QuickTime 1.5 HighlightsThis QuickHit Note provides a quick hit list of the changes made to QuickTime 1.5. For more detailed information about QuickTime 1.5, please see:• Inside Macintosh, QuickTime• Inside Macintosh, QuickTime Components Topics• Top Ten Reasons to use QuickTime 1.5 • New QuickTime Components• Developer ToolsTop Ten Reasons to use QuickTime 1.5:1. Better software compression/decompression 2. Improved CD playback3. Photo CD support4. Enhanced network performance5. New software features6. Full motion video with hardware decompression7. Open architecture for new media types8. Bug fixes9. Better PowerBook support10. Expanded human interfaceBetter software compression/decompression QuickTime 1.5 delivers on its commitment to larger software-only digital video. The new Compact Video Compressor allows movies with twice the frame area as QuickTime 1.0 (240 x 180 pixels vs. 160 x 120 pixels).Improved CD playbackEnhancements were made to the low level data handler which optimizes data transfer from CD. This provides better playback for all CD players and includes support for the new double-speed AppleCD 300 found in the Macintosh IIvi and Performa 600.Enhanced network performanceThe data handler was also optimized to perform better over an Ethernet network running AppleShare. With AppleShare 3.0 and QuickTime 1.5, your movies will play back well over the net.Photo CDPhoto CD is a new technology from Kodak which allows you to have your photo finisher store your photographs in digital form on special CD-ROM discs. QuickTime now supports Photo CD through use of the Photo CD Decompressor, and the Apple Photo Access software which is part of the CD-ROM Setup 4.0 release. Photo CDs can be used with AppleCD SC, SC Plus, CD 150 or CD 300 CD-ROM drives. With the AppleCD 300 drive, you can access Photo CD discs that have multiple sessions. Get your pictures pressed on a Photo CD today!New software featuresQuickTime 1.5 include 26 new components. Four new component types were introduced: a Base Media handler on which you can build your own media handler ('mhlr'), a data import component ('eat '), a data export component ('spit'), and a sequence grabber panel component ('sgpn'). To fill the component registry, eight new data import components (AIFC, AIFF, sfil, 'snd ', PICT, PICS, moov, and TEXT), three new export components (AIFF, PICT, 'snd '), and six sequence grabber panel components were added.QuickTime also includes several new versions of old types of components. Four new preview viewers (moov, AIFC, AIFF, sfil), one new media handlers (text), one new compressor component (Apple Compact Video), two new decompressor components (Apple Compact Video and Photo CD Decompressor) fill out the ranks of QuickTime's new components.Full motion video with hardware decompressionThe software interface for video digitizer components has been enhanced to support digitizing cards with hardware compression/decompression, allowing full-motion, full-screen movie playback. The video digitizer interface has also been extended. For example, you can now associate a sound input device with your video digitizer and you can query the digitizer to find out about its performance characteristics.Open architecture supports new media typesQuickTime 1.5 introduces the Base Media handler. With it, you will be able to write your own media handler. Your custom media handler can override portions of the Base Media handler, and rely on it to take care of scheduling and the other complex media handler tasks. You will need to read the Component Manager chapter in Inside Macintosh: More Toolbox if you want to write a component. Also see “Techniques for Writing and Debugging Components” in the upcoming develop 12.QuickTime 1.5 uses this feature to implement a text track, which allows text to be embedded in a movie and played back synchronized with video and sound. Figure 1 shows how text in a text track can be displayed and highlighted as the movie plays. Figure 1. A text track.Bug FixesAll software has bugs, and QuickTime 1.0 was no exception. QuickTime 1.5 fixes bugs that will make it easier to develop for it. For example, in 1.0, RotateMatrix halved its input degree parameter, MCDrawBadge did not draw, GetMoviePict did not work with grayscale images, and so on. These and others have been fixed in 1.5. With 1.5, many workarounds are no longer needed.Better PowerBook supportPlayback on PowerBooks has been improved with QuickTime 1.5. A special dithering algorithm has been implemented which provides full frame rate playback of color movies on one-bit screens.Expanded human interfaceQuickTime 1.0 broke new ground in human interface; QuickTime 1.5 continues that trend. The most obvious difference is that the Movie Controller is now shaded just like a System 7.0 window. The sequence grabber includes the sequence grabber panel component ('sgpn'), which introduces a configuration dialogs for video and sound capture. In the Standard Compression dialog, a grabber hand now lets you move the preview picture around.Figure 2. Shaded Movie ControllerComponent ManagerThe Component Manager is now a standard part of System Software as of System 7.1, so QuickTime 1.5 only installs it on previous versions of System Software. For documentation on the Component Manager, please refer to Inside Macintosh: More Toolbox. Until that book is available, the QuickTime CD has a file that contains the Component Manager chapter. This document is also available from APDA.The best way to navigate the differences between the two extensions is to use the Control Panel, Things!. The Things! Control Panel displays information about all the currently registered components. Since QuickTime uses components for nearly every, browsing through the components with Things! provides a nice overview of QuickTime.New QuickTime ComponentsText Media Handler ComponentQuickTime 1.5 allows you to create and play text tracks. The text tracks are interpreted by the Text Media Handler, which comes with 1.5. Text tracks complement the current video and sound tracks. As you would expect text tracks can searched, much as a word processing document is searched.Standard Compression ComponentThe Standard Compression Components has been built into QuickTime extension. The interface has been extended so that you can pan and zoom the preview picture. A field to explicitly set the desired compressed data rate has been added. In addition, many new calls were added to Standard Compression which make it extremely easy for applications to support still image compression. Figure 3. Standard Compression dialog. Note the dialog is moveable.Preview Viewer ComponentsPreview viewer components are used by the Standard File Preview to display file previews. With QuickTime 1.0, a picture is displayed file is selected in the Standard File Preview dialog. With QuickTime 1.5, the interface has been extended so that short movie previews may also be displayed.In addition, it is now possible to preview sound files.Figure 4. Movie preview component.Sequence Grabber PanelsSequence grabber panel components provide a standard human interface for choosing compression, source, and sample settings for video and sound capture channels. In addition, the dialogs are easily extensible to accommodate both hardware and software developers’ needs.Figure 5. Sequence Grabber video and sound panels.Movie Import/Export Components These components allow you to automatically convert various data formats like PICT and snd into QuickTime tracks from the StandardGetFilePreview dialog. Standard File Preview has been extended to allow for automatic file conversion from most applications. The API for these component is defined so you can write your own component to import your favorite format into a QuickTime movie.The Movie Import components are also used to support pasting data into QuickTime movies. Pictures, sound, and text can all be pasted into QuickTime movies.Developer ToolsDumpsterThis application allows you to view and edit the internal file format of movies.Things! A Control Panel which lists all registered components.Things dcmdThis debugger command allows you to display all the currently registered components, as well as other component related information.Reinstaller II This drag-n-drop application lets you register components WITHOUT rebooting. Macsbug 'mxbm' resources for QuickTime 1.5These 'mxbm' resources allow you to set A-trap breaks using your QuickTime routine names. Paste them in your Macsbug Debugger Prefs file, reboot, and your debugging will be a breeze. Support for users of TMON Pro is also provided.SetMovieInformation 1.0This application allow you to edit copyright and other related information in a movie.Upgrade to QuickTime 1.5 Today!QuickTime 1.5 is a significant upgrade to the QuickTime technology. For better performance, stability, and features, every developer should upgrade. In addition, developers should think about taking advantage the multitude of features offered by QuickTime.¢ ◊# ˇ ˇˇˇˇ # ◊