Introduction
For your
convenience, a sample project, created using Xenturi Studio One, has been
included on the CD-ROM.
The following few
pages will guide you step by step through re-creating some of this demo yourself
using Studio One.
If you wish to view
all of the source files used to create the actual demo, you will need to copy
the source files from the CD to your hard drive. To do this, copy the entire
directory (..\xenturi\sample project) to the root of your hard drive, so that
you now have a directory ‘c:\sample project’.
NB Ensure
that all copied files ARE NOT set to read-only.
The source files
can then be accessed (and edited) using Xenturi Studio One. To open the
project, select File/open project and select c:\sample project\reviewers.caw
It is possible to
view the project (through Studio One) by running the project. Select the Run
project Icon
It is worth having
a look at this project to see how a Xenturi presentation is put together.
Looking at the project overview -
File/Project Overview – to see how many screens are in a project, and how they
are linked together.
Example
Projects.
The first example
project is a simple demonstration of the ease with which Xenturi Studio One can
be used to play a full screen video presentation.
The second project
is split into a series of short sections, introducing key aspects of the Studio
One product :
·
Placing a
video on the screen;
·
Controlling a
presentation with Regions, Events and Actions;
·
Linking to
other screens;
·
Sculptured
Video.
A soft copy of the manual
is available on the main CD-ROM. This manual is for version 1.0 of Xenturi, and
is currently being updated for this version of the program. It is therefore not
complete
Part 2 - Placing a video on the screen.
1. Start Xenturi Studio One.
2. From the menu bar, select File/New Project
3. Complete the ‘New Project’ dialog–
giving the project a name for example ‘Proj2’.
4. From the Screen Properties box, select the colour
depth and set it to 24 bit. This combined
with the default settings will produce a project that will run full screen (not
windowed) and the screen resolution will be set to 800x600 with a colour depth
of 24bit.
5. Select a new Default Background Colour using the
drop down menu.
6. Select ‘OK’ to create the new
project.
1. Select the ‘Image’ icon from the plug-in tool bar. Use the mouse to
place an Image object into the main project window.
2. ‘Img1’ will appear in the ‘Object
List’. Select this.
3. Select the ‘Object’ tab and select file image file to be loaded.
(In this case the file is named ‘background.bmp’, and can be
found on the CD in the directory:
..\source_media\background.bmp.
4. Select the
‘Layout’ tab of the and set the ‘Left’ and ‘Top’
values to zero, so that the image sits in the top left corner of the screen and
set the width and height to 800 and 600 so that it fills the entire screen.
5. Click the ‘Run Screen’ icon to test the project.
6. Select the ‘Video’ icon from the plug-in tool bar. Use the mouse to
place a video object into the main project window.
7. ‘Vid2’ will appear in the ‘Object
List’. Select this.
8. Select the ‘Object’ tab from the dialog box.
9. To select the video file to be played, select the ‘…’
button next to the ‘Filename’ box. (An example video file can be
found on the installation disc in the directory.)
..\sample project\source
media\Mill_MPEG1.mpg
10. Ensure that the
‘Direct to Screen Render’ box is selected. (This option
produces faster running video on some older machines. )
11. Tick the ‘AutoPlay’ box to ensure the
video starts as soon as the presentation runs.
12. Select the
‘Layout’ tab of the dialog box and set the left, top,
width and height values to 405,128,316,258 so that the video sits in the TV Screen
area of the image. In this example we have sized the video smaller than its
original 352x288 format, but retained the aspect ratio.
13. Click the ‘Run Screen’ icon to test the project.
14. The video should run full screen. Press the ‘Esc’
key at any time to stop the presentation and return to the Studio One editor.
If the Video to be
played has been encrypted by the Xenturi VideoLock technology, then the
encrypted video box will need to be ticked to ensure that the video is played
back correctly. The video encryption tool has not been provided with this
product, but an example encrypted video is provided on the CD at
D:\EncryptedVideo\mill.mpg
Part 3 - Using
Events and Regions to Control Presentations
In this section we
shall build on the existing project by adding a pause button to control the
video. The functionality of the other buttons can be added in the same way. In
addition to this we shall add an Internet URL Link to the www.xenturi.com logo at the bottom of the
image.
7. If necessary start Xenturi Studio One and load the
project we have been working on.
8. Place a ‘Region’ over the pause button on the background
image. Regions are used to allow interaction between the user and the
presentation. Select the ‘Region’ icon from the plug-in tool bar.
Use the mouse to place / draw this region over the pause button.
We want to pause the
video when the user clicks the mouse on the pause button
15. ‘RNG3’ will appear in the ‘Object
List’. Select this
16. Select the ‘Events’ tab and double
click on the event names LClick. This will display the ‘New Action’ dialog.
17. Select Video as the object to be
actioned, and the Pause as the action.
18. Click the ‘Run Screen’ icon to test the project.
Now when the Pause
button is pressed, the video will pause.
The other actions such as play, stop etc can be added in the same way.
1. Place a new Region around the Xenturi banner at the
base of the image.
2. Select the Event tab for the new Region and double
click on the LClick action.
3. Select Launch File as the object, Open as the
action, and then specify the URL of the web page you wish to open. When the
Region is clicked, the default web browser will attempt to link to the
specified web page.
19. Click the ‘Run Screen’ icon to test the project.
Part 4 - Roll-over Buttons and Effects
In this section we
shall build on the existing project by adding a roll-over effect to the pause.
Additional functionality to other controls can be added in the same way.
9. If necessary start Xenturi Studio One and load the
project we have been working on.
10. Load a new image (in the same way as the background
image was loaded). In this case load the image
..\source media\pause.bmp
11. Using the layout tab, set the left, top, width and
height settings to (502,460,52,54) – Note: the width and height are the image’s
original size.
12. Set this image to be hidden when the project
starts. (We only want the image to be shown when the user passes the mouse over
it.) This is done by clicking the visible column of the object list.
In addition to pausing the video when the user clicks the mouse on the
pause button, we want the pause button to change image as the user passes the
mouse over it – giving it a roll-over effect.
20. Select the relevant region from the object list .
21. Select the ‘Events’ tab and double
click on the event named GotFocus. This will display the ‘New
Action’ dialog.
22. Select the Image that you have just loaded, and select
the Show action.
23. Now repeat for the LostFocus event,
and select the Hide action.
24. Click the ‘Run Screen’ icon to test the project.
Now when the user
passes the mouse over the pause button, it will change appearance. The same functionality can be easily applied
to other actions such as play, stop etc .
In this way it is
possible to completely customise the look and feel of any user interface
created with Xenturi.
Part 5 - Linking to Other Screens
In this section we
shall build on the existing project by adding a second screen, and linking to
this screen from the first screen
13. Select the File/New Screen option to create a new
screen. This screen will have the same settings as the project with regard to
screen size and colour depth.
14. Create a new screen (for example one that shows the
video Full-screen).
15. Save this screen, and test that it runs by clicking
the ‘Run Screen’ icon
We want some action
on our 1st screen to launch this new screen. For this example we
will put a region around the ‘Full Screen’ icon.
25. Now add a Region around this image on
the screen, and double click the LClick event (on the Events
tab) to start the New Action dialog
26. Select Application as the object to
be actioned, and Open as the action.
27. Select the Filename option. This will present a
list of all other screens in the project. Select the new screen that you want
to link to.
Now when the Region
is clicked, the new screen will be displayed. To return to this screen, do the
same in reverse, selecting some event on the other screen to launch it from.
Part 6 – Sculptured Video
In this section
we shall build a new project to demonstrate sculptured video. Sculptured video
is a masking technology that allows a video to be played in any shape rather
than the standard rectangle, allowing any existing background image to be
viewed in areas where the video is masked (hidden).
You need 3 items to
make a sculptured video:
1. The video file – Standard MPEG1
2. The mask file – a black and white BMP file
saved at a colour depth of 256 colours, the same size as the original video
file (often 352x288 for an MPEG1 video file).
3. The background bitmap image – Standard BMP
The final effect of
these 3 files is a video playing in a user defined ‘sculptured’ shape.
(Sculptured Video
Tutorial – Page 2)
16. Add an image to the new project. An example image
is at
..:\sample
project\source media\sculpt_bgd.bmp
17. Switch to the layout tab, and select Lock
Aspect Ratio and then click Size to Image. This will
ensure that the image is displayed at its original size and aspect ratio.
18. Now set the image’s left and top values to 100,100.
19. Save this screen, and test that it runs by clicking
the ‘Run Screen’ icon
28.
Now add a video to this screen: ..\sample project\source media\mill_mpeg.mpg.
29.
On the object tab for
the video, set the following properties:
a.
Untick Direct to
Screen – The direct to screen option is used for full screen presentations
on lower specification hardware. For this sculptured video example, it is
necessary to mask the video file as it is rendered, and as such it should not
be played direct to screen.
b.
Tick AutoPlay - So that the video will start when the
screen first opens.
c.
Tick the Sculptured
Video option, and then select a mask suitable mask file : ..\sample project\source
media\sculpt_mask.bmp
30.
Switch to the layout
tab, and select Lock Aspect Ratio and then click Size to
Image. This will ensure that the video is displayed at its original
size and aspect ratio.
31.
Now set the videos left
and top values to 106,96. This will line up the mask with the background
image.
32.
Finally make sure that
the image is BEHIND the video. This is done using the arrows in the Object
list box.
33. Save this screen, and test that it runs by clicking
the ‘Run Screen’ icon