New Apple Media Tool Features
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To give designers and producers more power and flexibility in the project development process, the Tool includes these new features:
* Scrollable PICT and text files, which let designers scroll a picture or text image.
* A selection of cursors, controllers, and scrollbars, which lets designers personalize their projects with a variety of styles.
* QuickTime controller support, which lets designers assign QuickTime movie controllers to movies.
* Improved support for editable text, which lets the designer choose text font, style and color.
* A dissolve effect, which lets users fade from one screen image to another.
* A cross-platform utility that checks movie, picture, sound, and text files for compatibility with the Microsoft Windows platform and converts, if necessary, the files to the cross-platform formats of the Apple Media Kit.
* An addendum, which explains the new features and answers the most commonly asked questions about project creation using the Tool.
Enhanced Apple Media Tool Programming Environment
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The number of classes in the Programming Environment (PE) has doubled in size from version 1.0, so programmers have a richer development environment in which to work. These classes have also been enhanced to support the new Tool features previously described.
The PE now includes sample source code that programmers can incorporate into their own projects or use as a reference. Programmers may customize cursors, scrollbars and controllers using common resource editing tools such as ResEdit.
The new version of the PE also has improved documentation and support. The revised PE documentation, which ships with version 1.1, is more comprehensive, providing detailed descriptions of new and existing features. It also includes an index that allows programmers to quickly locate a reference.
Demo CD
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The demo CD that ships with the new software is included as a reference tool for designers and programmers and includes, among other things, a number of sample projects with source code. It lets users view projects and understand how to better utilize the Apple Media Tool and Programming Environment. The Demo CD includes the following components:
* A demo version of the Apple Media Tool, which lets designers create, edit and preview interactive multimedia projects. The only feature that is not enabled in this demo version of the Tool is the ability to create a runtime for the project;
*╩Four sample Apple Media Tool projects. Among the projects is a complete copy of "Peter's Magic Adventure", a children's edutainment title published under Apple's StarCore label, valued at $29.95. Designers can open up the projects to see how they were created;
* A sample Programming Environment (PE) animation project entitled "Gearhead", which was created by Art Technology Group in Cambridge, MA. This sample project illustrates how the PE can be used to create extensions to Apple Media Kit projects. The PE includes a number of sophisticated animations and special effects. Source code for the project is also included enabling programmers to better understand how to use the object-oriented development environment to enhance projects;
* Additional Programming Environment sample code, which provides examples of possible extensions that may be incorporated into projects. These possibilities include flipbook animations; Hypertext links, which enable the user to click and browse through information; and the use of Plaintalk, Apple's text-to-speech technology;
* A complete electronic version of the Programming Environment documentation;
* A list of Programming Environment consultants who can provide project support, with background on their specific areas of specialty.
Ordering and Support Information
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Pricing
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The Apple Media Tool is available for US $795, the Apple Media Tool Programming Environment is US$995 and the Apple Media Kit, which includes both the Tool and the Programming Environment, is US$1,495. The demo CD, which ships with version 1.1 of the Kit, is also available separately for US $10.
Upgrades
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Version 1.1 of the Apple Media Tool will be sent free to all registered users of version 1.0. Customers who do not receive their upgrade will be referred to APDA.
Usage Requirements
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- Macintosh IIci or later with at least 8MB DRAM
- System 7.1
- AppleCD CD-ROM or comparable CD-ROM drive
Support
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Up and Running support for the Apple Media Tool is provided by the Software Support group at Apple Assurance.