QuickTime SMIL Activity - Assemble files

  1. To use the files you just created with MAGpie, copy the captions file ("csun2007.en_US.qt.txt") and the SMIL file ("csun2007.qt.smil") to the "quicktime" folder in the "activities" folder.
  2. Open SMIL file generated by MAGpie ("csun2007.qt.smil") in a text editor by dragging the file to the TextEdit icon.
  3. In the following steps, you will be typing in the bolded text as shown below:

    4. SMILtext <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <smil xmlns:qt="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/resources/smilextensions" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-smil" qt:time-slider="true">
    <head>
      <meta name="title" content="CSUN 2007 Captioning Demo"/>
      <meta name="author" content="Your name here"/>
      <meta name="copyright" content="2007"/>
      <layout>
        <root-layout height="335" width="330" background-color="black"/>
        <region height="240" width="320" background-color="black" left="5" top="5" id="videoregion"/>
        <region height="80" width="320" background-color="black" left="5" top="245" id="textregion"/>
      </layout>
    </head>
    <body>
      <par dur="0:01:03.71">
        <video dur="0:01:03.71" region="videoregion" src="csun2007.mov"/>
        <textstream dur="0:01:03.71" region="textregion" src="csun2007.en_US.qt.txt"/>
      </par>
    </body>
    </smil>


  4. In the SMIL file, add "SMILtext" to beginning of file. This allows QuickTime to recognize the file as a QuickTime SMIL file so it will display it properly.
  5. Add metadata to the meta tags.
    1. Add a title where "CSUN 2007 Captioning Demo" is shown above (for example, "EEOC Video").
    2. Add an author where "Your name here" is shown above (for example, type your name).
    3. Add copyright information where "2007" is shown above (for example, "2007").
  6. Check <par dur>, <video dur> and <textstream dur> tags to confirm that they match the video run time as displayed in the QuickTime "Movie Info" dialog as follows:
    1. Run the video in QuickTime by double clicking the file "csun2007.mov".
    2. In QuickTime, select Window->Show Movie Info.
    3. Find the movie's duration, also called Total Run Time. Use this value in the <par dur>, <video dur>, and <textstream dur> tags where the code above shows "0:01:03.71".
  7. Check videoregion src= parameter to make sure the video file name and path are correct. Your SMIL file should use the file name "csun2007.mov" for the video file. In this case, no path is needed, since the video is located in the same location as the SMIL file. (Note that you should use "http://" if the file is located on a different server or domain.)
  8. Check textregion src= parameter to make sure the caption file name and path are correct. Your caption file should use the file name "csun2007.en_US.qt.txt" (or the name used when you exported the caption file from MAGpie). (Note that you would normally use "http://" and the URL to the file if the file is located on a different server or domain.)
  9. Rename the SMIL file so it has a ".mov" extension at the end of its name (i.e., "csun2007.qt.smil.mov") or change the .smil extension to .sml (i.e., "csun2007.qt.sml"). Note: All three files (SMIL, TXT, MOV) should be in the same folder, here, the "quicktime" folder.
  10. Now try it out. Double click the saved SMIL file ("csun2007.qt.smil.mov" or "csun2007.qt.sml") and QuickTime should start, showing your movie with captions.
  11. If the movie doesn't work at this point, try opening the SMIL file ("csun2007.qt.smil.mov") in a text editor and use Save As to save the file in UTF-8 or rename it using the .sml file extension.
  12. If you have time, now go back and experiment with different height and width values for the root layout or the video or text regions, or change the parameters you edited above. Save and test.

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