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Preparing a Movie for Fast Start

You can set up a movie to start playing from a web server before the movie has completely downloaded to the user's hard disk. This is called a "Fast Start" movie.

Set the Fast Start setting just before you distribute your movie; making other changes and resaving may undo the Fast Start setting.

If the movie is in the format you want, you can set it up for Fast Start by choosing File > Save As and then selecting "Save as a self-contained movie." If the movie is not in the format you want, you need to encode it first by following the steps below.

To convert a movie and set it up for Fast Start:

  1. In QuickTime Player, choose File > Export.
  2. Choose "Movie to QuickTime Movie" from the Export pop-up menu.
  3. Click Options and select video and sound compression options appropriate for web delivery.

    For more information, see Customizing Video Export Settings, Customizing Sound Export Settings.

  4. Make sure the "Prepare for Internet Streaming" checkbox is selected and Fast Start appears in the pop-up menu.