Any way to stop a video at a certain time?

[ghobii]

I am doing a cd with one large mpeg1 file that will be broken into 19 chapters. Is there a way to stop the video at the end of each chapter.

Or...not being able to do this, if I break the video into 19 parts is there a way to play all 19 back to back when a "play entire video "button is pressed?

[ghobii]

Re: Any way to stop a video at a certain time?

Oh, and one other question. If I create a "view fullscreen" buttton, is there anyway to place a control over the top of the video to go back to normal mode or am I stuck just giving the instruction-"to return from fullscreen mode right click on the video and click on "view fullscreen" to unselect it".

[Lorne]

Re: Any way to stop a video at a certain time?

Yes, you can break the video into 19 parts, and then have an action on the Media Player Object's "On End of Stream" event to load and play the next part. (I would recommend storing the file paths in a global list, so you could use "Global List - Set Position" to move to the next item in the list, and "Global List - Get Item" to get that current item.)

[Lorne]

Re: Any way to stop a video at a certain time?

Nope, you can't superimpose objects over a video in full screen mode. In full screen mode, the video is always on top of everything else.

[ghobii]

Re: Any way to stop a video at a certain time?

How is using a global list different or better then just calling up each video? Since I have never used global lists this would take a bit more experimenting , I think, to figure out how to do it. The other way seems pretty straight forward.

[Lorne]

Re: Any way to stop a video at a certain time?

Well, sure you can call up each video. That's exactly what I meant. But, you need to know which one to do next, right? Unless you put each video in a separate object, and show and hide them in sequence...but I suspect that might not give the best results (it might flicker a bit, or something).

Using a single Media Player Object, it will play the first part, and then trigger the "On End of Stream" event when it reaches the end of that part. Keep in mind that, since it's always the same Media Player Object, that same event will be triggered at the end of each part. So, that event's actions need to be able to play the next part, based on which part just finished.

You don't have to use a global list, heck you could put the file names in a single string (as a delimited list), and access them by index...or you could use a big IF/ELSE structure to check what file is currently loaded, and load the next one based on that.

But IMO using the global list is the easiest way in the long run. The global list itself is easier to edit than a string (you can import file paths for all the videos with a couple of mouse clicks, for one thing, so adding all the files to the list will be a cinch) and it makes it easier to rearrange and add or remove parts later.

You can either access the items in the global list by index, using a variable to store the current item number, and just adding 1 to that variable before getting the next item. Or, you can let the global list take care of the index stuff, and use the method I suggested in a previous post.

In the end, though, there's no "right" way. If another way seems more straightforward, then by all means take it. [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] If it works, and you're happy with the results, you're set. If not, well, there are other ways to do it, so try another one.

[ghobii]

Re: Any way to stop a video at a certain time?

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll try using the Global list so I am at least aquainted with it for projects down the road.

[eric_darling]

Re: Any way to stop a video at a certain time?

This is an interesting discussion to me. I still think that the only glaring missing feature from the Media Player Object is an On Reach Time event - one that can trigger any action. That would complete the circle appropriately, and offer much more power to AMS users who are developing media heavy projects. Think of how much easier this job would be.

[Lorne]

Re: Any way to stop a video at a certain time?

Interesting idea. A page timer event would probably adhieve the same results, but something like onTimeReached might be easier to use.

Thanks Eric. I've logged this idea in our suggestions database.

[eric_darling]

Re: Any way to stop a video at a certain time?

Not only that, but if the trigger could handle any action, you could do speaker supported slides.

Video plays in frame to left, as he/she makes certain points, appropriate graphics are shown/hidden to the right. Voila - full-featured presentation. I could export client's PowerPoint slides and build very quickly. What a powerful little feature that would make!

Same thing with text objects - 2nd window closed captioning. As text is spoken, it appears and disappears appropriately on screen under the video frame. What do you think? [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

[Corey]

Re: Any way to stop a video at a certain time?

Or how about an OnClientArrive event which whips up a batch of cinnabuns and coffee?

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software

[eric_darling]

Re: Any way to stop a video at a certain time?

I like it! And so would my clients.

How about OnSatisfiedClientDeparture event too, while you're at it? [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Corey]

Re: Any way to stop a video at a certain time?

<Monty Python>Right then you let's have it off! It all started off with a nice little idea about cinnabons and now it's just got silly.</Monty Python>

Corey Milner
Creative Director, Indigo Rose Software