Quick Time Help

In this page:

scrolldown Player software
scrolldown Testing and troubleshooting your player software
scrolldown Getting rid of 404 and 10061 error messages
scrolldown Changing QuickTime Connection Speed settings
scrolldown Download vs. streaming
scrolldown How to embed or link to QuickTime movies
scrolldown Reference movies
scrolldown More help

Player softwarescrollup

The QuickTime player is available for both Windows and Macintosh
platforms. Download the latest version from the Apple site.
This link requires an active network connection during software
installation; there is also a standalone installer which can be downloaded & installed offline.

Testing and troubleshooting your player softwarescrollup

Older versions of QuickTime may not support streaming or some newer compression types. There is a page on the Apple site to test your version of QuickTime. As of April, 2005, the latest version of QuickTime is 6.5. Common signs that you may not have QuickTime properly installed include: hearing audio but not seeing video, and a broken plugin image in the web browser.

Download vs. Streamingscrollup

Streamed Quicktime requires a stable and relatively fast network
connection (at least 1.0 Mbits/second recommended) from your
computer to the server delivering the content. Streamed movies are
never downloaded to your computer, so it is in some ways a more
efficient method of delivering content as it may save you hard disk
space. Downloaded Quicktime, by contrast, is not played in "real time"
over the network; movie files are downloaded over the network but
viewed locally. This means that even modem users are able to get
and view QuickTime content. Some QuickTime movies use a method
called "progressive download" for downloaded movie files, which means that when enough of a video clip has downloaded for smooth playback, the Player will commence play even as the video continues to download across the network. If you are connecting to Northwestern QuickTime servers via modem, DSL or ISDN, it is recommended that you choose to view the Download versions of all movies (if a choice of downloadable or streamed is available). Read more about QuickTime technology on the Apple Computer QuickTime Tutorial site.

Reference moviesscrollup

QuickTime, like other media streaming formats such as RealMedia, can use a metafile technology to link to streamed content. A QuickTime metafile is a very small .mov file which does not contain any actual video content but rather a link to a streamable source. There are several advantages in using metafiles: it allows content creators an extra degree of protection by partially hiding the real address of the media file, and it creates a small portable file that can be easily mounted on even small web servers. Whenever this metafile, or reference movie, is run, it will connect to and play the streamed source. There is more information about reference movies on the Apple site.

How to embed or link to a QuickTime moviescrollup

For Blackboard users

Blackboard users should NOT upload entire movie files to the Blackboard server. Movie files tend to be large and may overload the Blackboard server. Digital Collections staff are happy to help find server space for digital video or audio files.

Blackboard users may either upload a Reference movie to a Blackboard site, or place a link to a URL which will load the QuickTime movie. Uploading a Reference movie is no different from uploading a Microsoft Word document or a PDF file. Detailed instructions for this process are coming soon.

For users creating their own web pages

There is an exhaustive list of possible modifications to the <embed>
tag, which is used to place a QuickTime movie inside a web page.
The authoritative list is found on the Apple site.

Getting rid of 404 and 10061 error messagesscrollup

The DMS QuickTime server does NOT allow content to be streamed via
HTTP; this will sometimes conflict with the QuickTime player settings to produce a 404 Not Found error message. Sometimes, Internet Service Providers block the ports that Northwestern uses to stream QuickTime. There may be a quick fix for this problem:

1. Launch the QUICKTIME PLAYER

2. Quicktime 7 and higher: Go to the QUICKTIME PLAYER pull down menu and select QUICKTIME PREFERENCES
Quicktime 6 (up to 6.5.2): Go to the EDIT pulldown menu, select
PREFERENCES and then select QUICKTIME PREFERENCES.

3. Quicktime 7 and higher: You will see a QUICKTIME SETTINGS
WINDOW. In the window there will be a tab marked ADVANCED.
Quicktime 6 (up to 6.5.2): From the dropdown menu select
STREAMING TRANSPORT.

4. From the TRANSPORT SETUP menu, select AUTOMATIC. QuickTime
should try to find the best setting for your connection.

5. If the AUTOMATIC setting doesn't work, try selecting Custom and test with the various available combinations. HTTP will most likely not work, but UDP, RTSP PORT ID 554 is known to work with Northwestern content.

streamingsupport

If these steps don't work, your Internet Service Provider is most likely
blocking the ports needed to stream QuickTime video.

 

Changing QuickTime Connection Speed settingsscrollup

Some movies are encoded to serve a variety of network speeds. To
assure that you are receiving the proper stream type for your
connection, follow these steps:

1. Launch the QUICKTIME PLAYER

2. Quicktime 7 and higher: Go to the QUICKTIME PLAYER pull down
menu and select QUICKTIME PREFERENCES
Quicktime 6 (up to 6.5.2): Go to the EDIT pulldown menu, select
PREFERENCES and then select QUICKTIME PREFERENCES.

selection settings

3. Quicktime 7 and higher: You will see a QUICKTIME SETTINGS
WINDOW. In the window there will be a tab marked STREAMING.
Quicktime 6 (up to 6.5.2): From the dropdown menu select
CONNECTION SPEED.

4. Select the appropriate speed for your network connection. For
QuickTime 7, leaving this set to Automatic is the best option, but if you experience problems, try manually setting this value to match the speed of your actual internet connection. The Automatic setting is not available in version 6.xx of the QuickTime player.

connection speed

NOTE: you may have to click the browser's Reload button to re-request the streamed file.

Northwestern on-campus users should select the "Intranet/LAN"
setting. Users accessing QuickTime content from off-campus must know how fast their DSL, Cable or dialup setting is. If you're not sure, ask your Internet Service Provider.

More helpscrollup

Browser cache: some users have reported problems when their
internet browser (Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, Mozilla, etc.) is
set to cache files instead of downloading a fresh copy with each
request. The message "link not found or outdated" might indicate a
problem with browser cache. Try emptying your cache and then
re-requesting the streamed file by clicking the link again.