QuickTime for Java
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With the introduction of QuickTime streaming, QuickTime has extended its ability to retrieve data. Traditionally, media data had to exist as local data. With streaming, media data can now exist on remote servers and retrieved using the HTTP or FTP Internet protocols, as well as the more traditional file protocol of previous releases. The location of media is contained in a structure called a DataRef . This tells QuickTime where media data is and how to retrieve it.
QuickTime streaming also adds support for broadcast media data, using the RTSP protocol. Media data of this format is delivered through network protocols, typically sourced through the broadcast of either live or stored video. It requires the creation of streaming data handlers to deal with the mechanics of retrieving media data using this protocol.
The tracks in a single movie can have data in different locations. For example, one track's media data might be contained in the movie itself; a second track's media data might exist in another local file; and a third track's media data might exist in a remote file and retrieved through the FTP protocol. In these two cases, the movie references the media data that is stored elsewhere. A fourth track might retrieve broadcasted media data through a network using the RTSP protocol.
Your application is free to mix and match these data references for tracks' media data as appropriate. QuickTime presents a complex and powerful capability to deal with media data; a complexity that provides the user of QuickTime with a powerful tool in both the development and delivery of media content.
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