Multimedia Main Page

Multimedia on the Internet is getting better all the time. If you have decent bandwidth and a G3, G4, iMac, iBook or G3 or G4 PowerBook, you can enjoy some great video and sound. See for yourself by visiting my QuickTime Movie page with plenty of video for your viewing pleasure, including Bubbles, which is the first synchronized audio/video movie shot with a PDA.

I have a series of columns covering QuickTime authoring on O'Reilly Network's Mac DevCenter. If you're interested in making your own QT videos, you should take a look at those articles.

Why Do I Use QuickTime?

Among the competing multimedia technologies (RealNetworks and MS Media Player), we like QuickTime. With more than 175 digital media capabilities, QT can play QTmov, QTVR, MPEG, AVI, WAV, MP3, JPEG, TIFF and much more. QuickTime is extremely versatile. For example, using QuickTime 5 , you can download a MPEG video and convert it to AVI format, or vice-versa. My favorite addition in QT5 is Media Skins, which allows you to customize the player's appearance anyway you want.

I've written a complete tutorial about Media Skins for Web Review titled, XML Powers QuickTime's Media Skins.

Movies, Movies and More Movies

When Lucasfilm launched its 1999 trailer for Star Wars: "Episode I The Phantom Menace," in QT format, there was an immediate download rush of more than 600,000 copies of QuickTime, and over 1 million downloads of the movie trailer in the first 24 hours. Since that initial frenzy, the trailer has received more than 13 million downloads making it one of the most popular Internet videos of all time.

QuickTime has since become the king of movie trailers on the Internet. If you're a movie fan and like these teasers, there are plenty of them at the QuickTime Movie Trailers Theater. Participating studios include: MGM, Miramax, Touchstone, UA, Universal Disney, WB and Fox.

QuickTime Tutorial and In-Depth Review

As former managing editor for Web Review, I was able to write about QuickTime for our readers. Three of those articles are available here as a resource for you.

The first article, The Many Facets of QuickTime, is a 3-part primer for those of you who want to understand how to use the browser plug-in, the Player application and PictureViewer. I've also include some nice editing tips and short cuts.

The second article, QuickTime Takes on Streaming, is a comprehensive review of Version 4 and its real time streaming capabilities that put it on par with Real Video G7 player.

Editing digital video is now within reach thanks to the iMac DV and iMovie software. If you'd like to learn more about these tools, read my Web Review feature on iMovie.

More QuickTime articles will be published here in the coming months, so remember to check our What's New page for the latest information

How Do I Get QuickTime?

Mac owners running System 9.1 or later already have QuickTime. Those running earlier Mac OS versions should upgrade their QuickTime to version 5. QT loads nicely on to Windows machines too. So even if your best friend doesn't have a Mac, you can still share and enjoy multimedia with him or her. And remember, it's FREE to everyone.

More Goodies: A History of Photoshop

Photoshop has been a valuable multimedia tool from the beginning. Many people don't realize that this early "killer app" is more than 10 years old. The story of its development is the story of two brothers who grew up in a household where art, science, and curiosity were instilled at a young age. You can read about it in the article,
From Darkroom to Desktop—How Photoshop Came to Light.

Resources for Further Investigation

Multimedia Links Page: If you'd like to learn about everything from what kind of music you can include with your productions on the Internet, to how to master QuickTime Pro, to the inside scoop on iMovie, go to this links page.

More to Come

Our Multimedia section will be growing over the next few months. Currently we are featuring QuickTime Movies and virtual reality. Content will be refreshed on a regular basis, so stop by when you have a chance. In the meantime, lights, camera, action!

Derrick Story
Jan. 2002