A Windows User's Guide to QuickTime Revision 1.0 25 April 1994 Bob Currier MacMedia Forum QuickTime Manager This document is intended to provide information on using Apple's QuickTime for Windows, henceforth referred to as QTW. Experience has shown that while some of the concepts are familiar to Macintosh users, they are new to users of Microsoft Windows. It's mostly a matter of terminology and a lack of documentation. It's not hard, so follow along. This document has been structured as a series of questions and answers. While I have tried to put these in a reasonable order, the best way to use this is to simply scan the questions until you find one that you would like to know the answer to and read on! While the information here is oriented towards CompuServe users, the software mentioned is also available on other on-line services, as well as Apple's AppleLink and Internet libraries. CompuServe is your best bet for "one stop shopping" however. Opinions expressed in this document are my own and not any of my employers. I freely admit to a Macintosh background and bias. Comments, corrections, new questions, or better answers are always welcome. You can reach me on CompuServe as 73210,1403, or via Internet as bob_currier@alpham.cerfnet.com. * What is QuickTime? QuickTime is software which allows you to show "video" movies on your personal computer, without needing special video hardware. Originally developed for the Macintosh, Apple now supports QuickTime movies on both the Mac and under Windows. This is the same video technology used by many of the popular CD-ROM games. * Is QuickTime related to Video for Windows? QuickTime was first introduced by Apple in 1991 as a Mac product. When they announced that they were producing a Windows version, Microsoft decided that they had better have a similar product, so they went out and purchased a product which they have been selling under the name "Video for Windows." In many ways it is a similar product, except that it runs only under Windows and lacks many of the low-level features of QuickTime. However, for simply viewing movies, they are about the same. Video for Windows, however, needs more hardware "horsepower" to get decent video performance. On anything less than a top-of-the- line PC, Video for Windows will appear pretty slow. Microsoft has also recently announced that they are "de-emphasizing" Video for Windows in favor of a hardware-based solution. (Editorial comment: This is the classic PC solution of throwing hardware at a problem when Microsoft can't figure out how to make the software work.) If you don't want to spend more money on hardware, QuickTime is the better solution. Video for Windows files typically have the extension .AVI, while QuickTime movies have the extension .MOV when under Windows. * What do I need to use QTW? You need a reasonably fast PC running Microsoft Windows 3.1 or later. By "reasonably fast" I mean a 33 MHz '386 or faster. Slower PCs will play the movies, but the images will be jerky and you may lose sound sync (i.e., it will look like a badly dubbed movie). You will want 256-color mode for good-looking playback. High-color (15-bit) mode will be better still. Standard VGA (16-color) mode is watchable, but not real great. You can look at movies in monochrome mode, but you probably won't be happy. You can improve playback performance greatly if you have a Windows-accelerator VGA card. (Which is a really good, inexpensive upgrade anyway!) To hear the sound you will need a sound card installed in your PC. SoundBlaster and any of the compatibles work fine. Basically, if you have a PC which is MPC compliant, you are all set in the hardware department. * Where can I get a copy of QuickTime for Windows? On CompuServe, you can get a copy of QTW by entering GO MACDEV to enter the Macintosh Developer's Forum. If you have never been there before, you will need to JOIN the forum when prompted to do so. Enter Library 8 (Apple System Files) and download two files: QTDSK1.ZIP and QTDSK2.ZIP. These are images of the two installation disks as distributed by Apple. The same software is also available on AppleLink and at Apple's Internet site, (ftp.apple.com). The above sites will get you the software you need for only the usual connect charges. If you want to get real serious about this and include QuickTime in your own programs, you can also order the QuickTime for Windows developer's kit, which includes the diskettes, documentation and a CD-ROM, from APDA (1-800-282-2732). Approximate cost is $195 based on their 12/93 catalog. * How do I install QTW on my PC? You need to follow the procedure outlined below. It's not hard, but you need to follow it precisely to avoid extreme frustration. You will need to get copies of the two files described above (QTDSK1.ZIP and QTDSK2.ZIP). You will also need two formatted floppy disks (either 1.2M 5.25" or 1.44M 3.5") and a copy of PKUNZIP. Once you have gathered those items, do the following: 1) Create an empty subdirectory and copy QTDSK1.ZIP and QTDSK2.ZIP into it. 2) Use PKUNZIP with the "-d" option to unpack the two files. Use the commands "pkunzip -d qtdsk1" and "pkunzip -d qtdsk2" to unpack the files. 3) You should now have two new subdirectories, DISK1 and DISK2, which each contain a series of subdirectories. 4) Copy the contents of the DISK1 subdirectory to a floppy, being sure to maintain the subdirectory structure. You can do this moving to the DISK1 subdirectory and then doing a "XCOPY/S/E *.* A:" When done, label the disk as DISK1. 5) Do the same for the DISK2 subdirectory and label the disk as DISK2. 6) Start up Windows (if you weren't there already) and insert the disk you labeled DISK1. From the Program Manager, use the FILE:RUN command to run the SETUP.EXE program on the floppy. 7) Follow the instructions. 8) When done, you should have a new program group. Run the Movie Player program by double-clicking it. You will find a sample movie (sample.mov) in the \QT\SAMPLES subdirectory. Try that and be sure it plays before trying other movies. * Where can I get more QuickTime movies? On CompuServe you can find QuickTime movies by doing a GO MACMEDIA. If you do a "Browse" and look for the keywords "quicktime" or "movie" you will find lots of files. * Will all QuickTime movies from the Mac play on my PC? No, unfortunately not all QuickTime movies are PC compatible. In order to run on both the Mac and PC the movie must be "flattened," which is a fancy word for "made portable." Not all producers of QuickTime movies do this, although they are certainly encouraged to do so. Typically a "flattened" movie will be noted as such in the description of the file. If you find a movie that is not flattened, you will not be able to play it on your PC unless you have a friend with a Mac who can flatten it for you, or you can contact the person who originally uploaded it and ask them to do it. * QuickTime movies are really big! Why? Video takes a lot of data! QuickTime greatly compresses the data, but it still adds up. For a relatively small movie it is not unusual to need a megabyte of data for a 15 second movie. There is not much more than can be done, although the compression algorithms continue to be improved. Because QuickTime movies are already compressed, further compressing them with compression programs (like PKZIP) save only a small amount of storage, typically no more than 5-8%. * I downloaded a movie with a .SIT extension, how do I view it? QuickTime movies that originate on the Mac are often compressed, even though that only saves a small amount of storage. There are a number of compression programs used on the Mac, but the most common is StuffIt. Files compressed with StuffIt can be recognized by the extension .SIT. Fortunately, there is a DOS program which can "un-stuff" these files, even though they originated on the Mac. To use a .SIT file on your PC you will need to download a copy of UNITI.EXE, which can be found in GO MACCVEN, library 2 (Aladdin Systems) and in GO EDRIVE, library 17 (Video and Utilities). After downloading this file to your PC, run UNSITI, which is a self- extracting archive. This will create a program which can then be used to "un-stuff" your movie. * What about movies with a .BIN extension? These are typically uncompressed files. Download the program to your PC and rename it to have a .MOV extension. Try playing it. If it won't play, it may have what is known as a MacBinary header on the file. You can use UNMACA.COM, which can be found in GO GRAPHSUPPORT, library 14 (Misc Utilities and Code), to remove the MacBinary header. If the movie still won't play, it may not be a "flattened" movie, which means that it is not compatible with the PC. * I downloaded a movie that was not compressed, but it still won't play. What do I do? See the previous answer. The file may have a MacBinary header or not be flattened. * How can I view the movies under DOS? You can't. QuickTime (and Video for Windows) are strictly Windows applications and are not compatible with DOS. * The movie is real small, and if I make it bigger it looks really bad. Why? Because of the large amounts of data involved with displaying video, there is a limitation on the size image that can be displayed. Typical movies are often only 160 x 120 pixels. Larger movies can be created, but will only run on the fastest systems. To have movies play on the widest range of hardware possible, most people opt to create their movies at the smaller size. If you expand the window that the movie is playing in, QTW simply duplicates pixels, making the movie very "blocky." It also increases the amount of data that must be transferred to the screen, which slows it down. * I play a movie and it's really jerky. What can I do? It may mean that the original movie was created with a very low frame rate, meaning that there is nothing you can do. It may also mean that your PC is simply not up to the task of displaying movies. If you have a relatively slow PC, or a slow VGA card, there will be a limit to the performance you can expect. In my experience, getting a faster VGA card (with "Windows acceleration") makes the biggest difference. After that, get a faster CPU. All multimedia puts a tremendous strain on your system. If you want good performance, you will need to have an up-to-date, fast system. This is why the hardware manufacturers like multimedia so much: they get to sell you a new system. * When I play a movie the images are really speckled and don't look very good. Why? QuickTime is best viewed in either high-color (32,768 color) or Super-VGA (256 color) mode. In 16-color mode the display will be very speckled. Even in 256-color mode there will be some distortion of the image. To get the full benefit of the data contained in QuickTime movies, you will need to have your VGA card in high-color mode. * The movie is too dark. What can I do? Since most QuickTime movies are created on the Mac, they are adjusted for the Mac's display characteristics. Because the Mac handle monitor "gamma" differently than the PC, some movies may appear too dark or too contrasty when displayed on a PC. You will need to adjust your monitor's brightness and contrast controls to compensate for this. * Where can I get more information or ask more questions? A good place to go is GO MACMEDIA on CompuServe. Post a message with your question and someone will usually answer it fairly quickly. Don't be afraid to ask questions as that is how we all get things done!