| MPEG ADVANCE XTRA HELP: CREATING PROJECTORS |
| Mpeg Advance Xtra works with all operational systems and platforms supported by Director 8.5, Director MX and Director MX 2004. Please check our web site at xtras.tabuleiro.com for updated information about system requirements for different media types including MPEG2 and MPEG4.

CREATING A STANDARD WINDOWS OR MACOS PROJECTOR

(Director 8.5 and MX)

Director 8.5 and MX can only create native projectors. Windows projectors need to be created on a Windows machine, and Macintosh projectors need to be created on a Macintosh computer. However, Director movies (.dir files) containing Mpeg Advance Xtra members don't need any modification in order to work on both platforms. A developer can work primarily on the Mac and only transfer the final .dir file to Director for Windows in order to create a Windows projector, or vice-versa. The only requirement is to install and register the Xtra on both platforms. Instructions for installing the Xtra can be found in the download packages. Please notice that Mpeg Advance Xtra serial numbers are cross-platform: you can use the same serial number to register the software on both Mac and Windows.

After the Xtra is installed and registered, just select CREATE PROJECTOR from the FILE menu in Director, and choose a Director movie to be included in your projector. It is important to click the OPTIONS button and make sure the ANIMATE IN BACKGROUND option is checked: Mpeg Advance Xtra sprites may not play correctly on Windows if this setting is not enabled. Press the CREATE button to create your projector.

The Xtra is automatically included in the Projector if your first movie contains a Mpeg Advance Xtra cast member. If you are creating a "dummy" projector that will call your .dxr movie, you can include the Xtra in the Projector using the MODIFY->MOVIE->XTRAS menu, and adding the Xtra manually.

TIP: You can also deliver the Mpeg Advance Xtra file in a folder named XTRAS, located in the same directory of your Projector, if you do not want to embed the Xtra file into your projector. This is recommended for faster startup of your program.

CREATING A CROSS-PLATFORM OR STANDARD PROJECTOR

(Director MX 2004)

Director MX2004 includes the ability to create Windows projectors when hosted on Mac OS X, and vice-versa. The OSX version of Director MX 2004 can create projectors for older versions of MacOS (8 and 9) as well. However, this only works correctly if Director is configured to locate and include the proper Xtra files for "the other" platform. Please make sure the appropriate files are installed in the Configuration\Cross platform resources Director folder according to the installation notes, and also make sure the Configuration\xtrainfo.txt file contains information about Mpeg Advance Xtra (this procedure is also covered in the installation instructions)

Assuming the cross-platform files are already installed and configured correctly you can invoke the FILE->PUBLISH SETTINGS menu item to configure the parameters for your projector. The first step is to configure the FORMATS tab. The Mac version of Director MX 2004 can create separate projectors for Mac OSX, Classic and Windows, while the Windows version can create projectors for Windows and OSX only. You should disable the option to create a Shockwave file, as Mpeg Advance Xtra is not available for Shockwave.

Now, select the PROJECTOR tab. Please make sure ANIMATE IN BACKGROUND is checked, as this setting is necessary for proper operation of the Xtra. Finally in the FILES tab you can add additional Director movies to your projector. The Xtra will be automatically included if there is at least one Mpeg Advance Xtra castmember in the main director movie. To finalize just click the PUBLISH button. Director MX 2004 saves the publishing settings with your Director movie, and future projectors can be created simply by choosing the FILE->PUBLISH menu item.

LINKED MEDIA FILES

MPEG files are never imported into your projector, and remain externally linked for better performance and memory management. The Xtra will automatically locate all linked Media files that are located in the same directory of the Projector, or in a relative location that matches the one used when first importing the linked MPEG files. In this cases it is not necessary to include additional code or instructions for your movie to play correctly. More information is available at technote MA001 on our site.

However, if your projector needs to find external Media files that are located in other volumes or in a different folder structure, it is still possible to use Director's built-in capabilities to locate external media. Director will automatically search all directories listed in "the searchpaths" variable for missing Mpeg Advance Xtra linked files. The "searchpaths" variable may be set in a LINGO.INI file delivered with your projector, or in a script inside your movie that executes before any video sprite is played.

If you want to use a LINGO.INI file just copy the script below, and save it as a text file named LINGO.INI :

on startup set the soundkeepdevice to 0 append(the searchpaths, the applicationPath & "media") end startup

The final structure of files should look like:

Windows example:

Projector - C:\myproj\proj.exe

Lingo.ini - C:\myproj\lingo.ini

Mac example:

Projector - Macintosh HD:myproj:Projector

Lingo.ini - Macintosh HD:myproj:lingo.ini

You can now safely put your Media files in the "media" subdirectory (C:\myproj\media or Macintosh HD:myproj:media in the examples above) and the Xtra will automatically find them when the projector starts.