Archive for the ‘QuickTime’ Category

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September 10 '09 - 12:02 pm
Join Together Needs QTP7 in Snow Leopard

Several users have emailed about this: If you have upgraded to Snow Leopard and are using Join Together you will need to install QuickTime Player 7. And be sure to get the latest version of Join Together.

QuickTime Player 7 is in “Optional Installs” on your Leopard Install disc. Open this folder, run “Optional Installs.mkpg”, and make sure “QuickTime Player 7″ is checked.

After installing QTP7 (or if it is already installed), you can find it in /Applications/Utilities/. Activate it and run it long enough for it to establish a full launch, and then quit it. This will be enough activity for its preferences file to be created, which Join Together needs to locate.

posted in Join Together, QuickTime, Snow Leopard

September 6 '09 - 8:21 pm
Target QuickTime Player by application id

If you’ve got a script that needs to target QuickTime Player in Snow Leopard you probably really want to target “QuickTime Player 7″. Otherwise, if you target “QuickTime Player” the QuickTime Player X app will run and it doesn’t have the AppleScript Goodness like QTP7. However, if the script also has to run in Leopard, you have to target “QuickTime Player”–without the “7″. But you don’t need to write two scripts.

In OS 10.5 and later you can target an app by its application id. I remember seeing that in the AppleScript Release Notes for 10.5 thinking “Hmm. Now how can I use that” and never really thought of anything. Until I needed to access QTP in both 10.5 and 10.6.

This tell block:

tell application id "com.apple.quicktimeplayer"
	-- do something in QuickTime Player
end tell

…will target “QuickTime Player” in OS 10.5 and “QuickTime Player 7″ in OS 10.6. The application id is the same for each, so it makes no difference what their names are. And the AppleScript architecture is virtually the same in both operating systems. (Remember that “QuickTime Player 7″ is an optional install either during installation or from the “Optional Installs” folder on your installation disc.)

“QuickTime Player X” is a drastically different version of the player app and scripts written for QTP7 will not play well with it. However, it is scriptable to a modest extent. Its application id is “com.apple.QuickTimePlayerX” in case you need to target QTPX specifically.

posted in AppleScript, AppleScript Syntax, Leopard, QuickTime, Snow Leopard, Tips and Info

August 27 '09 - 10:36 am
Snow Leopard’s QuickTime Player Duality

Speaking of Optional Installs, to get the AppleScript goodness of QuickTime Player you may have been used to, QuickTime Player 7 will need to be installed from Snow Leopard’s Optional Installs. QuickTime Player 10.0 is the default install in /Applications/, but its AppleScript innards are radically different (some would say severely lacking) from previous versions. So for legacy purposes, you’ll need QTP7. If you currently have QuickTime Pro, QTP7 is installed automatically in /Applications/Utilities/. Otherwise, it’s an optional install.

posted in AppleScript, QuickTime, Snow Leopard

August 24 '09 - 10:27 pm
Join Together v5.4 Released

Join Together automates the process of joining the files of selected iTunes tracks together with QuickTime and exporting them as a single AAC Music or Audiobook file/track. Optionally, you can then create a “chapterized” audio file of the exported AAC file with pointers to the individually joined tracks.

Version 5.4 of Join Together provides compatibility with Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, addresses issues with multiple libraries, and has minor GUI and performance enhancements.

More information and download is here.

posted in Join Together, QuickTime, Updates, iTunes

July 25 '08 - 9:11 am
Join Together v5.3 Released

I’ve just released Join Together v5.3. This AppleScript Studio application automates the process of joining the files of selected iTunes tracks together with QuickTime and exporting them as a single AAC Music or Audiobook file/track. Optionally, you can create a “chapterized” audio file of the exported AAC file with pointers to the individually joined tracks.

Join Together comes in two flavors:

The basic version of Join Together is free and always will be. It has the same or better features–and performs as well or better–as it ever has without restrictions. Most users will find the free basic version of Join Together satisfactory for their track-joining needs.

Join Together Plus is an optional shareware upgrade that provides additional pre-flight and post-op features that have been requested by power-users. You can upgrade to Join Together Plus from the free basic version for US$7. This is to cover development and support expenses, which, in turn, helps make Join Together work better for everybody. See Join Together’s Help pages for more information on its Plus features.

Updated in v5.3:

Visit the Join Together information and download page.

posted in Join Together, QuickTime, Updates, iTunes

March 22 '08 - 12:02 pm
UPDATED: Join Together v5.2

Join Together has been updated to version 5.2.

This AppleScript Studio application automates the process of joining the files of selected iTunes tracks together with QuickTime and exporting them as a single AAC Music or Audiobook file/track. Optionally, with Apple’s ChapterTool application installed, you can create a “chapterized” audio file of the exported AAC file with pointers to the individually joined tracks.

As of version 5.2, Join Together comes in two flavors:

The basic version of Join Together is free and always will be. It has the same or better features–and performs as well or better–as it ever has without restrictions. Most users will find the free basic version of Join Together satisfactory for their track-joining needs.

Join Together Plus is an optional shareware upgrade that provides additional pre-flight and post-op features that have been requested by power-users. You can upgrade to Join Together Plus from the free basic version for US$7. This is to cover development and support expenses, which, in turn, helps make Join Together work better for everybody. See Join Together’s Help pages for more information on its Plus features.

Updated in v5.2

More information and download.

posted in Join Together, QuickTime, Updates, iTunes

January 15 '08 - 4:45 pm
iTunes 7.6 and QuickTime 7.4 Released

Apple has released updates to iTunes and QuickTime. I’ll be on the lookout for AppleScript features and post info when necessary.

posted in Apple, AppleScript, QuickTime, iTunes

November 16 '07 - 1:10 pm
CBR and All That

OK, so we know that unchecking AAC VBR in Preferences > Advanced > Importing actually gives you ABR (Average Bit Rate) encoding and checking it gives you VBR_Constrained. I just put up a script that uses afconvert to import CD tracks as old-style CBR (Constant Bit Rate). However, even this apparently does not provide a constant bit rate. For example, after ripping a few tracks with it and attempting to join and export them in QuickTime, I do not get the pass through option. Checking their info with the QT Inspector the bit rates are indeed slightly different. Here’s what’s weird: CD tracks I ripped with a pre-v7.5 iTunes without VBR also have slightly different bit rates, but QT allows the export as pass through. I’ve gotta do some research.

posted in Controlling iTunes, Internet, QuickTime

November 15 '07 - 4:30 pm
AAC VBR Bug NOT a Bug

According to this article at MacFixIt, “it now appears that this [is} neither a bug in QuickTime nor a bug in iTunes; in fact, it’s not a bug. What’s happened is that the meaning of the choices you make in iTunes has changed (without, as usual, any explanation or notice from Apple).” For more, read the entire article.

posted in Advice, Apple, Bugs, QuickTime, iTunes

November 11 '07 - 1:39 pm
QuickTime 7.3 Bug – AAC VBR, Whether You Want It Or Not

This thread and this thread at Apple Support Discussions describes a bug in QuickTime 7.3 which ignores your iTunes VBR (variable bit rate) settings for importing or converting AAC tracks. As a result, you always get VBR. (Thanks to Correspondent Christian who pointed this out to me when describing a problem with the “Pass-Through” setting of Join Together. This option will only be available if your selected tracks all have the same bit and sample rate. Of course, if they are VBR, they won’t all have the same bit rate and Pass-Through won’t be available.)

I smell iTunes 7.5.1 and/or QuickTime 7.3.1 coming soon. At least, I hope that’s what I smell.

posted in Apple, Bugs, Join Together, QuickTime, iTunes

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