The method and apparatus of the present invention may be utilized for the efficient interchange of multimedia data in a data processing system. A sequential data stream is established which includes multiple variable length consecutive sections, each of which includes multiple data samples. Each data sample preferably includes a collection of data and a control structure or header which is utilized to specify a manner of interpreting the collection of data. In the depicted embodiment of the present invention a track collection index is transmitted in conjunction with the sequential data stream and utilized to identify the physical location of various track samples within the data stream. Additionally, a track sequence index is provided which may be utilized to identify the logical order in which the data samples are to be utilized in each selected track to create a multi-media presentation along with an indication of the playback speed to be utilized. This sequential data stream, track collection index and track sequence index are then transmitted throughout a distributed data processing system utilizing various personal computers or intelligent work stations, permitting multimedia data to be efficiently interchanged.