Getting
Started
DirectMediaXtra is an Asset Xtra. Unlike XObjects or Lingo
Xtras, Asset Xtras can be manipulated using the score and cast windows,
and their properties can be adjusted through Lingo, just like Director's
built-in media types.
Before starting, you should configure Director's authoring environment
to properly display external palettes in 256 color mode. DirectMediaXtra
needs to access the current palette when Director is running in 256 colors.
This can be enabled by editing the DIRECTOR.INI file, which is located
in the same directory of your Director application. You need to edit the
palette section to look like:
[Palette]
Animation=0
; 1: allows director to take control of the palette for fast palette
effects
; and transitions.
; 0: prevents director from taking control of the palette so other
apps,
; wallpaper etc. look better but palette effects and transitions will
; be slower.
You will need to include a copy of this modified DIRECTOR.INI file with
your Projectors (read the instructions on the "Creating Projectors" section).
It is also a good idea to enable the "Animate in Background" option.
This can be done by selecting the FILE->PREFERENCES->GENERAL menu in Director,
and checking the "Animate in Background" option.
DirectMediaXtra will take advantage of Microsoft’s DirectDraw and DirectSound
if they are available on the playback system. The Xtra will always try
to play the Media file using the fastest color depth and method available
on the machine. The result is that Media files can play using thousands
or millions of colors even if your Projector and Display are set to 256
colors. The DirectDraw engine will use overlay technology to write directly
to the memory of the display adapter if this feature is available, resulting
in faster and enhanced playback.
To create a DirectMediaXtra cast member, go to your INSERT menu, select
TABULEIRO XTRAS->DirectMediaXtra. The standard DirectMediaXtra Properties
Dialog Box will appear. Select browse. Another Dialog Box will appear,
prompting you to choose the video file associated with this cast member.
You can select MPEG, AVI, Quicktime, WAV, AIF, MP2 or MIDI files. If Windows
Media Player is installed you can also select Windows Media files compressed
in the ASF, WMV or WMA formats. Select a file with the correct type and
extension. Click OK. You will return to the Properties Dialog Box. The
file information should be displayed correctly, indicating the duration,
height and width of the media file.
You can preview the file, mark cue points and set the playback options
(toolbar, volume, rate, balance, among others).
Leave the Playback options as they are, for now. Finish by clicking
OK.
A new cast member will appear in your Cast Window in Director. It has
the DirectMediaXtra icon, and the name of your linked video file. Click
on it and drag the cast member to the score. A new sprite will be created
on your score window, and you can adjust the position and the size of
the video directly in the score.
You can use the "Wait for Cue Point" option in the tempo channel to
wait for the end of the playback, or you can use a:
on exitframe
go the frame
end
script on the script channel to make Director loop on the frame while
the video plays. That's it!
Note: the "Wait for cue point" option will not operate correctly if
your DirectMediaXtra sprite is in the last frame of the score. The same
behavior is true for built-in digital video and audio sprites.
