---
title: QuickTime VR file format
framework: QuickTime File Format
role: collectionGroup
path: quicktime-file-format/quicktime_vr_file_format
---

# QuickTime VR file format

A file format used to store a QuickTime VR movie on disk.

## Overview

Overview important: VR Media is deprecated in the QuickTime file format. The information that follows documents existing content containing VR Media and should not be used for new development. A QuickTime VR movie is stored on disk in a format known as the QuickTime VR file format. Beginning in QuickTime VR 2.0, a QuickTime VR movie could contain one or more nodes. Each node is either a panorama or an object. In addition, a QuickTime VR movie could contain various types of hot spots, including links between any two types of nodes. important: This section describes the file format supported by version 2.1 of the QuickTime VR Manager. All QuickTime VR movies contain a single QTVR track, a special type of QuickTime track that maintains a list of the nodes in the movie. Each individual sample in a QTVR track contains general information and hot spot information for a particular node. If a QuickTime VR movie contains any panoramic nodes, that movie also contains a single panorama track, and if it contains any object nodes, it also contains a single object track. The panorama and object tracks contain information specific to the panoramas or objects in the movie. The actual image data for both panoramas and objects is usually stored in standard QuickTime video tracks, hereafter referred to as image tracks. (An image track can also be any type of track that is capable of displaying an image, such as a QuickTime 3D track.) The individual frames in the image track for a panorama make up the diced frames of the original single panoramic image. The frames for the image track of an object represent the many different views of the object. Hot spot image data is stored in parallel video tracks for both panoramas and objects.

## Topics

### Storing QuickTime VR files

- [Single-node panoramic movies](quicktime-file-format/single-node_panoramic_movies.md)
- [Single-node object movies](quicktime-file-format/single-node_object_movies.md)
- [Multinode movies](quicktime-file-format/multinode_movies.md)
- [Getting the name of a QuickTime VR node](quicktime-file-format/getting_the_name_of_a_quicktime_vr_node.md)
- [Adding custom atoms in a QuickTime VR movie](quicktime-file-format/adding_custom_atoms_in_a_quicktime_vr_movie.md)
- [Adding atom containers in a QuickTime VR Movie](quicktime-file-format/adding_atom_containers_in_a_quicktime_vr_movie.md)
- [Optimizing QuickTime VR movies for web playback](quicktime-file-format/optimizing_quicktime_vr_movies_for_web_playback.md)

## See Also

### Media data atom types

- [Sprite media](quicktime-file-format/sprite_media.md)
- [Sprite track properties](quicktime-file-format/sprite_track_properties.md)
- [Sprite track media format](quicktime-file-format/sprite_track_media_format.md)
- [Sprite media atom and data types](quicktime-file-format/sprite_media_atom_and_data_types.md)
- [Sprite button behaviors](quicktime-file-format/sprite_button_behaviors.md)
- [QT atom container description key](quicktime-file-format/qt_atom_container_description_key.md)
- [Sprite media handler track properties QT atom container format](quicktime-file-format/sprite_media_handler_track_properties_qt_atom_container_format.md)
- [Sprite media handler sample QT atom container formats](quicktime-file-format/sprite_media_handler_sample_qt_atom_container_formats.md)
- [Wired action grammar](quicktime-file-format/wired_action_grammar.md)
- [Tween media](quicktime-file-format/tween_media.md)
- [3D media](quicktime-file-format/3d_media.md)
- [VR media](quicktime-file-format/vr_media.md)
- [Node parent atom](quicktime-file-format/node_parent_atom.md)
- [Node location atom structure](quicktime-file-format/node_location_atom_structure.md)
- [Custom cursor atom](quicktime-file-format/custom_cursor_atom.md)