Editing QuickTime (section)

{{Short description|Extensible multimedia architecture by Apple}}
{{Other uses|Quick time (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{macOS topics}}

'''QuickTime''' (or QuickTime Player) is an extensible multimedia architecture created by [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], which supports<!-- stay in present, see [[MOS:TENSE]] --> playing, [[Streaming media|streaming]], [[Data compression|encoding]], and [[transcoding]] a variety of [[digital media]] formats.{{Sfn|Ferncase|2003|pp=1-2}}{{Sfn|Monroe|2004|p=xv}} The term ''QuickTime'' also refers to the '''QuickTime Player''' [[Frontend and backend|front-end]] media player application,{{Sfn|Ferncase|2003|pp=1-2}} which is built-into [[macOS]], and was formerly available for [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goodin |first=Dan |date=2016-04-14 |title=Apple stops patching QuickTime for Windows despite 2 active vulnerabilities |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/04/apple-stops-patching-quicktime-for-windows-despite-2-active-vulnerabilities/ |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}}</ref>

QuickTime was created in 1991, when the concept of playing digital video directly on computers was "groundbreaking."{{Sfn|Ferncase|2003|pp=1-2}}{{Sfn|Monroe|2004|p=xv}} QuickTime could embed a number of advanced media types, including [[QuickTime VR|panoramic image]]s (called QuickTime VR) and [[Adobe Flash]]. Over the 1990s, QuickTime became a dominant standard for digital [[multimedia]], as it was integrated into many websites, applications, and video games, and adopted by professional [[Filmmaking|filmmakers]]. The [[QuickTime File Format]] became the basis for the [[MPEG-4]] standard.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-03-30 |title=QuickTime and the Rise of Multimedia |url=https://computerhistory.org/blog/quicktime-and-the-rise-of-multimedia/ |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=CHM |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Happy birthday, Apple QuickTime |url=https://www.theregister.com/Print/2011/12/02/apple_quicktime_multimedia_software_turns_20 |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=The Register}}</ref>{{Sfn|Ferncase|2003|pp=1-2}}{{Sfn|Monroe|2004|p=xv}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Apple QuickTime Software 1991 - A Technical Description |url=https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/2780 |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=Museums Victoria Collections}}</ref> During its heyday, QuickTime was notably used to create the innovative ''[[Myst]]'' and ''[[Xplora1: Peter Gabriel's Secret World|Xplora1]]'' video games, and to exclusively distribute movie trailers for several ''[[Star Wars]]'' movies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hansen |first=Evan |title=QuickTime prepared to make its comeback |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/quicktime-prepared-to-make-its-comeback-1/ |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=CNET |language=en}}</ref>{{Sfn|Ferncase|2003|pp=1-2}} QuickTime could support additional codecs through plug-ins, for example with [[Perian]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Promising prospect: Perian |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/181999/perian.html |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=Macworld |language=en}}</ref>

As operating systems and browsers gained support for MPEG-4 and subsequent standards like [[Advanced Video Coding|H.264]], the need for a cross-platform version of QuickTime diminished, and Apple discontinued the Windows version of QuickTime in 2016.<ref name="developer_apple_com">{{cite web |date=May 28, 2013 |title=Technical Note TN2300: Transitioning QTKit Code to AV Foundation. |url=https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/technotes/tn2300/_index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160902161826/https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/technotes/tn2300/_index.html |archive-date=2016-09-02}}</ref><ref name="Thornton-2018">{{Cite web |last=Thornton |first=Mike |date=December 4, 2018 |title=Apple Announce End Of Native Support For Avid DNx Codecs - Avid Respond. Why This Matters For Pro Tools Users {{!}} Pro Tools - The leading website for Pro Tools users |url=https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/home-page/2018/12/3/a-future-macos-wont-support-the-avid-dnxhd-and-cineform-codecs-pro-tools-users-working-with-video-need-to-prepare-for-this-now |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=ProToolsExpert |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Oakley |first=Howard |date=2022-03-26 |title=Explainer: Whatever happened to QuickTime? |url=https://eclecticlight.co/2022/03/26/explainer-whatever-happened-to-quicktime/ |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=The Eclectic Light Company |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Siracusa">{{Cite web |last=Siracusa |first=John |date=2009-09-01 |title=Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: the Ars Technica review |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2009/08/mac-os-x-10-6/ |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}}</ref> In [[Mac OS X Snow Leopard]], QuickTime 7 was discontinued in favor of QuickTime Player X, which abandoned the aging QuickTime framework in favor of the [[AVFoundation]] framework. QuickTime Player X does not support video editing (beyond trimming clips) or plug-ins for additional [[codec]] support.<ref name="Siracusa"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Getting started with QuickTime Player X |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/221585/getting-started-with-quicktime-player-x.html |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=Macworld |language=en}}</ref> [[macOS Catalina]] dropped support for all 32-bit applications, including the QTKit framework and the old QuickTime 7.<ref name="Thornton-2018" />