There are many different types of media that can be used within a SMIL presentation. The only limitations of a SMIL presentation are based on the delivery technology (i.e. media player, streaming server architecture). As the Internet becomes more capable of delivering high quality multimedia, the improvement of presentation quality will also improve. Fluition has the ability to import many different media formats and can even directly read information from those files to make their inclusion within a presentation easier.
SMIL presentations contain clips of media that can be played back in a number of ways. Fluition directly supports all major streaming media and SMIL compatible file formats for inclusion in a presentation. Because SMIL is compatible with the majority of media formats in use on the Internet, the advancement of streaming media delivery technologies is always beneficial to the use of SMIL. Your file choices for your presentation may be limited based on the Player you have chosen to play your final presentation.
The Clip Library Window contains all of the information about the various clips contained within the presentation.
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The playback sequence of the clips is determined by a combination of factors. Regions are used to determine the location and size of an area to be used for displaying media. Clips are assigned to the various Regions and are then played back in sequential or parallel order as determined by Grouping (See Working With Groups Chapter). The playing order of the clips in a given Region is determined by the order in which they are listed in the Clip Library Window. |
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To add a clip to a Region click the Add button in the Clip Library and browse for the file you wish to add.
The Clip Library Window allows for the easy addition of media clips to a presentation. To add a clip to a Region click the Add button in the Clip Library and browse for the file you wish to add. Your selection will be assigned to a Region and the information about your media clip will be added to the clip list in the Clip Library.
If the clip is a compatible file format, Fluition will automatically identify the clip type and read the appropriate information into the Clip Library. Fluition will also allow the importation of file formats that are not directly supported. In those cases, Fluition will treat the file as any other file. When the presentation is saved, there will not be a "clip type" associated with the clip. You will also see "???" in the Type field in the Clip Library. Fluition will use a "ref" tag in the final code and may still play the clip you have added.
If you wish to change the clip you have added, choose the clip from the clip list and you will see the information for that clip added into the fields in the Clip Library. Click the Browse button next to the File field and browse for the new clip you wish to replace the existing clip and click Apply. To delete a clip, choose the clip from the Clip Library and click the Delete button.
When a media clip is added to the Clip Library, if a Region is selected either by selecting it in the Design Window with the Region Select tool, or selecting it from the Region list in the Regions Window (Region will be highlighted), that clip will automatically be associated with that Region. If no Region is selected, the clip will be assigned to the last chosen Region. Once a clip has been added to the Clip Library, the attributes of that clip can be modified. The clip can be assigned to a different Region by using the Region popup menu in the Clip Library Window and clicking Apply.
To link to content that is already on a streaming server, add a file to the Region and then change the information in the File field to the address you want to link to (i.e. rtsp://server.file.rm) and click Apply. You can also link to content on a Web server by using the http:// link in the File field.
Note: When using Flash (.swf) files it may be preferable to have your .swf file on a HTTP server with a link to that file in your SMIL presentation that is then placed on a streaming server. Ask your streaming service provider for details concerning supported streaming file types.
All of the Fluition clip attributes are designed to work both on their own and in combination with other attributes.
Fluition will assign a generic clip id to the media clips you add to the Clip Library. You may wish to rename the Clip ID for easier reference by changing the name in the Clip ID field and clicking Apply.
You may also want to add a Description to the media clip you have added (i.e. information about the clip) for your reference. Simply add your description in the Description field and click Apply.
The File field contains the name of the clip you have added to your Region. To change the clip in the File field click the Browse button next to the File field and browse for the new clip you wish to replace the existing clip and click Apply. To link to content that is already on a server, add a file to the Region and then change the information in the File field to the address you want to link to (i.e. rtsp://server.file.rm) and click Apply.
The Type field identifies the type of clip you have added to your Region in your presentation. (i.e. RMF - RealMedia file, I - image, etc.)
The Region field identifies the Region in which you have placed your clip. You can change the Region assignment by using the drop-down menu beside the Region field and clicking Apply. New Regions will be added to the drop-down menu as you add then to your presentation.
The Group filed will display the Group the clip has been assigned to (parallel or sequential as defined by the Groups Window). You can change the Group assignment by choosing a Group from the Group drop-down menu and clicking Apply. More groups will be added to the drop-down menu as you add them to the Groups Window.
You can choose either "Freeze" or "Remove" from the Fill attribute drop-down menu. The "Freeze" attribute will have the clip remain in the Region for the duration of the presentation and even after the presentation has run through its duration. The "Remove" tag will cause the clip to be removed from the Region once it has run its duration or when the presentation has run its duration. To assign a Fill attribute to your clip choose "Freeze" or "Remove" from the drop-down menu and click Apply.
The In and Out fields affect when the media clip will start and/or end in relation to the presentation's time line.
Example: Assigning a 5 second In time value (00:00:05) to a clip will cause that clip to begin playing 5 seconds into the presentation. Assigning a 1 minute 20 second Out time value (00:01:20) to a clip will cause that clip to end playing 1 minute 20 seconds into the presentation.
Note: If you have multiple clips in a Region In and Out attributes will work differently. When adding an In time value to any clip in a series other than the first clip, the In value will mark the amount of time AFTER the preceding clip that the clip you are assigning the In value to will start to play.
Example: In="00:01:00" assigned to a clip in a series of clips other than the first clip - the clip will start playing one minute after the previous clip ends.
The Clip-Begin and Clip-End fields affect when your clip will begin and/or end in relation to the clip's timeline.
Example: Assigning a 5 second Clip-Begin time value (00:00:05) to a clip will cause that clip to begin playing immediately 5 seconds into the clip. It will not play the first 5 seconds of the clip. Assigning a 1 minute 20 second Clip-End time value (00:01:20) to a clip will cause that clip to end playing 1 minute 20 seconds into the clip. If the clip is longer than 1 minute 20 seconds anything after 1 minute 20 seconds will not be played.
Note: One or both of the Clip-Begin and Clip-End fields may be defined.
The Repeat tag will cause the clip to repeat itself. Adding a 3 to the Repeat field and clicking Apply will cause that clip to be repeated 3 times.
The Duration field allows you to assign a duration to media clips. This feature is important when adding a number of image slides to a Region. You can place durations on each slide in order to synchronize your slide presentation with your video clip.
The Link field allows you to add a hyperlink to a media clip. This form of linking is separate from Anchor linking (See the Anchors Chapter). The link is applied to the whole clip for the duration of the clip. The Link field is used in combination with the Show field.
To link to another SMIL file in your media folder you can use the relative path, (i.e. yourfile.SMIL). To link to a Web page use the URL (i.e. http://www.yourwebpage.com). To create an email link use the mailto command (i.e. mailto:info@fluition.com).
Note: File names (.SMIL, .smil) are case sensitive.
The Show field drop-down menu contains 3 options, "Replace", "Pause" and "New". Different Players may support these tags differently.
When linking to a new SMIL (.SMIL) presentation you can use the "Replace" tag to cause the Player to replace the existing SMIL presentation with the new SMIL presentation. Some Players will do this for you automatically if you do not assign a "Replace" tag.
When linking to a Web page or an email link you can use the "Pause" tag to cause you presentation to Pause while the viewer looks at a web page or writes an email.
Using the "New" tag will cause a new instance of the Player to be launched when the link is clicked as opposed to the "Replace" tag, which will replace the presentation in the same Player. (Some Players may not support the "New" tag)
The Extra Code field in the Groups field is used for adding extra code to the clip tag in the SMIL code. Different Players may allow for the use of specialized code within the SMIL file code. Fluition gives access to adding extra code directly within the clip tags without the need for altering the SMIL code in the SMIL Code Window.
As with any Internet related authoring tool, it is important to describe the use of paths when files are being used. In order for Fluition to manage relative paths automatically, the presentation must be saved in your media folder before adding clips to the Clip Library. Fluition will then automatically create relative paths for files contained within sub-folders of the presentation.
If the file is located in a folder outside of the presentation location, Fluition will ask you if you want to copy that file to your presentation folder. If you choose "No" the entire local path will be entered into the File field when a clip is added to the Clip Library. If the files are to be uploaded, the paths may require alteration in the File field in the Clip Library Window to playback properly.
Time Values are used in Fluition and SMIL presentations to determine the In and Out times, Clip-Begin and Clip-End times, and Durations for media clips and Anchors. Time values in Fluition are represented in HH:MM:SS (Hour, minute, second) format.
Fields that make use of time formats in Fluition will automatically format any values entered that are not formatted properly. To make the use of time formatting easier, the values of the time can be entered without the colons, and Fluition will automatically insert them. In the event that a quantity of time is not required the starting zeros can be omitted and Fluition will format the numbers accordingly
Fluition Supports the RealAdInsert Tag for the insertion of advertisements that can be used via the Advertising Extension for RealServer. To add an advertisement to the Library, add a file (the ad or otherwise), and then change the Clip ID to a name starting with "ad". The Clip Type will then change to "Ad" and the File Field will act as the AdURL field for the RealAdInsert tag. Consult the Real Server documentation for information about the use of Advertising Extension for RealServer.