Apple Media Tool
Encyclopedia
The Apple Media Tool was a multimedia authoring tool and associated programming environment sold by Apple
in the late 1990s. It was primarily aimed at producing multimedia presentations for distribution on CD-ROM
and was aimed at graphic designers who did not have programming experience. It featured an advanced user interface with an object-oriented user model that made production of rich and complex presentations easy.
working for Arborescence a French company that was later acquired by Havas
. From 1993 onwards it was marketed by Apple but all development was done by the independent team led by M. Soquet. In 1996 development of the tool was taken over by Apple and the 2.1 version of the program was developed in house by a team of engineers in California
led by Dan Crow. In 1997 Apple decided to concentrate its multimedia offerings on QuickTime
and HyperCard
and the rights to AMT returned to Havas. Patrick Soquet acquired these rights and co-founded Tribeworks and developed a new tool based on AML, called iShell
.
AML is an object-oriented programming language
based on Eiffel
but specialized for multimedia programming. Although the AMT did not require any programming experience to use, it produced complete AML programs which were then compiled into byte code and interpreted by a runtime interpreter. The AMPTE could be used to enhance the AML code to create more complex programs, for example accessing a database to retrieve media. AML is conceptually similar to Java, with a "write once, run anywhere" approach to cross-platform development: it had runtime interpreters for both the Mac OS
and Windows
platforms.
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
in the late 1990s. It was primarily aimed at producing multimedia presentations for distribution on CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
and was aimed at graphic designers who did not have programming experience. It featured an advanced user interface with an object-oriented user model that made production of rich and complex presentations easy.
History
The AMT system was developed by Patrick Soquet, a developer in BelgiumBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
working for Arborescence a French company that was later acquired by Havas
Euro RSCG
Euro RSCG Worldwide is one of the largest integrated marketing communications agencies in the world, made up of 233 offices located in 75 countries throughout Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Euro RSCG provides advertising, marketing services, corporate...
. From 1993 onwards it was marketed by Apple but all development was done by the independent team led by M. Soquet. In 1996 development of the tool was taken over by Apple and the 2.1 version of the program was developed in house by a team of engineers in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
led by Dan Crow. In 1997 Apple decided to concentrate its multimedia offerings on QuickTime
QuickTime
QuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
and HyperCard
HyperCard
HyperCard is an application program created by Bill Atkinson for Apple Computer, Inc. that was among the first successful hypermedia systems before the World Wide Web. It combines database capabilities with a graphical, flexible, user-modifiable interface. HyperCard also features HyperTalk, written...
and the rights to AMT returned to Havas. Patrick Soquet acquired these rights and co-founded Tribeworks and developed a new tool based on AML, called iShell
IShell
iShell is a traditional multimedia authoring environment, similar in many ways to Macromedia Director. A descendant of the Apple Media Tool, iShell is designed to be easy to use, but powerful enough to grow as a user's skill set increases. iShell was first released by Tribeworks in 1999. In July...
.
Features
The major features of the Apple Media Tool were a graphical authoring tool (AMT itself) and an associated programming environment - the Apple Media Tool Programming Environment (AMTPE) which was a compiler and debugger for the underlying Apple Media Language (AML - also known as the Key language). AMT was notable as one of the first authoring systems to support embedding Apple's pioneering QTVR movie format.AML is an object-oriented programming language
Programming language
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
based on Eiffel
Eiffel (programming language)
Eiffel is an ISO-standardized, object-oriented programming language designed by Bertrand Meyer and Eiffel Software. The design of the language is closely connected with the Eiffel programming method...
but specialized for multimedia programming. Although the AMT did not require any programming experience to use, it produced complete AML programs which were then compiled into byte code and interpreted by a runtime interpreter. The AMPTE could be used to enhance the AML code to create more complex programs, for example accessing a database to retrieve media. AML is conceptually similar to Java, with a "write once, run anywhere" approach to cross-platform development: it had runtime interpreters for both the Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
and Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
platforms.