What's New Window
Click on the "news" tab for up-to-date information about ShockBox. Click on any hyperlinks in the news window to launch your web brower and to then view any additional information about the specific topic selected. If you have any questions or bug reports related to the most recent version, please send your e-mail to lance@endresdesign.com

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Desktop Audio Playback

Selections Window - Selecting Audio From Your Hard Drive

From the Desktop Playback area click on the "Search" button or "Servers" tab. A dialog box will appear then locate a folder containing audio files.

The below table contains all of the audio/video formats that will accept while in the Desktop Playback area. (NOTE: File suffixes are needed for files to be recognized.)

 Audio  Suffix  Video  Suffix
 AIFF  .aif / .aiff  AVI  .avi
 MIDI  .mid  Digital Video  .dv
 MPEG Layer III  .mp3  MPEG Video  .mpg
 MPEG Layer II  .mp2  QTVR  .qtvr
 Shockwave Audio  .swa  Quicktime 4  .mov, .qt, .qt3, .qt4
 Sun Audio  .au    
 WAVE  .wav    

The selected audio folders will be displayed within the volume field.

Choose the volume and track information by clicking on one of the field entries. Audio "tracks" are made available when a "volume" selection has been highlighted. When the tracks are made available double-click to add that track to the playlist or use the selection buttons below the "tracks" listings. Delete entries in the playlist by clicking once on the name in the "playlist" listing and then click the "delete" button.

To save playlists for playback at a later time, build a playlist, then click on the "Save" button. To load a previously saved playlist, click on the "Load" button. Locate the saved playlist file and open. Once the playlist is completed press the "Playback" tab.

A JPEG image may be included in each audio folder. The JPEG could be of CD cover or whatever is desired. It will be displayed upon playback of an audio track from that folder location. The JPEG image must be given the filename "cd.jpg". Although the JPEG image will be resized in the display window, save the image at the following settings:

The image width and height dimensions of "cd.jpg":
  • Width: 72 pixels (1 inch)
  • Height: 72 pixels (1 inch)
  • Suggested JPEG Resolution: 72 dpi (dots per inch)


Playback Window - Playing Audio
It is possible to forward to the next track, stop the track playing, pause the track playing, return to a previous track, and play a stopped track. Adjust the volume level with the blue slider bar. The shuffle button will randomly mix the order of the playlist. Clicking on the "Track..." button will display a dialog window that will allow the user to skip to any track by simply entering in a valid playlist number. The button next to the "Track..." button is the repeat button. When repeat button is toggled to active, it will display a loop symbol on the button. It will then allow the continuous play of the playlist.

The progress bar displays differently based on the audio format being played. Quicktime compatible audio will display a tab in the progress bar which allows total control on where the audio is started. Simply drag the tab from left to right to select a starting point for the audio. Shockwave audio will display a highlighted progress bar in the progress area. This bar is to show progress only, it has no further function.

Playback Window - Movie
For larger playback of movies, click on the movie thumbnail when in the playback area. Once clicked, the movie will be displayed in a larger viewing area. To return to the playback area simply click again on the movie. Play, pause, stop, volume, and the progress bar will be available within the area.

Web Audio Playback

Connection Menu
Set your Internet connection under the menu bar labeled "Connection". If you are unsure as to your connection rate to the Web, simply leave it at the default location.

Under the "FTP Firewall..." and "HTTP Firewall..." submenu you may set the HTTP or FTP proxy server information. These fields must be entered if your network is behind a firewall, ask your network administrator for the firewall address. If unsure, leave the fields empty.

Once these aspects have been covered, click on the button labeled "Web Playback".


Servers Window - Selecting a Server
After connecting to the Official ShockBox Server, you will be provided with a list of registered servers and an entry field (to build your own free ShockBox Server is covered here). To access a non-registered server, enter the Web or FTP address into the blank entry field (http://www.example.com/ or ftp://ftp.example.com/). Be sure to enter the complete address ending with a backslash character (/) and press the "Remote Server" button. To access a registered server, scroll down to the requested site and double-click the descriptive name or click it once and press the "ShockBox Server" button. At this point SB will attempt to connect to that server's location. If a successful connection has been made the audio selection window will be made available after a few moments. If after a few moments a connection error is received -- try again, the server may be busy.

The "Save Bookmark..." button will save the current address in the remote field to a file. Save this file in your "SB Servers" folder located with the ShockBox application. You may then access the bookmark through the pulldown menu next to the remote server field.

Server Agreement
Some servers may have an agreement window present upon connection. The agreement states the rules of the server and anything else the server administrator would like to convey to the user. Click "Agree" to proceed to the selections window, or click "Disagree" to exit back to the server selection window.


Selections Window - Selecting Audio
Choose the volume and track information by clicking on one of the field entries. Audio "tracks" are made available when a "volume" selection has been highlighted. When the tracks are made available double-click to add that track to the playlist or use the selection buttons below the "tracks" listings. Delete entries in the playlist by clicking once on the name in the "playlist" listing and then click the "delete" button. Once the playlist is completed, press the "Playback" tab.


Playback Window - Playing Audio
It is possible to forward to the next track, stop the track playing, pause the track playing, return to a previous track, and play a stopped track. Adjust the volume level with the blue slider bar. The shuffle button will randomly mix the order of the playlist. Clicking on the "Track..." button will display a dialog window that will skip to any track by simply entering in its playlist number. The button next to the "Track..." button is the repeat button. When the repeat button is toggled to active, it will display a loop symbol on the button. It will then allow the continuous play of the playlist.

From time to time advertisements will appear at the bottom of the window. The ads will change with each completion or advancement of an audio selection. Clicking upon these advertisements will launch the default Web browser and load up a Web page with further information on the advertisement. If a Web browser is not installed nothing will happen.

If an image appears in place of the existing CD graphic it could be a hyperlink. The hyperlink is dependent upon the server because the server administrator may not have created a hyperlink.

FTP Audio Playback

Selections Window - Selecting FTP Addresses
Enter the FTP address, login name (leave blank for anonymous entry), password (leave blank for anonymous entry), and a directory if known. Click the "Connect to FTP" button an an attempt will be made to connect to that FTP address.

The below table contains all of the audio/video formats that ShockBox will accept while in the FTP playback area. (NOTE: File suffixes are needed for audio files to be recognized.)

 Audio  Suffix
 MPEG Layer III  .mp3
 MPEG Layer II  .mp2
 Shockwave Audio  .swa

All audio files in the directory selected will be accessed when clicking on the "Grab Audio Files" button.

To change directories, enter the directory into the directory field and press the "Refresh Directory" button. After a moment, the FTP window will refresh with the contents of the directory selected. If double-clicking a directory entry, a new list of files will be displayed. To step out of the current directory, double click the ".." line at the top of the FTP window.

The "Save Bookmark..." button will save the current address in all fields to a file. Save the bookmark in the "FTP Servers" folder located with the ShockBox application. Access the bookmark through the pulldown menu next to the FTP server field.

The "Reset Fields" button will disconnect from the current FTP location and clear all of the entry fields.


Selections Window - Selecting Audio
To save playlists for playback at a later time, build a playlist, then click on the "Save" button. To load a previously saved playlist, click on the "Load" button. Locate the saved playlist file and open.

Choose the volume and track information by clicking on one of the field entries. Audio "tracks" are made available when a "volume" selection has been highlighted. When the tracks are made available double-click to add that track to the playlist or use the selection buttons below the "tracks" listings. Delete entries in the playlist by clicking once on the name in the "playlist" listing and then click the "delete" button. Once the playlist is completed press the "Playback" tab.


Playback Window - Playing Audio
It is possible to forward to the next track, stop the track playing, pause the track playing, return to a previous track, and play a stopped track. Adjust the volume level with the blue slider bar. The shuffle button will randomly mix the order of the playlist. Clicking on the "Track..." button will display a dialog window that will skip to any track by simply entering in its playlist number. The button next to the "Track..." button is the repeat button. When the repeat button is toggled to active, it will display a loop symbol on the button. It will then allow the continuous play of the playlist.

From time to time advertisements will appear at the bottom of the window. The ads will change with each completion or advancement of an audio selection. Clicking upon these advertisements will launch the default Web browser and load up a Web page with further information on the advertisement. If a Web browser is not installed nothing will happen.

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