Aspect Ratio and file extension

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Aspect Ratio and file extension

Using the AC_Quicktime.js:

If I have a .mov file and change the extension to .tst or something ambiguous quicktime can still play the movie. If however I put the parameter "scale","aspect" quicktime seems to no longer be able to tell that this is a .mov file.

Any thoughts? Is there another parameter I need to use to make it work, or will I need the proper file extensions to play a movie in aspect mode?

Thanks.

Mac Pro - iMacs, Mac OS X (10.5.1), Also Lepord on my new Mac Pro

Posted on Oct 29, 2009 6:45 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 29, 2009 6:49 PM in response to SirChuck

Why are you changing the file extension?
Have you tried the scale="tofit" tag to make the file fit the dimensions you need?

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Answer 2

SirChuck Author

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Oct 29, 2009 7:13 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

I changed the file extension so when I upload the file to the active directory that gets sync'ed with the back end software there would be no partial files.

As intended:
Step 1) Upload the file with its actual file extension.
Step 2) Change the extension to .tst to let the back end system know it's ready for download.

Plenty of work arounds here for me obviously, just they require an extra step. For example.
Step 1) Change extension to .tst
Step 2) Upload File
Step 3) Change extension to actual extension so backend knows its ready to download.

Ya the tofit reacts the same way, I haven't tried specifying the third scale parameter option, but if I leave the scale parameter out QT can play the movie with no problem (just not expanding with different resolutions). I just wondered if there was another parameter value pair I needed to make it not worry about extension, it's not a problem I can't get around though.

Also, not sure this will make a difference, but i've been using a width and height of 100%.

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Answer 3

Oct 29, 2009 7:20 PM in response to SirChuck

You need height and width values. From the very old "embed" tag code:
SCALE=value (optional...requires QuickTime 3)

SCALE is either TOFIT, ASPECT or a number. By default the value of SCALE is 1. If set to TOFIT, the movie is scaled to fit the embedded box as specified by the HEIGHT and WIDTH attributes. If this is set to ASPECT, the movie will scale to fit the embedded box while maintaining the aspect ratio. If this is set with a number, the movie will be scaled by that number (e.g. 1.5). Note: Using the number scale attribute with a QTVR Panorama movie can degrade the performance of the movie even on high-end systems.

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Answer 4

SirChuck Author

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Oct 29, 2009 7:40 PM in response to QuickTimeKirk

Not that this should come up often, but it would appear that yes you must use the proper extensions for quicktime to know how to handle the aspect and tofit options.

I couldn't find anything on other settings, I doubt it would exist as it's not really necessary.

Height and Width of 100% work fine though, just use the actual file extensions.

(Testing using qt7)

🙂

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