Can Quicktime display tenths of seconds?

Yes, I opened QT 7 from the Utilities folder. When it opened, the home screen had seven panes titled: Music, Hot Picks, Movies, Apps, TV Shows, Quick Hits and iTunes Match as such:

I simply dragged the video file from iPhoto to the QT 7 home screen (not any Finder Window or Dock). The QT7 File Menu has an option to Open File…, but Like I said previously, it will navigate to the iPhoto Library but not open anything in it. Anyway, after I dragged, the video was in the QT 7 window, but no controls on the bottom as such (yes, it's my son's Track Meet, hence the need for tenths):

1) First off, what you call the "home screen" is, in fact, the "Content Guide." It is "advertisement-like" media automatically loaded from the Apple server that opens in a QT player each time you open/initialize the QT 7 Player app if you do not turn it off in the preferences menu. (I keep it turned off.) The Content Guide is basically a set of "buttons" that can be pressed for more information/to seen the related HTML content. It is not a movie.

2) Unlike MPEG Streamclip, QT 7 and QT X players do not replace current player movie content by loading other movie content which is dragged and dropped to the player. What you did by attempting to drag the movie from iPhoto and drop it to the Content Guide palyer was to take a single frame image from the iPhoto movie and replace the "tvbuttom.mov" file in the resource folder as you will quickly learn if you try to save the modified window. Just think of the Content Guide as an HTML page viewed in a QT 7 Player window. Unless you like viewing the ads, I would recommend turning this preference option off.

3) Since the content you dragged from the iPhoto app to the Content Guide was just a "resource" image, there are no QT movie controls to be applied to the new content window.

When I'm in iPhoto, there is no "Reveal in Finder/Original File" option in the File menu, or anywhere else:

How old is the version of iPhoto you are using? Just checked my Snow Leopard and Lion systems and both have iPhoto 11 v9.2.3 (build 629.52) installed. This is what I see:

The work flow you describe is pretty much how I envisioned it would work (very straight forward), but as you can see from the 2nd screen capture above, there is no "scrub bar" displyed.

But it sounds as if you did not apply the work flow I described. Here is a "quickie" video showing what you should have done: QuickieVideoTutorial.mp4

Dragging and dropping the iPhoto file icon on the "Dock" or "Finder" QT 7 app icon should produce the same result as double-clicking the the movie file icon on the Desktop but opens the file in the QT 7 player no matter which media player is designated as the default player.

How do I get the control buttons to display?

Are you sure you opened the file in QT 7? QT X is the default player for iPhoto even if the QT 7 Player has been re-designated as the default player for the "class" of videos you are attempting to open. Unlike the QT X Player, QT 7 "Player" controls are always visible as depicted below if the application is working properly:

The only way I can figure out how to play the movie w/QT 7 is to drag it from iPhoto into QT7, then right-click and hit play.

Dragging and dropping the iPhoto "movie file icon" to either the QT 7 Player app "Finder window" icon or the QT 7 Player "Dock" icon should open the file in the QT 7 Player app without having to "right-click" anything. (See screen capture image above.)

Navigating via the "Open File..." Menu option will not open the iPhoto Library.

Highlight the movie file you want to play in iPhoto app window and then select the File menu "Reveal in Finder/Original File" option. This will open a Finder "Folder" window with the desired file automatically pre-selected.

But when the movie is displayed, there are no controls for play, pause, etc. I have to stop & start by right-clicking - hard to get it to stop on the correct tenth of a second!

The normal work flow (once you are actually in the QT 7 Player) is to scrub the playhead to the approximate time you want and then use the left/right arrow keys to move the playhead forewards or backwards one frame at a time. Times in hundredths of a second will be for the frame being displayed. Each frame will occupy a specific start time with the frame duration varying dependent on the frame rate of the movie. E.g., a 23.98 frame rate frame will occupy approximately 0.0417 seconds, a 29.97 fps frame approximately 0.0334 seconds, and a 59.94 fps frame approximately 0.0167 seconds. Thus, your times will increment by the amount of the rounded off frame duration and not in even fractional frame increments of 1/100th of a second.

So those features were disabled after QT 7?

Yes, along with things like the audio and video control palet, support for many legacy compression formats, and the loss of "Pro" features like filters access and the layering/compositing/masking features.

Can I have both QT 7 & QT 10, or would I have to uninstall QT 10 (or can I even "back-grade" to QT 7)?

Yes, both can be installed and used simultaneously. However, the QT 7 Player is a special version made to run in the dual 32-/64-bit Snow leopard or Lion OS environment. I also have QT 7 keyed for "Pro" use and also keep MPEG Streamclip, VLC, and HandBrake installed as each has its own unique features and special uses.

HERE IS THE URL FOR INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE QT 7 PLAYER WHICH INCLUDES A LINK FOR THE ACTUAL QT 7 DOWNLOAD.

I've searched the forums and the manual with no luck, so please excuse me if this is answered elsewhere. But can Quicktime add tenths of a second to the time display (to left of slider bar)?

No, but if you use the QT 7 Player and open the inspector window, then you can view times to the nearest hundredth of a second or to the nearest frame depending on file content and player preference settings.

I'm using QuickTime Player Version 10.0 (131).

I opened the inspector window, but didn't see where it displayed either the time or frame.

The movie was shot with my iphone, and the inspector window says the format is H.264, 1280x720, Millions AAC, and the FPS (Frames per Second??) is 29.97.

Also, I did not see a preference settings option anywhere in the menu.

As previously stated, you must use the QT 7 Player for these features. Another alternative would be the free MPEG Streamclip player which reads the current frame within the current second by default in the player window.

I have turned off the Content Guide - thanks for that tip, even though when QT 7 starts, nothing really comes up other than the QT 7 menu at the top of the screen. Not a problem at all, just a bit odd.

QT 7 is programmed for parrallel processing. Double-clicking on a movie in the finder (or using the context menu "Open with..." option) will open the application if it is currently closed and load the desired file into a player or simply open the selected file in a player if the QT 7 Player app is already open. Multiple players can be active simultaneously playing files, exporting files, or doing both (although playback will usually suffer dropped frames and exports slow down as the number of exporting files increases and the CPU divides its attention between the various players at work). Not exactly sure what you want the application to do if you simply open it. Since no particular file is associated with the app by merely opening it, it can't really ready do anything until you actually load a file into a player window.

When I originally dragged from iPhoto to the Content Guide, it had to have been more than a single frame, or resource image, because the entire video clip played.

Have not really investigated this further, but I suspect what happens may depend on exactly where you drop the file dragged from iPhoto. In my case, I dropped it on an image programmed to open online content—i.e., a "tvbutton" which was apparently replaced by the "image" (video "poster frame"). Possibly it may have acted differently if I had dropped it on media actually playing in the guide.

I am using iPhoto 9 v 8.1.2 (424), so yes, your menu is definetly different than mine.

Apparently this option was added as part of upgrade for v9 to v11. Formerly, you would have had to open the iPhoto Library package and copy or drag the file to the Desktop (or export the file to the Desktop from within iPhoto) in order to access it via QT 7 instead of the QT X player. Thus, the "drag 'n drop" work flow is usually the easiest way to open a file in a specific player to override "default" player settings. (E.g., most of my files default to the QT 7 player except for TS files which play in either QT X or MPEG Streamclip and iTunes M4V files I "test scan" in the QT 7 Player before loading to iTunes for device management.)

In any case, dragging from iPhoto to the Dock does the trick. Rather inelegant as I have to open QT7, then iPhoto, then drag the video to QT7 in the Dock, then open the inspector, but it works. Next time, I think I'll skip all of that and just load the video to my trusty dusty WInXP machine, and play it w/RealPlayer (which shows tenths simnply by clicking on the time display - much easier & simpler).

As noted above, you do not have to open the QT 7 player app before dragging a file from iPhoto to it since the QT 7 player app will open automatically if it is currently closed. In addition, if you leave the "Inspector" window open when you close the QT 7 player app (or close a player), the "Inspector" window will remain open when the app (or a new video) is next opened. Same holds true for the "A/V control" window and "Properties" window. ("Properties" window is only available if the QT 7 player is keyed for "Pro" use.)

When I load a video into iPhoto, I can't navigate to it with finder. The info for the video file says it's in a folder named:

/Users/.../Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/...

However, finder does not display an /iPhoto LIbrary folder under the /Pictures folder. There is a file named iPhoto LIbrary, but it's not a folder, and double-clicking it (or right-click | open) just launches iPhoto.

Sorry! My comments may have assumed you were more familiar with "Mac OS X Basics 101" concepts than you actually appear to be. If you Control-Click (Right-Click) the iPhoto Library file a "Context Menu" will open. Selecting the "Show Package Contents" option will open the "Library" file as a normal "Folder" window which you can navigate normally at the "Finder" level (i.e., manually in the Finder but not via the "system navigation window") through the various year, month, day, named_event folders to locate a specific image/media file within the "Originals" (or "Masters" in iPhoto '11) folder.

If QT 7 isn't open, where do I drag the file to? Not being open, QT 7 is not on the screen anywhere, and it's not in the Dock.

In my case, I keep QT 7, QT X, VLC, and MPEG Streamclip player app alais icons permanently in the "Dock" so they are easily accessible at any time within the "Dock" whether the application is open or not. (I.e., if an app is not currently located in the dock when un-opened, simply drag its "Finder" icon to the "Dock" and drop it there to create a permanent short-cut alias icon for quick access to the app.). The alternative would be to drop a media file directly on the unaliased "Applications/Utilities/QT 7 app" Finder icon to open it.

I'm not seeing this. If I leave the inspector window open when I close QT 7, it is not open the next time QT 7 launches.

I just re-checked my Snow Leopard system Here is what I see when operating under either Snow Leopard or Lion.