20th Century Video Alman…Century in Depth - Sports/ALMANAC_03.iso/readme.txt

Text File | 1993-09-14 | 20KB | 488 lines

The Software Toolworks
20th Century Video Almanac
Version 1.0.5 - September 15, 1993

This file contains information which may be helpful to you in getting
the most out of The 20th Century Video Almanac.  You may wish to print
out this file and keep it for handy reference.  To do so, type

    PRINT X:\README.TXT

(where 'X' is the letter of your CD-ROM drive), and press Enter.  Make
sure your printer is on-line.

If you are encountering problems with Super VGA or VESA VBE-compatibility,
TYPE or PRINT the file X:\SVGAHELP.TXT (again, 'X' is your CD-ROM drive).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 20th Century Video Almanac requires the following system components:

  - 386SX-16 required (486DX-33 or faster recommended).

  - 1 MB RAM (580 KB largest executable program size as reported by MEM).
    Extended memory manager recommended.

  - SVGA video adapter (640x480, 256-color resolution, 512 KB video memory),
    compatible with VESA Super VGA Standard BIOS Extension (VBE) version 1.2.

  - Color monitor.

  - Creative Labs Sound Blaster or Media Vision Pro AudioSpectrum (or 100%-
    compatible) sound card.

  - MS-DOS Version 5.0 or higher.

  - Microsoft CD-ROM Extensions (MSCDEX) Version 2.20 or higher.

  - MPC-compatible CD-ROM drive (at least 150 KB/sec sustained transfer
    with less than 40% CPU loading).

  - Hard disk drive with 3 MB free space required.

  - Microsoft or 100%-compatible mouse recommended.

VESA is a registered trademark of the Video Electronics Standards Association.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INSTALLING THE 20TH CENTURY VIDEO ALMANAC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Turn on your computer and CD-ROM drive.

2. Place the CD-ROM in the drive, label side up.

3. At the DOS prompt, type

    X:INSTALL

   where 'X' is the letter of your CD-ROM drive, and press the Enter key.

4. Follow the onscreen instructions.  There are two installation
   plans to choose between:

   Recommended   - balance performance and hard disk usage.
   Maximum       - maximize performance (uses more hard disk space).

5. To run the program once you have installed it, change to the drive
   and directory where you installed the Almanac.  For example, if you
   installed it in C:\ALMANAC as the INSTALL program recommends, typing

    C:
    CD \ALMANAC
    ALMANAC

   would run the program (don't forget to press Enter at the end of each
   line).

6. To exit the program, choose the Main Screen icon to return to the
   Main screen (if you aren't already there), and then select the Exit button.
   Or hold down the Alt key and press 'Q' (Alt-Q) at any screen to exit
   immediately.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MOUSE USERS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Move the mouse cursor over a control (e.g. a button or picture) to highlight
it -- a label appears when the control is highlighted.  Click the LEFT mouse
button to activate the highlighted control.

HINT: when a "page turn" control (appears as the upturned edge of a page),
is highlighted, clicking the LEFT mouse button turns to the NEXT page.
Clicking the RIGHT mouse button turns to the PREVIOUS page.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KEYBOARD USERS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Press the Tab or the Shift-Tab key to move the cursor from control to control
-- a label appears to show the control is highlighted. Press the Enter key or
the spacebar to select the highlighted control.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONFIGURATION FILE OPTIONS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The installation program creates a "default" configuration file in
(ALMANAC.INI) in the installation directory (e.g. C:\ALMANAC).  The
following configuration items are recognized (show with their default
settings):

    CDPath=<path>
        This item is set by installation to the root of the CD-ROM
        drive from which the Almanac was installed.  The Almanac
        expects to find CONTENT and VIDEO subdirectories in this path.
        A trailing slash (e.g. E:\) is optional

    HDPath=<path>
        This item is set by installation to the directory in which
        the Almanac was installed, usually C:\ALMANAC.  The program
        expects to find a number of its data files here.

    JumpToOTD=OFF
        If this item is ON, the program will start on the On This Day
        screen.  This can be a fun way to start each day.  Just run
        the Almanac from your AUTOEXEC.BAT

    ShowOpening=ON
        If this item is OFF, the program will not show the opening
        animation (revolving globe, biplane, jet).

    TimelineMemory=OFF
        If this item is ON, the program will remember your position
        on the Timeline screen between uses of the Almanac.  NOTE:
        if this item is ON, the HDPath above must be writeable.

    TimelinePos=<n>
        Used to remember the position on the Timeline screen if
        TimelineMemory is ON.

    VideoBackground=ON
        If this item is OFF, no background graphic is displayed when
        movies are played.

    SVGAVideo=OFF
        If this item is ON, the movies will play back using a
        640x480 256-color video mode and a 160x120 (1/16th screen)
        window.  The background graphic used is a B&W version of the
        Almanac logo.  If this item is OFF, movies will play back using
        a 320x200 256-color video mode and a 160x120 (1/4 screen)
        window.  The background graphic used is the interior of a
        movie theatre.  See THEATER SCREEN below for more information.

The program does not care about the captitalization of .INI file entries.

Use an ASCII text editor (such as the DOS 5.0 EDIT command) to make changes
to the .INI file.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A COMPLETE GUIDE TO USING THE 20TH CENTURY VIDEO ALMANAC
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The 20th Century Video Almanac is composed of over 2300 "articles."  Each
article has a title, a still image and caption, and a descriptive text.
Some of the articles have associated video clips.  Which articles have clips
is determined by which of the Almanac discs you own.  There are five discs
in the complete Almanac:

    The Best of Our Century (overview)
    Our Century In Depth: Politics, War & Disasters
    Our Century In Depth: Sports
    Our Century In Depth: People
    Our Century In Depth: Science & Technology

As you add discs, more of the articles will have video clips (indicated
by the appearance of the "video icon" in the upper-right corner of the
still image.

The Almanac is available as single discs, a 4-disc upgrade, or a complete
5-disc set.  To place an order, dial 1-800-234-3088.

----------------------
Opening Title Sequence
----------------------
Press any key or click the mouse to bypass the opening animation.  You
can also set the .INI file "ShowOpening" setting to OFF so that the
opening animation is never shown.

-----------
Main Screen
-----------
There are six buttons on the main screen, three on either side:

Timeline - choosing this button takes you to the Timeline screen, which
lets you move through the articles in chronological order.

On This Day... - choosing this button takes you to the On This Day screen,
which lets you see which articles in the Almanac are associated with any
day of the year.

Where In The World? - choosing this button takes you to the Where In The
World screen, which lets you choose articles based on their geographic
association.

Exit - this button will ask you to confirm that you want to return to DOS.
Click "Yes" or press the Enter key to exit.  Click "No" or press the Esc key
to remain in the Almanac.

Go Back - returns to the last screen you were on.  This button appears on
EVERY screen in the program.

Library - takes you to the library, where you can search all the articles
for a particular word, view articles by their category, view articles by
their subject, or view all the articles with associated video clips.  This
button appears on EVERY screen in the program.

---------------
Timeline Screen
---------------
The bottom of the screen displays several miniature images on a filmstrip.
The current image (which appears full-size in the center of the screen) has
a red rectangle around it.  Filmstrip images which have associated video
have a small black & white video icon in the upper-right corner.

You can highlight an image on the film strip by moving the mouse over the
image or tabbing to it.  When highlighted, the title of the image appears.
Make the highlighted image the current image by clicking on it or pressing
the Enter key.

You can move the filmstrip a page at a time by selecting the "Next Page" and
"Previous Page" controls located at either end of the filmstrip.

You can move the filmstrip an entire decade at a time by selecting the "Next
Decade" and "Previous Decade" controls.  Notice that the artwork surrounding
the central image changes with each decade.

You can also move to the very beginning or very end of the filmstrip using
the controls for that purpose.

View the Article screen for the current image by selecting the "View Article"
control at the left side of the screen.  The Article screen is described
below.

The date associated with this article appears underneath the "View Article"
button.  The title of the article, and the caption for the image appear
underneath the image.

If the selected article has associated video (the black & white video icon
appears in the upper-right corner of the central image), the central image
can be highlighted (displaying a "Watch Video" label).  Selecting the
central image will play the video.

The "Main Screen" button takes you immediately to the Main screen.  The
"Go Back" button takes you to the last screen you were on.  The Library
button takes you immediately to the Library screen.

---------------------
On This Day... Screen
---------------------
The first time you visit this screen during a session, it displays the
current date (according to your system clock - use the DOS DATE command
if it appears that your system clock is set incorrectly).

NOTE:  you can configure the Almanac to always start on this screen by
changing the the .INI file "JumpToOTD" setting to ON.

The center of the screen displays a calendar page.  The left side of the
screen displays images for articles associated with the month and day
shown on the calendar.

Highlighting an image shows the event associated with that image.  There
can be more than one image associated with the same event.  For example,
the birthday of John F. Kennedy will have images for each article which
includes JFK, and each image will have the same label ("John F. Kennedy
born").

Select the image to view its associated article.  As always, articles which
have video display the black & white video icon in the upper-right corner.

You can change the date by clicking on it (LEFT click to go forward, RIGHT
click to go backwards).  Holding down the mouse button (or the PgUp/PgDn
key) will "spin" the dates quickly.

You can change the month by clicking on the previous/next month calendars
at the top of the page.

NOTE: the events shown for a given date are chosen because there are articles
in the Almanac for those events.  You won't see (for example) Michael
Jackson's or Madonna's birthday, because there are no articles which refer
to them.

The "Main Screen" button takes you immediately to the Main screen.  The
"Go Back" button takes you to the last screen you were on.  The Library
button takes you immediately to the Library screen.

--------------------------
Where In The World? Screen
--------------------------
The world map has seven regions: North America, South America, Europe, the
Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Australia & Oceania.  Select a region to
see a list countries.  Select a country to see a list of articles associated
with that country.

Selecting the United States from the list of North American countries gives
you a list of states.  Select a state to see a list of articles associated
with that state.

The "Main Screen" button takes you immediately to the Main screen.  The
"Go Back" button takes you to the last screen you were on.  The Library
button takes you immediately to the Library screen.

--------------
Library Screen
--------------
The Library gives you four choices:

    1) Search For Word - lets you search for a particular word in the
       text of all the articles.

    2) View By Category - there are five article "categories" defined
       in the Almanac:

    - Politics, War & Disasters
    - Sports
    - People
    - Science & Technology
    - Grab Bag

       Choose a category and select from a list of articles in that
       category.

    3) Subject Index - lets you choose a subject and select from a list
       of articles associated with that subject.

    4) Video Index - lets you select from a list of articles which have
       video clips.  IMPORTANT NOTE: as you add discs to the Almanac,
       this list will grow in size.

The "Main Screen" button takes you immediately to the Main screen.  The
"Go Back" button takes you to the last screen you were on.  The Library
button takes you immediately to the Library screen.

--------------
Article Screen
--------------
The Article screen is the heart of the Almanac.  For each article, it
shows

    - the category (Politics, Sports, People, Science, Other)
    - the year
    - the title
    - the full-size image
    - the caption
    - the descriptive text

For articles with associated video, the black & white video icon appears
in the upper-right corner of the image.  When an article has a video clip,
the image is selectable

The "Next Article" and "Previous Article" buttons take you to the
next/previous article in the current list without having to leave the
Article screen .  In other words, if you are viewing an article

  - from the Timeline, these buttons move you along the filmstrip.

  - from On This Day..., these buttons move you along the list of articles
    for the currently selected day-of-year.

  - from Where In the World?, these buttons move you along the list of
    articles for the selected country or state.

  - from Search For Word, these buttons move you along the list of articles
    containing the search word.

  - from View By Category, these buttons move you along the list of articles
    for the selected category.

  - from Subject Index, these buttons move you along the list of articles for
    the selected subject.

  - from Video Index, these buttons move you along the list of articles
    with video clips.

The "Main Screen" button takes you immediately to the Main screen.  The
"Go Back" button takes you to the last screen you were on.  The Library
button takes you immediately to the Library screen.

--------------
Theatre Screen
--------------
The Theatre is where video clips are shown.

Click the mouse or press a key to interrupt the video and return to the
previous screen.  There are no controls on this screen.

All videos are 160x120 pixels in size, and use 256 colors.  A video can
be played back on a 320x200 screen (where it occupies one-quarter of the
screen), or on a 640x480 screen (where it occupies one-sixteenth of the
screen).  Choose the mode you like best by changing the the .INI file
"SVGAVideo" setting to OFF (320x200 playback) or ON (640x480 playback).

Each playback mode has its own background: a 320x200 movie theatre, and a
640x480 Almanac logo.  If you don't like the background art, you can watch
videos in the chosen size against a black background by changing the the .INI
file "VideoBackground" setting to OFF.

----------------------
Command Line Arguments
----------------------
When starting the 20th Century Video Almanac, the following arguments
can be specified on the command line:

    -v        reports the Almanac version and exits immediately.

    -d        demonstration mode one: images plus video

    -d2       demonstration mode two: video only.

For example, typing

    ALMANAC -v

at the DOS prompt and pressing the Enter key would report the Almanac
version and return to the DOS prompt.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIDEO TITLE LIST
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The CD-ROM file \VIDEO\TITLE.TXT contains a list of the titles for the
AVI files in the \VIDEO directory.  For example, TITLE.TXT contains a
line like:

    0002    EARLY MOTION PICTURES

This means that the video clip in \VIDEO\0002.AVI is associated with the
Almanac article entitled "Early Motion Pictures."

If you want to see all the video clips, go to the Library, and select
the Video Index, which lets you look at all the articles which have
associated video clips.

The software-only video playback engine used in The 20th Century Video
Almanac is "MotiVE", and is licensed from Media Vision, Inc. for use
in this product.  It is compatible with the "MS Video 1" codec used in
Microsoft's Video For Windows.  These AVI files can also be played back
using the Media Player included with Microsoft Video for Windows.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TROUBLESHOOTING
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Because the 20th Century Video Almanac is (or can be) a multiple-CD
product, some interesting problems may arise if you use it in ways that
the program is not prepared to handle.  Most notably, changing discs at
times when you are not prompted to can cause unpredictable results.
Some possible results are garbled graphics or a lockup of your computer.
If you experience the first problem, you should quit the Almanac and
restart it.  All other suspicious problems resulting from inadvertant
disc switching should be handled by rebooting your computer.

The easy solution to this is to not remove the disc from CD drive unless
you are prompted to by the program.  The 20th Century Video Almanac has
been optimized chronologically so that when you are using the "Previous
Article" and "Next Article" buttons on the Article Screen, the number
of times you will have to switch discs is minimal.

We know it may be very tempting to say "Ah, that video is on the Sports
disc. I'll just pop that disc in now to save time", but once again, it
is important to the overall well-being of the Almanac that you do not
attempt to remove the CD from the drive, or attempt to switch discs
unless asked to by the program.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOW TO CONTACT US
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Software Toolworks
60 Leveroni Court
Novato, CA 94949

Main number............[phone]
FAX....................[phone]
Technical Support......[phone]
Technical Support FAX..[phone]

Please don't forget to send in your registration card!

-------------------------------END OF FILE -----------------------------------