Confused and a Little Disappointed

Creating a graphics presentation or artists portfolio? Integrating artwork and code into something unique?

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revdan
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:59 am

Confused and a Little Disappointed

Post by revdan » Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:24 am

Well, I just spent an hour with Rev Media. I've worked with all four template types briefly and must say I find myself disappointed. They all promise great things eventually but not one of them feels "done" to me.

The biggest problem I encountered: what kinds of media files can you use? It's not documented anywhere and the behavior between templates seems inconsistent. For example, I can import a JPEG into the slide show template but only if I give it the extension .jpg, not if it's a .jpeg. Huh? Since when did OS X users have to worry about file extension crapola? To confuse things further, if I try to import either a .jpg or a .jpeg into the portfolio template, it doesn't work. Nothing happens. No error message, nothing.

In the Game template, if I try to use a sound in QuickTime format -- a common format for sound effects in multimedia projects -- it won't let me. I'm not yet sure what media types it supports for sound and video.

The templates (which are really wizards) are a nice idea but the underlying infrastructural support is going to confuse anyone who tries to build a project with this tool.

malte
Posts: 1098
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:34 pm
Location: Ostenfeld germany
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Post by malte » Tue Apr 18, 2006 6:42 am

Hi Dan,

which Media types did you try to import into the game template and how?
The game template should allow you to use all Media files that are supported by Rev. Means images using drag and drop and Quicktime compatible fomats in the hotspots areas. If a certain media type fails I think this should be bugzillad.

All the best,

Malte

revdan
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:59 am

QT Sounds Aren't Recognized

Post by revdan » Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:13 pm

I have a bunch of sound effects in QT format on my system from my work with FinalCut Pro. I figured I'd see how they worked in the game template, so I started a new game, dragged in an opening picture, clicked on the sound control and my file dialog opened. I navigated to the folder where those QT sounds are and they were all grayed out.

The real problem is that there's no feedback in ANY of the modules. Any attempt to do something that doesn't work fails silently with no clue to the user why.

malte
Posts: 1098
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:34 pm
Location: Ostenfeld germany
Contact:

Post by malte » Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:56 pm

Hi Dan,

were these .wav, .aif or .mp3 files? Did you try switching to "all files" instead of "audio files" ? The problem here might be the answer file with type dialogue that might be confusing. Maybe this should be expressed more clearly in the docs. But still the option to choose those files should be there. The game template should only refuse to play audio files that contain no supported audio layer, or contains an additional video layer. If the files are in another format, like embedded in a .mov container, they are technically spoken no audio, but video files and graying them out would be correct behaviour. That's why I am interested in the format, extension and creator type if possible. It might be that a certain creator type for a certain audio format got lost in the dialogue though and if so this needs to be fixed.

Same for video files. There is an answer file with dialogue that allows to switch to view "all files" and should only refuse to play files that contain no video layer that can be played by quicktime.

If this doesn't do the trick could you upload one of those files for me to look at?

Thanks,

Malte

revdan
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:59 am

Got the Sound Files to Load

Post by revdan » Tue Apr 18, 2006 10:36 pm

Malte.....

Changing the file type popup got the sound files to load OK. They're embedded in QT movies. I don't know anything about the other characteristics you asked about; I'm not a multimedia guy. These are sound files from a book I have for learning FinalCut Pro.

But I have to tell you, this whole Rev Media experience is just too opaque for me. No instructions. No feedback. The one bit of feedback it does give me is erroneous. (It always says, when I open a game file I've saved, "The editing tools appear to be not open!" Not only is that weak grammar, but the tools are in fact open.) I created one part of a game with just the opening screen. I created a hot spot to play a sound. It worked. I saved it. I created a background sound for a location entry action. i couldn't get the sound to play. Saved the file. Now my earlier audio doesn't play when I click its hotspot. So I figure, OK, I have to create another room. I click on "Locations" and I find a JPG file, drag it into the grid. An annoying beep, no feedback. I don't have a clue what I've done wrong.

I go back to the main scene and create a door to go to one of the grid locations. That seems to work except when I click on the door, I get an error dialog about attempting to go to an undefined location. So I go back to the previous step, find a JPG, try to drag it in...same annoying beep with no feedback.

I'm not interested in learning to do this. None of the things Media does interests me all that much. I was just trying to provide some initial feedback on the out-of-box experience which, as far as I'm concerned, pretty much sucks. But since I'm not the target audience, it may well be a great product for the right user.

No need to reply, Malte. As I said, I'm not really interested in using Rev Media, just exploring it enough to be able to make a meaningful recommendation to friends and colleagues who ask me about such things.

malte
Posts: 1098
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:34 pm
Location: Ostenfeld germany
Contact:

Re: Got the Sound Files to Load

Post by malte » Wed Apr 19, 2006 2:24 pm

Hi Dan,

I hope you don't mind me replying anyway. :-)
As you might have guessed I was responsible for the script in that template (or Wizzard if it is a better word. :-) ). So I am interested in making it as easy to use as possible. Your feedback on this is invaluable, so I appreciate you take the time to bear with me and my questions.
The one bit of feedback it does give me is erroneous. (It always says, when I open a game file I've saved, "The editing tools appear to be not open!"

This is a bug that has been bugzillad and fixed for the next revision.
I created a background sound for a location entry action. i couldn't get the sound to play.
It is played when openCard is sent to the card.
Now my earlier audio doesn't play when I click its hotspot.
Was the browse tool active then?
I click on "Locations" and I find a JPG file, drag it into the grid. An annoying beep, no feedback. I don't have a clue what I've done wrong.
I think the docs need to be clearer here. I guess you have dragged the file into the middle of the "cross" istead of one of the small squares on the lwft,top,right or bottom. Maybe a dialogue instead of a beep would be a better solution.
I'm not interested in learning to do this. None of the things Media does interests me all that much. I was just trying to provide some initial feedback on the out-of-box experience which, as far as I'm concerned, pretty much sucks. But since I'm not the target audience, it may well be a great product for the right user.
Much appreciated. In an ideal world it should be useable by anyone. As it seems to be confusing it might be a good idea to rethink some points in the documentation and considder some sort of online help that might guide through the first steps and could be turned off later on.

Thanks for the feedback,

Malte

revdan
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:59 am

What Docs?

Post by revdan » Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:40 pm

Malte....

I may get time to answer some of your questions later, but your comment at one point that, "I think the docs need to be clearer here" got my attention.

As far as I can tell, there are no docs. Only Rev docs. Nothing at all about Media, how to use it, what it's intended for. Nothing. It's all about Revolution and Transcript.

So if there's supposed to be some documentation that helps someone get started with Media, I don't find it in my download package. And I've looked.

malte
Posts: 1098
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:34 pm
Location: Ostenfeld germany
Contact:

Post by malte » Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:57 pm

Hi Dan,

that is no good. :-(

Clicking on the question mark in the top right corner of the game tool should launch it's PDF documentation. But maybe that is too easy to overlook and the docs should be exposed a bit more.

All the best,

malte

revdan
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:59 am

Not Obvious

Post by revdan » Thu Apr 20, 2006 5:30 am

I didn't click the "?" and I wouldn't have thought to click there for docs when there is a menu item and a toolbar item for documentation. I'd think these docs would be integrated into those locations.

Also, there appear to be no docs for the other three templates.

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