| What do they do?
Multimedia extensions are centred on Apple’s QuickTime, and provide rich support for your applications so they can work with movies, animations, still images, 3D objects (QuickDraw 3D), audio (including MP3), music files (such as MIDI), virtual reality worlds, close-caption text, and more. They also support the transfer of these media types over networks and the Internet, including streaming. The huge advantage of this is that third-party applications don’t have to be revised repeatedly to cope with new media. This means a word processor, say, could embed any QuickTime movie clips into its documents, as they’re supported by these extensions. How do they work?
These extensions have to address four software functions. Their key functionality consists of compression and decompression (codec) routines in plug-in modules which provide access to the multimedia content. Each of these components then provides a standard interface to the QuickTime system. QuickTime, in turn, offers the facilities in the components to applications and other software on your Mac, under its familiar front end. New codecs are easily added, and may be installed when you buy, for example, digital video editing products. What can go wrong with them?
The most common problem with QuickTime is accidental downgrading. This can happen when you install an older product from CD-ROM, which decides to install an old version of QuickTime, and that rapidly results in havoc. Reinstalling the latest version is curative. Some older QuickTime products worked around or exploited former bugs and, as such, no longer work properly. There’s little that can be done about this unless you can obtain a more recent update. Missing codecs can be annoying although they’re fairly uncommon and can be rectified by obtaining the codec through an online listing for example, Codec Central. How can I upgrade them?
QuickTime is supplied as a separate installation package from Apple’s QuickTime Home Page, and can be upgraded online. It’s worth paying the extra for the complete Pro Player Edition, and then periodically checking the Web site to keep up to date. Mac OS 9’s Software Update feature is simpler still. Third-party codecs and other add-ins are supported from their respective Web sites. Further info
Web sites with further information include Apple’s essential QuickTime home page at www.apple.com/quicktime; Robert and Judy’s outstanding Little QuickTime Page, full of info and links, at www.judyandrobert.com/quicktime; and Terran Interactive’s Codec Central, listing a huge range of different codecs, at ]www.terran-int.com/CodecCentral]. | |
