Useful Items

This page contains useful sprites and widgets. One of the great things about QuickTime is that you can add controls and actions to movies, then save those controls and actions as independent widgets that can be dropped into other movies. And, since these widgets are your own creations, you can use them commercially or share them freely: it's up to you.

The widgets on this page are my creations, and you're welcome to use them in any way you like. As a courtesy, please mention QuickTime for the Web on your website.

These widgets are saved as QuickTime movies, so you can add them to other movies using QuickTime Player's Add and Add Scaled menu commands.

There are widgets on this page to start and stop movies, either automatically or using a button. These sprites also let you add sound to VR panoramas. There are sprites to smoothly rotate VR panoramas, either automatically or using buttons. There are also buttons to tilt and zoom panoramas. There are widgets that play a movie in full-screen mode.

To download a widget

Click and hold on the link (or right-click or command-click the link) until a pop-up menu appears, and choose the option to save or download the file to disk (be sure to save as source, not text, if this is an option).

Alternately, you can open the movie's URL in QuickTime Player (pro version) and save as a self-contained movie.

You are now the proud owner of a widget.

To add widgets to your own movies

First, download the widget (see above), then:
  1. Open the widget movie in QuickTime Player (Pro version), Select All, Copy, Close (don't save).

  2. Open your own movie. (If it's a VR movie, choose Get Movie Properties and set the controller to Movie Controller.)

  3. Add the widget in one of the two following ways:

    For control widgets, Select All and Add Scaled.

    For widgets that do something at a certain point in the movie timeline, such as stop the movie, position the playhead at the desired point in your movie and choose Add. You can add several copies of such sprites; just reposition the playhead and choose Add again, as many times as you need.

    This adds a sprite track to your movie. If you need to change the sprite's size or location, use the Movie Properties window (choose Sprite Track from the left pop-up menu, Size from the right pop-up menu, then click Adjust).

  4. If your movie is a VR, set the controller back to VR Controller.

  5. Save As (not Save), self-contained.

Widgets! Widgets! Widgets!

autoplay.mov is an invisible sprite that makes a movie automatically play. If you add an audio track to a VR panorama, for example, add this sprite to the beginning of your movie to make the audio play when the VR is opened.

Open this URL in QuickTime Player:
http://homepage.mac.com/sprites/autoplay.mov

loopsprite.mov is an invisible sprite that makes a movie automatically loop. If you add an audio track to a VR panorama, for example, add this sprite to the end of your movie to make the audio loop continuously (you also need an autoplay sprite at the beginning).

Open this URL in QuickTime Player:
http://homepage.mac.com/sprites/loopsprite.mov


playpausectrl.mov is a small sprite that plays or pauses a movie when clicked. Use the Add Scaled function to add this sprite for the duration of your movie. You might use this button on a VR panorama with a sound track, or as a simple control for a movie with a media skin, or to pause and play a movie that plays in full-screen mode.

Open this URL in QuickTime Player:
http://homepage.mac.com/sprites/playpausectrl.mov

stopsprite.mov is an invisible sprite that stops movie play. Add this sprite anywhere in your movie to make the movie pause automatically. This is a good way to pause an audio tour or stop at the end of a lesson.

To make a movie into a series of lessons that automatically play when selected, create a chapter list to label each lesson, add a stopsprite to the last frame of each lesson, and add a startsprite (the autoplay.mov above) to the first frame of each lesson. Open URL:
http://homepage.mac.com/sprites/stopsprite.mov

autorotate5Sec.mov is an invisible sprite that makes a VR panorama automatically rotate when opened. The VR slowly pans clockwise until the user clicks the mouse. If the user stops using the mouse for more than 5 seconds, the panorama begins to rotate again. Open URL:
http://homepage.mac.com/sprites/autorotate5Sec.mov

autorotate1Min.mov also spins a VR panorama until the user clicks the mouse, but it doesn't restart the auto-rotation unless the user stops using the mouse for a full minute. Open URL:
http://homepage.mac.com/sprites/autorotate5Sec.mov


vrcontrol.mov is a small set of sprite buttons that pan, tilt, and zoom a VR panorama when clicked. Use the Add Scaled function to add this sprite for the duration of your VR movie. You might use this sprite in a VR panorama with a media skin or a VR panorama embedded in a SMIL presentation. Open URL:
http://homepage.mac.com/sprites/vrcontrol.mov

Note that this controller will not work if the VR Panorama is wrapped in a SMIL presentation and the SMIL is played in the browser plug-in. It will work if the VR is in a SMIL presentation in QuickTime Player. It will also work in a VR movie displayed in the browser plug-in. But not both SMIL and the browser plug-in at once. Use the VR controllers below for that.

hovrcontrol.mov is a small set of sprite buttons that pan, tilt, and zoom a VR panorama when the mouse passes over them. Use the Add Scaled function to add this sprite for the duration of your VR movie. This sprite works even if the panorama is wrapped in a SMIL presentation and played using the browser plug-in. Open URL:
http://homepage.mac.com/sprites/hovrcontrol.mov

hovrcontrol2.mov is a version of hovrcontrol.mov that pans and zooms more slowly. This makes it easier to control, but somewhat less responsive. Open URL:
http://homepage.mac.com/sprites/hovrcontrol2.mov

hovrcontrol3.mov is a version of hovrcontrol.mov that pans and zooms even more slowly than hovercontrol2. Use whichever version you feel strikes the best balance between control and responsiveness. Open URL:
http://homepage.mac.com/sprites/hovrcontrol3.mov

Full-Screen Movies

(Right-click or command-click to download)

These are empty movies that have their movie properties set to full-screen playback at various scaling factors. Unlike sprites, you don't add them to your movies--you add your movies to them, then Save As to create a new movie.

  1. Open your movie. Select All. Copy. Close (don't save).
  2. Open one of the empty full-screen movies below.
  3. Add (not Add Scaled!).
  4. Save As (give file a new name, make movie self-contained).

Fullfull.mov causes your movie to play in full-screen mode, scaling the video up until it fills the screen.

Fullnormal.mov causes your movie to play in full-screen mode, without scaling the video (plays at normal size on a black background).

Fulldouble.mov causes your movie to play in full-screen mode, at twice its normal size on a black background.

Simple Movie Controller

Here's a generic movie controller widget that you can use with a skinned movie:
http://homepage.mac.com/qt4web/sprites/controller.mov
If clicking the link doesn't open the movie, use QuickTime Player's "Open URL" command (in the File menu).

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