Goodness, that was a long message....
I'm not sure what you're actually seeking an answer for. Yes, this is my real name, and I do work at Macromedia helping content developers with technical issues. I do not know financials or sales, do not dictate marketing strategy, etc... standard disclaimer. I'm a geek.
"How does QuickTime 3 and LiveStage or this interactive QuickTime stuff match up with Flash or Shockwave?" QT's used for video content now. Try it out... go to HotBot and search on MOV assets. This will give an idea of how QT2x has been used. (LiveStage is predicted to ship next year... only info right now is the PR material and a rework of the old Neka demo.)
For "QT everywhere on the web", LiveStage requires the QT3 plugin, which has a bit of a different distribution profile than the QT2.5/QTW plugin set. I know of a few applications that host Netscape plugins, but it's more common that applications host ActiveX Controls. MSWord definitely does host ActiveX for Flash and Shockwave... I do not believe Adobe Acrobat hosts either plugins or controls. (Shockwave and Flash are available as both plugins and controls; QT is available as plugins.)
"I hear it supports bitmap and vectors and has better compression than Flash?" Yes, QuickTime 3 does support a vector graphics description. It remains to be seen whether this will compete with Flash's native SWF format, however. Graphic compression should be about the same, although QT3 does use the nice QSound codec for its audio, which compares favorably with the MP3-style compression in Shockwave.
"Or are you telling me that Flash will satisfy everyone to create rich media which is coming into big demand?" No, actually I was drawing attention to how your message here implied that you only learned of Totally Hip's new tool on Friday, when you had already been posting insider tips on it three weeks ago. Wasn't venturing to predict the market, myself.
For more information on the Real Time Streaming Protocol you mention, check into the developer's section at RealNetworks or at the World Wide Web Consortium. For more information on QT3-savvy tools, see larisoftware.com . (Or see Director 6.5, for that matter.)
jd |
