Setting QuickTime export options

You use the QuickTime Options dialog box to specify options for exporting a movie as a QuickTime digital video. This dialog box appears when you click the Options button in the Export dialog box and QuickTime is the specified format.

To set QuickTime export options:

  1. Select File > Export.
  2. Select QuickTime Movie from the Format pop-up menu.
  3. Click Options.
  4. To set the speed the video will play, select a Frame Rate option:

    Tempo Settings exports the settings in the tempo channel to the QuickTime movie. This setting lets you create a QuickTime movie at any tempo, even if Director is not capable of playing the movie at that tempo in real time.

    The size of an exported QuickTime movie is influenced by the tempo settings, transitions, and palette transitions in the Director movie. Fast tempos, certain transitions, and palette transitions all increase the size of the QuickTime movie. The tempo settings determine the number of QuickTime frames per second and the number of frames per transition. The faster the tempo, the more frames per second.

    A movie that would work well with Tempo Settings as the Frame Rate option is one in which the tempos have been carefully timed. For instance, some frames could be set to a tempo of 10 frames per second, and their QuickTime frame durations would be exactly one-tenth of a second. Other frames later in the movie could be set to a tempo of 1 frame per second; when the movie is exported, these slower frames would each last precisely 1 second in the QuickTime movie.

    Real Time lets you export a QuickTime movie that matches the performance of the Director movie as it plays on your system. (You should always play the entire movie with script disabled before using this feature.)

    When you export a movie with Real Time selected, each Director frame becomes a QuickTime frame. Each frame in the QuickTime movie will match the duration of the same frame in the Director movie.

    Director will generate as many frames as required to duplicate each transition, up to 30 frames per second. To increase the number of frames created for any transition, reduce the smoothness of the transition.

    This option causes Director to use the actual durations that were stored the last time you played the entire movie, regardless of the actual tempo settings of the movie.

  5. To reduce the file size of a QuickTime movie at the expense of quality, select an option from the Compressor pop-up menu. Different options appear on the Compressor pop-up menu depending on the video hardware and software available in your system. Consult your QuickTime documentation.

    Animation compression is for simple animations.

    Cinepak compresses 16-bit and 24-bit video for playback from CD-ROMs.

    Component Video is usually used when capturing from a live video feed.

    Graphics compression is for exporting single frames of computer graphics.

    None exports with no compression.

    Photo-JPEG compression is good for scanned or digitized continuous-tone still images.

    Video compression is for exporting video clips.

  6. To determine the compression quality and resulting file size when using the chosen compressor, use the Quality slider. A higher-quality setting preserves the appearance of the images and motion but increases the size of the file. A lower-quality setting results in poorer image quality but decreases the size of the file.
  7. To determine the color depth (the number of colors) of your artwork, select a setting from the Color Depth pop-up menu. The compression method you select determines the color depth options available to you in this pop-up menu.
  8. To determine the method by which the exported QuickTime movie is resized, select values for Scale. You can select a percentage from the Scale pop-up menu, or you can type pixel dimensions in the fields. By entering the number of pixels, you can stretch a movie so that it plays in a rectangle that does not adhere to the original aspect ratio.
  9. To choose which soundtracks are exported with your movie, select Channel 1 or Channel 2. A checked box indicates that the associated sound channel in the score is exported with your QuickTime file.

    External sounds (sounds you imported as linked cast members) are not exported when you export a digital video. To include sound when you export a digital video movie, you must import the sounds as cast members instead of linking to them.

    Looped sounds don't loop in a movie that you have exported as a digital video. To loop a sound in a movie that you plan to export as a digital video, you must trigger the sound by alternating it between the two sound channels.

 

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