Authoring an On-Demand QuickTime File


If you have decided to author on-demand files in the QuickTime format, you will need to have the Pro version of QuickTime. You can also use third-party applications such as Cleaner.

QuickTime Player Pro Apple's Authoring Tool

Apple has its own innate encoding tool, which is included as part of QuickTime Player Pro, to author on-demand QuickTime files. One advantage to using QuickTime Player Pro as opposed to third-party applications is that you are assured of having the latest underlying codecs.

This chapter uses QuickTime Player Pro to encode a song with vocals for delivery to a target audience of listeners with connections that range from dial-up (56Kbps) to broadband (DSL 384Kbps). (See Chapter 2, "Preparing Yourself," to learn how to create an AIFF or WAV file.) Because this is an on-demand streaming file, you will upload and stream it from a QuickTime server. (See the section titled "Creating a Server" later in this chapter and Chapter 7, "Serving Your Audio.")

Download the free QuickTime player from www.apple.com/quicktime/download. During installation, select the Full (for Macintosh) or Recommended (for Windows) installation type for QuickTime Pro users and media creators. Then purchase a QuickTime Pro (v5) license from www.apple.com/quicktime/buy. Launch your QuickTime player. The installation places a shortcut on your desktop. After installation, go to Edit, Preferences, Registration. (Windows users might need to select Registration from the QuickTime Settings page.) Enter the license information you received when you upgraded to the Pro version. Close the QuickTime Settings window.

After installation and registration, follow this Step-by-Step tutorial.

STEP-BY-STEP: Using QuickTime Player Pro to Author an On-Demand QuickTime File

graphics/01icon04.gif graphics/01icon01.gif
  1. Launch QuickTime Player Pro on your Macintosh or Windows computer.

  2. Select File, Open (Macintosh: graphics/01icon05.gif+O, Windows Ctrl+O). Open your AIFF (Macintosh) or WAV (Windows) file. Your file will appear in a newly opened QuickTime player window. Play it to make sure it's the one you want.

  3. Set your media attributes (as described in "QuickTime Stream Attributes (and Annotations)") by selecting Movie, Get Movie Properties (Macintosh: graphics/01icon05.gif+J, Windows: Ctrl+J). Add and edit your attribute values (see Figure 5.1).

    Figure 5.1. Set your on-demand file's attributes in the Movie Properties window of QuickTime Player Pro.

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  4. Select File, Export (Macintosh: graphics/01icon05.gif+E, Windows: Ctrl+E) to open the Save Exported File As dialog box (see Figure 5.2).

    Figure 5.2. Select File, Export to open QuickTime Pro's Save Exported File As dialog box.

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  5. Choose Movie to QT Movie in the Export pull-down menu.

    NOTE

    If you already have a compressed QuickTime movie and only want to hint it for streaming through a QuickTime streaming server, you can export Movie to Hinted Movie, which adds hinting but leaves the other settings such as bit rate, channels, and codec untouched.

  6. Click the Options button to open the Movie Settings dialog box. The video portion should be grayed out (unavailable) unless you're including video. Make sure the Sound option is checked (see Figure 5.3).

    Figure 5.3. Make sure that the Sound option is checked in QuickTime Pro's Movie Settings window.

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  7. Next to the description of your source audio, click the Settings button. A Sound Settings window pops up.

  8. In the Sound Settings window, choose QDesign Music Pro 2 for Compressor.

  9. Click Options in the bottom left of the Sound Settings window to bring up the QDesign Music Encoder settings window.

    1. In the QDesign Music Encoder settings window, choose the 32 kbits/s bit rate setting (see Figure 5.4). This setting is for 56K dial-up modem users. To author on-demand files for broadband DSL users, choose the high bit rate setting of 128 kbits/s.

      Figure 5.4. Select 32 kbits/s bit rate and Quality optimization in QuickTime Pro's QDesign Music 2 Codec options window.

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      NOTE

      The QDesign Pro codec only supports bit rate settings up to 128Kbps, which, for our purposes, is sufficient. As noted earlier in " Choosing Your Encoding Settings," if you're using the standard QuickTime Pro encoder (without the full version of the QDesign Music Codec), you will only be able to select bit rates up to 48 kbits/s.

    2. After you select a bit rate, the Recommended Settings text will update the available ranges of sample rates and number of channels (mono or stereo). For your 56K on-demand file, you will be using mono and a 44.1 kHz sample rate. If you choose stereo for your channel selection, consider using a 32 kHz sample rate. This will provide a little extra space for the encoder to use for the second channel. To author on-demand files for broadband DSL users, choose the 44 kHz sample rate and set the number of channels to Stereo.

      NOTE

      The sample rate you choose isn't actually entered in the QDesign Music Encoder settings window. You make your decision based on the information in this window and select it when you return to the QuickTime Sound Settings window.

    3. For file optimization, you have two options: Quality or Speed. When authoring on-demand streaming files, always go for audio quality, so select Quality (see Figure 5.4). The speed setting tends to be more useful for the sometimes volatile live streaming environment (see " Authoring a Live QuickTime Stream ").

    4. The Advanced Settings option enables power users to make specific changes to how the codec encodes your audio. Leave this unchecked for now (see Chapter 11, " Advanced Audio Optimization "). Click OK.

  10. In the QuickTime Sound Settings window (see Figure 5.5), set your bit size to 16 (unless your source is 8 bit). Set the sample rate and number of channels based on the recommendations of the QDesign Music window. Click OK.

    Figure 5.5. Select your desired sample rate, bit rate, and number of channels in QuickTime Pro's Sound Settings window.

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  11. Your newly selected settings are now displayed in the QuickTime Movie Settings dialog box. Check Prepare for Internet Streaming.

  12. Below the Prepare for Internet Streaming check box is a pull-down menu with a choice of three options for your file: Fast Start, Fast Start Compressed Header, and Hinted Streaming. Depending on whether you are serving your on-demand files via HTTP/Progressive (a Web server) or real-time (QuickTime server), make your selection as follows:

    • HTTP/Progressive Streaming (Web Server) Choose either Fast Start or Fast Start Compressed Header (see Figure 5.6). Both settings enable your file to play while it downloads instead of playing only after it has finished downloading. Like all other HTTP/Progressive streaming, the user receives a local copy and avoids most firewall problems.

      Figure 5.6. For HTTP/Progressive streaming, select Fast Start Compressed Header from QuickTime Pro's Movie Settings window.

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    • Real-Time Streaming (QuickTime Server) Choose Hinted Streaming and click Settings to bring up the Hint Exporter Settings window. Click Optimize Hints for Server (see Figure 5.7). This enables your server to support more concurrent users but results in a file that is nearly twice as large as an unhinted file. Disk space is cheaper than performance, and you want the file to get there efficiently; therefore, click OK to exit the Hint Exporter Settings window.

      Figure 5.7. In the Hint Exporter window, check Optimize Hints for Server.

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      NOTE

      QuickTime's real-time streaming server requires on-demand files to be hinted. However, these hints are unnecessary (and increase file size) when delivering your on-demand files via HTTP/Progressive streaming through normal Web servers, so they should not be included.

  13. Click OK to exit the Movie Settings window. This returns you to the Save Exported File As window.

  14. Select the location and filename for your exported on-demand file. Make sure the filename ends in .mov and click Save. An Exporting Movie dialog box appears with a Stop button. When the process is finished, the Exporting Movie dialog box disappears and the file shows up where you put it.

    NOTE

    Macintosh users can't do anything else on their computer during the encoding process. Windows users can, but it is recommended that you don't run other applications or perform other tasks on your computer while QuickTime is encoding your file.

  15. Go through the previous steps 2 14. When you reach the QDesign Music Codec bit rate option (step 9), this time choose 128 kbits/s that is suitable for broadband 384K DSL users. Continue through the rest of the steps.

You now have two QuickTime on-demand streaming files in your chosen folder, ready to be slapped onto a Web server or tossed into the Movie Directory of a QuickTime server. Open them with your QuickTime player and verify that they sound okay.



Streaming Audio. The FezGuys' Guide
Streaming Audio: The FezGuys Guide
ISBN: B000H2N1T8
EAN: N/A
Year: 2001
Pages: 119

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