Describing QuickTime Movie Clips

The QuickTime Movie clips found on the NCAM Web site were described using a Macintosh equipped with the following software:

QuickTime Player.
A microphone. We used an inexpensive one purchased from a local electronics store.
Sound-recording software.

Please note: The QuickTime Player can toggle the description track on and off, using either the Mac or PC. However, you must first upgrade to the Pro version.

In a QuickTime movie, sound and video are contained in separate tracks. You can easily add sound tracks to accommodate different languages or audio descriptions. Keep in mind that the audio descriptions will be inserted only into the pauses in the movie's dialog. NCAM's method of adding and manipulating sound tracks is based on Stern and Letteri's instructions, with a few variations.

Open the QuickTime Player and the clip you want to describe. Choose Get Info from the Movie menu, or press Command-I.
Using the sound-recording software of your choice, record and edit the first description you want to incorporate into the movie clip. Select, or highlight, the entire sound clip (or the portion you want to insert into the movie clip). Copy the sound clip onto the clipboard.
In the QuickTime Player, move the slider to the end of the pause where the description will go. Hold down the Shift key and move the slider backwards until you reach the beginning of this pause. This selects the segment of the movie clip which will receive the audio description.
Hold down the Option key, open the Edit menu and choose Add. The description and a new sound track will be added to the movie. In the Get Info window, click on the left drop-down menu. You'll see that "Sound Track 2" is now one of the menu choices.
Play the clip to hear the narration you've just inserted.
Repeat steps 2-5 to insert subsequent audio descriptions. Always remember to select the segment which will contain the audio description by first going to the end of that segment and then moving the slider backwards to the beginning. If you don't, the QuickTime Player will add the description to the end of the segment, rather than the beginning.

For more hints about using QuickTime, check the Berkeley Mac User's Group (BMUG) Little QuickTime Page, and the Apple QuickTime homepage.

Back to Audio Descriptions in Rich Media