Multimedia Studio Effects/MULTIMEDIA.ISO/programs/wim/manual.txt

Text File | 1994-12-26 | 46KB | 1,118 lines

        Win Interactive Multimedia (W.I.M.)
           Copyright (c) 1994, MMS Technologies
               All rights reserved
           This program is Shareware


o  OVERVIEW

Sample your multimedia files with style on this visually stunning
player. See full motion movie files with no special hardware, or
turn your PC into a complete multimedia machine by adding a sound
card. Bundled with sample movie video, Midi, Wave, and graphic
files. Includes audio CD control for systems that are equipped
with a CD-ROM player and a play control for script language with
interactive capabilities.


o  FEATURES

-- Visually stunning, intuitive, stereo-like interface with
beautiful 3-D look and realistic button action.

-- Full featured file playback controls with pause, rewind, and
fast forward options.

-- Continuous play, automatic rewind, and  automatic play options
under a HIDDEN PANEL.

-- PLAYLIST generator for convenient sampling of multiple video,
sound, and graphic files. Use it to queue up you favorite MIDI,
movie, or Wave files, or use it as an icon or graphic file
browser.

-- Support for playing Wave and Midi sound files on systems with
Sound Blaster compatible sound card.

-- Support for audio CD for systems with CD-ROM disc reader.

-- Support for playing full motion video .AVI files with no
additional hardware.

-- Display and browse .BMP, .WMF, .RLE, and .DIB based graphical
images.

-- Display and browse icon .ICO files.

-- Support for proprietary Win Interactive Multimedia file format
(WIM), a script language that allows composition of multimedia
presentations with sound, graphics, text, and video with
interactive capabilities.

-- Comprehensive help available with F1.

-- Bundled with Sample video, Midi, Wave, and graphic files (may
not be included with stripped down BBS versions of W.I.M.).


o  LEGAL INFORMATION

This program is copyrighted and all rights are reserved by the
author and MMS Technologies. No warranty is expressed or implied
with regard to program function, or suitability to any purpose.
The author and MMS Technologies will not be responsible for any
damages caused by use, misuse, or inability to use this program.
The only exception is, if the program was ordered directly from
MMS Technologies and the program disk is found to be physically
defective. Under such circumstances, MMS Technologies will
replace the defective disk if it is returned within 30 days of
purchase. By using the program, you agree to abide by the above
agreement. This agreement is governed by the laws of Oregon.

All brand or product names mentioned throughout the program are
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.


o  QUICKSTART

W.I.M. is operated much like a home stereo. After installation
and starting W.I.M. in Windows, choose the device. Your home
stereo probably lets you choose from TUNER, CD, TAPE, etc. With
W.I.M. the choices are WIM, WAVE, CD, MIDI, and VIDEO (which
includes AVI, BMP, DIB, RLE, WMF, and ICO files). Those actually
available ultimately depend on your hardware capabilities. Choose
MIDI for a test if you have a sound card (otherwise select
VIDEO). Press the PLAY button to play the default MIDI file or
pick a MIDI file to play by pressing the LOAD button. Think of
this as loading a tape into your home stereo. That's all the
instructions some of you will need to get started. For more
complete information and hidden advanced features, continue
reading on. In either case, have Fun with W.I.M.!


o  LIMITED EVALUATION SHAREWARE LICENSE

Win Interactive Multimedia is Shareware. Shareware is a concept
of distributing software, that allows you, the user, an
opportunity to evaluate our program risk free before deciding if
the program is really right for you. If you find the program
useful and wish to continue using it after a 30 day evaluation
period, you are obliged to register the software or purchase an
extended evaluation license from MMS Technologies.

Registering the program or purchasing the extended evaluation
license is the right thing to do if you decide you like the
program and wish to use it past the evaluation period. The full
registered version of W.I.M. Standard is available for only $15.
It includes the many additional benefits listed further below.

You may copy and distribute the Shareware version of this program
freely as long as you do so with all of the original files listed
below and abide by the limitations listed in the VENDOR.TXT file.
You are encouraged to pass the program along to your friends so
that, they too, can evaluate the program.

If you bought a disk from a shareware distributor for a
duplication fee, please understand that this duplication fee is
paid to the disk distributor to cover their cost of duplicating
and distributing the disk, and the author of this program
receives no compensation from this fee.

In addition to giving you a legal license to use the program,
registering W.I.M. Standard entitles you to the following
benefits:

1) Receive the latest version of W.I.M. Standard.

2) No more Shareware registration reminder screens.

3) Expanded W.I.M. features, including expanded playlist
capabilities.

4) Full product support via mail and Compuserve Email.

5) Upgrade and follow-up notifications when exciting new
multimedia products are introduced by MMS Technologies.

6) Discounts with upgrades to future releases of product.

7) Bonus multimedia sampler set with additional multimedia sound
graphic, and full motion video files.

8) Manual for using W.I.M. Standard.

9) A 30 day money back guarantee if you are not satisfied with
the registered W.I.M. (subject to a non refundable 20% handling
and postage fee).

10) Receive a $15 credit towards the purchase of W.I.M. Pro.


o  ORDERING INFORMATION

W.I.M. Standard can be ordered for only $15 (shipping outside
U.S. is extra, see ORDER.TXT for more information). Send payment
to the following address:

    MMS Technologies
    P.O. Box 1263
    Talent, OR    97540

A ready to print order form with pricing information is provided
with the ORDER.TXT file. Double-click on the icon named "Order
Information" in the W.I.M. group to browse or print this file.

Fill out the form and mail it with your payment. Payment should
be in check or money order in U.S. funds only.    Orders will be
processed within 5 working days of receipt.


o  EXTENDED EVALUATION LICENSE

If you would like more time to evaluate W.I.M. past the normal 30
day evaluation period, an extended evaluation license is
available for only $5 (see the ORDER.TXT file for ordering
information). This license entitles you to legally use the
Shareware version of W.I.M. indefinitely. This grants you a free
conscience to use the Shareware version of W.I.M. past the normal
30 day evaluation period and you will receive a certificate
documenting this privilege. However, you will NOT receive any of
the additional benefits entitled to users of the full registered
version of W.I.M. If you later wish to upgrade to W.I.M. Standard
or W.I.M. Pro, you may apply a $5 credit towards this purchase.


o  OTHER PRODUCT INFORMATION

WIN INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA PRO (W.I.M. PRO) -- (Scheduled for
release on February 15, 1995) For power users, who want the most
from W.I.M., there is Win Interactive Multimedia Pro; W.I.M. Pro
offers all the benefits of W.I.M. Standard plus the following:

1) The user friendly WIM Script Editor allows you to become the
director of your own multimedia scripts. Create interactive
presentations with video, sound, text, and graphic capabilities.
Includes conditional branching and looping commands.

2) The Wave Editor for editing or creating your own .WAV files.

3) Get the deluxe bonus multimedia sampler set with multimedia
demonstrations and a library of sound, graphic, and video files
for use on your own WIM scripts.

4) A complete manual for using W.I.M. Pro, WIM Script Edit, and
Wave Edit.

5) Hints on getting the most from W.I.M. Pro straight from the
programmers.

6) A freely distributable WIM Runtime Player for distribution of
your WIM masterpieces to others, royalty free.

7) The bonus program, Quick Pic Viewer, a fast and easy way to
view your graphic files from Windows. Supports the same graphical
formats supported by W.I.M.


WIM SCRIPT EDITOR -- (Scheduled for release on February 15, 1995)
The WIM Script Editor allows you to create and modify your own
WIM script files. Script Editor is available separately for use
with the registered version of W.I.M. Standard or can be
purchased together with W.I.M Pro. Follows is a short list of
features:

1) Ability to link your music, sound effect, picture, and full
motion video files together into a complete multimedia
presentation.

2) Create simple slide show with MIDI music in the background or
demonstration or tutorial with interactive capabilities.

3) Loop and conditional branch commands.

4) User input capability.

5) User friendly easy to use interface.

6) Comes with the easy to use WIM Runtime Player, for for
distribution of your WIM masterpieces to others, royalty free.


WAVE EDITOR -- (Scheduled for release on February 15, 1995) The
Wave Editor allows you to edit or create your own .WAV sound
files. The WAVE Editor is available separately for use with the
registered version of W.I.M. Standard or can be purchased
together with W.I.M Pro.

1) Record your own WAVE files.

2) See a graphical representation of your WAVE files.

3) Add special effects to your sounds.


MULTIMEDIA SAMPLER -- A collection of multimedia demonstrations
for showing off your computer.


MULTIMEDIA SAMPLER DELUXE -- A library of demonstrations, video,
sound, and graphic files for use with W.I.M.


o  CONTENTS

Your Windows Interactive Multimedia shareware package should
contain the files listed in the FILES.TXT document. If you are
missing any of the files, you may obtain the latest complete
shareware program from the author by sending $4 plus shipping and
handling (USA $0, CANADA $4, OVERSEAS $8) to the address listed
below.


o  SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

The program requires the following minimum system to run
effectively:

  - 386 or better IBM compatible PC
  - VGA or SVGA video
  - 2 MB memory (4 MB recommended)
  - Hard Drive
  - DOS 3.3 or higher
  - Windows 3.1
  - Soundblaster or compatible sound card is recommended for
    sound features of program but is not required.
  - CD-ROM drive is supported but not required.


o  INSTALLATION

The program comes with a Windows SETUP.EXE program for easy and
convenient installation of the program. To run the SETUP, start
Windows up and from the Program Manager's FILE/RUN option type:

    A:\SETUP.EXE <enter>

Note: Substitute the proper drive and path designation to the
above command if necessary.

Follow the SETUP prompts to complete the installation process.
The SETUP.EXE program will automatically create a program group
and icon for W.I.M. and its documentation files.


SPECIAL INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS FOR BBS USERS -- If you received
your version of W.I.M. from a BBS, you may have a stripped down
version of the program that may not include the Visual Basic v3.0
runtime file, VBRUN300.DLL (this file is over 350K in size and is
often excluded from BBS files to save download time for users
that already have this common DLL file). When this stripped
version's Setup is run, it will report that it cannot find
VBRUN300.DLL. If you encounter this problem, you will need to
obtain a copy of the VBRUN300.DLL file before you can continue.
This file is available for download from most BBS services. Copy
it into your Windows SYSTEM directory and run the W.I.M setup as
outlined in the installation procedure above.


VIDEO DRIVERS -- W.I.M. requires special video drivers for it to
display full motion video. The setup will install these files
into the Windows SYSTEM directory. If the setup finds newer
versions of the file in the SYSTEM directory, it will not copy
over the more current files.

The setup will automatically modify your Windows SYSTEM.INI file
to make Windows aware of the special video drivers needed to run
the full motion video. It will add the following lines:

    [mci]
    AVIVideo=mciavi.drv

    [drivers]
    VIDC.MSVC=msvidc.drv
    VIDC.RT21=indeo.drv
    VIDC.CVID=iccvid.drv


o  USING WIN INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA

W.I.M. offers an intuitive "stereo-like" interface for playing
sound, graphic, and video files and controlling your audio
CD-player.


STARTING WIN INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA -- To start W.I.M. after
installing the program, double-click on the W.I.M. icon. The
program should start up and you should be on your way to explore
the world of multimedia. To view documentation files, double
click on the appropriate icon.


TO PLAY A WIM, WAVE, MIDI, OR VIDEO FILE -- Follow the following
series of steps to play WIM, WAVE, MIDI, or video files:

1) Press the appropriate DEVICE SELECT button (e.g., to select
MIDI as the current device press the MIDI DEVICE SELECT button).

2) Press the LOAD button to open up the File Chooser Box. The
File Chooser Box will only display filenames that have valid
names for the current device selected (e.g., files with a .MID
extension for MIDI files). Select a file by clicking on the
desired file with your mouse and then clicking on the OK button.
W.I.M will then load the file.

3) After the file is loaded, it can be manipulated with the
PLAYBACK CONTROL buttons. Press the PLAY button to start the play
of the file. Watch the POSITION PLAY INDICATOR to see the play
progress. At the end of the file's play cycle, the POSITION PLAY
INDICATOR will show that the file is at the end of the play
cycle. To play this file again, reposition the file to the start
by pressing the START TRACK CONTROL and then pressing PLAY again.

Note on sound files: For the WAVE and MIDI device to work
correctly with W.I.M., A sound card with a Windows WAVE and MIDI
drivers must be installed. Consult the Windows and sound card
documentation for more information on this.

Note on movie files: For the VIDEO device to play full motion
video correctly, the proper video drivers must be installed in
the Windows SYSTEM directory. The W.I.M SETUP program will
automatically install these drivers.

Note on graphics files: When graphics files are loaded, only the
PLAY and STOP control buttons are available since these files
have no time dimension. Graphic files will be sized to fit the
VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN if it is on. To see the graphic image in its
native size, use the EXTERNAL VIDEO MONITOR by turning off the
VIDEO MONITOR POWER button.


TO PLAY AN AUDIO CD -- Follow the following steps to play an
audio CD:

1) Insert an audio CD into your CD reader.

2) Press the CD DEVICE SELECT button.

3) Press the Play button to start the play of the CD.

4) Use the PLAYBACK CONTROL buttons to control the play of the
CD.

Note: For this W.I.M device to work correctly a CD-ROM reader
must be available and the MS-DOS CD extension (MSCDEX.EXE) and a
Windows CD Audio driver (MCICDA.DRV) must be properly installed.
These drivers are usually provided with the CD-ROM drive and
Windows. Consult the Windows and the CD player documentation for
more information on this.


o  FILE FORMATS SUPPORTED BY W.I.M.

AVI -- .AVI (audio-video interleave) files are movie video files
commonly used by Windows multimedia. These files have both a
graphic and a video component. If you see a motion video-type
image played on your computer, it is likely to be an .AVI file.
The current standard video frame for most .AVI files is 160x120
pixels, the size of the W.I.M. VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN. Playing .AVI
files require special drivers from Video for Windows (VFW) by
Microsoft. The W.I.M. SETUP will install the basic drivers to
view common .AVI files. The complete VFW set is available from
many BBS's and from many CD-ROM sets that include .AVI files. If
you require a complete version of VFW, and cannot locate it
elsewhere, it is available from MMS Technologies for a minimal
handling and shipping charge.

If you encounter a .AVI file that cannot be played by W.I.M., you
may be missing a special VFW driver necessary to play that
particular type of file. Most packages that include .AVI files
includes the VFW drivers necessary for those .AVI files. It is
recommended that you install the drivers included with that
package (usually done by running a SETUP program) to make W.I.M.
properly support these files.

The demonstration .AVI file included with W.I.M. is not of the
quality that we would have liked to include with this program
set. But due to file size limitations, we had to compromise on
the movie quality. As a result, the .AVI file runs at a slower
frame rate and the images are more blocky than we would have
liked. The unadulterated file is well over 900,000 bytes in size.

BMP -- .BMP files are bitmapped graphics files.

DIB -- .DIB files are bitmapped graphics files.

ICO -- .ICO files are Windows icon files. The default size of
icon files is 32x32 pixels. To view icon files in their native
size, use W.I.M.'s EXTERNAL VIDEO MONITOR.

MID -- .MID is the extension for MIDI (musical instrument digital
interface) files. MIDI files contain instructions for playing
back music on a synthesizer. A sound card with a Windows MIDI
driver must be installed for this to work correctly. Consult the
Windows and sound card documentation for more information on
this.

RLE -- .RLE files are bitmapped graphics files.

WAV -- .WAV files are digitized sound files commonly used in
Windows for sound effects. A sound card with a Windows WAVE
driver must be installed for this to work correctly. Consult the
Windows and sound card documentation for more information on
this.

WIM -- Files with a .WIM extension are W.I.M. script files. The
WIM file format is a script language that can be used to link
sound and video images together into a comprehensive
presentation. It is an easy to use script language with branch,
loop, and user input capabilities. It offers power and ease of
use to create presentations ranging from simple slide-show type
demonstrations with background music and sound effects to complex
business or educational presentations that can call for user
interaction. A full featured WIM script editor is available with
the Win Interactive Multimedia Pro or as an add on to the
registered version of W.I.M. Standard. See the ORDER.TXT file for
details.

WMF -- .WMF is the extension associated with vector based
graphics files.


o  WIN INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA CONTROLS

For help in locating buttons, press the HELP button and open the
BLUEPRINT HELP. Follows is a listing of the controls available
with W.I.M.:

POWER button -- Select the POWER button to close down the Win
Interactive Multimedia Player.

LOAD button -- Press the LOAD button to load a new file into the
currently active device. A device must be active before the LOAD
button will function. The LOAD button will open a file selection
that displays only filenames that are valid for the currently
active device. The WIM device supports filenames with the .WIM
extension; the WAVE device supports filenames with the .WAV
extension; the MIDI device supports filenames with the .MID
extension; and the VIDEO device supports filenames with the .AVI,
BMP, WMF, .RLE, .ICO and .DIB extension. The Load button does not
support the audio CD device.

PLAYLIST from LOAD -- The LOAD button's file selection window
offers a button with an arrow pointing to the right. This button
opens the PLAYLIST.

To use the PLAYLIST: click on the arrow button to open the
PLAYLIST window, select the files you want by clicking on them,
and then clicking on the ADD button. Use the remove button to
remove unwanted files from the PLAYLIST. Continue adding and
removing files.    When finished, select the OK button. W.I.M. will
play each file in order from the PLAYLIST when the PLAY CONTROL
button is selected.

For automatic play of files selected with the PLAYLIST, select
the AUTOMATIC PLAY button. At the end of one file, the next file
on the PLAYLIST will be loaded and played automatically. The
CONTINUOUS PLAY button functions much like the AUTOMATIC PLAY
button when a PLAYLIST is used. It will automatically load and
play files from the PLAYLIST.

EJECT button -- Select the EJECT button to unload the currently
active device.    This button clears the Win Interactive Multimedia
Player of the current device. Pressing the EJECT button with the
CD device active will physically eject the CD from the CD reader
if the reader supports the MCI eject command.

OPTIONS button -- To access additional features of the Win
Interactive Multimedia Player, press the OPTIONS button. This
button brings up a window that allows for control of various
display and startup options.

The "Program Bitmaps" option allows user selectable display color
modes for the W.I.M Player only. This switch does not affect the
number of colors used to display the actual video and graphic
images. The 256 color mode is the most attractive display mode
for the Player if Windows is running in a 256 color mode.
However, this mode is more susceptible to video palette changes
than the 16 color mode when new video images are loaded.

If the "Save all settings on exit" check-box is checked, all
W.I.M. option settings will be saved when the program closes and
reloaded when the program is started again. If this check-box is
checked, W.I.M. will also save information on the last file
played from each device and automatically load these files when a
device is selected.

Select the "Show Device Pictures" check-box to enable the graphic
images that show in the VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN.

The "Startup Device" options allow you to select the device that
W.I.M. will default to upon startup.

The "TV power button" check-box determines if the VIDEO MONITOR
SCREEN is on when W.I.M. is started up. Checking the box sets it
to on.

For hidden options, open the HIDDEN PANEL under the Playback
Control buttons by clicking on the panel. See HIDDEN PANEL for
more information.

HELP button -- The HELP button activates the BLUEPRINT HELP for
the Win Interactive Multimedia Player.

VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN -- The VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN is the default
view monitor for any graphical images played by the Interactive
Multimedia Player. This view monitor may be turned off by
toggling the VIDEO MONITOR POWER button. The Video MONITOR POWER
button is the square button found directly under the VIDEO
MONITOR SCREEN. If the VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN IS is turned off, any
graphical display is redirected to the EXTERNAL VIDEO MONITOR.
The EXTERNAL VIDEO MONITOR offers the advantage of having a an
expandable display screen for displaying images larger than the
VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN (160 x 120 pixels). It will display images
in their native size.

POSITION PLAY INDICATOR -- During playback, the POSITION PLAY
INDICATOR indicates how long the file or CD loaded in the current
device has to play relative to what has been played already. The
two ends of the indicator represent the start and the end of the
file or CD.

VIDEO MONITOR POWER button -- The VIDEO MONITOR SCREEN may be
turned off by toggling the VIDEO MONITOR POWER BUTTON. Graphical
display is redirected to the EXTERNAL VIDEO MONITOR if the VIDEO
MONITOR SCREEN is turned off. This button will not function if
the video screen is currently busy.

VOLUME -- Volume of the currently active device may be adjusted
by using the VOLUME CONTROL buttons. The (+) button increases the
volume level and the (-) button decreases the volume level. The
green LED's indicate the current volume level. The sound can be
shut off by toggling the (-) button until no green LED is on.

Depending on the configuration of your computer system, the
VOLUME CONTROL may or may not work for various devices. Some
sound cards do not support volume control for WAVE and MIDI
files. However, the sound can be turned off with the W.I.M.
VOLUME CONTROL by turning the volume all the way down. On all
systems, the CD device's sound can be shut off, but can not be
adjusted.

STATUS WINDOW -- The STATUS WINDOW is used to display active
functions of the Win Multimedia Player. Video indicators for the
active device, control button activity, device run time states,
and sound activity LEDs can be found in this window. Notice that
the sound activity LEDs do not synchronize to sound magnitude.
They show sound activity. This option may be toggled off through
the LED TOGGLE button in the HIDDEN PANEL.

WIM DEVICE SELECT button -- The WIM DEVICE SELECT button selects
the WIM device as the currently active device. This allows the
Win Interactive Multimedia Player to play WIM files. See .WIM
files for more information.

WAVE DEVICE SELECT button -- The WAVE DEVICE SELECT button
selects the WAVE device as the currently active device. This
allows the Win Interactive Multimedia Player to load and play
.WAV files. .WAV files are digital sound clippings commonly used
in Windows for sound effects. A sound card with a Windows WAVE
driver must be installed for this to work correctly. Consult the
Windows and sound card documentation for more information on
this.

CD DEVICE SELECT button -- The CD DEVICE SELECT button selects
the CD device as the currently active device. This allows the Win
Interactive Multimedia Player to control an AUDIO CD player on
the computer system if it supports MCI commands. The MS-DOS CD
extension (MSCDEX.EXE) and a Windows CD Audio driver (MCICDA.DRV)
must be properly installed for this device to work correctly.
These drivers are usually provided with the CD-ROM drive and
Windows. Consult the Windows and the CD player documentation for
more information on this.

MIDI DEVICE SELECT button -- The MIDI DEVICE SELECT button
selects the MIDI device as the currently active device. This
allows the Win Interactive Multimedia Player to play .MID music
files. A sound card with a Windows MIDI driver must be installed
for this to work correctly. Consult the Windows and sound card
documentation for more information on this.

VIDEO DEVICE SELECT button -- The VIDEO DEVICE SELECT button
selects the VIDEO device as the currently active device. This
allows the Win Interactive Multimedia Player to play various
video files. It includes the display of .AVI, .ICO, DIB, .RLE,
.WMF and .BMP files. For best picture quality when displaying 256
color pictures, it is recommended that a 256 color Windows driver
be installed. Consult the Windows and the video card
documentation for more information on this.

RECORD CONTROL button -- The RECORD CONTROL button sets RECORD on
for the currently active device. The RECORD CONTROL button is non
functional with this release of the Win Interactive Multimedia
Player.

PLAY CONTROL button -- The PLAY CONTROL button sets PLAY on for
the currently active device. This effectively displays video if a
video device is active or plays sounds if a sound device is
selected. The PLAY CONTROL has automatic rewind and automatic
replay options available. These options are available through the
HIDDEN PANEL (see HIDDEN PANEL for more information).

PAUSE CONTROL button -- The PAUSE CONTROL button sets PAUSE on
for the currently active device. This suspends a PLAY or RECORD
activity for the currently device. A PAUSED PLAY or RECORD
activity can be resumed by pressing the PAUSE CONTROL button a
second time.

STOP CONTROL button -- The STOP CONTROL button sets STOP on for
the currently active device. This stops PLAY, RECORD, PAUSE,
REWIND, and FORWARD activity of the currently active device. The
STOP CONTROL button does not automatically reset the file in any
way. This means that if PLAY is selected after a STOP CONTROL
button is selected, the file will start playing from where it
left off.

REWIND CONTROL button -- The REWIND CONTROL button sets REWIND on
for the currently active device. This moves the device back
towards the file start. The step rate depends on the current
device active.

Follows is a step rate table for each device used by the REWIND
CONTROL button:

    WIM   -- Next mark.
    WAVE  -- .1 second.
    CD      -- 10 seconds.
    MIDI  -- 1 second.
    VIDEO -- Next frame.

FORWARD CONTROL button -- The FORWARD CONTROL button sets FORWARD
on for the currently active device. This moves the device forward
towards the file end. The step rate depends on the current device
active.

Follows is a step rate table for each device used by the FORWARD
CONTROL button:

    WIM   -- Next mark.
    WAVE  -- .1 second.
    CD      -- 10 seconds.
    MIDI  -- 1 second.
    VIDEO -- Next frame.

START TRACK CONTROL button -- The START TRACK CONTROL button sets
the currently active device back to the file start.

END TRACK CONTROL button -- The END TRACK CONTROL button sets the
currently active device forward to the file end.

HIDDEN PANEL -- The HIDDEN PANEL holds controls for CONTINUOUS
PLAY, AUTOMATIC REWIND, AUTOMATIC PLAY, LED TOGGLE, TIME DISPLAY
CONTROL, and ERROR QUERY. Press the hidden panel door under the
PLAYBACK CONTROL Buttons to open it and reveal the hidden
buttons.

CONTINUOUS PLAY button -- The CONTINUOUS PLAY button will
automatically replay the file being played at the end of the play
cycle. This button is available through the HIDDEN PANEL.

AUTOMATIC REWIND button -- The AUTOMATIC REWIND will
automatically rewind the file being played to the start of the
file at the end of the play cycle. This button is available
through the HIDDEN PANEL.

AUTOMATIC PLAY button -- The AUTOMATIC PLAY button will
automatically begin play of any file selected with the LOAD
button. This button is available through the HIDDEN PANEL.

LED TOGGLE button -- The LED TOGGLE will toggle the sound display
LEDs on and off. Turning off the LEDs on slow machines will help
the speed on slow computers. This button is available through the
HIDDEN PANEL.

TIME DISPLAY CONTROL button -- The TIME DISPLAY CONTROL allows
the time display to be toggled between time elapsed to time
remaining. This button is available through the HIDDEN PANEL.

ERROR QUERY button -- The ERROR QUERY button brings up more error
information when an error condition exists. The error information
can then be looked up under the Error Table for a more verbose
explanation of the error condition. For some error states,
toggling the ERROR QUERY button twice will provide additional
information. This button is available through the HIDDEN PANEL.


o  MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES

VIDEO CONSIDERATIONS -- Follows are some video issues to consider
when using W.I.M.:


PALETTE CONTROLS -- Palette changes caused by loading images that
do not use a color palette compatible with W.I.M. will cause
W.I.M. to use nonstandard colors. This effect is more susceptible
when W.I.M. is using 256 colors to display itself. If palette
changes are bothersome to you, set W.I.M. to use 16 colors for
its program bitmaps.


WINDOWS 16 OR 256 COLOR VIDEO -- For best results, it is
recommended that you run Windows in a 256 color video mode when
playing video that display 256 colors inside W.I.M. Otherwise,
you will miss out on 240 of the image's colors. Video options for
Windows can be set by running the Windows Setup program from DOS
or through Windows. You may have to install a video driver
provided by your video card manufacturer if Windows does not
directly support your video card. Consult you computer and
Windows documentation for more information. If you must run in 16
color video mode, you can view .AVI files in a full screen 256
color mode by running the setup to configure the [MCI] Microsoft
Video for Windows driver under the Control Panel, Drivers'
windows.


CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE FOR WIN INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA

When cleaning W.I.M., use a soft cloth slightly dampened with
water. To avoid electrical shock, do not immerse in water.


o  TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS

If you have any problems using W.I.M., please try the following
troubleshooting tricks to try to resolve the problem:

1) Consult the "Common User Questions" of the help to see if your
problem is discussed and explained.

2) If W.I.M. reports an ERROR in the STATUS WINDOW, open the
HIDDEN PANEL under the PLAYBACK CONTROL buttons and press the ERR
button to query W.I.M. for more error information. The STATUS
WINDOW will display further error information (a message and a
number). Consult the ERROR TABLE with this information for a more
verbose explanation of the error state.

3) If a device is not working, make sure the device you are
having problems with is properly installed on the system. Check
software drivers, cables, etc. If you have another program that
can test the feature that W.I.M. is having difficulties with (use
the Windows basic Media players for testing), try to use that
program to confirm that that feature is functional. If both
W.I.M. and the other program fail, the problem is likely to do
with something on your system and NOT W.I.M. itself. Check your
system or device documentation for proper hardware and software
installation.

4) If you are seeing unexplained lockups or irregular program
behavior, remove the old W.I.M files and rerun the W.I.M Setup.
If the problem is due to a corrupt file on the hard disk, this
will often correct the problem.

5) If you continue to see unexplained lockups or irregular
program behavior, clean up the system environment as much as
possible by closing extraneous programs in Windows. If this does
not work, remove extraneous programs at the DOS level by booting
as clean as possible. Remove any extraneous TSR programs that may
be automatically loaded in your systems CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT file (consult your favorite local tech to find out
how to do this if necessary).

6) If all this does not solve the problem, please print out a
copy of the PROBLEM.TXT file and fill it out as completely as
possible. Carefully describe your problem, steps you have taken
to try to resolve it, the results of each step, include any error
messages, and include any information you feel is pertinent. The
better you document the problem, the better we can resolve the
difficulty. Print out copies of your CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT,
and the Windows SYSTEM.INI files. To print the desired files,
type the following series of commands from DOS:

    COPY C:\WIM\PROBLEM.TXT PRN <enter>
    COPY C:\CONFIG.SYS PRN <enter>
    COPY C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT PRN <enter>
    COPY C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI PRN <enter>

Note: The above assumes that files are installed into default
directories, substitute drive and path information where
necessary.

Send the information to the MMS Technologies. We will do our best
to track down and resolve the difficulty.


o  COMMON USER QUESTIONS

Question: When using W.I.M., I get a message that flashes
"ERROR", what does this mean and how can I get more information
about the problem?

Answer: W.I.M. will allow you to play any file that your system
is currently set up to play with its current hardware and
software driver configuration.    If you see the "ERROR" message, it
indicates that one of two things:

1) You have selected a file that your system configuration does
not support.

2) The file you have selected is no longer available, in the case
of the W.I.M. file autoload when a device is selected, or the
file is bad.

W.I.M. includes a ERROR QUERY button that can be found under the
HIDDEN PANEL under the PLAYBACK CONTROL buttons. Open the panel
by pressing it and look for the button labeled ERR. Press this
button for error information. Cross-index this error information
with the Error Table (found in this document and under the F1
help) for more descriptive information on the error condition.


Question: What is the best way to browse through files?

Answer: Use the "LAZY MAN'S BROWSE" -- Our favorite way to browse
files is to turn on the AUTOMATIC PLAY button under the HIDDEN
PANEL, use the PLAYLIST feature to tag the files we wish to view,
and then watch or listen to our files load up automatically one
by one.


Question: After playing a file once, the play button does not
seem to work. I press it and it just pops back up. Why?

Answer: The file needs to be reset to the beginning before it can
be replayed. Press the START TRACK CONTROL button to reset the
file. Alternatively, open the HIDDEN PANEL under the PLAYBACK
CONTROL buttons and turn the AUTOMATIC REWIND button on.


Question: The colors of my Win Interactive Multimedia Player
change when I play video files sometimes. Why does this happen?

Answer: The video file being played is using a nonstandard color
palette. The color palette is adjusted to the video's palette
during its display. This causes any images not sharing the video
file's palette to temporarily use colors foreign to it, resulting
in this effect. To minimize this effect, the Win Interactive
Multimedia can be set to use a 16 color image through its OPTIONS
window. Most video files do not change these 16 colors, so this
flash effect will be less prevalent.


Question: I hear no sound when I play the MIDI option. Why?

Answer: The MIDI option requires a sound card be properly
configured with a Windows MIDI device driver to work correctly.
For a sound card to be recognized by Windows, you must install
the sound card drivers through the Windows Control Panel,
Drivers' window. Consult the Windows and sound card documentation
for proper setup information.


Question: I hear no sound when I play the WAVE option. Why?

Answer: The WAVE option requires a sound card be properly
configured with a Windows device driver to work correctly. For a
sound card to be recognized by Windows, you must install the
sound card drivers through the Windows Control Panel, Drivers'
window. Consult the Windows and sound card documentation for
proper setup information.


Question: The CD player controls do not work. Why?

Answer: The CD device requires an audio CD player be properly
configured with a Windows audio CD device driver to work
correctly. For an audio CD reader to be recognized by Windows,
you must run the MSCDEX.EXE program from DOS and install the
audio CD driver through the Windows Control Panel, Drivers
window. Consult the Windows and CD documentation for proper setup
information.


Question: I get a flashing ERROR message in the STATUS WINDOW
when a device is selected by W.I.M. Doing an ERROR QUERY shows
the error state "File Not Found". What does this mean?

Answer: W.I.M. will try to preload the last file loaded and
memorized by a particular device. The "Save all settings on exit"
from OPTIONS will cause W.I.M. to memorize the last file loaded
by each device. If the file it attempts to load is no longer
available (if the file was deleted or removed from the system),
W.I.M. will not find this file and indicate this problem with
this error message. W.I.M is still functional and you can load a
different file by selecting the LOAD button.


Question: The counter indicator for a WIM file does not appear to
be counting seconds. What is it counting out?

Answer: A WIM script file is composed of a number of instructions
that tell W.I.M. what to do, when a WIM file is played the
counter indicates the instruction number that W.I.M. is currently
on.


Question: My graphic images appear shrunken in size when I view
them. How can I fix this?

Answer: Turn off the VIDEO MONITOR POWER button to turn on the
EXTERNAL VIDEO MONITOR. This will display graphic images in their
native size.


Question: Why are there some .AVI files that W.I.M. will not
play?

Answer: W.I.M. includes drivers to play most .AVI files. However,
there are some .AVI files that require drivers not included with
the basic W.I.M. package. See the section that discusses .AVI
files for more information on this.


o  ERROR TABLE

Follows is a list of errors you may encounter when using W.I.M.:

Device Not found  -- This error occurs if a driver necessary to
access the device is unavailable. See the help section on the
appropriate device for more information about each device.

Device Not Ready or System Driver Error -- The device selected is
currently busy or is unavailable.

Device Timed Out -- This error will occur if you attempt to load
a device that is not available for the current system (e.g., MIDI
and WAVE files require sound cards). See the help section on the
appropriate device for more information about each device.

ElseIf Error -- ELSEIF outside IF block.

File can't be shared -- W.I.M. could not open a file due to a
conflict with another program. Close down files that may be using
common files to W.I.M.

File Not Found -- This indicates the file selected is not
available. This error may occur when W.I.M automatically loads up
a file when a device is selected, if the last accessed file
associated with the device is no longer available.

Invalid File Format -- The file cannot be loaded on the current
system. The file may be bad or the file may be in a format not
supported by the computer (e.g., some sound cards can not support
stereo WAVE files and some .AVI files will not play because a
required driver is not installed).

Out Of Memory  -- The program does not have enough memory to run.
This can often be corrected by unloading other Windows programs.

Undetermined Error -- An undocumented error has occurred. Try to
bypass the error if possible. If the problem is reoccurring and
fatal to the program operation, note the error number and contact
technical support for assistance.


Follows is a list of errors you may encounter when using .WIM
files with W.I.M.:

Branch not found -- Specified label to branch to cannot be found.

Bad variable name -- Variable name is a reserve word or an
invalid character is used in variable name.

Error opening . ..-- File cannot be found or opened.

Error reading . ..-- Error in reading file.

File error: -- General error reading file.

For without Next -- FOR statement with missing NEXT statement.

If without Endif -- There is an IF statement without an matching
ENDIF statement.

Nesting depth exceeded -- Too many nested FOR and/or IF blocks.

Next without For -- NEXT statement without corresponding FOR
statement.

Not Implemented -- This command is not supported.

Script error # -- Undetermined error. Note error number and
contact technical support if needed.

Syntax Error -- Command is incomplete or cannot be interpreted.

Too many strings -- Maximum string space has been used up. Too
many strings have been declared. Free up strings that are no
longer in use.

Too many variables -- Maximum variable space has been used up.
Too many variables have been declared. Free up variables that are
no longer in use.

Value out of range -- Variables only support integer values
between -32768 and 32767.


o  Product Support

Please try to resolve your problems by going through the
Troubleshooting Tips that are outlined.

Support for unregistered users will be available in regards to
product setup and basic program operation only. Registered users
are entitled to full product support via mail or via Compuserve
email.    Follow the instructions for documenting a problem in the
Troubleshooting section if you encounter a problem that requires
support.


o  NOTES FOR BBS USERS

If you are a BBS user and you like W.I.M., you can help us pass
along the shareware version of the program by uploading this
program to any popular local BBS that you frequent that does not
already have W.I.M. Please refer to the VENDOR.DOC file for more
information on uploading the file.


o  WHERE TO GET MORE MULTIMEDIA IMAGES AND SOUNDS

W.I.M. supports a wide array of file formats. It offers a
convenient "viewer" for files that you collect from various
sources.

A good bargain source of multimedia files can be had by
purchasing the "5Ft 10 Pak" CD-ROM set by Sirus Publishing Inc.,
Scottsdale, AZ [phone]. This package includes "The Best of
MediaClips" and the "PC Animation Festival", two CD-ROMs packed
with animation and sounds.

Another good source of multimedia is The Software Toolworks,
Inc., 60 Leveroni Court, Novato, CA  94949, [phone]. They
publish a number of quality multimedia CD-ROM disc sets.


o  ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

We hope you enjoy this program. If you have any comments or
suggestions on improving the program, please send them to the
address below. Your input is important to us and will be
considered to help improve the program in future releases.

Thank you for using W.I.M. for your multimedia needs.

        MMS Technologies
        P.O. Box 1263
        Talent, OR  97540
        USA

        CompuServe #75552,215



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