About Quicktime; Before Starting Your Project - DigiDesign Pro Tools Reference Manual

About QuickTime

Using QuickTime Movies in
Pro Tools
Pro Tools supports the import, playback, and
editing of QuickTime movies.
QuickTime Requirements
Pro Tools supports import, playback, and edit-
ing of QuickTime movies without additional
hardware. To take advantage of the broad range
of QuickTime movie capabilities in Pro Tools,
QuickTime 7.1.2 is required.
For additional requirements, see the Digi-
design Web site (www.digidesign.com).
QuickTime Movie Playback
Performance Options
The Operation Preferences page provides three
options for QuickTime Playback Priority:
Normal This is the default setting for QuickTime
Movie Playback Priority. It gives no extra prior-
ity to movie playback over other screen update
tasks such as metering, moving faders, and so
on. In most cases you should use this setting.
Medium This setting gives QuickTime movie
playback a higher priority relative to other
Pro Tools screen update tasks. Use this setting if
you experience inconsistent QuickTime movie
playback with the Normal setting.
652 Pro Tools Reference Guide
Highest This setting gives QuickTime movie
playback highest priority. In this mode,
Pro Tools disables screen activity and requires
you to use the Spacebar to stop playback. Use
this setting if you require uninterrupted Quick-
Time movie playback.
See also "FireWire Playback of QuickTime
DV Movies" on page 668.
Hard Drive Tips for Best Performance
For best results, always use dedicated video-only
and audio-only drives.
For complete information on hard drive require-
ments, visit the Digidesign Web site.
Applying Pull-Ups to QuickTime
Movies
Applying a pull-up to QuickTime movies in a
session may have unpredictable effects on the
playback of any Avid video in that session. Only
use video pull-up feature for sessions that do not
contain Avid video.

Before Starting Your Project

Before you start any project that requires work-
ing with video, consider the following:
Frame Rate Before receiving video, obtain the
frame rate. Use that frame rate when setting the
frame rate of your Pro Tools sessions and when
capturing video.
Creator Application and Codec Before receiving
video as media files, find out the application
and codec used to create those files. Then con-
firm that you can play those files in Pro Tools. It
is always a good idea to get a sample file in ad-
vance.