Apple QuickTime Streaming Server Darwin Streaming Server New file with only hint tracks myfile.mov

To apply hinting and export a file as a movie:

1Import the file into QuickTime Player by choosing Import from the File menu.

2Export the file by choosing Export from the File menu.

3In the “Save exported file as” dialog, choose “Movie to QuickTime Movie” from the Export pop-up menu, if it’s not already selected, then click the Options button.

4In the Movie Settings dialog, choose Hinted Streaming from the pop-up menu and click the Settings button.

Make sure that Make Movie Self-Contained is unchecked.

5Close each dialog by clicking OK, choose a filename and location, and save the file.

6Place both the .mov file (containing only the hint tracks) and the original file (containing only the media data) on your streaming server.

If you have folders inside your media folder, make sure that both files are in the same folder. For example:

New file with only hint tracks: myfile.mov

Original, non-hinted file: myfile.avi

To stream the original file, use an RTSP (Real-Time Streaming Protocol) URL that references the hinted “.mov” file.

7In QuickTime Player, choose “Open URL in New Player” from the File menu, then enter the following URL:

rtsp://qtss.hostname/myfile.mov

The file should begin streaming. The RTSP URL from the client tells the server to read the hinted file and directly stream the media data from the .avi file.

Exporting a QuickTime Movie as a Hinted Movie

Hint tracks contain information the streaming server needs to stream the media properly. Hint tracks allow the streaming server to stream QuickTime movies without having to understand QuickTime media types or codecs. The server only needs to know the hint track format. When a new codec must be streamed, typically the server software doesn’t require an update. Hinting also precomputes packetization rules for some media that normally require bit-level parsing, interleaving, and so on, relieving the server of this task.

Most authoring applications let you export media as a hinted QuickTime movie. If you have QuickTime Pro, you can also hint a movie using QuickTime Player. QuickTime Pro is available for both Mac OS and Windows computers. Check the QuickTime web site for more information.

Managing Your Streaming Server 29