Sometimes building QuickTime Scripting Controls into your web pages can be tricky. The differences between Windows Media Player and the Quicktime Player are very significant. The first problem is that they have different scripting APIs. When you are a video profressional trying to post your work to the web this can be tasking.
One of the Javascript function calls for the Windows Media Player allows fullscreen playback on the client desktop. The quicktime API doesn’t support this feature from within the plugin. The video producer will have to force the plugin to send the video to the QuickTime Player. The media, being either a .qtl or a .smil file, is basically a reference or pointer to the real Quicktime video or audio file. The Quicktime Plugin reads the directives or properties within the file and follows the commands. That includes telling the plugin to play a video at fullscreen and sending it to the player to accomplish the task.
The files are both XML formatted but with different tagging structures. I am going to cover the easier of the two - QTL. I will save the SMIL lecture for another post.
Quicktime media Link or QTL for short allows you to create a text link on a web page that opens a movie in QuickTime player. For this to work, your web server must be configured to associate the .qtl file extension with the correct MIME type. The MIME type can be handled by placing a .htaccess file into the movies directory. Type the following info into the .htaccess file:
AddType application/x-quicktimeplayer qtl
The XML within the .qtl file will look something like this:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?quicktime type=”application/x-quicktime-media-link”?>
<embed
autoplay=”true”
controller=”true”
fullscreen=”full”
kioskmode=”false”
loop=”false”
playeveryframe=”true”
quitwhendone=”true”
src=”http://movies.apple.com/movies/paramount/waroftheworlds/waroftheworlds_480.mov”
type=”movie/quicktime”
volume=”100″
/>
Save this XML as “qtfullscreen.qtl” and into the same folder as your .htaccess file or vise versa. Now you can make a link from within a web page that calls your .qtl file. You now have a control to play your movie Fullscreen!!
Other important Commands for your XML file:
autoplay = “true” or “false”
controller=”true” or “false”
fullscreen=”normal” or “double” or “half” or “current” or “full”
href=”url”
loop=”true” or “false” or “palindrome”
playeveryframe=”true” or “false”
qtnext=”url”
quitwhendone=”true” or “false”
Play Sample Movie Now!!
BTW: You can always open an HREF to your .qtl file using a javascript call.
