Producing Fast Multimedia | Delivering Multimedia | Compressing Audio and Video | Special Effect Options | Transition Options
Producing Fast Multimedia
QuickTime multimedia created with Electrifier Pro can easily be embedded on a web page or integrated into any other program which supports QuickTime, from Macromedia Director to Microsoft Word.
QuickTime 3
QuickTime 3 is the recommended export format for all Electrifier Pro multimedia. Since QuickTime 3 supports Electrifier's effects, actions, and No-Bandwidth media, saving your movies as QuickTime 3 provides the lowest possible bandwidth, as well as offering interactivity that is impossible with other formats such as QuickTime 2.x or animated GIF. For your video and audio content, QuickTime 3 also supports the most efficient compression options, such as Sorenson Video and QDesign Music.
Optimizing file size in QuickTime 3
Since QuickTime 3 preserves all your actors in their original formats, it allows you to use file formats and compression selectively, where they will do the most good. Instead of compressing your whole movie with a single compressor such as Cinepak, you can use different formats and compressors for each actor, to provide the greatest possible quality in the smallest possible file size.
Choosing actor types and compression options
Electrifier Pro supports a wide range of actor types, so that you can import your existing content quickly and easily. The range of supported actor types also allows you to choose among formats and compression options for the lowest-bandwidth, highest-quality content possible.
- For large, full-screen display, vector graphics are generally smaller in file size than bitmap graphics. However, if a vector graphic is highly detailed and the display size is small, it may be more efficient to use a bitmap image.
- For detailed bitmap images, we recommend the Photoshop or PICT formats, in millions of colors. We recommend the Animation compressor for computer-generated images and images with large areas of flat color or high-contrast details, and the Photo-JPEG compressor for photographs and other continuous-tone images.
For more information
For a list of the image compressors supported by QuickTime, see the Supported Compressors section of the Appendices.
For importing issues related to specific import formats, see the File Formats section of the Appendices
QuickTime 3 display and playback issues
Exporting to QuickTime 3 allows you to create sophisticated interactive multimedia that can be viewed in any program that supports QuickTime. However, there are some limitations in the current version of QuickTime which should be kept in mind when you are creating content.
- Sprite Tracks
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- Sprite track widths must be a multiple of 16 pixels in order for them to display correctly on Windows machines in millions of colors. Sprite tracks with other widths display correctly on Mac OS machines, and on Windows machines in 16, 256, and thousands of colors, but display in distorted zig-zag patterns on Windows machines displaying millions of colors. This bug does not occur under Mac OS.
- Text
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- Text sizes vary across platforms. For a given point size, text will appear about 25% larger on Windows than on Mac OS: this is a general property of text display on the two platforms, and is not specific to Electrifier or QuickTime.
Because of this issue, we recommend that you design your text to reflow gracefully if its size changes. This can be as simple as not using line breaks except between paragraphs, and making your text box 30% larger than needed.
If your text layout is dependent on alignment with other actors, and particularly if it uses spaces for formatting, we recommend that you create different versions of your file for Windows and for Mac OS.
- Text does not display correctly in a sprite track if the background is hidden. Text with a hidden background displays correctly if it is placed directly in the movie.
- Bitmap Graphics
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- Images with 256 colors display incorrectly on Windows machines unless they are compressed. Images in thousands or millions of colors display correctly, as do images which have been compressed with the Animation compressor. The exact display problem depends on the image format (256-color PNG files are drawn with the wrong color table, and GIF files are not drawn at all if multiple actors are present).
We recommend that you use images with millions of colors, or compress your images using the Animation compressor (in 256 colors), to ensure that they display correctly on all machines. You can compress your images using the Bitmap Compression command in the Content menu.
Since the GIF format only supports 256 colors, we recommend that you use the PNG format (in millions of colors) for still computer-generated images. This bug does not occur under Mac OS.
- PICT files with alpha channels display incorrectly on monitors in 256 or thousands of colors unless they are compressed. Photoshop or PNG files with alpha channels display correctly, as do PICT images which have been compressed with the Animation compressor.
We recommend that you use the Photoshop or PNG formats for masked images, or compress your images using the Animation compressor in millions+ colors. You can compress your images using the Bitmap Compression command in the Content menu.
- Video
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- Video actors should be placed directly in the movie in order to stream and play back most efficiently.
Video actors will play back more smoothly if they do not overlap a sprite track or any actors in a sprite track (including portions which are hidden because they are outside the sprite track or covered by other actors). Overlapping background images which have been placed directly in the movie does not present any performance problems.
If you are creating multimedia that requires both smooth, high-performance video and interactivity or animation, we recommend that you create multiple sprite tracks which do not overlap the video to contain your interactive and animated actors (remember to make the widths multiples of 16). If you are using a background image under your video, you should segment it to match the track locations.
- The duration of video actors should be left at the natural (auto) value. If you increase the duration of a video actor, QuickTime will loop the clip by duplicating its frame data when the movie is exported, which can increase file size significantly.
- VR
- QuickTime VR actors (and movies) are different from other types of content in terms of how they are treated by QuickTime. Because of this, there are some limitations to how VR content can be used in your multimedia.
- QuickTime VR actors must be placed directly in the movie in order to play back correctly. VR navigation (whether direct or through Electrifier Pro's sprite actions) only works if the VR is not in a sprite track.
- The duration of VR actors should be left at the natural (auto) value. If you increase the duration of a VR actor, QuickTime will loop the VR by duplicating its image data when the movie is exported, which can increase the movie size significantly.
- If you create a movie with a sprite track which overlays your VR (for example, to provide node navigation buttons), the sprite track must be opaque in order for the sprite track actors to respond to mouse clicks. Actors in a non-opaque sprite track will still respond to mouse overs, but clicks will be ignored and passed on to the VR actor.
- If you create a movie with a VR controller, a VR actor must be visible at the start of the movie. This is because it would be impossible to play a traditional VR movie if it were opened with all the VR objects and panoramas hidden. If you create a movie where the first VR actor has a start time greater than zero, QuickTime will automatically go to that time when the movie is opened.
- If you want to create a VR movie with an animated (time-based) introduction, you can create the introduction and the VR as two separate movies, and use a URL Flip with a frame of "myself" to open the VR movie once the introduction has finished playing.
- If you use an action to jump to a VR node that has not been loaded, a broken movie icon will appear. The problem does not occur with ordinary QuickTime VR scenes because the node hotspots do not load until the whole VR is available. One workaround is to replace your multi-node VR scene with a series of single-node panoramas, and use URL hotspots in the VR (and Go to URL actions for your Electrifier sprite buttons) instead of node hotspots (and Go to Node actions).
- If you place a VR panorama in perspective using the Inspector palette, the panorama will be offset within its frame and the background filled with static. The problem does not occur if the VR is placed in perspective after it appears. One workaround is to use a Set Transform action with an Idle trigger to put the VR in perspective after it has loaded.
- Some nodes in multi-node VR scenes will be cropped improperly unless they are placed at the upper left corner of the movie.
- Relative URL targets do not work in VR movies. If you want to use Open URL actions in a VR movie, you should use absolute URLs.
QuickTime 2.x and Animated GIF
QuickTime 2.x and Animated GIF files convert your Electrifier movie into a series of pixel-based frames. Because of this, the only factors in reducing file size for these formats are frame rate and compressor options such as color depth and quality.
For more information
For detailed information about video compression, see the Compressing Video and Audio section of the Authoring Reference.
For detailed information about exporting files, see the File menu section of the Menu Reference.
For an overview of your export options, see Understanding your export options in the Electrifier Overview.
Producing Fast Multimedia | Delivering Multimedia | Compressing Audio and Video | Special Effect Options | Transition Options
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