professional Edition (Beta 10) for Mac OS or Windows computers at the QDesigns demo download page.
You can now compress using Indeo 5, with an additional extension. Mac G3 users can get the extension at Apple's Software Updates for Intel Indeo 5 page. WIndows users can get the software at Apple's Software Updates for Intel Indeo 5 page for Windows page.
If you're interested in doing live broadcasting with QuickTime 4, you may want to check into Sorenson Broadcaster, currently the only live streaming tool for QuickTime 4. If so, go to the Sorenson Broadcaster Demo page, and sign up to be a beta tester.
There's a new freeware application called Paddle that lets you convert series of server-pushed JPEG images (such as those used for webcam images) into QuickTime movies. Get Paddle at the MacUpdate Paddle page.
There's a beta version of soundSaVR, (for adding directional sound to QuickTime VR panos) that has support for QuickTime 4 features, such as MP3 and RTSP streaming. For more info, examples of what can be done with this tool, and a download link, go to the soundsaVR 1.2 Beta 22 page.
For a list of everything that's new in QuickTime 4, check out the new version of Charles Wiltgen's QuickTime FAQ.
Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference is happening this week.In the keynote, there was some talk of QuickTime 4. You can view the keynote address at a ZDTV page "Steve Jobs Kicks Off Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference" in Real Video G2 format. (The irony is that the talk isn't available--at least not yet--in QuickTime.)
To see some fun QuickTime trailers, check out the South Park movie site.
You can now listen to National Public Radio (NPR) using QuickTime 4 streaming. Check it out at the QuickTime Showcase - Radio page.
Media 100 is buying Terran, the maker of Media Cleaner Pro. For more info read a 5/6 Terran Press Release, and a letter from Terran's president.
Duck Corporation has released a demo version of their new TrueMotion® 2X, a compressor that offers excellent quality at high data rates (i.e. it's for CD-ROM, kiosk, or high-bandwidth networks, not general Web use). You can get more info and find a download link at the TrueMotion 2X Compression Tool Kit page.
Apple has released beta 22 of QuickTime 4. To update your current version of QuickTime (b21) to b22, run the application "QuickTime Updater" in the QuickTime folder on your hard disk.Or read the tech note titled "How To Get The Latest Beta Release".
This week, there are a number of cool new or updated tools available:
There's a new version of Plug-in Helper, the free Apple tool that allows you to insert plug-in settings and URLs in a movie. On the MacOS version, a new checkbox allows you to specify that the movie can't be saved from a web page. You'll find the tool (and others) at the QuickTime Tools page.
Shakespeare, a tool which you can use to help write scripts for LiveStage, the tool for creating interactive QuickTime movies, is now available (in beta form) for download at Ian Mantripp's LiveSite.
Löwald Interactive has created a shareware app called QuickMP3. This app allows you to create a play list of MP3 files; it uses QuickTime 4 to decode the files. You can read more and download it at QuickMP3 page.
OneApp CineSlider, a shareware tool for creating movies that can be distributed as standalone applications, is at version 4.3, and can be found at the OneApp CineSlider page.
VideoScript Inc. has released VideoScript 1.5 Pro and Lite. (VideoScript is a tool that can be used to write scripts for processing video.) You can download the Lite version at the VideoScript Download page, and find out the differences between the two at the VideoScript Lite vs. VideoScript Pro page.
Ragnar Sundblad has written Silly SAP Client, a helper tool that listens for announcements of video and/or audio being broadcast over the MBone (the Multicast Backbone). When it gets an announcement, it creates a file (an SDP file), which you can open in QuickTime Player in order to receive the video and/or audio being broadcast.You can download the tool and read more about it at the Silly SAP client for QT4 page.
There's a new web site, quicktimeguide.com, which is like the TV Guide for QuickTime movies. It provides links to all sorts of sites hosting QuickTime movies, including live Streaming QuickTime broadcasts.
A Wired News article, "New 'Star Wars' Trailers on Web" reports that the Star Wars: Episode I trailer has reached over 10 million downloads, making it the largest video download in net history! The article also reports that there are four new Star Wars commericals at Apple's web site. You can find these at the Apple Star Wars Episode I Tone Poems page.
There's a Macintouch review of Final Cut Pro, Apple's $1000 professional video editing and effects software.
Hey, does anyone remember HyperCard, and how it was supposed to be integrated somehow with QuickTime? For some commentary (but no news) on this topic, check out a MacCentral article "Hypercard, Hypercard, wherefore art thou, Hypercard?"
There's a MacWeek article on the Igniter card. This high-end video capture card, for Macs only, will start at $1300 and have a number of upgrade options.
Here's another slew of QuickTime-related articles from Apple's Tech Info Library:
QuickTime: Creating Movies Optimized For Web Playback (#60320)
QuickTime: QuickTime 3 Pro Codes Same As QuickTime 4 (#30971)
QuickTime 4: Windows 95/98/NT Installation (#43083)
QuickTime 4: About QuickTime Streaming (#60333)
QuickTime 4: Using QuickTime Player (#60334)
QuickTime 4: Rescanning MIME Types (#60332)
QuickTime 4: How To Uninstall QuickTime 4 On a Windows PC (#60342)
QuickTime 4: What's Installed - Macintosh (#60340)
QuickTime 4: How To Uninstall Quicktime 4 On a Macintosh (#60341)