Contents

The following Help Topics are available:

Getting Started

What Is a Map?

How Do I Move Through a Roundup?

Description of Buttons

Media elements

Roundup File

Home Image

Setting Up Your Video Adapter Card

     How to make your own roundups:

     MediaWrangler

For Help on Help, Press F1


Getting Started

MediaWrangler Multimedia Player

Use the Open button  [image]  to load a Roundup

1.  Click the File Open button.

2.  Select the Roundup file you would like to view. Roundups have the *.RDP extension.

3.  Click the OK button.


What Is a Map?

In MediaWrangler, the word MAP is short for Media Area Pointer.  Its the same concept that some multimedia authoring systems call Hotspots or buttons.  Double-Clicking on a MAP will activate  another picture, play a sound, show a text file, or play a video. The cursor will change when it is pointed at a MAP.  For example, if the MAP contains a picture the cursor will change to a camera.


How Do I Move Through a Roundup?

There are several ways to view a Roundup.  You can double-click the left mouse button on a MAP, or you can use the Navigation Buttons .  If the Roundup is designed for Autoplay you can click on Autoplay to start the presentation.


Media elements

Media Elements are pictures, sounds, text, and video.  They are the components of a Roundup.   Clicking on a Map  will activate a media element.


Roundup File

A Roundup file (which you can identify by the extension .RDP at the end of the file name) is a collection of media elements designed for presentation. A Roundup is an interactive, multimedia presentation.


Home Image

This is the first image displayed in your Roundup.  Once a Roundup file has been opened the Home Image will appear.  Click on any MAP  in the Home Image to activate the next Media Element.


Buttons

Click on any of the topics below for a description of the button:

File Open

File Close

Autoplay

AutoLoop

Autostop

Navigation Buttons

Volume Buttons

Help

Exit


File Open

The File Open button is used to open a Roundup file for viewing.  To open a Roundup click on the File Open button, select the Roundup you wish to open, then click O.K.   Once the Roundup is opened click on any MAP  to activate another Media Element.


File Close

Click on the File Close button to close the Roundup you are currently in. You are now ready to open another Roundup or exit from MediaWrangler Player.


Autoplay

Click the Autoplay button to start playing the Roundup.  If the Autoplay button is grayed out the selected Roundup is not designed for Autoplay.  In this case simply point to any MAP  and click for the next Media Element.


AutoLoop

Clicking the AutoLoop Button will cause an autoplay Roundup to play in a continuos loop.


Autostop

Clicking the Autostop button will cause an autoplay  Roundup to stop playing.


Navigation Buttons

The Navigation buttons are used to move along the paths of the Roundup file.  The Home button takes you to the first image in your Roundup; from there, the right button advances you to the next image in the path.  To return, click the left button and you will back up.  If you reach either end of the path and try to advance, MediaWrangler informs you that you cannot proceed.


Volume

Click on the left volume button to decrease the volume.  Click on the right volume button to increase the volume.


Help

Clicking on the Help button will bring up the contents page of MediaWrangler Player Help.


Exit

To exit the program click on the Exit MediaWrangler Player button.


MediaWrangler

If you would like to create Roundups like the ones you have seen here,  just purchase yerself MediaWrangler- the roughest, toughest, rip-snortiest, rootin-tootinest, Edward-Everett-Hortonest multimedia authoring system what ever packed a PC!

Jus give us a holler at:

Alta Vista Technology

1671 Dell Avenue, Suite 209

Cambell, CA  95008

Phone: 408-364-8777

Fax: 408-364-8778


Setting Up Your Video Adapter Card

The following information is meant to help you set up your video card to work correctly with MediaWrangler.  If you have a VGA video card, which is limited to display only 16 colors at a time, you will almost surely experience less than desirable image quality.

Alta Vista recommends that you upgrade to an SVGA card, which offers multiple options for the number of colors and resolutions which you can display.  If you already have an SVGA card and your images still dont look right, you may not have your video card in the correct mode.  Follow these steps to check or modify your video card settings.

If your video card came with a Windows software program that allows you to change the video card settings, try running that program.  You can often find such a program in the Windows control panel.

1.  From the program manager, open the Main group.

2.  Double-click on the Control Panel icon.

3.  If you have a video card icon, double-click it to start the program.

4.  Change the settings to provide 256 or more colors.  You may need to buy more memory for your video card to run with the highest possible number of colors,  However, you should see good results using the 256-color mode of your video card.

5.  You will now need to quite and restart Windows for the change to take effect.

If your video card did not come with a software utility for changing the settings, follow these steps:

1.  Exit Windows.

2.  Change to the Windows directory by entering the following command:

>chdir \windows

3.  Now enter the following command:

> setup

This starts the Windows setup program.  Using the arrow keys, select the item that reads Display, then press the Enter key.

Now, you can select a different setting or driver to use with your video card.  If the driver has not been installed on your computer, you will have to insert the floppy that contains your video card software, and load the new driver from it.  The setup program will prompt you to do this.

Select a driver that has 256 or more colors.  You may have several resolutions to choose from as well for example, 648 x 480, 800 x 600, 1024 x 768, etc.  Experiment and find a combination that you like; AltaVista recommends 640 x 480 and 256 colors as a minimum.

If you are still having trouble with your video card settings, call the technical support line provided by the manufacturer of your video card and ask for assistance.

If you are still having difficulty, call AltaVista technical support.

Alta Vista Technology

1671 Dell Avenue, Suite 209

Cambell, CA  95008

Phone: 408-364-8777

Fax: 408-364-8778