Talk:QuickTime

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[edit] Quicktime Pro features available even on Windows?

"In Mac OS X, the "Pro-only" features are actually available from within the QuickTime framework, and the limitations in the free version apply only to the QuickTime Player application"

Does this apply to windows aswell? If not, what is missing from the API in windows if you don~'t have PRO? --62.84.192.238 08:59, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

This does apply to Windows as well. There are some codecs missing from the WIindows version (Pixlet, DVCPRO iirc) but no API Kevin Marks 23:22, 2 February 2007 (UTC)
And of course it doesn't support codecs installed in windows, making it rubbish, and this after 7 versions - baa. IceHunter 17:28, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Quicktime to frames

Can anyone recommend software (ideally freeware) that can extract frames from Quicktime MJPEG video? Seabhcán 11:21, 3 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Wrapping AVI in MOV

"QuickTime is particularly suited for editing, as it is capable of importing and editing in place (without data copying) other formats such as AIFF, DV, MP3, MPEG-1, and AVI." Is this possible? I know formats such as MPEG can be put in an AVI or MOV container, but I don't know if container files are put in other container files. —Tokek 16:15, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

I would guarantee that that line was written by someone who doesn't know the difference between a codec and a container and thinks that 'AVI' is a specific format - as the rest of them, erm, kind-of are. Rather obviously, the AVI container can't be wrapped in a MOV file. --Kiand 02:49, 28 April 2006 (UTC)
I agree - that line is confusing. It's referring to QuickTime's ability to create a mov consisting of references to audio/video data in separate files, which makes for very quick editing. My suggestion would be appending something like "by creating a reference QuickTime file." to the end of the sentence, since it isn't really clear that it's a separate QuickTime file that is being changed instead of the original avi/whatever. Side note: although not usually the case, there are certain cases of container formats containing another container format. From what I can tell, muxed MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 in mov is one example, and one hack to get Vorbis audio in avi is another. --Dicey 21:34, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
Don't know about the Vorbis case but afaik MPEG-1 and 2 it isn't the case. A MPEG-1 or 2 video stream is not really a container as far as I know. It's just a stream. I guess it depends on your definition of a container but many people would not call it a container. Nil Einne 15:47, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
Your guarantee is worthless, as I wrote it. You are the one confusing codec and container. QT can create an in-memory reference movie from all of those formats. AVI is a specific container format that can contain multiple codecs, as is AIFF. Both are based (as is QT) on the IFF model. The reference movie need not be a file, that is just it's serialisation. MPEG-1 and 2 are indeed bitstreams, Vorbis is a codec, and Ogg is a rather messy hybrid of a format and a stream. In the old days of 2-fork files, you could have a Movie Resource in the resource fork, pointing to the media in the data fork. Kevin Marks 23:40, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Latecomer to streaming?

One thing that ought to be mentioned is that although QT was a groundbreaking technology, it was relatively late in adding support for streaming media, the niche that Real Audio exploited in 1995. Although quite a few early websites supported QuickTime, you had to wait for the whole file to download before it would play, a severe handicap in the era of 9600- and 14400-bps modems. ProhibitOnions 12:07, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

This is exactly right, and it caused a lot of consternation within the QuickTime team as they saw Real take a lead with their streaming product. One of the side effects of Apple trying to catch up with Real was that the QTi project was postponed in order to complete streaming support for QT 4.0. This in turn ended the attempt to revive HyperCard as a QuickTime authoring environment as it relied on the QTi format. I have alluded to this in the QTi section I added recently, but more details about streaming would be welcome. Gwernol 17:51, 4 March 2006 (UTC)
Would you, or someone with a greater knowledge of QT than I have, like to add this to the article? At present it hardly mentions its present or historic competitive situation vis-a-vis Real and other products, or its transformation from novelty for CD-ROMs to useful Internet tool.  ProhibitOnions  (T) 03:34, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
That is false. QuickTime fast-start (placing the movie Table of Contents at the front of the file, so it downloads first) was introduced in QuickTime 2, allowing movies to start playing before they were fully downloaded. This is generally superior to streaming, as it works regardless of bandwidth available. Streaming over 9600 or 14400 is not something I'd advise for video, though audio may work. Kevin Marks 23:45, 25 September 2006 (UTC)
Streaming has its place, and it's true that QT was late to the game. Just two examples where streaming is better than quick-start: 1. If you want to access just the last 10 seconds of a movie, with quick-start, you must wait till practically the whole movie is downloaded. With streaming, access is near instantaneous. 2. Live webcasts are not possible with quick-start.  Tabanger  21:36, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Criticism

I'm a big fan of QT but I think it's important to address the criticisms of the player. By not mentioning them we are shying away from NPOV and actually strengthening the case against it. These should probably be mentioned:

  • Tray icon (Removable in Control Panel>QT settings)
  • No fullscreen (Perfectly legitimate, huge blunder on Apple's part)
  • Prone to crashing in Firefox
  • Non-standard interface in Windows
  • DRM!

Noclip 01:52, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Hi Noclip. There is some mention of this in the QuickTime Player article, which is where these UI criticisms should be. I agree there are legitimate UI concerns and there is a link to the "UI Hall of Shame" article which has a pretty negative analysis of the QT Player 4.0 UI. I was one of the engineers on the QT Player 4.0 project so I have a lot of familiarity with this particular discussion :-) It would certainly be possible to add a specific section to the QT Player article on this. Best, Gwernol 01:59, 28 April 2006 (UTC)
The problem, Noclip, is that you have made a couple statements of opinion and labeled them as fact. Optional DRM is a disadvantage? An optional tray icon is a disadvantage? Choices are not bad. If you have a choice between DRMed videos and no videos, not everyone is going to view the DRM option as the worst of the two choices.
I'd also like to see a reference for QuickTime crashing in Firefox (presumably, for Windows); I use this combination frequently and I've never seen it crash. I also don't see much point in complaining about the look of the product on Windows; it may be nonstandard, but it is significantly better than many of the skinned products that exist. --Steven Fisher 02:44, 28 April 2006 (UTC)
Optional tray icon by itself is not bad since it isn't a problem if you don't use it but the fact that it is on by default is bad IMHO and I expect for the majority of users. I strongly dislike software which thinks it has a right to take over my computer (which sadly is all to common nowadays), even if it is optional. DRM is also a controversial area whether you like it or not. Many people are opposed to it. DRM is not a choice, since it's the content provider that decides whether to use DRM. If DRM is not provided then content providers can't use it. There is also the issue of downloading a file on P2P and or just the web that is not tagged as having DRM but does... Note that criticisms doesn't mean everyone has to agree it's a problem. It just means that enough people feel it's a problem/something they don't like that it needs to be mentioned Nil Einne 15:44, 28 May 2006 (UTC)
Criticisms don't require a consensus, certainly. But I'd argue that they do have to have some validity. Attempting to paint an optional feature as a source of criticism is simply being cranky. Noting that the icon is on by default is probably reasonable, though. Using this article as a platform for an anti-DRM rant isn't, however. That's covered better elsewhere. -- Steven Fisher 07:30, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
I don't think an anti-DRM rant is necessary, but I think it would be a good idea to mention that Quicktime files might be using DRM. I often look at Wikipedia articles for various file formats/protocols/codecs to see whether they are proprietary or use DRM. It is an important piece of information. - James Foster 16:17, 24 July 2006 (UTC)
Shouldn't there be a criticism for QT's interfering with every flash video under the sun? CTVampSlayer 2:32, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Criticism the 2nd

Ok, then how about:

  • Tray icon which reactivates itself after each update.
  • Automated update which tries to install iTunes with each update.

Choice isn't bad - but if I made my choice (NO Tray Icon, NO iTunes) it should be respected once and for all. The software should not try to reverse my choice with every update in order to push there company policy or company products.

Consensus? OK! Should the above tow points be added to a "Criticism" sections:

  • Yes, both of them Krischik T 07:13, 12 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] QuickTime 6.5.2 security

The most recent QuickTime version for Windows 98(SE) seems to be the old 6.5.2.

Since for QuickTime 7 many security updates were released, the question rises how save QuickTime 6.5.2 is. Should one, maybe, refrain from using QuickTime on a Windows 98(SE) computer altogether?

[edit] Framerate issues?

Ever since I went from version 7 to 7.1, I've noticed a 50% drop in framerate on my 720p trailers. Anyone else have this problem?

On the two Macs I've upgraded, one a G4 and the other an Intel, the playback of 720p trailers has improved (from stuttering on my G4 to smooth (VLC and MPlayer can't play them as smoothly as QuickTime can now), and about 10% less CPU on the Intel.) I've only heard of one other person with your problem, from a post on macrumors.com. Was that you? --Dicey 01:37, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

Wasn't me, but I know of someone else referring to it on support.mac.com. I'm using XP on a 3200+ Athlon, so maybe it's a Windows and/or Athlon quirk.

[edit] NPOV

What's with all the talk of Quicktime's "versatility"? I think it steps over the line into a non-NPOV. At a quick glance there are several borderline-opinions that need citations. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.223.144.194 (talk • contribs) 22:36, 17 June 2006 (UTC).

What's the nature of your non-NPOV concern? QuickTime is certainly "versatile" in the sense of being able to play multiple different formats -- simple audio files; MP3s; images of various kinds from GIFs to TIFFs; MPEG, QuickTime, and AVI movies; 3D panoramas, and so on. That it doesn't play specific, proprietary, formats like RealAudio and Windows Media Video is not really surprising and doesn't really diminish the idea of the QuickTime being versatile in any meaningful sense. Cheers, Neale Neale Monks 22:10, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Overlays?

"QuickTime 7 was released on April 29, 2005 with Mac OS X v10.4 featuring... full-screen overlay..." Is this true? Though my video card supports them, I cannot find an option for overlays in QuickTime's preferences. Is this feature Pro only? jdbartlett 15:54, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

This is probably refering to the on-screen interface QT player 7 presents in full screen mode when moving the mouse. The interface allows most regular playback controls even while in fullscreen mode. And since fullscreen is Pro only, these "overlays" are too. Peter S. 00:41, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Threading

Prior to Mac OS X, QuickTime provided the OS with the threading library. Does anyone know when that feature was introduced? Dread Lord CyberSkull ✎☠ 00:29, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Well, this is from memory, I'd have to check my notes to be sure, but I think it was around QT 2.5. Someone with a better memory will correct me, I'm sure. Gwernol 00:34, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
Are you talking about the Thread Manager extension? I don't believe that was a part of QuickTime, per se. I believe it was introduced with System 7 Pro.  Tabanger  19:45, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Current quality of MPEG-4 encoder?

I've read a lot of bad things about the QuickTime MPEG-4 encoder, but most bad press dates back to times of QT-6.x. For my own part, I had some terrible results encoding some digitised old VHS-material until I realised that it really makes a difference if you choose .MP4 or .MOV for MPEG-4 export. For some reason, only .MOV has a 'Deinterlace' button hidden in die 'Size' dialog, and since I switched that on, I haven't had much reason to complain.

I usually export with the 'current' frame-rate, quality set to Max., keyframes to 75, and a bitrate limit of 1920kb/s. This allows for 45 minutes of PAL-video on a CD.

I tried DivX and QuickTime's Sorenson3 too, but I'd soon reached a point where I felt I would only trade in one type of compression artifact for another unless I was willing to spend a good deal more processing time:

  • Apple's MPEG-4 sometimes produces dust or grain in 'busy' areas
  • DivX sometimes produces small horizontal lines there instead
  • Sorenson 3 doesn't treat colour gradients like blue sky too well.

I found the grain to be the least obtrusive, and thus stuck with Apples MPEG-4. Am I missing something quality-wise?

[edit] MP4 is limited to stereo?

Why does this article mention that mp4 is limited to stereo, when the AAC (mp4 audio) codec is documented to support up to 48 channels? See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding for more info.

62.134.80.81 16:46, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

As the article mentions, within a QuickTime .mov container, you are able to fully exploit the multi-channel capabilities of AAC. In fact, many HD trailers on Apple's Movie Trailer site have 5.1 channel AAC tracks. However, when using an MP4 container, you can only use a stereo AAC tracks. I believe this is a limitation in Apple's MP4 implementation, and not a limitation of MP4 in general.  Tabanger  19:52, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] alternatives

what are the alternative programs that can play mov files?

See Comparison of media players. Also, I think IrfanView is supposed to have a plugin for .mov. 69.87.193.221 11:06, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] QuickTime 5.x and 6.x sections

I feel this is way, way too much technical esoterica on these sections, especially for obsolete software. I've reverted it to a briefer summary, hitting the technical highlights, and I think that's better suited to the scope of this article.  Tabanger  08:57, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

OK, I agree that my article for QT 5 was too long, so I've shortened it.  :) However, the previous reversion was not as well-documented as the QT 5 article that I prepared. For example, the reversion doesn't even mention MPEG-1, Flash 4, and realtime DV. Wikipedia has flagged this article as needing credible source documentation since December 2005, so I spent a few hours going through the QT 5 developer notes at Apple to update that section. Now the QT5 article's length matches that of QT 3. --Gerritdewitt 19:31, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

First, kudos for the extensive rewrite, research, and notations. Second, I had a couple issues on the 5.x section. First QTVR fast-start was definitely around before 5.x. I remember doing fast-start cylindricals in late 1997, with QTVR 2.0. Secondly, can you check the release info for 5.0? I see what that page says, but I know there was no public release of 5.0. It was released on like some CD, and on some machines or something, but the first public release for download was 5.0.1.  Tabanger  10:16, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] QT 4 & QT 6 sections

As per Tabanger's suggestions, I've shortened the version history for QT 6 and locked down sources for claims in the QT 4 and QT 6 sections. --Gerritdewitt 03:18, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] QT 7 section, Overview, Players

Documented and made these sections more informative and focused. --Gerritdewitt 23:00, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] should mov redirect here?

I think that just .mov, not mov, since MOV is a very important x86 architecture instruction. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Windymager (talk • contribs) 18:52, 11 February 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Removal of rant

Removed the 7.1.3 rant about IE 7 and Vista compatibility with QT 7 and iTunes 7. We'd like to keep this article fact-based. Please direct your complaints to Apple; we agree that they are legitimate, but should not be part of the QuickTime article. Thank you. --Gerritdewitt 08:16, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

This is not an article, this is the talk page. And deletions are logged, it seems redundant to repeat it.IceHunter 17:30, 6 April 2007 (UTC)
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