If you have opinions on QuickTime VR, you'll want to fill out a QuickTime VR feedback form sponsored by the International QuickTime VR Association web site. The results of the survey will be delivered to receptive ears at Apple.
There's a lengthy article called "Beyond Desktop Video" at Director-Online that talks about the QuickTime architecture, QuickTime interactivity, tools for creating wired sprites (with a lot about LiveStage), and the relationship of QuickTime to Director. We highly recommend this article if you're interested in taking advantage of QuickTime's interactive capabilities.
QDesign Corporation released MVP, which lets you create, play, and manage MP3 and QDesign Music files. You can get more info and download MVP 1.0 for either MacOS and Windows at the MVP site.
Software updates:
Version 1.5 of DeFish (a free tool that dewarps fisheye images so they can be used for QuickTime VR, among other things) can be downloaded at Ken Turkowski's Making Environment Maps from Fisheye Photographs page.
Go to the Movie2MPEG page to get Version 0.1d5 of Movie2MPEG, a utility that converts QuickTime movies or AVI files to MPEG1 system streams.
Digital Origin (formerly Radius) has been busy updating their line of DV video editing packages. Check out the following press releases:
Digital Origin announces EditDV 2.0 for Windows
Digital Origin enhances its award-winning EditDV with new features for Mac users
JVC partners with Digital Origin and offers $100 rebate on new IntroDV editing software with purchase of JVC Digital CyberCam
The VRWorx ($300 Mac and PC package containing tools for creating QuickTime VR panoramas, objects, and scenes) is now shipping. Go to the VR Toolbox website to get more info about the product, download a demo, or purchase it.
You can now buy a device that gives you remote control of QuickTime Player (and other media players on both Mac and Windows computers).To find out more about Keyspan's Digital Media Remote go to the Keyspan News page. There's also an About.com review of the Digital Media Remote.
On Friday, Oct 22 deal-mac had a report of an iMac DV and Canon Ultura for $2,000ņa good price for a bundle containing all you need to capture and edit movies. (If you want more info on these products check out Apple's iMac page and Canon's Ultura page.)
If you're curious about iMovie (the simple DV editing application that ships with the new iMac DVs) check out a brief review of iMovie at the Desktop Video section of About.com. (Screenshots included.)
For those who haven't already purchased the premier tool for compressing QuickTime video for Web and CD-ROM, there's a review of Media Cleaner Pro at the Insanely Great Mac site.
There's a new After Effects discussion list. You can join by going to the AfterEffects page at ONEList. (Or send an e-mail request to aftereffects-subscribe@onelist.com)
Adobe Premiere 5.1c is available as a free upgrade for Macintosh users at the Adobe Premiere 5.1c page. It provides extensive FireWire support and has QuickTime 4 export capabilities, allowing it to be used to prepare movies for streaming.
The Video Gogh QuickTime Effect plug-in was announced this week. It works with tools that support QuickTime Effects (most editing tools, though not QuickTime Player) and can alter your movies so they look like painted works of art. The RE:Vision Effects web site has info, a gallery of examples, and links to their webstore where you can purchase this $30 piece of software.
A new utility, Movie2MPEG, converts QuickTime movies or AVI files to MPEG1 system streams.Version 0.1d4 is available at the Movie2MPEG page.
Escape Information Services has released version 1.0.1 of their QuickTime import component for the DICOM image format. (DICOM is an image format used by healthcare professionals.) You can read more about it, purchase it, or download an evaluation copy at the DICOM Import Component for QuickTime page.
There's a free update of the Media 100 software (to version 5.5.3) for PowerMac G4s. Get it at Media 100's G4 page. They have also announced in a 10/19 press release version 6 of the Media 100 software.
"Is Electrifier ignoring QuickTime?" by Dennis Sellers, is a piece at MacCentral about Electrifier Inc., makers of Electrifier Pro, and how they seem to be focusing on RealNetworks products in their latest endeavors.
Buena Software has released Effects Pack #2; it's 10 QuickTime-based filters for $30. You can read more and see examples at the Effects Pack #2 page.
Jason Suitts has written and released a beta version of Info for Movie, an AppleScript extension that allows AppleScript to read QuickTime movie data. You can download the beta and read more about it at the Info for Movie page.
Aurora Designs has an update to their Fuse Drivers (1.8.3) for Mac OS 9 compatibility; get the update at the Aurora Fuse Software page.
There is one more tech note about iMovie: iMovie: Setting Resolution to 640x480 Forces Application to Quit.
The QuickTime Gazette, the other QuickTime news page, has a new address: www.QuickTimeGazette.com.
SGI released Version 4.0 of their Mediabase Broadband Media Server with support for QuickTime 4 streaming. You can read an October 10th SGI press release.
TribeWorks has released version 1.2 of their iShell multimedia authoring program. It has additional support for wired movies. We couldn't find any information about this release at their web site, but if you go to the Tribeworks website and then go the download page you can get version 1.2.
Dennis Sellers at MacCentral has a blurb titled, "iMovie not 'Final Cut Lite'", which provides some insight into iMovie's features.
There are a bunch of technotes about iMovie at Apple's Tech Info Library this week:
iMovie: Importing Non-DV QuickTime Movies #60561
iMovie: Files Split At 1.9 GB When Capturing Clips #60562
iMovie: Shelf Spaces Available With Different Monitor Resolutions #60563
iMovie: Transition and Title Clip Progress Bars #60565
tommy gannon of mac-tips.com has a brief article
titled "QuickTime Broadcasting with Your Mac", which provides an overview
of what you need to do to broadcast your own video.
Strata has a beta update to VideoShop 4.5 which can be downloaded from Strata's VideoShop Mac ftp
site; you want the file called VS_451b1_patch.sea.
Today Apple introduced the new iMac DV with built-in FireWire. Since it also comes
with an editing program (iMovie), it makes for a very cool little capture and
editing computer for $1,299. You can read more about them at the iMac
page.
Entera has released a FreeBSD version of its ELSA (Entera Lightweight Streaming Application)
Server, for serving streaming QuickTime movies. You can download the Linux
on x86, FreeBSD on x86, Windows NT/98, or Solaris SPARC at Entera's
ELSA download page.
Yet another look at the QuickTime Player User Interface, at Salon.com. Daniel Drew
Turner's article, "A Worm in the Apple?" is a commentary on Apple User
Interface design and the QuickTime Player.
QDesign Corporation released beta 4 of MVP, which lets you create, play, and manage
MP3 and QDesign Music files. You can get more info and download MVP for either
MacOS and Windows at the MVP site.
Etchelon Tracer, a vector-based morphing animation program that outputs as QuickTime
has been updated to version 3.1.2. More info and a download are at the Etchelon
Tracer page.
PTStitcher, a freeware stitching utility that creates a panoramic image to be viewed with all major VR viewers (including QuickTime VR, of course), has reached version 1.9.1 and can be found at the Panorama Tools page.
Apple has posted a new technote that details the changes made in QuickTime 4.0.3.