movie Reference

Play a movie in a window

movie

Description

Plays a movie in a separate window. All movie playback control is managed by messages to the object.

Examples

Play a movie, or move through it in a variety of ways... Hold multiple movies (which are stored in reverse order from the order received)

Discussion

Note: The movie object requires that QuickTime be installed on your system. If you are using Max on Windows, we recommend that you install QuickTime and choose a complete install of all optional components.The movie object plays a movie in its own window, and the imovie object plays a movie in a box inside a patcher window.

Arguments

filename [symbol]

Optional

Specifies the name of a movie file to be read into movie automatically when the patch is loaded. The same effect can be achieved for imovie by selecting the object in an unlocked patcher and choosing Get Info... from the Object menu to select a movie file. Both objects retain the name(s) of the movie(s) they have loaded at the time that the patch is saved, and attempt to load the same movie(s) the next time the patch is opened.

Attributes

autofit [int] (default: 0)

Toggles scaling the movie to fit in the window currently displayed.

border [int] (default: 1)

Toggles the movie’s border type. The message border 1 (the default) uses the traditional Macintosh-style border for the movie window. The message border 0 displays only the rectangle in which the movie plays. Possible values:

0 = 'Plain'
1 = 'Document'

name [symbol]

Name of the movie file loaded.

Common Box Attributes

annotation [symbol]

Sets the text that will be displayed in the Clue window when the user moves the mouse over the object.

background [int] (default: 0)

Adds or removes the object from the patcher's background layer. background 1 adds the object to the background layer, background 0 removes it. Objects in the background layer are shown behind all objects in the default foreground layer.

color [4 floats]

Sets the color for the object box outline.

fontface [int]

Sets the type style used by the object. The options are:

plain
bold
italic
bold italic Possible values:

0 = 'regular'
1 = 'bold'
2 = 'italic'
3 = 'bold italic'

fontname [symbol]

Sets the object's font.

fontsize [float]

Sets the object's font size (in points). Possible values:

'8'
'9'
'10'
'11'
'12'
'13'
'14'
'16'
'18'
'20'
'24'
'30'
'36'
'48'
'64'
'72'

hidden [int] (default: 0)

Toggles whether an object is hidden when the patcher is locked.

hint [symbol]

Sets the text that will be displayed in as a pop-up hint when the user moves the mouse over the object in a locked patcher.

ignoreclick [int] (default: 0)

Toggles whether an object ignores mouse clicks in a locked patcher.

jspainterfile [symbol]

JS Painter File

patching_rect [4 floats] (default: 0. 0. 100. 0.)

Sets the position and size of the object in the patcher window.

position [2 floats]

g/s(set)

Sets the object's x and y position in both patching and presentation modes (if the object belongs to its patcher's presentation), leaving its size unchanged.

presentation [int] (default: 0)

Sets whether an object belongs to the patcher's presentation.

presentation_rect [4 floats] (default: 0. 0. 0. 0.)

Sets the x and y position and width and height of the object in the patcher's presentation, leaving its patching position unchanged.

rect [4 floats]

g/s(set)

Sets the x and y position and width and height of the object in both patching and presentation modes (if the object belongs to its patcher's presentation).

size [2 floats]

g/s(set)

Sets the object's width and height in both patching and presentation modes (if the object belongs to its patcher's presentation), leaving its position unchanged.

textcolor [4 floats]

Sets the color for the object's text in RGBA format.

textjustification [int]

Sets the justification for the object's text. Possible values:

0 = 'left'
1 = 'center'
2 = 'right'

varname [symbol]

Sets the patcher's scripting name, which can be used to address the object by name in pattr, scripting messages to thispatcher, and the js object.

Messages

bang

Same as resume.

int

Arguments

location [int]
Sets the current time location of the movie. If the movie is playing, it will play from the newly set location. 0 is always the beginning. The end time varies from one movie to another. (The length message reports the end time location out the left outlet.)

(drag)

When a QuickTIme movie file is dragged from the Max File Browser to a movie object, the file will be loaded.

active

Arguments

flag [int]
The word active, followed by a non-zero number, makes the movie active (the default). Followed by a 0, active makes the movie inactive. An inactive movie will not play or change location.

clear

Has the same effect as dispose with no arguments.

(mouse)

Double-clicking on the movie object will make the movie window active.

dispose

Arguments

filename [symbol]
Closes the movie window if it is open, and removes all movies from the movie object's memory. If the word dispose is followed by the name of a loaded movie, only the named movie will be removed.

duration

Reports the duration of the movie (in time units) out the left-most outlet.

ff

The word ff fast-forwards the movie.

getduration

Reports the end time position of the movie (in QuickTime Time Units) from the left outlet.

getrate

Reports the current rate multiplied by 65536 out the right outlet. Thus, normal speed is reported as 65536, half speed is reported as 32768, double speed backward is reported as -131072, etc. If the movie is not playing, the rate is reported as 0, and if no movie has yet been loaded nothing is sent out.

gettime

Reports the current time location of the movie.

length

The length message's functionality is equivalent to the getduration message.

loadintoram

Arguments

flag [int]
The word loadintoram, followed by a non-zero number, attempts to load the entire movie into memory, if possible. The default is 0.

loop

Arguments

flag [int]
The word loop, followed by a number in the range 0-2, controls looping for the current film on. The options are:
0: looping off (default) 1: looping on 2: palindrome mode (forward and then backward)

loopend

Arguments

end [int]
The word loopend, followed by a number, sets the end point of a loop. The default value is corresponds to the end of the film.

looppoints

Arguments

beginning [int]
end [int]
The word looppoints, followed by two numbers, sets the beginning and end points of a loop. the default values are 0 (i.e., the start of the film) for the start point and the end of the film for the endpoint.

loopset

Arguments

beginning [int]
end [int]
The loopset message's functionality is equivalent to the looppoints message.

loopstart

Arguments

beginning [int]
The word loopstart, followed by a number, sets the beginning point of a loop. The default value is 0 (i.e., the start of the film).

matrix

Arguments

matrix [list]
The word matrix, followed by nine floating point numbers, reloads the current movie into RAM after performing a transformation matrix operation on the image. This transformation is the same one used for the mapping in QuickTime of points from one coordinate space (i.e, the original image) into another coordinate space (a scaled, rotated, or translated version of the original image).

The transform matrix operation consists of nine matrix elements

mute

Arguments

flag [int]
The word mute, followed by a non-zero number, turns off the movie's sound (if it has any). Followed by a 0, mute turns on the movie's sound (the default).

next

Arguments

time-units [int]
The word next, followed by a number, moves the time location ahead by that amount. If no number is supplied, next moves the time ahead by 5. (The actual time meaning of these units varies from movie to movie.)

nextmovie

Stops the movie if it is playing, and switches to the movie that was loaded just prior to the current movie. (The movies are stored in reverse order from the order in which they were loaded.) If there is no prior movie, nextmovie wraps around back to the most recently loaded movie. Note that the title of the movie window is not automatically changed, even though the "current movie" has been changed by nextmovie.

open

Brings the movie window to the foreground (applies only to movie, not imovie).

palindrome

Arguments

flag [int]
The word palindrome, followed by a non-zero number, sets the movie to play in palindrome mode (forward and then backward). Looping must be turned on. palindrome 0 (the default) disables palindrome mode.

passive

Arguments

mode [int]
The word passive, followed by a non-zero number, sets the passive mode. In passive mode, starting a movie will not cause the frame to change unless a bang message is received. passive 0 (the default) sets the movie object to respond to normal start messages.

pause

Stops the movie.

pos

Arguments

index [float]
The word pos followed by a floating-point number which denotes a position-index within the movie will cause the playback-position to jump to the specified position in the movie.

prev

Arguments

time-units [int]
The word prev, followed by a number, moves the time location backward by that amount. If no number is supplied, prev moves the time backward by 5.

quality

Arguments

interval [int]
The word quality, followed by a number, sets the minimum interval, in milliseconds, between movie redraws. The default is 0 (i.e., no minimum).

rate

Arguments

input [list]
The word rate, followed by one or more integers or floats, sets the playing speed of the movie. If rate is followed by one integer, that number is taken to be a whole number playing speed. If rate is followed by two numbers, the first number is taken to be the numerator and the second the denominator of a fractional speed. 1 is the normal playing speed, 0 means the movie is stopped, and a negative rate plays backwards. rate 1 2 would play the movie at half speed. Immediately after you send a non-zero rate message, the movie will begin playing, so you may wish to precede any rate messages with an integer to locate to the desired starting position.

rd

Arguments

filename [symbol]
Same as read.

read

Arguments

filename [symbol]
The word read, followed by a symbol, looks for a movie file with that name in Max's file search path, and opens it if it exists, displaying the movie's first frame in a movie window. If the filename contains any spaces or special characters, the name should be enclosed in double quotes or each special character should be preceded by a backslash (\). The word read by itself puts up a standard Open Document dialog box and reads in any movie file you select. The read message will open at least 26 different types of files that can be opened by QuickTime, these include movie files such as MPEG, audio files including AIFF and MP3, and graphics files including GIF and JPEG.

readany

Arguments

filename [symbol]
The readany message opens any type of file, using QuickTime routines to try to interpret it as a movie or other supported media file.

rect

Arguments

x-position-coordinate [int]
y-position-coordinate [int]
width (pixels) [int]
height (pixels) [int]
The word rect, followed by four numbers, specifies the size of the rectangle in which the movie is displayed within the movie window. The first two numbers specify the position of the rectangle within the movie window, in relative coordinates, and the second two numbers specify the width and height, in pixels, of the rectangle.

reload

The word reload will reload the current movie into memory (can be used to refresh; for example, if a movie is playing and the stop message is sent followed by reload, the movie will reload into memory and be set to play from the beginning as a newly loaded movie).

resume

Begins playing the movie from its current location, at the most recently specified rate.

rw

The word rw rewinds the movie.

start

Arguments

filename [symbol]
Sets the movie's rate to 1 and begins playing from the beginning. If the word start is followed by the name of a specific loaded movie, that movie becomes the current movie before starting.

startat

Arguments

location [list]
The word startat, followed by a number, set the current time location of the movie and begins playing from that point.

stop

Stops the movie.

switch

Arguments

filename [symbol]
The word switch, followed by a symbol, makes the named movie the active one without changing the transport state (See the start message).

time

Arguments

frame [list]
The word time, followed by a number that specifies a QuickTime frame number, goes to the time location specified by the number. When no argument is present, the time message's functionality is equivalent to the gettime message.

timescale

Reports the timescale of the movie out the left-most outlet.

toggleplay

The word toggleplay activates or pauses playback of the movie.

vol

Arguments

volume [int]
The word vol, followed by a number in the range 1-255, sets the movie's sound volume. Optionally, the volume can be set by using the word vol, followed by a floating-point value in the range 0. - 1.0.

wclose

Closes the movie window.

windowpos

Arguments

left-coordinate [int]
top-coordinate [int]
right-coordinate [int]
bottom-coordinate [int]
The word windowpos, followed by four numbers, specifies the location and size of the movie window on the screen. The four numbers specify the left, top, right, and bottom of the movie window in global coordinates. This message is only supported by the movie object, not the imovie object.

Output

int

Out left outlet: The current time location, when a time message is received; the end time location when a length message is received.

Out middle outlet: The horizontal position of the mouse, relative to the left side of the movie box or window, when the mouse is clicked or dragged inside the movie.

Out right outlet: The vertical position of the mouse, relative to the top of the movie box or window, when the mouse is clicked or dragged inside the movie.

Also, in response to a getrate message, the current movie rate multiplied by 65536 is sent out the right outlet.

See Also

Name Description
Working with Video in Jitter Working with Video in Jitter
imovie Play video