Discovering QuickTime: An Introduction for Windows and Macintosh Programmers (QuickTime Developer Series) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Inc. Apple Computer (Author) "If you are new to QuickTime, this chapter is designed to get you oriented, starting from the beginning..." (more)
Key Phrases: sequence grabber component, modifier track, key frame sample, Movie Toolbox, Image Compression Manager, Sound Manager (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you are doing any kind of multimedia software development at a programming level, you are probably using Apple's QuickTime technology and Discovering QuickTime should be on your shelf, if not on your desk.

Written by the lead writer for QuickTime technical documentation, Discovering QuickTime caters to both Macintosh and Windows application programmers. It includes a wide array of example movies on the accompanying CD-ROM, along with the source code and API headers that will allow you to include QuickTime in your programs.

The programming examples are both valuable and clear, but the strongest chapter is "Working with Digital Media." It includes important discussions on some often overlooked issues like image compression and compression tradeoffs, sound data compression, and working with other digital file types in QuickTime movies like text and still images.

Another important discussion centers on "Programming for Windows," where the differences between MacOS and Windows QuickTime are discussed, and how the terminology between the two platforms can be bridged with some common definitions.

This is not a book for someone dabbling in multimedia, or a passive viewer of QuickTime movies. However, if you are a game programmer, or someone programming the next version of that killer multimedia application, this book is an invaluable reference for learning to use and getting the most from QuickTime. --Mike Caputo

Product Description

Written for programmers, multimedia designers, and everyone interested in the latest media technology, this book gives you a step-by-step introduction to QuickTime programming, from movies and animation to streaming video on the Internet. The CD-ROM in the back provides working applications, sample code, and the essential programming resources you need to get started.

QuickTime sets the standard for worldwide distribution of multimedia content. An increasing number of Windows and Macintosh application developers use its extensive toolkit to bring time and action to their programs. If you're going to compete in today's multimedia world, you need to understand QuickTime.

What can QuickTime do for you?
QuickTime is a complete system for working with all aspects of digital media. With QuickTime, you can:
* Build, play, and edit movies on both Windows and Macintosh computers.
* Fill your movies with a wide range of video, audio, graphic, and animation data, using most popular formats and compression standards.
* Create Windows and Macintosh movie files that you can stream over the Internet or deliver on CD-ROM.
* Make animated graphics with interactive capabilities.
* Compose and play synthetic sounds and music, using QuickTime's built-in MIDI synthesizer.
* Create virtual reality environments and 3D interactive models.

This book shows you how to harness the power of QuickTime. It doesn't take weeks of work to achieve sophisticated multimedia effects; fewer than a dozen lines of Java or C can bring the power of QuickTime into your application.

* * Includes a companion CD-ROM packed with QuickTime support materials, reference materials, and examples

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Product Details

• Paperback: 515 pages
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann; Book & CD-ROM 1st edition (May 24, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0120596407
• ISBN-13: 978-0120596409
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,852,430 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction to QuickTime programming, July 21, 1999

By A Customer

Gives a nice high-level introduction to QuickTime. All the information in this book can be found on Apple's Quicktime Developer site, but the book presents it in a easy to read fashion. I would not recommend this book to non-programmers (unless you enjoy reading code) or anyone looking for an in-depth look at QuickTime.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Valuable, but flawed, February 7, 2000

By	R. B. Currier (Sunny California, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book has a lot of good information, organized in a form far easier to understand than Apple's scattered API documentation. But...

I found quite a few errors in the sample code that prevent the code from actually working. The errors exist in both the printed manual and on the CD. These aren't just printing typos, but things like using pointers when handles are needed, passing values when pointers are needed, etc.

But if you read the text and don't rely on the actual code provided as samples, this book is a good way to get started with QT. I just wish there had been some better QA done on the samples.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poorly done, especially after taking the code apart, May 1, 2001

By A Customer

When I first bought this book , I was excited because I thought it would help in making QuickTime on the Windows Side easier to program. The CD is completely worthless , it doesn't even contain all the needed headers for quicktime. Instead of working code samples and native projects to experiment with there are code snippets that are in text files, some of which have bugs that no C/C++ compiler would of let through. Also there is not a mapping in the chapter to tell you which text file goes with which chapter, and you spend a lot of time GREPing through the CD. The explanations are bad, for example the chapter on creating movies just outlines the code. I would suggest you try getting the MacTech series of Quicktime articles where there is an actual explanation and WORKING sample code.