This document discusses the fast-start capability of QuickTime Pro as one method to deliver QuickTime movies over the Web.
With QuickTime, you can watch movies as they download using ordinary HTTP or FTP transfer protocols. This is not streaming, but a unique feature of QuickTime called fast-start or progressive download.
With fast-start, your audience downloads an entire QuickTime movie at the highest data rate their connections can support. As soon as the initial part of the movie has been downloaded, QuickTime Plug-in begins to play it back in the browser while it continues to download the rest. Your audience is left with a complete movie file that they can save and replay as often as they want. No special streaming software on the server is needed; all you have to do is create a fast-start movie (which you can do using QuickTime Player) and embed it in a Web page.
See technical document 42562 "QuickTime Pro: How to Save a Fast-Start Movie" for steps on how to create a fast-start movie using QuickTime Player.
A fast-start movie can start playing long before the whole file has downloaded--typically within a few seconds of starting the file transfer. If the Internet connection is faster than the movie's data rate, the movie plays smoothly as it arrives, with no waiting. It's an optimal experience for the audience.
A fast-start movie can also include pointers to data located in other files on the Web server, a local disk or CD, or any Web URL