MacWorld set the stage for the online evolution of QuickTime, thanks in part to a cool new tool called Electrifier Pro.

According to numerous sources, Apple has been working on a real-time streaming (RTS) version of QuickTime for years. Rumors also say that it will be called QuickTime 4, but nothing was announced at MacWorld San Francisco, so we'll have to wait and see.

While I was disappointed that this new version of QuickTime targeted to the Video Web is not yet available, what I did find at MacWorld that is worth writing about are the new tools that enable video producers to add new functionalities to their digital QuickTime movies.

As I mentioned in my overview of QuickTime 3 a year ago (see "The Non-Streaming Streamer," Videography, February 1998), there is a lot more to QuickTime 3 than most people realize. And, these features including the ability to use a video clip in a sprite animation, streaming text and vector graphics, and all kinds of interactivity are not only part of QuickTime, but they can add a great deal of pizzazz to web sites as well.

However, connecting people with these capabilities is an educational challenge that I call the Grand Canyon Gap between people and technology. In fact, QuickTime 3 integrates an impressive assortment of add-on channels or layers -- from sprite and vector tracks, to text, MIDI and chapter markers -- that can greatly enhance the presentation of digital video. But before any of us can make use of these enhancements, first, we have to understand them, and then secondly, we need software tools that can help us put them to use.

In fact, Adobe underscored the importance of authoring tools at MacWorld. Despite already owning their own web-authoring tool, PageMill, they acquired GoLive CyberStudio -- one of the most sophisticated and intuitive web page design tools. Apparently, they felt the need for a more professional tool, and thus they illustrated the fact that authoring tools are critical facilitators for our creative endeavors, especially on the bleeding edge.

Later in this column, I will offer some quick overviews of three new software tools which can help you enhance your QuickTime video presentations (low bandwidth or otherwise). I found Electrifier Pro to be the most relevant to video producers as well as to The Video Web; but first, some perspective.

REAL PERSPECTIVE
Within the world of real-time, streaming media, RealNetworks has taken a clear lead as demonstrated by its new G2 architecture (see The Video Web, Videography, December 1998). Largely because of RealSystem G2, streaming video is quickly becoming a new multimedia platform where video is more-frequently enhanced by additional data types (including text, vector graphics, HTML links and more.)

Besides the fact that QuickTime comes with all Mac systems, I believe that video producers who are putting video on the web and who prefer QuickTime despite it's lack of a real-time streaming solution usually do so because of they like the quality and the control. This is thanks to the Sorenson codec, and despite its longer compression and delivery times, QuickTime downloads as the producer intends it to rather than making compromises because of bandwidth limitations. For some content, this is an advantage because compression decisions (and their inherent quality compromises) can be made based of creative considerations, rather than strictly based on bandwidth. In other words, in some cases, the real-time experience may be sacrificed in favor of a more predictable quality.

Now, with the launch of the G2 Player, RealNetworks has also taken another form of leadership in what I call "multi-streaming" (i.e. online presentations that combine multiple media types). RealSystem G2 does this in part with the streaming video "channels" that are built into their browser-like player. By offering an impressive mix of interesting interactive content from well-known providers (from CNN and Bloomberg to ZDTV and CMP's TechWeb among others), the G2 Player, in some cases, "pre-empts" the need for a separate web browser -- assuming that you are satisfied with their available programs.

What's particularly interesting to me about many of RealPlayer G2's channels, is that they make The Video Web far more interactive. In addition to the channel selection options which are now constantly available in the left hand window of the player, many of these online video programs are frequently complemented by links that usually appear to the right side of the video clips and which complement the program segments.

QUICKTIME INTEGRATION
The limitation of RealSystem G2 in this regard is that it uses the SMIL scripting language to position its synchronized set of streaming media components. This means that the producer's presentation is limited to a layout on a rectangular grid. QuickTime 3's integration enables the layering and animation of these multiple media components, including transparency, within independent tracks of the same movie.

This means that within QuickTime, video can be integrated with other media types to create a more sophisticated presentation -- even at low bandwidths. This is because QuickTime 3 delivers these multiple media types within a single media "canvas" rather than as separate components that are laid-out in "quasi-quadrants." While G2's accomplishment of synchronized multimedia is impressive; its use is still limited to a relatively small group of "channels." This is probably for the same reason that many of QuickTime 3's multimedia capabilities are not widely recognized.

THE LAYERED LANDSCAPE
How and when these features will come into more common use remains to be seen; however, creatively, I believe most video professionals who are used to the screen as a "creative canvas," do not want to be tied down to a grid. But, given the limited use, so far, of QuickTime's newest layered dimensions, it remains to be seen if these tools when combined with QuickTime's streaming release (whenever that comes) will spawn the development on more sophisticated QuickTime-based online media.

I say all of this by way of introduction to these new QuickTime tools in order to attempt to orient you to the ways that video producers can use these multimedia layers within QuickTime. What follows are not hands-on reviews, but my attempt to sort out the differences between these tools so that you might be better able to determine the best tool for you and your projects.

As I said, I think that Electrifier Pro will be the most relevant to most video producers, especially those producing for The Video Web, but I'd like to put it in further perspective by contrasting Electrifier with two other new tools.

LIVESTAGE
The first, and in some ways the most sophisticated tool is LiveStage from Totally Hip Software Inc.. This product was developed by a small seemingly merry band of creative programmers in Vancouver, BC, Canada who are apparently in the process of moving to Northern California. Hopefully, this won't change their pricing strategy because LiveStage is very reasonably priced at $199 which includes WebPainter 3.1 a cool cell animation program for animated GIF's and which also exports QuickTime vector image format files. Their bundle also includes a nice selection of clip animations for the web.

LiveStage is a pretty amazing program. In fact, you can build a whole multimedia application within QuickTime using LiveStage. However, to accomplish this feat, LiveStage uses its own interactive scripting language that is targeted to Macromedia Director level multimedia producers. However, from a video producer's point of view, LiveStage has a major omission. It does not yet support "multi-image sprites" such as video! For this reason, because of this column and magazine's focus on video, we must hold further comment until future releases.

PLAYING T.A.G.
Another Canadian company, Digital Renaissance of Toronto, ON, Canada is also a company worth watching because they make a whole suite of authoring tools for The Video Web including T.A.G. Editor 2.0 for RealSystem G2 and the Microsoft NetShow T.A.G. Editor.

T.A.G. Editor 2.0 for QuickTime is extremely video-oriented; however, rather than placing your video clips within the visual context of a larger canvas, it simply allows you to add additional elements to your video clip. In this way, this $345. tool can be used to complement compression tools like Terran Interactive's Media Cleaner Pro. Once you have your video clip compressed for online presentation, you can use T.A.G. 2.0 for QuickTime to add web links, a QuickTime text track or chapter markers for additional interactivity; however the frame size of your movie (160x120, 320x240, 640x480, etc.) remains the same.

ELECTRIFIER'S EDGE
Defining the next generation of QuickTime tools is Electrifier Pro from Electrifier Inc. of Chapel Hill, NC. Electrifier Pro treats QuickTime like a canvas (just as LiveStage does), but it also integrates video completely. And equally importantly, it integrates video (along with vectors that can be imported from Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand, text, chapters, MIDI, VR and all of the other QuickTime compatible media types) via an user-friendly, drag and drop interface.

The most expensive of this batch of tools at $595, Electrifier Pro is also the most comprehensive and accessible. Rather than authoring interactivity via a scripting language, Electrifier offers dozens of pre-programmed "Modifiers" which are sets of Actions and Effects such as roll-overs, pause and play buttons, transitions and much more. All are made available via a set of floating interface windows.

Electrifier Pro also has a built-in set of "No-bandwidth" effects that use QuickTime's native vectors, and these effects are perfect for the web. I created an over-produced small movie that used all three of these effects (flames, clouds and ripples) on top of a piece of vector text, and the whole 10-second animated movie was only 4.5Kbytes. That's much smaller than a less complex animated GIF. Thus, if you were to add these effects to your low-bandwidth QuickTime movie, the difference in bandwidth required would be negligible.

Electrifier is a very significant and important new tool, and version 2.0 is already in the works including a Windows version.

COMING SOON
The layered, streaming media landscape is continuing to morph. Online video is becoming more viable and more important. And as the bandwidth of the Net continues to increase (see VidWeb Bits), these multi-layered presentations (whether QuickTime, RealSystem G2 or Microsoft) will give video producers who learn how to use them an edge.

But before all of that can come of age, our market will still need to be better educated about the opportunity and how to take advantage of it. And these new tools will need to be complemented by your skills as producers.

It's a new media world ready for the making. Stay tuned.

Back to Top