This chapter introduces you to QuickTime video effects, which are new in QuickTime 3. You can use "real-time" video effects to control the visual transition between two sources. Sources can be frames of a QuickTime movie, or they can be graphics worlds containing arbitrary images. You can also use effects to visually "filter" a single source, applying a visual effect to a single image.
QuickTime 3 includes over 145 effects, and with QuickTime's extensible architecture, you can easily create additional effects.
Because visual effects are calculated and executed at runtime, they can be applied between any two time points, even if the exact appearance of a QuickTime movie at a certain time is not known in advance. This means, for example, you can execute effects on sprite tracks, which can change as a result of user interactions. Using a run-time effect also typically results in a much smaller file than a pre-rendered version of the same effect.
You need to read this chapter if you are writing an application that creates QuickTime movies and you want to add video effects to those movies. This is explained in the section "Adding Video Effects to a QuickTime Movie" .
In creating QuickTime movies with video effects, you will want to provide the user with ways to choose which effects to apply, when to apply them and how to customize the effects chosen. These topics are discussed in the section "Video Effects User Interface" .
You should also read this chapter if you want to use video effects on graphics worlds without creating a QuickTime movie, as described in the section "Using Video Effects Outside a QuickTime Movie" .
If you want to create new video effects of your own, you also need to read the section "Creating New Video Effects" .
This chapter also contains two reference sections:
| Chapter Contents | Next |