Detailed instructions for viewing Magic Mountain site movies

Required software

In order to view the Magic Mountain Virtual site movies, you need to have Apple's Quicktime Plug-in installed on your computer. The plug-in is free and available for all platforms from Apple's Quicktime download page exit icon. Follow the instructions provided by Apple to install the plug-in.

The Magic Mountain site movie files

The site animations are a combination of two types of movies: a Quicktime fly-thru movie followed by a Quicktime Virtual Reality (QTVR) movie, or panorama. They are combined into one file. After the file has loaded, the fly-thru movie plays and ends up in the panorama (at which point the window controls will change). The fly-thru movie can be viewed again by hitting the rewind button on the movie control bar.

Navigating within a QTVR panorama

The QTVR panorama contains a 360 degree view, and allows you to look up, look down, turn around, and zoom in or out. At the bottom of the panorama movie window, there are a set of buttons. Unlike standard movies, these buttons are not the primary means of controlling the QTVR. Instead, you click and drag your mouse across the movie image itself. The buttons merely supplement this basic action.

Basic Panorama Controls

--Look Around: Press the left mouse button and drag across the image in the direction you want to look. Alternatively, on the keyboard you can use the arrow keys to rotate the view in any direction.

--Zoom In/Out: Click on the buttons at the bottom of the movie on the movie control bar. The buttons are labeled with a "+" (zoom in) or a "-" (zoom out). Alternatively, on the keyboard you can use the SHIFT button to zoom in and the CTRL button to zoom out.

--Finding Hot Spots: Hot Spots are links to video clips within the panoramas. When your cursor passes over a Hot Spot, it changes from a circle to a hand pointing at a mouse. Just click when your cursor is in this state and a pop-up window will appear and play a video clip. Alternatively, you can click the "Show Hot Spots" button on the movie controller bar - this button has an upward pointing arrow with a question mark in it. This will highlight all the hot spots with a translucent blue color. Look for Hot Spots on chimneys and vehicles.