Reviewing QuickTime Video and Video Components

Film directors will always give you a QuickTime movie file and so it’s important that you understand the file type and how to handle and use it.

In this chapter, we will look at QuickTime video and its properties, including video codec, video size, and sample rate. We will also discuss QuickTime Video components, including video file types, codec, and movie file resolution, as well as audio sample rate, in detail, so that you will be prepared to use digital movie files properly in Logic Pro.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

• Opening the QuickTime Inspector
• Understanding video file components

Technical requirements

To follow along with this chapter, you will need a Mac computer with Logic Pro and QuickTime software installed.

Opening the QuickTime Inspector

The QuickTime Inspector is a menu containing the movie file’s properties. To open it, navigate to the upper taskbar and click Window, then Show Movie Inspector. Alternatively, you can use the Command + I keyboard shortcut. The movie file Inspector window will open as a black, floating dialog box:

Figure 3.1: Open QuickTime Video with the Inspector window

Now that we know what the QuickTime Inspector is, we will look at a few of the components that are included in the Inspector window.

Understanding video file components

In this section, we will take a look at two of the main components of the Inspector window – General and Video Details – looking at the settings that are most useful to a film composer.

For reference, Figure 3.2 is a closer look at the Inspector window with its components:

Figure 3.2: QuickTime Inspector window

Now, let’s review the components that are important for a composer to understand.

General

Under General, we will look at four main settings – Resolution, Data Size, Video Format, and Audio Format.

Resolution

Video file resolution is referred to as the dimensions of a video file with x number of pixels. The Resolution section in Figure 3.2 shows the video dimension as 1280 x 1080 for this movie file; that means the movie file is 1,280 pixels wide and 1,080 pixels high.

The more pixels the movie has, the larger the file is. For example, if you want to view your movie...

Summary

In this chapter, you have learned how to open, review, and understand the QuickTime Player Inspector and its components. Understanding all of the components that were discussed will help you when opening a movie file in Logic Pro and will also help you to synchronize the movie file with Logic Pro.

In the next chapter, we will explain how to start and set up our first project, as well as how to open and synchronize a movie file within Logic Pro.