PATH Carbon Developer Documentation > Multimedia > Media Handlers

The Movie Toolbox in QuickTime does not contain direct support for manipulating specific media types. This work is performed by media handler components. Media handlers are components that are responsible for interpreting and manipulating a media's sample data. Each media type has its own media handler, which deals with the specific characteristics of that media type. Apple provides media handlers for video, sound, text, sprites, timecodes, tweens, QuickDraw 3D, and QuickTime music. Because media handlers are implemented as components, new media handlers can be created to support new media types, or to add new features to the handling of existing media. Applications do not normally interact with media handlers directly; applications make calls to the Movie Toolbox, which calls media handlers as needed.

Carbon Specification for Media Handlers This document lists the Carbon inclusion status of the Media Handlers APIs. QuickTime 4.0 API Documentation: Media Handlers This is the definitive documentation for Media Handlers: what they are, what you can do with them, and how they work. This documentation also includes a complete API reference for Media Handlers.