OT: Quicktime and which codec ist best supported?

[Trevor DeVore]

On Feb 18, 2007, at 3:37 AM, Tiemo Hollmann TB wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I am new to Revolution and Quicktime-Video. I have read the  
> archives, but
> still unsure about the right way for video. I produce offline content,
> distributed on CD / DVD-ROM
>
> 1. With Revolution build-in player I can only play .mov - right?

Any QuickTime support file actually.  QuickTime .mov files are just  
wrappers around audio/video/... tracks.  You could play .mp3 files  
for example.

> 2. As mov is only a container format I know that I can use  
> different codecs
> with mov. Best results when testing produced the Sorenson 3 codec.  
> I tested
> also with SorensonTM ( little less), Apple MPEG 4 (almost as good),  
> Apple
> Cinepac (bad quality) and Apple Planar (best quality but incredible  
> giant
> file size).
>
> My question is, which codec comes with Quicktime installer, or what  
> codec
> can I assume on customer machine?

This chart may prove useful:

<http://www.simnet.is/klipklap/quicktime/>

> 4. Are there differences of quicktime installation between Apple and
> Windows, beside quicktime on apple is preinstalled?

Some differences.  For example, the Windows version can't play Quartz  
Composer or PDF files.  I'm not sure if the Apple Lossless code works  
on Windows either.  For what you are doing you should be safe though.

> 5. If e.g. the Sorenson codec doesn't come with Quicktime, can I  
> install the
> Sorenson codec additional to quicktime on customer machine and  
> quicktime
> will grab it, if I encoded my mov with Sorenson?

You can manually install codecs into QuickTimes folder and the next  
time you launch Rev the codec can be used.

> 6. I encoded movs on one of my machines and playing on the other  
> machine
> showed only "LSD-like colored blur", though on both machines  
> quicktime 7.1.3
> (Windows) is installed. So there are obvious more factors, as  
> quicktime
> version and codec to harmonize - what?

We would probably need more details on the two machines, settings you  
used, etc.

> 7. Which codec is the best approach with best quality and best  
> compatibility
> when using mov?

As for compatibility (I don't work in video compression) just decide  
what version of QT you are going to support and go from there.  You  
can use the chart I pointed you to to make a decision or manually  
install a codec if it is a 3rd party one.

> 8. As I have read on Apples quicktime site, I need an agreement  
> from Apple
> to distribute the player with my application and have to put their  
> logo on
> my product. Do you have any experiences with that procedure and  
> restriction?

In my experience it has been very easy to get the agreement in  
place.  Just make sure you understand what Apple expects from you and  
that you are willing to comply.  The folks I've dealt with have  
always been very helpful.

> 9. Did anyone tried to play avi or swf in revolution. I am not yet  
> so far to
> use a shell execute, but I could think that could be an approach.  
> But I
> don't know, if you have the chance to use controls / methods with a  
> called
> exe, so that I can control an external player from within  
> revolution (stop,
> pause,play,step, get mediastatus,.)

QuickTime supports up to SWF version 5 which isn't super useful.   
Plus, QuickTime 7 made some changes in how SWF is handled in QT.   
Users have to enable SWF playback manually now (security issues  
perhaps, Apple has commented that I know of).

You can play back AVI/WMV on Windows in Revolution using Media  
Control Interface (MCI) commands and get satisfactory results.  You  
can also play WMV on Mac:

<http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx>

One thing with about MCI on Windows to be aware of though - we  
recently came across some Dell laptops (wide screen) that lock up  
whenever you try to issue MCI commands.  This happens in Revolution  
and Media Player so it isn't a Rev specific problem.  These computers  
were up to date with the latest video drivers.  We are experimenting  
with a DirectShow external right now as that gets around the issue.


-- 
Trevor DeVore
Blue Mango Learning Systems
www.bluemangolearning.com    -    www.screensteps.com
trevor at bluemangolearning.com