QuickTime 4: The Beta Just Got Better

May 5, 1999

QuickTime 4 beta just got better, maybe. Apple has updated it to version 4.0b22. To download the update, get online, fire up QuickTime Player, and select 'Check for QuickTime Updates' from the 'Help' menu. Or alternatively, use your 'QuickTime Updater' application.

Here's an additional tip: just to be safe, make sure your existing QuickTime Folder in your hard disk is named EXACTLY as it was originally: QuickTime™ Folder. That way, the installer won't think it's missing, and as a result create a new folder and start loading everything, including files that don't need updating.

NewsPage reader Ted Thibodeau Jr makes the following additional observation:

More than that, you need to leave it in its original location — at the root of your hard disk — or the updater will still install a completely new folder there, leaving your old beta wherever you had moved it to (in my case, under Utilities).

The first file update Apple put out (QuickTime Internet Extras) didn't reside in the QuickTime™ Folder, so this didn't matter. This update *does* change most of the components, but it's not quite intelligent enough to look at where the QuickTime Updater was launched from, rather then where it expects to find the QuickTime™ Folder.

Further, there's a Tech Info Library article on the revision history of the Beta Test (#60345), and another on Known Issues (#60310).

Thanks, Ted.

On a slightly different note, I received an email enquiry from NewsPage reader Robert Esteves and thought I'd share it with you:

I am having a little difficulty, and ... really would appreciate it if you could help me a little bit if possible.How do I download the trailers/commercials? As I try it only downloads into my browser (Nav 4.5) and I can't save it onto my hard drive.

Actually, you can.

QuickTime movie clips on the Web are delivered to you either via HTTP 'fast-start' Streaming or RTSP 'live' Streaming.

HTTP Streaming (introduced since QT3) downloads the movie into your hard disk, and begins playing the movie automatically midway, at a point when QuickTime determines that the entire clip will have been loaded before the movie ends. One example would be Apple's iMac ads.

RTSP or Real-Time Streaming Protocol (introduced in QT4) is applicable to 'live' streams or even video-on-demand streams, where the video is streamed to you in real time, but not downloaded to your disk.

Before QT4 came along, those who've tuned in to RealVideo webcasts previously would be familiar with this sort of streaming. In these cases, you can begin to view the video almost immediately (although there is some initial handshaking and data-buffering beforehand). Examples are the current streaming channels you can visit via Apple's QuickTime Streaming Channels site, such as Bloomberg Television, BBC World, and HBO.

If you had recently watched a movie trailer on the HBO channel for instance, and tried saving the clip (with QuickTime Pro) you'll realize that the saved movie clip is little more than a 'pointer' to the actual movie clip residing in a streaming server somewhere on the Web. Double-clicking the file opens QuickTime Player and plays the movie clip, assuming you're already online.

To successfully retrieve QuickTime clips if you don't already have the Pro version, here's what you need to do:

1.   Click on the bottom-right button of the movie window that appears in your browser and select Plug-in Settings from the pull-down menu as shown.
 

2.   In the window that opens up, select Save movies in disk cache. Then click Save to close the window.
 

3.   Do all this before the movie clip begins loading (you can always reload the page after changing the settings). Once the entire clip is downloaded, you should be able to retrieve it as a file named something like cache1234567.mov in your designated Netscape cache folder. (It would probably be among the newest created files in your cache folder.)

4.   Drag this cache file from the cache folder to your desktop and rename it as something less cryptic if you like. But do it BEFORE YOU QUIT NETSCAPE. Once you quit Netscape, there's no telling if the movie clip that's cached will vanish along with it.

Of course, there's always an easier way. It's called QuickTime Pro.

Get It Today!

For more information about QuickTime Streaming check out:
QuickTime 4: About QuickTime Streaming at Apple's Tech Info Library.

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