Apple Final Cut Pro 6 - Manual (Page 1714)

Chapter 16 Learning About QuickTime 231
III
 QuickTime: This refers to the QuickTime movie file format, which can contain multiple
media tracks, each containing data encoding with a number of possible codecs.
QuickTime is not a codec, but rather has the ability to present images and sound
stored with a number of codecs.
 AIFF and WAVE: These are audio file formats that contain uncompressed audio data.
 DV: There are several DV codecs available for NTSC, PAL, and other varieties such as
DVCPRO HD. A DV camcorder uses a DV codec to turn full-resolution image data into
compressed media, which is then stored on tape. The raw data stream from tape can
be captured to your hard disk in a file format called a DV stream. Applications such as
iMovie can capture and edit DV stream files, while applications like Final Cut Pro
capture media into tracks within a QuickTime media file, allowing for more flexibility
such as adding and manipulating timecode tracks.
Time in QuickTime Movie File Tracks
Each track in a QuickTime movie file has its own playback rate and duration definition.
Usually, the rate and duration of each track are the same, or related, because the
various tracks (such as audio and video) are intended to play back in sync.
Because each track has its own independent definitions of time, you can just as easily
assign a video track a frame rate of 29.97 fps and the timecode track to be 23.98 fps.
One example of how this is useful is when you are editing film (24 fps) transferred to
NTSC video (29.97 fps).
How Final Cut Pro Uses QuickTime for Import, Export,
and Capture
In Final Cut Pro, many options and settings in the dialogs you view during capture,
import, and export are accessed directly from the QuickTime framework installed with
Mac OS X. If you are using a third-party video interface, the manufacturer usually
provides QuickTime components that add the proper codec support for the interface.
To Find Out More About QuickTime
There are various resources for learning more about QuickTime technology
and architecture.
 Apple’s QuickTime website: http://www.apple.com/quicktime
 Apple’s QuickTime Developer website: http://developer.apple.com/quicktime