+$ Index
Table of Contents

Introduction

Getting Started

Registration

How to Open the Setup Screen

How to Add a Picture or Movie

How to Preview a Movie or Picture file

How to Change the Display Time

How to Choose an Ending for a Picture

How to Change the way a Movie is Displayed

How to Change FLI or FLC Repetitions

How to Stop Using a Picture or Movie

How to Attach a Sound Clip to a Picture

How to Rearrange the Picture/Movie UP and DN

How to Save and Load Scripts

How to Turn on and Use Password Protection

File Conversion


Introduction

Projector is a standard Windows Screen Saver.  This means that when you are not using your computer, you can enjoy pictures and movies that play continuously and automatically.  After you have installed Projector by carefully following the step-by-step instructions in Getting Started, Windows will start Projector whenever you have not entered a key stroke or moved the mouse for a preset period of time (and you preset the time!).  After Windows tells it to start, Projector will entertain with still pictures, sounds, and movies with sound.  For an office environment, just turn on the Shh! setting.  Ready to go back to work?  If Projector is displaying a picture, just hit any key, or move the mouse, or click on a mouse button.  If Projector is playing a movie, click on the left mouse button, or hit the space bar to stop the movie.

Projector comes with pictures and movies.  After reading through this documentation, you will be able to add your own pictures, sounds, and movie files, to create your own custom show.  In fact, you could design several different scripts, and change the Projector show to match your mood.


Getting Started

This section is designed to help you install Projector.  Please follow the given steps exactly, and in order:

NOTE:  This is probably not required in the online help, since if you can read this you have probably already figured out the installation.  But, I'm leaving it in for completeness.

1	Register Projector.

2	Place Disk 1 in a floppy drive.

3	Open the Program Manager if it is not open already.

4	In the upper left hand corner of the Program Manager is the File Menu item.

 Use the left mouse button to click on the word File.

5	Use the left mouse button to select Run.

6	The Run Dialog will open.  Click with the left mouse button on the long rectangular box below Command Line, (not the Run Minimized box).  Type the name of the drive you inserted the diskette in (either A: or B:, usually), and the word csetup, like this:  'A:csetup', or 'B:csetup'.  (Note: you could use the browse button to graphically find the b: drive and csetup.exe file, but the net result would be to get what you just typed in).

7	Click on the OK button.  The Projector setup program will begin.

8	The Setup program will recommend that the Projector program be installed on C:\windows.  If you have installed your Windows in some other drive/directory, then change this entry to the drive/directory where Windows is installed.  If you are not sure, just use the default, since this reflects a standard windows installation.

9	After a while, the Setup program will request that you insert the second diskette.  Place the second Projector installation diskette in the same floppy drive you placed the first diskette.  Be sure to wait until the drive light goes out before you remove the first diskette.


How to Register Projector

Use of Projector for more than 10 days without registration is a copyright violation.  If you like Projector and want to license it, please send $20 in check or money order to :

Bruce Nunnally

1304 Todd Drive

Plano, TX 75023-1911

To register via Compuserve, type GO SWREG, and enter number 1251.

You will be sent by return mail the latest version of Projector, including different movies or animations with each release.  You will also be registered, so that when new features are added, you will automatically be notified.  Registered users will receive discounts on future releases - usually cost of disks/mailing only.

And best of all, you will be encouraging authors to release valuable software like Projector as shareware.


How to Open Setup
How to Open the Setup Screen

Projector installs as a standard Windows 3.1 screen saver.  This means that Projector may be accessed the same way that the screen savers that come with Windows 3.1 are, and generally works the same way they do.  From the Program Manager Window, double click with the left mouse button on the Main Group to open it.  Next, double click on the Control Panel icon.  Now double click on the Desktop icon.

The Desktop window allows you to choose a Screen Saver.  If you have never selected a Screen Saver, the window next to Name: will say [None].  Use the left mouse button to click on the down arrow next to the Name: window.  A drop down list opens to show you all the Screen Savers available.  Select Projector 1.0.  Below the Name: window, select the number of minutes delay you prefer before Projector comes on.

If you are installing Projector for the first time, push the OK button in the upper right part of the Desktop window.  The Desktop window will close; double click on the Desktop icon to reopen it.  This cycle saved off the selection of Projector as the new default screen saver.  Projector will now start automatically whenever there has been no mouse or keyboard input for the delay period.

If you just want to see Projector work without waiting for the delay period, push the TEST button to start Projector.

Push the SETUP button to open the Projector Setup.


How to Add a Picture or Movie

Projector plays pictures that end in .BMP or .DIB.  This extension indicates to the user and to the computer that the picture file is written in a standard manner for Windows picture files.  Any picture files you wish to add should end in .BMP or .DIB.  If the picture does not end in these, but ends in .GIF, or .PCX, or .TIF, or .JPG, for example, it must be converted to a .BMP picture before you can use it with Projector.  Please see FILE CONVERSION.

Projector plays movie files which end with an .AVI, .FLI, or .FLC extension.  AVI is the standard movie extension for Microsoft Video for Windows.  FLI and FLC are Autodesk Animator movie files.  Movie files with any other extension must be converted, if possible, to .AVI files before they can be used with Projector.  Please see FILE CONVERSION.

If the picture file is on a floppy diskette, copy the file to the hard drive.  The copy may be performed by using the windows file manager.  The file may be copied to any subdirectory on the hard drive, but the C:\Windows subdirectory is a convenient location.

Open the Projector setup (see How to Open Setup).  To the right of the setup screen, below the Available: window, there is a drop-down list box which controls which type of file is being shown in the Available window.  When AVI is selected, AVI type files (Movies) are shown.  When the BMP is selected, BMP type files (Pictures) are shown, (and so on).  The Available window shows all the .BMP files which are in the current directory of the current disk drive., usually c:\windows in a standard Windows setup.  The window also contains subdirectories in [brackets], available drives in [brackets], and dots in brackets [..], (exit directory).  The items in brackets allow you to look in other directories or on other drives for .BMP files to use.

Let's assume for the moment that you see the file you want to add in the Available window.  Use the mouse to select the file, by clicking with the left mouse button on the file name in the Available window.  After you have selected the file name, use the left mouse button to push the ADD button to the upper left part of the Projector Setup.  The selected picture has now been added to the end of the pictures in the current Script.  Choose Done button in the lower right hand corner of the Setup Dialog. Congratulations!  You have added a new picture or movie to the show!

There is also a hidden feature available during ADD.  If you select the new picture or movie file from the Available window, then select a current file in the In Use window, then push the ADD button, the new picture or movie file will be added immediately after the file selected in the In Use window.

Here's what to do if the picture file you want to add is in another directory, or on another hard drive.  Below the Available Window is a rectangle which shows the current Available window drive and directory.  In the example shown, the drive and directory are C:\windows.  The drive and directory will always start off as your windows drive and directory.  In a standard setup, this will be c:\windows.  Let's assume that you have a second hard drive or drive partition, named d:, and that you have placed all your .BMP picture files in a subdirectory on d: named bmp, or d:\bmp.  In order to get from c:\windows to d: bmp, select the letter [d] in brackets in the Available window.  This changes the current drive/directory to the current directory of drive d:.  If you have not been working on drive d:, this will be the root directory, d:\; let's assume that this is true.  The Available window will now show all the BMP files in the root directory of drive d:.  It also shows the subdirectories of the root directory in brackets, as well as all the available drives in brackets.  If you have a [bmp] subdirectory on [d], it will be in the Available window (you may have to use the scroll bar to make it visible).  Select the [bmp] directory, and the current drive/directory would become d:\bmp, and the Available window would show the .BMP files in the d:\bmp drive/directory.

Addional Topics:  How to Rearrange the Picture/Movie Order with UP or DN


How to Preview a Movie or Picture file

Open the Setup (see How to Open Setup).  Choose AVI for Movies or BMP for pictures in the center of the dialog.  Select the file to be previewed by clicking on the name of the file in the Available window with the left mouse button.  Push the Preview button,  found in the lower right part of the dialog, to preview the picture or movie.  A reduced size (160x120) copy of the picture or movie will be shown in the lower right part of the Setup dialog.  While a movie is playing, the preview button will change to a stop button.  To stop the movie during preview, click once on the stop button with the left mouse button.

To clear a previewed picture, either select another picture to preview, or exit Setup.


How to Change the Display Time

Open the Projector Setup (see How to Open Setup).  To the upper/center left are two buttons with a number between them.

 The number between the Shorter and Longer button indicates how many seconds each picture will be shown.  This value applies for all the pictures.  Five to Eight seconds seems to be a popular value.  To change the amount of display time, use the Shorter and Longer buttons.  To make the Display time shorter, use the left mouse button to push the shorter button.  The number between the Shorter and Longer buttons will decrease one count for each push of the Shorter button.  Likewise, to increase the Display time, push the Longer button.  The Display time will increase one count for each push of the Longer button.  The minimum Display time is 1 second.  On slower computers running higher color pictures or larger movie files, such a low Display time value may make the Projector program spend more time loading pictures and movies than is spends displaying them.  The maximum Display time value is 60 seconds.  Note that the Shorter and Longer buttons will wrap the Display time in both directions, i.e., one count past 60 is 1, and one count below 1 is 60.  Additionally, the term seconds here is in Windows time, not real time.  But usually, they are about the same.


How to Choose an Ending for a Picture

You have a choice of three different effects to end each picture file.  The first effect, Cut to Black, performs a simple, cut to black.  The second effect, Shrink, shrinks the display window rectangularly inward until the picture is no longer visible.  The third effect, Slide Off, slides the picture off the screen to the right.

In order to pick the ending you would like for each picture file, first open the Setup (see How to Open Setup).  To the Upper left part of the Setup dialog is the Using: Window.  This window shows the current picture and movie files that are being used.  Select the picture file you wish to change the end for in this window by clicking with the left mouse button on the name of the picture file.  If the picture name is not visible in the Using: window, use the scroll bar up or down arrows to the right of the Using window to make the picture name visible, then select it.  Once you have selected the picture name you wish to change the ending for, the current ending for that picture will have a dot in its circle in the End Selected Slide with: window.  Click with the left mouse button in the circle next to the ending you would prefer for the selected picture.  Click on the done button to exit the Setup Dialog.


How to Change the way a Movie is played
How to Change the Way an AVI Movie is Played

Choose the movie by clicking with the left mouse button on the name of the movie in the Using window.  The window immediately to the right of the using window now displays the options available for displaying movies.  There are three options:  Window x 2, Window, and FullScreen.  Use the left mouse button to click in the circle next to the option you prefer.

Window x 2 and Window play the movie in a popup window at the current screen resolution and color capability.  Window plays the movie at the resolution it was captured (for example, 160 pixels in width by 120 pixels in height, 160x120).  Window x 2 plays the movie at twice its width and twice its height.  The advantages of Windowed playback are that it will support as many colors as your windows display driver and video board can display, up to True Color, and that time to next replay is quicker because Windows does not have to change video resolutions..  The disadvantage is that a greater number of pixels must be displayed to achieve the same screen size as a movie displayed using FullScreen mode, making windowed playback slower for the same size result.

For FullScreen playback, windows will shift the display to VGA 320x240 by 256 color mode and play the movie.  320x240 movies will play full screen, and 160x120 movies will fill half the screen.  The advantage of this mode is that it provides a large display and good speed for playback.  The disadvantage is that it is limited to 256 color playback.


How to Change Number of Times an FLI or FLC is Repeated
How to Change the Number of Times an FLI or FLC Movie is Played

Choose the movie by clicking with the left mouse button on the name of the movie in the Using window.  The window immediately to the right of the using window now displays the options available for FLI and FLC repetitions.  Choose the option desired.


How to Stop Using a Picture or Movie

Open Setup, (see How to Open Setup).  Select the picture or movie you wish to stop using by clicking on the name of the picture or movie in the Using: window to the upper left of the Setup Dialog.  You may have to use the scroll bar to the right of the Using: window to move the name of the picture or movie into view, then select it by clicking with the left mouse button on the name of the picture or movie.  Note:  the Using window only has a scroll bar if it needs one.  Now, push the Delete button.  The Delete button is found just to the right of the Using window.  The selected picture or file has been removed from the current show.  Note that the picture or movie file has not been deleted from your disk drive or computer, only from the current script.  Choose the Done button in the bottom right hand corner of the Setup dialog to exit Setup.


How to Attach a Sound clip to a Picture

Sound clips that end in .WAV can be used with Projector.  If you have some sound clips that end in something else, please see File Conversion.

In order to use a sound clip, you must have either a Windows supported sound board, or a sound driver for the internal PC speaker installed.

Windows comes with several .WAV files, such as Tada.wav.  To play the Tada sound with a picture, open the Projector Setup (see How to Open Setup).  Use the left mouse button to select the picture by clicking on the name of the picture in the Using window.  If the picture currently has a Wav file Attached, the full path name of the WAV file will appear in the taller long rectangular box  below the Play Wav button.  If no WAV file is currently attached to this picture, None will appear in the box.  Next, use the mouse to click on the down arrow on the right end of the drop down list box just below the Play Wav button.

A drop down list of the .WAV files in the current WAV directory will be shown.  The current .WAV directory is shown in the first long rectangular box below the drop down list.  Unless you have changed the WAV drive/directory, it will say the c:\windows drive/directory.  This is the drive/directory where Tada.wav is usually located.  Choose Tada.wav from the drop down list.  The list retracts, leaving Tada.wav in the retracted list box.  Press the Play Wav button with the left mouse button.  Tada should play.  Use the left mouse button to press the Attach button to Attach the Tada.wav sound file to the selected picture file.

Using the Shh! Switch

Make sure that the box next to the word SHH! on the Projector Setup (see How to Open Setup) does not have an X in it - if it does, no sounds will be played.  The Shh! feature will let you turn on or off the sound when Projector is playing.

Choose the Done button to exit Setup, and the Test button from the Desktop to test the new show.

If you have chosen a WAV file for a picture, but now you don't like it any more, you can select None and Attach it to the picture.

When you select the drop down box below the Play Wav button, dots in brackets [..], drives in brackets [a], and directories in brackets [system] also appear.  You can use these items to look for Wav files in other drive/directories.  But, unless you have put some somewhere else, there probably aren't any.


How to Rearrange the Picture/Movie Order: UP and DN

Open Projector Setup, (see How to Open Setup).  Use the left mouse button to select the picture or movie you wish to move by clicking on the name of the picture or movie in the Using window.  Push the UP button to move the picture or movie upward (so that it shows earlier) or the DN button to move the picture or movie downward (so that it shows later).  Select the next picture or movie to move.  Continue until the order of pictures and movies is perfect.


How to Save and Load Scripts

Projector uses a custom script file format that ends in .SSS.  Only files written using the Projector Setup will be in this format.  In order to make a script file, open the Projector Setup (please see How to Open Setup).  Add or Delete pictures and movies and rearrange your selected pictures and movies until you get everything you want in the order you want.  Make sure you add sound clips for each picture, (movies have sound clips built in), and endings for each picture.  Now use the left mouse button to select the input rectangle immediately below the Save Script button, where the '*.SSS' is written.  Use the delete key to delete the *, and type in a good name for the current show, like 'Kids.SSS', or 'Animals.SSS', or 'Planes.SSS'.  Make sure you use 8 or fewer letters in the name, a dot (period), then SSS.  Use the left mouse button to push the Save Script button.  You just made a new script file!

After you have put together two or more custom scripts, you can use the Load Script function to swap between them.  Push the down button on the right end of the drop down list box directly below the Load Script button.  All the SSS files in the Windows directory (the directory your copy of Windows runs from, usually c:\windows) are shown.  Use the mouse to choose the script you would like to play.  Push the Load Script button.  The newly loaded script is now shown in the Using window.  Choose the Done button to exit setup.


How to Turn on and Use Password Protection

Open Projector Setup, (see How to Open Setup).  Use the left mouse button to Put an X in the box next to Password Protected.  The Set Password button will change from being greyed out to normal.  The password feature is now enabled.  The default password, if you have not changed it, is Bruce.  If you are happy with this password, push the Done button to exit Setup.  Push the test button to start the screen saver.  Wait until the first picture comes up, then move the mouse, or push the mouse button, or hit one of the keys on the keyboard.  Instead of instantly returning you to the desktop, a Security Check dialog is displayed.

The cursor is currently in the password box, so type in Bruce.  As soon as you type in the correct password, the Security Check will disappear, and Projector will take you to the Desktop.

A special feature of the Projector security check is that if the security check is started accidently, for instance, by your 15 month old son, after 10 seconds (or so) of inactivity the security dialog will automatically close, and the screen saver will begin again.

In order to change the default password, open the Projector Setup, (see How to Open Setup)  Use the left mouse button to put an X in the Password Protected box, if there is not already one there, and push the Set Password button.

The Projector Password Dialog will open.  Use the mouse to click on the input box next to the words Old Password.  Type in the current password, (Bruce, if you have never changed it).  The New Password and Retype New Password words and input boxes will change from grey to normal when you correctly type in the password in the Old Password input.

Now use the mouse to select the input box next to the words New Password: and type in the new password you would like to use.  Use the mouse to select the input box next to the words Retype New Password: and retype the new password.  Finally, use the left mouse button to push the Change Password button.  If you have succeeded, a confirmation dialog will be displayed.  Push the OK button on the confirmation dialog, then the Done button on the Projector Password dialog to close it.  Finally, push the Projector Setup dialog Done button to exit setup.


File Conversions
File Conversion

Pictures: Picture files that end in .PCX can be converted to .BMP files using the Paintbrush program that comes with Windows.  In order to convert the file, load the file into Paintbrush, then save the file using File Save As, and specify one of the Bitmap formats.  You should choose the number of colors in the picture, or in your Windows video drivers, whichever is less.  If you are not sure, choose 256 colors bitmaps.  Paintbrush will save the file with the same first name, and the .BMP extension.

Similarly, you may encounter some BMP files which are not Windows 3 BMP files, such as OS/2 BMPs, or Windows 2 BMPs.  If you load these files into Paintbrush, then immediately save them, Paintbrush will update them to Windows 3 BMP files.

Files that do not have an extension of .BMP or .PCX must be converted using a custom conversion program.  Commercial file conversion and paint programs may be used for this purpose.

Sounds:  sounds that end with anything besides .WAV will require a file conversion program to convert them to WAV files.  You can also make you own WAV files, if you have a supported sound board and a microphone.

Movies:  Microsoft Video for Windows comes with a Macintosh conversion program to convert Apple Quicktime movies to AVI movies.  Video for Windows also comes with a program called Videdit which may be used to convert DIB animation sequences to AVI files.


HOW TO GET MORE MOVIES

We will be happy to translate a copy of your VHS video tape into a video clip for a small fee.  Here's what to do:  make a copy of your favorite ORIGINAL UNCOPYRIGHTED home movie.  Make a copy because the tape will not be returned.  (Okay - usually it will, but no guarantees, so plan on it not being returned).  The UNCOPYRIGHTED part is so that we can copy portions of the tape for you.  Please include the following info:

Name:

Address, street:

Address, City/State:

Address, zip:

Computer (CPU and Speed, example: 486-66, 386-33)

Size of video preferred:

160x120

320x240

640x480

Other:  _____ x _____ (Must be less than 640x480)

Number of colors:	__256

__Hi-color, 32k or 64k

__True-color, 16.7M

If you are not sure, choose 160x120x256 colors.

Note the sequence on the tape you want digitized.

Include $15 per tape plus $.20 per second of digital movie you would like recorded.  Add in $2 if you REALLY want the tape returned to you.  Check or money order.

EXAMPLE:  Take a video of the kids.  Drop it in a mailing envelope with a note that has your name, address, etc., and something like "please capture two movies - the part where Dougy pours sand over Sissy's head, and the part where the dog jumps into the wagon.  Make each movie to play on a 486/33, at 160x120x32K colors, and last for 15 seconds each."  Include a check for $15 plus $.2/second x 2 movies x 15 seconds/movie = $21.