For Immediate Release
Apple Unveils QuickTime 3.0 for Windows and Macintosh
Video Capture, Editing, and Playback on Multiple Platforms Now Possible
NAB, LAS VEGAS–April 8, 1997–Apple Computer, Inc. today announced major
advances in QuickTime, the industry-standard digital media system software
for Windows and Mac OS. QuickTime 3.0 is the newest release of the
Company’s widely adopted software architecture for creating and publishing
digital media. Today’s announcement is significant as it marks the first
time the full power of QuickTime–including the ability to capture, edit,
compress, and playback digital media–is available for all major personal
computer platforms, including Windows 95, Windows NT 4.0, Mac OS System 7,
and Mac OS System 8.
“Professional media producers and publishers have relied on QuickTime’s
flexibility and performance on Mac OS for years. Today’s announcement that
Apple is bringing QuickTime’s full capabilities to customers using
Windows-based systems reasserts clearly and unequivocally our commitment to
making QuickTime the universal standard for all digital media,” said Ellen
Hancock, executive vice president of Apple Computer, Inc. “Furthermore, the
introduction of QuickTime 3.0 enhancements in the areas of
interoperability, DVCAM and visual effects support, and Internet features
shows that QuickTime, now in its seventh year of development, continues to
set the pace for innovation in the digital media industry.”
QuickTime 3.0 Supports Wide Variety of Digital Media File Formats Digital
content creators regularly work with many media types simultaneously,
including video, audio, still images, 3D, and text. The task of integrating
each of these various media elements into a production is a time-consuming
and error-prone process–managing the wide range of relevant file formats
is a daunting task. Now, with QuickTime 3.0, the job of combining disparate
media types stored in various file formats is greatly simplified.
QuickTime 3.0 supports playback, editing, and integration of QuickTime,
MPEG, AVI, OMF (see separate press release, also dated April 8, 1997),
DVCAM, and OpenDML files providing one of the highest levels of
interoperability with all major video file formats.
QuickTime 3.0 also supports industry standard digital audio file formats,
including Wave, AIFF, Sound Designer II, AU, and MPEG Layer 2, as well as
many common still image, animation, and MIDI formats. Since the QuickTime
architecture is fully extensible, new media types, compression schemes, and
file formats to be readily supported as they emerge.
Media Abstraction Layer Promotes Compatibility and Innovation One of the
most significant features of the QuickTime 3.0 software architecture is the
Media Abstraction Layer. The Media Abstraction Layer ensures that
QuickTime’s underlying media technologies can be enhanced or accelerated
without affecting compatibility with existing applications.
For example, QuickTime 3.0 introduces support for the DVCAM file format.
Through the Media Abstraction Layer, existing applications can immediately
use this important new media format without requiring software
modifications.
For developers, the Media Abstraction Layer greatly reduces the cost of
supporting emerging technologies. The Media Abstraction Layer means that
QuickTime-enabled applications are ready to take advantage of the latest
technology advances–including MMX and multi-processing– regardless of the
platform.
“QuickTime remains the only multiplatform environment for digital media
authoring to deliver the level of seamless functionality and no-compromises
quality required by broadcast professionals,” said John Molinari, president
and CEO, Media 100 Inc. (NASDAQ: MDEA, Marlboro, Mass.). “QuickTime is at
the heart of our Media 100 digital video systems, used by over 10,000
communicators worldwide–enabling programming of video, animations,
compositing, and 3D graphics that might be impossible to do otherwise. Our
company remains firmly in support of Apple, and QuickTime is central to our
product offerings on both the Macintosh and Windows-NT platforms.”
“QuickTime for Mac and Windows is the ideal solution for Macromedia’s
stringent cross-platform and quality requirements and we are proud to be
supporting Apple and QuickTime as a co-developer of the 3.0 standard,” said
Isaac Babbs, general manager of Audio Video Division from Macromedia.
“Final Cut, a software product under development for digital video editing,
compositing, and effects being previewed at NAB, is being designed with
QuickTime as the first cross-platform open system media layer allowing
hardware independence. Using the latest versions of QuickTime on both
Windows and Macintosh system software, Final Cut will work with a variety
of digital video hardware.”
“Indeo video’s interactivity, combined with QuickTime for Windows’ flexible
architecture, will create a powerful PC multimedia authoring environment,”
said Kevin O’Connell, Intel Indeo Video Product manager. “Through QuickTime
Media Layer content developers will get direct access to Indeo video’s
unique multimedia features, including live ‘blue screen’ compositing,
processor scalability, video assist protection, and real-time video
effects. What’s more, Indeo video’s MMX technology enhancements let
QuickTime take advantage of the high performance Intel’s latest Pentium
processors deliver.”
QuickTime 3.0 has garnered widespread industry support, with many leading
multimedia companies committing to support QuickTime 3.0 in their products
and 66 companies have endorsed the QuickTime architecture.
QuickTime 3.0 Supports DVCAM and Accelerated Visual Effects
Other key QuickTime 3.0 features include:
Support for the DVCAM Format
With its built-in support for the DVCAM file format, QuickTime 3.0 makes it
possible for all existing QuickTime-enabled applications to work with DVCAM
streams today. DVCAM data can be played back, edited, and combined with
other digital video standards like Motion JPEG. As DVCAM data can be used
from any QuickTime-enabled application, DVCAM sound and video can be easily
converted to other formats for delivery to CD-ROM, the Internet or Video
CD. While optimum performance is realized through hardware acceleration,
QuickTime provides full software support for DVCAM–this enables that
virtually any computer running QuickTime can access, display, and
manipulate DVCAM data.
Accelerated Visual Effects
QuickTime 3.0 contains enhancements to the QuickTime software architecture
that standardize the way QuickTime-based applications work with visual
effects and transitions. QuickTime’s support for visual effects is
comprised of three key elements:
1)Transparent support for both software-based and hardware-accelerated
visual effects rendering. This feature makes it easy for video editing
applications to use visual effects without regard for the underlying
implementations.
2)A complete set of built-in software-based effects including cross-fade,
chroma keying, SMPTE wipes and color adjustments. Developer-defined
effects and transitions are supported through a powerful plug-in
architecture.
3)Standardization of effects descriptions within the media composition.
This uniform representation ensures that user-specified effects sequences
are accurately rendered across the widest possible range of hardware and
software configurations. In addition, this standardization enables plug-in
effects added in the future to be accessible from existing applications.
Expanded Support for Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) QuickTime 3.0 now supports four
different formats of M-JPEG compressed video, a compression technique used
in most desktop video production hardware. QuickTime’s comprehensive
implementation enables video professionals and editors to work with M-JPEG
video independent of the hardware originally used to capture the video.
QuickTime 3.0 adds support for OpenDML M-JPEG and Avid Video Resolution
(AVR) M-JPEG, in addition to QuickTime’s current support for both Apple
defined M-JPEG formats.
More QuickTime Information Available in White Paper Editors Note: More
information about QuickTime 3.0 and its features is available in an
in-depth white paper “QuickTime Technology Briefs: QuickTime 3.0”
available at: http://www.quicktime.apple.com.
QuickTime: The Foundation for Leading Video Software Tools First released
in 1991 for Macintosh, QuickTime is the recognized leader in software
technology for the creation and delivery of digital media. QuickTime is the
foundation of the QuickTime Media Layer, which also includes QuickTime VR
and QuickDraw 3D. Used for professional video editing and the creation of
CD-ROMs, QuickTime is believed to comprise more than half of the video
content found on the Internet.
QuickTime provides foundation technology for building powerful digital
media tools. Award-winning video software products–including Adobe After
Effects, Avid Cinema, Adobe Premiere, and Radius Edit, as well as
Macromedia’s much-anticipated Final Cut–are all built on top of QuickTime.
Customer Price/Availability
QuickTime 3.0 is expected to be available in late Q2, 1997. Customers will
be able to download the software from the World Wide Web at:
http://www.quicktime.apple.com.
Developer Price/Availability
Developers may license QuickTime 3.0 for redistribution with applications,
titles, and media clip libraries that support QuickTime. For additional
licensing information, contact Apple Software Licensing by phone at (512)
919-2645 or by email at: sw.license@apple.com
Apple Computer, Inc., a recognized innovator in the information industry
and leader in multimedia technologies, creates powerful solutions based on
easy-to-use personal computers, servers, peripherals, software, handheld
computers and Internet content. Headquartered in Cupertino, California,
Apple develops, manufactures, licenses and markets solutions, products,
technologies and services for business, education, consumer, entertainment,
scientific and engineering and government customers in more than 140
countries.
Press Contacts:
Staci Sheppard
Apple Computer, Inc.
(408) 974-8404
email: sheppard@apple.com
Jonathan Hirshon
Horizon Communications for Apple Computer, Inc.
(408) 982-2555 email:
jh@horizonpr.com
Apple’s home page on the World Wide Web: http://www.apple.com/
-30-
Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, QuickTime, Mac OS are registered
trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. All other brand names mentioned are
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders, and are
hereby acknowledged.
*********
Release #2
Apple Announces QuickTime’s OMF Importer
New Extension Enables Users of OMF to Work With QuickTime Tools
NAB, LAS VEGAS–April 8, 1997–Apple Computer, Inc. today announced
QuickTime’s OMF Importer, a new extension to QuickTime, the industry
standard multimedia software for Windows and Mac OS. QuickTime’s OMF
Importer streamlines the media creation process for digital media content
producers by allowing the use of QuickTime-enabled tools to manipulate the
audio and video stored in Avid’s Open Media Framework (OMF) files.
OMF has been developed by Avid in cooperation with other industry partners
in the post-production and broadcast industries. As OMF is a high-end
post-production format, to date it has not been widely supported by
PC-based desktop video editing applications. Today’s announcement is
significant because QuickTime’s OMF Importer now makes it easy for
QuickTime-enabled tools to access this important professional media format.
Fast and Easy Access To QuickTime-Based Tools Users of OMF media now have
instant access to the broad range of QuickTime-enabled multimedia and video
production tools. Award-winning video software products–including Adobe
After Effects, Adobe Premiere, Avid Cinema, and Radius Edit, as well as
Macromedia’s much-anticipated Final Cut– were all written to support
QuickTime. With QuickTime’s OMF Importer, users can directly access OMF
files from their existing video tools. This direct access makes it easy to
repurpose professional content for Internet or CD-ROM delivery using tools
such as Terran Interactive’s MovieCleaner Pro. Furthermore, there is no
time-consuming conversion process because QuickTime’s OMF Importer allows
OMF files to be used directly without first having to convert them to the
QuickTime Movie format. As the OMF files are accessed directly, no
recompression is required so full image fidelity is maintained.
“By adding support for OMF media files to its industry standard QuickTime
software, Apple provides OMF users access to many of the most popular tools
for working with digital media resulting in greatly expanded creative
options for users of QuickTime and OMF-compliant applications,” said Dave
Cobosco, director of Editing Product Marketing at Avid Technology, Inc.
“With QuickTime’s OMF Importer, for example, users of Avid’s popular
MCXpress digital video system will be able to drag and drop OMF files into
QuickTime-based tools and thus significantly speed the process of creating
projects for delivery on tape, CD-ROM, and the Internet.”
Available for Multiple Authoring Platforms With QuickTime’s OMF Importer,
QuickTime users will be able to see and hear the contents of OMF files
without requiring any hardware or application software updates. QuickTime
3.0 contains all necessary software decoders to view and manipulate the
supported OMF media types. This makes it possible to access OMF files on
any QuickTime-enabled system, including Windows NT, Windows 95, and Mac OS.
QuickTime’s OMF Importer provides access to audio and video media assets in
the OMF file. Future releases are expected to support additional features
found in OMF media files.
“Within QuickTime’s Media Abstraction Layer, our goal has been to make it
as easy as possible for video tools developers to support a broad range of
industry standard file formats such as OMF” said Peter Hoddie, Chief
QuickTime Architect, Apple Computer, Inc. “By integrating OMF support with
QuickTime, customers can have confidence that this capability will be
broadly available–in every QuickTime tool and on every supported
platform. QuickTime’s OMF Importer further establishes QuickTime as the
recognized multimedia software standard for all desktop computer platforms.”
In a related announcement, Apple today introduced QuickTime 3.0, the newest
release of the Company’s advanced software architecture for the creation
and publishing of digital media. (Editor’s Note: See press release, “Apple
Unveils QuickTime 3.0 for Windows and Mac OS,” also dated April 8, 1997.)
In addition to supporting OMF, QuickTime supports many other industry
standard file formats including AVI, OpenDML, and MPEG. Both OMF and
QuickTime are available for Windows and Mac OS.
More QuickTime and OMF Information Available Editors Note: More information
about QuickTime 3.0 and its features is available in an in-depth white
paper “QuickTime Technology Briefs–QuickTime 3.0”, available at:
http://www.quicktime.apple.com.
For more information about OMF, contact the OMF Developers’ Desk at Avid
Technology at (800) 949-OMFI or (508) 640-3400, http://www.avid.com/omf/
About OMF Interchange
First published in 1993, OMF enables end-users of digital media
applications to overcome the cross-platform and application
incompatibilities that can occur during the exchange of digital media and
complex edit decision lists. OMF Interchange is the result of a
cooperative effort among industry-leading manufacturers and standards
partners in the post-production, broadcast, and computer industries and is
the Interactive Multimedia Association’s recommended practice for digital
media interchange. Today, more than 40 OMF Champion vendors offer OMF
compatibility in their products.
Apple Computer, Inc., a recognized innovator in the information industry
and leader in multimedia technologies, creates powerful solutions based on
easy-to-use personal computers, servers, peripherals, software, handheld
computers and Internet content. Headquartered in Cupertino, California,
Apple develops, manufactures, licenses and markets solutions, products,
technologies and services for business, education, consumer, entertainment,
scientific and engineering and government customers in more than 140
countries.
Press Contacts:
Staci Sheppard
Apple Computer, Inc.
(408) 974-8404
email: sheppard@apple.com
Jonathan Hirshon
Horizon Communications for Apple Computer, Inc. (408) 982-2555 email:
jh@horizonpr.com
-30-
Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, Power Macintosh, and QuickTime are
registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Additional company and
product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the
individual companies and are respectfully acknowledged.