56KB streaming video movies are very compact mov files. Their small image size makes it practical for viewing on computers having only slow telephone modem connections.

Mpeg-4 (.mp4) is a new format for video movies that combine high compression yet retain quality images. A free encoder is provided with Quicktime 6, available from www.apple.com.

The normal quicktime (.mov) files have fairly large sizes as they run for 30 to 45 minutes. With a T1 connection they download reasonably fast, but for telephone modem connection, transfer would be very slow. One option is to transfer the large mov file when computer is not otherwise being used, save file to a local disk drive, and then play the mov file from that disk when convenient. See left sidebar for how to obtain copies of these movies on DVD or cdrom discs.

Quicktime 4, 5, or 6 installed on your computer is needed. These programs can be downloaded free from www.apple.com. The Pro version ($30) is recommended as it provides true full-screen movie display.

An mpeg-2 reader program is needed to view those files, which also are generally of smaller size than the mov files. One such program Bowin has used is Elecard MPEG2 Player. TMPGEnc was used to encode (make) these mpeg-2 movies from the original mov clips.