ftp.microsoft.com:/Developer/DRG/Multimedia/VfW-Mac/readme.txt NOTES ON THE VIDEO FOR WINDOWS 1.1 APPLE MACINTOSH UTILITIES ============================================================ The file vfw11.sit (in Mac Stuff-it format) contains information on the programs for moving AVI files to the QuickTime environment and for converting QuickTime files to AVI format. NOTE: To use these programs, your computer must have System 7 and QuickTime 1.5 or better. NOTE: The program for moving AVI files to the Macintosh does not alter the data of your source file. Rather, it creates a resource fork so that AVI files are recognized by the QuickTime operating environment. This file is divided into the following sections: 1. CONTENTS OF THIS DISK 2. INSTALLING THE VIDEO FOR WINDOWS 1.1 APPLE MACINTOSH UTILITIES 3. HINTS FOR THE VIDEO FOR WINDOWS 1.1 APPLE MACINTOSH UTILITIES 4. FINAL RELEASE NOTES 1. CONTENTS OF THIS DISK ======================== This disk contains the following files: * Read Me file. * QuickTime-to-AVI conversion program. * Utility for moving AVI files to the Macintosh. * Windows Compressors system extension, which contains compressor/decompressors (CODECs) for Microsoft RLE, Microsoft Video 1, and Microsoft Full Frame formats. 2. INSTALLING THE APPLE MACINTOSH UTILITIES =========================================== To install the Video for Windows 1.1 Utilities on your Macintosh: 1. Drag the Windows Compressors icon to the Extensions folder which is located in the System folder on your hard disk. 2. Restart your computer. 3. Drag the two utilities to any location on your Macintosh hard drive. 3. HINTS FOR THE VIDEO FOR WINDOWS 1.1 APPLE MACINTOSH UTILITIES ================================================================ When you create a movie that you plan to play back with QuickTime, consider the following factors: * You must have a compressor/decompressor for both Video for Windows and QuickTime environments. * To ensure a movie file plays effectively, author it to reflect the restrictions of the Macintosh hardware. * Optimum interleaving for QuickTime is different from that of Video for Windows. In order to play back a compressed AVI file on the Macintosh, the compatible decompressor for that file must exist on the Macintosh. Currently supported are: Microsoft Video 1, Microsoft RLE, Microsoft Full Frame, and Cinepak by SuperMatch (if you have the Apple Compact Video or the Apple Cinepak installed). By default, Video for Windows creates CD-ROM movie files that play back at 150 KBytes per second, the standard CD-ROM data-transfer rate for multimedia personal computers. However, CD-ROM drives on many Macintoshes do not have the same playback capacity. Playback rates in the 90-100 KBytes per second range are common. If you play back a movie file authored for 150 KBytes per second playback on such a CD-ROM drive, you are likely to experience problems (for example, audio breakup or dropping frames from the video). To ensure successful playback on the widest possible range of Macintosh hardware, capture the movie file at 90 KBytes per second. If your target platform is higher-end Macintosh machines, you may be able to capture at a higher frame rate. Video for Windows normally interleaves audio with every frame of video. For optimum playback on the Macintosh, you should change the interleaving factor so that audio is interleaved every second of video. For example, if your movie file plays at 15 frames per second, specify an interleaving factor of 15. When you convert a compressed QuickTime movie to a compressed AVI file, consider the following factors: * You must have a compressor/decompressor for both Video for Windows and QuickTime environments. * You may wish to adjust the quality and temporal settings for each compressor. The AVI files will not play back on Video for Windows, unless a decompressor for that compressor exists. Currently supported are: Apple Compact Video (also called Apple Cinepak), Microsoft RLE, Microsoft Full Frame and Microsoft Video 1. The quality and temporal settings for the Video for Windows Converter are both set to High. You may be able to improve the visual quality of the movie by increasing the quality and temporal settings for the compressor. Increasing these settings will have a direct effect on the resulting file size: the higher the quality, the larger the file size. (To change the temporal setting, move the mouse pointer onto the quality slider, and press the Option key.) 4. FINAL RELEASE NOTES ====================== The Video for Windows Converter: Files converted to AVI format with the Video for Windows Converter are not interleaved. To improve playback of these files on a CD-ROM, you may want to interleave the files again with VidEdit or some other tool. The AVI to QuickTime Utility: Files compressed with versions of Cinepak for Windows earlier than 1.5.0.29 may display artifacts when played back on the Macintosh. Recompress those source files with Cinepak for Windows version 1.5.0.198 or later. Version information on Cinepak may be obtained through the Drivers applet in your Windows Control Panel. You might significantly improve the playback of AVI files on the Macintosh by increasing the preferred memory requirements of MoviePlayer. This can be done with the Get Info command in the Finder.