QuickTime for the Web: For Windows and Macintosh, Second Edition
A comprehensive explanation of QuickTime for every multimedia author.
TABLE OF CONTENTS QuickTime for the Web: For Windows and Macintosh, Second Edition
Chapter 8: Alternate Realities Language, Speed, and Connections
Overview
So far, we've shown you how to embed QuickTime movies in a Web page and how to control the QuickTime plug-in from HTML. Now we'll show you how to make QuickTime automatically show the right movie to each viewer.
You see, QuickTime can automatically select one movie from a set of alternates, based on things like the viewer's Internet connection speed, CPU horsepower, operating system, or QuickTime version.
In addition, a single QuickTime movie can contain alternate tracks, playing selected tracks based on criteria such as the viewer's language.
By combining alternate movies and alternate tracks, you can create Web pages with QuickTime movies that automatically select the right version for the viewer people with 28.8K modems get a slideshow, people with cable modems get a wide-screen streaming movie with stereo sound; French viewers get a French soundtrack, and Japanese viewers get Japanese subtitles all from the same HTML.
This chapter shows you how to make alternate movies based on connection speed, operating system, and QuickTime version, and how to make alternate tracks based on language. You can combine the two, by making a movie with alternate language tracks, for example, then saving multiple versions of the movie optimized for different connection speeds.
Alternate Movies
Web designers face some hard choices when it comes to multimedia. Do you stick to the lowest common denominator, creating simple websites that load quickly over 28.8K modems, or aim high, creating dazzling websites that require a fast Internet connection? Or do you take the middle...
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