1.
How to Insert a Multimedia Object
To create a blank Symphony document/spreadsheet/presentation, you can easily find the menu entry of “Create->Video or Sound...”. Click it and the following dialog will pop up.
We can find a check box named “Insert as a link” at the bottom of the dialog. This is an option for whether to embed the multimedia into the current document as an OLE object. An overview can be found in following table.
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Media is played in document, with a toolbar as controller.
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NO.
When you send the document to others, please make sure at least one of the following 3 conditions are met:
1) Media file is in the same folder as the document
2) The relative path between the media file and the document is consistent.
3) The absolute path of the media file is consistent.
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Media is played with the default 3rd party player specified by the system, and all of its behaviors and properties are the same as with an OLE object of Media.
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YES.
Actually, this options is a shortcut for “Cerate->OLE Object...->Further Objects” and selecting a media file.
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Because the OLE option (unchecked state) is just a shortcut for users to embed the media file into the document and will be played with a 3rd party player, all the following sections focus on the way of inserting media file as a link in document.
2. How to Play a Video/Sound in Document
2.1.
Toolbar
Insert a Media file, e.g., an AVI file, into the current document as a link. A toolbar will pop up as shown below.
Here's an introduction to the buttons and other controls on the toolbar.
Control |
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Insert another media file, the dialog of “Select File” will pop up.
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Repeat playing when finished.
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Slide-Bar and
Time Frame |
Drag the Slide-Bar to jumping the target music/video section of the media file.
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 and 2 nd Slid-Bar |
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Drop Down List |
Set the size of playing area. But if the set scaled size is bigger than current area, the media will fit to current size.
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2.2. Tricks for Presentation Screen-Show Mode
Currently, Symphony still does not support media object to pause by clicking on the playing area. So, if you want to play a movie/sound in the Screen-Show Mode of Presentation, here's an sample trick to achieve the goal.
Steps:
1) Insert a Media file into the current slide, with “Insert as a link” checked.
2) Navigate to the sidebar for “Animation Effects”.
3) Click “Add” and the dialog “Custom Animation” will pop up. Select “Misc Effects->End media” and confirm.
Then set the “Start” of the effect as “With previous”.
Note: If you have a problem in setting the property of “Start” in the sidebar, please set the property by right clicking the effect item.
4) Just like the above steps, create another effect of “Start Media”, and set the property of “Start” as “On click”.
5) Just like the above step, create another effect of “End Media”, and set the property of “Start” as “On click”. We will get the following sequence of animation effects.
When we play the current presentation in Screen-Show mode and come to the slide containing the media object, the media is found stopped there.
Click somewhere in the slide--the media starts to play.
Click somewhere again--the media is stopped.
Now, click somewhere again and we the next slide displays.
3. Limitations
3.1.
Platform
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NO. There's no check box for options on Mac.
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3.2. Format
As is shown above, media support is only available on Windows and Mac.
The media support for Symphony 3 is based on the system. It uses directX on Windows and Qucicktime on Mac.
If you want to insert more kinds of media formats into Symphony, please install more codecs for your system.