QuickTime 5.0.1: What is new; Sorenson 3 codec update; reader reports

Here is a quick look at some of what is new in the QuickTime 5 update.

Standalone installer posted for users who prefer not to use the QuickTime updater, Apple has posted a standalone version of the installer, which weighs in at 9.3 MB.

5 requires new key Judging from our mail, there appears to a be quite a bit of confusion over the key which unlocks the Pro features. QuickTime 5.0.1 may require a new, different key. Users with keys that unlock versions 3.x/4.x will have to purchase a new key, while users with 4.x/5.x keys (purchased since 2000-10-12) do not. See TIL article 31335 for details.

TIL note typo lists incorrect phone number TIL article 58453 incorrectly listed the phone number in this statement: "If you purchased a QuickTime Pro key from The Apple Store since 2001-03-15 call 1-800-MY-APPLE (1-800-692-7773) to obtain a replacement key." The phone number is actually 1-800-692-7753, not 73. As we understand it, this number is only needed if you lose your existing key, not for upgrading. (Thanks, David Lazarowych and Ryan Gould.)

Media Skins QuickTime Media Skins can be any shape or size, and can be created in any of the dozens of file formats that QuickTime supports. Playback controls can be placed anywhere, and the developer can choose to prevent the user from overriding the skin.

MPEG-1 support added For a complete list of all the formats now supported, see this page.

QuickTime 5 Component Download Program The program allows third parties to create components, also called plug-ins, that can be added to QuickTime when media requiring that component is used. More on components can be found on this QuickTime Components page.

Remo Del Bello found that the three current 'component' plug-ins (On2, Pulse, and Be Here) can be installed by clicking on the Customize button in the QuickTime 5 installer. He writes: "You should find the 3 items listed as updateable items." We tried it but did not see these items listed; we are checking into this further.

We also have several new reader reports and follow-up items on the recent update:

Sorenson Codec The Sorenson 3 codec missing from the release of QuickTime 5.0.1 (see previous) will soon reappear. Here is the latest from Norman Doyle, VP of Engineering for Sorenson Media:

"The Sorenson Video 3 decoder had some last minute performance issues so it was pulled from the release. We are working hard to fix the issues and will have it ready for you just as soon as is reasonably possible. Thanks for your support of Sorenson Video."

Jonathan Seff (of Macworld) spoke with someone from Sorenson at NAB and reports that they told him that the codec would be available in about a month or so. They had found some problems with performance on the iMac. MacFixIt reader Jeremy Saville confirms this.

No more sound in DVD Player 2.2 Nathan Alderman writes: "I installed 5.0.1 with the standalone installer. I restarted. I fired up my X-Men and Mummy DVDs and Apple DVD Player 2.2 to make sure everything was playing nicely and... silence. Great picture, but silence. I tried muting and un-muting the player. Still no audio."

Update: Darren Montjar suggests that setting Sound Input to None might be the solution here.

DVD Player 1.2 affected? Edward Covelli writes: "After upgrading to QT 5.0.1, I can no longer launch the DVD Player 1.3 if I disc is in the drive. It works if I insert the disk after the Player is launched."

Outlook Express no longer forwards movie attachments Scott Rose found that after updating to QuickTime Pro 5.0.1, Outlook Express 5.0.2 would no longer forward email messages that have movies attached. He writes: "For some reason, the forwarded message does not encode the QuickTime movie properly and will not play on the receiving end. The only way for me to forward a message that has a QuickTime movie embedded in it is to drag the movie to the desktop, and then reattach it to a new outgoing message. This did not occur using the previous version of QuickTime with same exact system configuration."

Release version clarification Several readers correctly pointed out that we were not entirely accurate yesterday when we said that QuickTime 5.0 was never released. Version 5.0 did come bundled with Mac OS X, Final Cut Pro, and several other software packages. What we should have said was that 5.0 was never released as a general update for 4.x users.

Dreamweaver Brandon Taylor confirms our previous report that the update fixes the semi-transparent GIF problem in Dreamweaver.

Also see our QuickTime 5.0.1 QuickTopic Forum for more comments.