Our problem is trying to have streaming video in the Windows Media format (*.wmv) play properly inside a Director EXE and Shockwave. Here are the constraints:
- It must play in both a CD-ROM-based projector and in a Shockwave web page, using Director 8.5. (playing in a browser on the CD-ROM would be okay, if that helps)
- It must play in both Netscape 4.7 and Internet Explorer 4+.
- It must use Windows media, and not RealVideo or Quicktime, being served from a Windows Media Server
- It must play in Windows 98, NT4, ME, 2000, and XP.
Has anyone found a good way to play streaming Windows Media files inside Director (projector OR shockwave)?
So far, we have explored the following options with the results shown below:
StreamingMedia Xtra, from < (free demo version available)
Results: So far the best alternative, but with the following major flaw - it doesn't play the video and audio very smoothly from within Director or Shockwave - most noticeable is audio "clicking" sounds and interuptions. Otherwise, this is terrific Xtra - it can be made to be auto-downloaded, and it has many useful features. We have a question posted to tabuleiro but so far no solutions their. We've also seen other developers make this same complaint on various Director message boards.
xMedia Xtra, from < (free demo version available)
Results: promising, but also flawed. When played within a simple Director file, the video plays without popping, but as soon as any processing, data manipulation or other processor heavy activity occurs (as it must in our product), the video seems to bog down and noticably skip. It might be possible to address this by reducing the frequency of procesiing that takes place, but a bigger
problem is that this Xtra is not able to be automatically downloaded for Shockwave. It has been made "Shockwave Safe" but has not been made automatically downloadable. Is there a way to automatically install this xtra into a client's shockwave xtras folder?
activeX Xtra and the Windows Media Player activeX control
Result: the activeX xtra is not shockwave safe, and therefore cannot be used within the shockwave web version of the program. Is there some other way for us to embed the windows media player into both the projector and the shockwave web page without using this Xtra? This may require that we use shockwave for the cd-rom verion as well - this is not out of the question, though more problematic if users have to install Shockwave to use the CD-ROM, thus removing one of its biggest advantages.
- It must play in both a CD-ROM-based projector and in a Shockwave web page, using Director 8.5. (playing in a browser on the CD-ROM would be okay, if that helps)
- It must play in both Netscape 4.7 and Internet Explorer 4+.
- It must use Windows media, and not RealVideo or Quicktime, being served from a Windows Media Server
- It must play in Windows 98, NT4, ME, 2000, and XP.
Has anyone found a good way to play streaming Windows Media files inside Director (projector OR shockwave)?
So far, we have explored the following options with the results shown below:
StreamingMedia Xtra, from < (free demo version available)
Results: So far the best alternative, but with the following major flaw - it doesn't play the video and audio very smoothly from within Director or Shockwave - most noticeable is audio "clicking" sounds and interuptions. Otherwise, this is terrific Xtra - it can be made to be auto-downloaded, and it has many useful features. We have a question posted to tabuleiro but so far no solutions their. We've also seen other developers make this same complaint on various Director message boards.
xMedia Xtra, from < (free demo version available)
Results: promising, but also flawed. When played within a simple Director file, the video plays without popping, but as soon as any processing, data manipulation or other processor heavy activity occurs (as it must in our product), the video seems to bog down and noticably skip. It might be possible to address this by reducing the frequency of procesiing that takes place, but a bigger
problem is that this Xtra is not able to be automatically downloaded for Shockwave. It has been made "Shockwave Safe" but has not been made automatically downloadable. Is there a way to automatically install this xtra into a client's shockwave xtras folder?
activeX Xtra and the Windows Media Player activeX control
Result: the activeX xtra is not shockwave safe, and therefore cannot be used within the shockwave web version of the program. Is there some other way for us to embed the windows media player into both the projector and the shockwave web page without using this Xtra? This may require that we use shockwave for the cd-rom verion as well - this is not out of the question, though more problematic if users have to install Shockwave to use the CD-ROM, thus removing one of its biggest advantages.