This article describes some of the common terms used when discussing QuickTime VR technology.

The process of developing a multimedia title. With QuickTime VR, the authoring process includes four steps:

• Planning
• Capturing images
• Digitizing the images
• Authoring/compositing

Dicing

A QuickTime VR authoring process that compresses source and object PICT files, and creates MooV files. During dicing, PICT files are compressed using a compressor specified by one of the MPW scripts for dicing.

Hot spot

An interactive area in a QuickTime VR movie. Link hot spots allow a movie viewer to navigate from one node to another in the scene. Object hot spots allow a movie viewer to pick up, examine, or get more information about an object in the scene.

MPW

Macintosh Programmers Workbench. Part of the development environment (along with HyperCard) required for authoring QuickTime VR movies.

Navigable movie

A type of VR object that allows you to manipulate a photographically captured or computer-rendered object. Also known as an object movie.

Node

A position in a scene from which you view a 360 panoramic image. Multiple nodes linked together comprise a scene. In a multi-node scene, users can jump from node to node to navigate about the scene.

Object movie

See navigable movie.

Panorama

A 360 photographic view from a position called a node. A panorama is captured for each node in a scene.

Panoramic movie

A VR movie based on a photographically captured 360 node.

Panoramic PICT

A 360 band of blended photographic images, created by the Stitcher.

Photo CD

A compact disc that contains digitized images made from photographic negatives. Photo CD is a Kodak technology.

QuickTime VR

Apple's technology for creating VR experiences. With QuickTime VR, you can create scenes based on high-quality real-world photographic images. QuickTime VR movies can be played back on Macintosh and Windows-based computers; no specialized hardware, software, or accessories are needed.

Scene

An environment for which you create a QuickTime VR movie. Scenes can be photographed or rendered on the computer.

Scene Editor

A QuickTime VR authoring tool that lets you add and position nodes in a scene, link nodes, and link objects to nodes.

Stitching

A QuickTime VR Authoring process that creates a panoramic PICT of blended photographic images of a node.

Title

A multimedia product usually distributed on CD-ROM.

Virtual Reality (VR)

The experience of exploring and interacting with a spatial environment through a computer.