This book was a lot of fun to write. One of my goals was to make it fun to read as well. The feedback I'm getting is that people really enjoy it.
Here's some additional information about the book, (including some Frequently Asked Questions):
* The CD-ROM that comes with the book includes QuickTime Pro for Windows and Macintosh, which normally sell for $30 each.
* The CD-ROM also includes a number of useful tools from Apple, such as Plugin Helper, MakeEffectMovie, and MakeRefMovie, for both Windows and Macintosh, along with clear instructions for getting the most out of them.
* The book includes a coupon for $100 off the purchase of Totally Hip's LiveStage Pro, a powerful wired sprite authoring tool.
Here are some Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Is QuickTime for Apple computers only?
A: No. You can create and view QuickTime movies on Windows (95/98/NT/2000) or Macintosh computers. You can serve QuickTime movies from any Web server (Sun, Linux, NT, Mac, you-name-it). The CD-ROM includes QuickTime for Windows and Mac.
Q: What is QuickTime?
A: The short answer is that QuickTime is the most popular way to put sound and video on a website or CD-ROM. Of course, it's much more than that--it's a technology that lets you combine motion video, MP3 and other digital audio, MIDI, still images, text, special effects, virtual reality, sprites, interactive Web tours, and, well, the complete answer would fill a book (hey, what a coincidence!). QuickTime is a powerful and easy-to-use technology for creating and viewing multimedia.
Q: Can a beginner use use this book?
A: Yes. The book starts slowly. You should be able to create a simple Web page before you start, but that's about it. The book will explain what QuickTime is, show you how to install it, and step you through the basics of converting your existing media into QuickTime, creating new QuickTime movies, and putting QuickTime on a Web page. Then it will blow your mind.
Q: Is there anything for experts in this book?
A: Plenty. We had the book reviewed by the most advanced users we could find, along with a number of QuickTime engineers. They all found useful and surprising information, tips, and tricks.
Q: So, how long until everything in the book is out of date?
A: In dog years or Internet years? We're actively maintaining a website at Apple for updates, additions, and corrections to the book. I can't post the URL on Amazon's site, but it's in the book.
