Interactive QuickTime: Authoring Wired Media (QuickTime Developer Series)


Product Description
Interactivity is one of the most captivating topics for today's online community. It is a fast-growing field pushed by the rapid development and dispersion of Java, Shockwave, Flash, and QuickTime. While several good books are available about the interactive capabilities of Java, Shockwave, and Flash, until now there hasn't been a book about QuickTime interactivity. A logical follow-up to QuickTime for the Web, this eagerly awaited book by Matthew Peterson details the power of QuickTime's wired media technology and provides a resource for professionals developing and deploying interactive QuickTime content. This content can extend far beyond simple movies-it can act as application user interfaces, educational multimedia, scientific display panels, musical instruments, games and puzzles, etc., and can interact with you, your browser, a server, or with other movies.*Describes concepts and techniques of interactivity applicable to technologies beyond QuickTime-including Flash.
*Features real-world, hands-on projects of progressive sophistication allowing developers to start with a project appropriate to their own level of QuickTime experience.
*A companion CD-ROM contains the book's source code, tutorials, and demo software, including a demo version of Live Stage Pro (with a discount offer for the full version).
Interactive QuickTime: Authoring Wired Media (QuickTime Developer Series) Review
If you think that QuickTime is just a media player for showing video and listening to audio, this book will make you think again. Delving into the depths of the QuickTime architecture Matthew shows the reader the huge breadth of interactivity that is possible and encourages the reader to think how techniques can be applied in different ways. Each chapter ends with an 'Explorations' section asking the reader to think about various topics that have been looked at, and how they can be applied.The book is broken up into six main sections covering topics such as sprites- communicating with them, moving them, interaction, modelling physics etc. Other sections include the structure of QT, adding interactivity to existing movies, user interfaces, multimedia and communicating with the world.Each section is subdivided into chapters looking at a specific area (39 chapters in all), and usually going through several small projects. ALL of these projects are included on the CD, often in both beginning and final forms so that you can go through all the steps or just look at the final version if you are more advanced. Because the book is structured with more complex issues handled later on, even a relative newcomer can work through the book, while the experienced QT content producer can go directly to the sections of particular interest.There is a 42 day trial version of LiveStage Pro on the Cd as most of the projects are done using it, along with demos of several other programs and examples of the best QT work by other people.In the introduction Matthew mentions that he often looks at the contents and index of a reference book first, as these tell you a lot about a book. Nine pages of Contents, twenty pages of Index, a Glossary and Appendix S! Even including a list of every file on the CD and many http links.As Matthew explains how things are done rather than simply showing you the program-specific scripts a lot of the book can be applied to other multimedia environments such as Flash, Director and Runtime Revolution. I regard this book as required reading for all people working to create highly interactive media, whether they use QT or not.In summary this book will revolutionise how you think of and use QuickTime. By showing what is possible rather than what is commonly used Matthew expands the interactive medium in a way that pushes the boundaries.Highly recommended, and I found that the author quickly replies to any questions that you ask him by email. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report abuse | PermalinkComment�CommentMost of the consumer Reviews tell that the "Interactive QuickTime: Authoring Wired Media (QuickTime Developer Series)" are high quality item. You can read each testimony from consumers to find out cons and pros from Interactive QuickTime: Authoring Wired Media (QuickTime Developer Series) ...

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