Quicktime 7 on SNOW problems

Scripting Forums AppleScript | Mac OS X
#1

This is a simple script I used to move QT windows around my screen:


tell application "QuickTime Player 7"
	tell window 1
		set position of window 1 to {200, 200}
		
	end tell
	
end tell

I am using Quicktime 7 Pro Edition but I always get an error

QuickTime Player 7 got an error: Can’t set window 1 of window 1 to {200, 200}.

The position property is in the dictionary.

2 - If I call System events in any quicktime scripts they will refer to the new Quicktime X or Quicktime 7?

This as QTX is not as useful as QT7 unfortunately (apple magic decisions)

What am’I doing wrong?

Thanks

#2

If you look at the window class in the quicktime player 7 dictionary, it doesn’t have a “position” property. It has a “bounds” property. As such you can set the bounds of a window and not the position. In addition, in your script you are telling “window 1” to set the position of “window 1”. You are telling something to window 1 two times. So that wouldn’t work even if you could use position. Try this…

tell application "QuickTime Player 7"
	tell window 1
		set {x1, y1, x2, y2} to bounds
		set bounds to {200, 200, 200 + (x2 - x1), 200 + (y2 - y1)}
	end tell
end tell
#3

Thank you very much … it works very well … And at my not so young age (73) I do confuse things, drowning in a glass of water sometimes (or often?).

However I will modify it a bit to suit some additional needs and send you a copy for your approval.

I am trying hard to create again the original editing systems as we used before computer editing.

In Europe we used the flatbed editing machines: we could see at the same time several cuts running to choose how to give tempo and meaning to our sequence.

Unfortunately Final Cut, Avid and other systems have a “database soul”. Catalogue sequences and cuts to later perform the actual editing with the variety of effects of any kind available to the editor.

Indeed FCP allows editing more than one window at once but ONLY from different cameras with different angles of the same scene. It mimics an editing live control of a television studio. There is no way to import already imported sequences as it only works with Live stuff.

The result of watching a single sequence at the time forces the editor to rely on memory and written notes. No software allows to visually compare running films at the same time. Some youth say: “too many windows leads to confusion”. But this is not true: they never experienced it. I happened to edit with a 7 screen flatbed where the central screen display my editing attempts and the other six various takes or whatever else I wanted to see. So many masterpieces happened exactly because of the option we had to choose while watching films running at once on many screens.

While this is particularly useful for features as the same scene might have several takes, with different acting performances, and other differences … as I don’t know how much you are into filming and editing …

another example:

Editing a documentary opening several windows:

You can see

an interview with Mister Whoever talking about the future of the Sahara desert in one window

an interview with Mister Himself talking about the future of the Sahara desert giving different views in another
window

Footage of the Sahara desert in another

Footage of bedu’s riding camels in another

Footage of something related to the project in any other way

With current machines this will make film, documentaries, MTV and everything else far more creative and fun.
Watching several windows at the same time gives also creative ideas which the current software doesn’t allow.

Quicktime 7 allows to open more than one window at the time and the editor can choose to synch them where he wants and play together. However is not too easy to set in and out point as the cursor movements and the timeline itself are very basic.

Unfortunately Quicktime 7 seems to be the last useful version to scripters for editing. Already Quicktime X doesn’t allow as many editing options.

well … this is a long post I hope it interests you and tanks as you gave me a hand many times already

Thanks , and I will send you the collection of scripts I have to attempt performing this kind of work

Regards

Danwan

#4

Hi Danwan,

I’m glad to help. That’s an interesting project you’re working. From reading about it, it seems that you’ll be using multiple displays and that you’ll probably need position information about those displays if you want to be using applescript to position multiple quicktime windows on the various screens. I wrote such a tool in ANSI-C awhile back that can be run from the command line using “do shell script” to bring the information into applescript. If you’re interested you can see my post about it here.

I understand what you’re saying about QuicktimeX. I’m disappointed it isn’t very scriptable either. Keep in mind though that it’s only a first version and I’m sure as it gets updated its applescript commands will also get updated. Like you I would hate to lose the capabilities we have with the old quicktime player. One thing I’m weary of though is it seems apple has been dumbing-down their applications lately. Look at iMovie. The new version that came out a few years ago was much more limited compared to the original. I think Apple has gone main-stream on us and they design their applications for a broader market. I hope the same doesn’t happen with quicktime player.

Anyway, good luck.