Welcome to Sound Toys. We hope you enjoy this Voyager title. Sound Toys is not a predictable, instructive tool; we call it a toy for a reason. Sound Toys contains all sorts of hidden quirks and behaviors that you will need to discover by playing with it. You╒ll also find that it╒s very easy to have fun with Sound Toys right from the start. The information below will give you a few hints.
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
Ñ Any color-capable Macintosh, 25 MHz 68030 or faster processor
Ñ At least 8 Mbytes of installed RAM (5500K free)
Ñ A 13-inch (640x480) or larger color monitor, set to 256 colors
Ñ A double-speed CD-ROM drive
Ñ System 7 or later
SETTING UP
Sound Toys comes in two versions, one that plays standard-quality 8-bit sounds and one that plays high-quality 16-bit sounds. Your computer must have at least 8-bit sound capability to use Sound Toys. You need at least 12Mbytes RAM to run the 16-bit version. Please be sure to choose the appropriate installer when installing Sound Toys.
Automatic Installation
Double-click on either the 8-bit Sound Toys Installer or the 16-bit Sound Toys Installer icon to automatically install the Sound Toys program onto your computer to a folder called Sound Toy. The installer will copy the program onto the root level of your hard drive or allow you to select/create a folder in which to copy the program. Please note that the 8-bit version of Sound Toys requires approximately 15Mbytes of hard drive space, and the 16-bit version requires approximately 20Mbytes of hard drive space.
During Automatic Installation you can select "Custom Install" to install only the Sound Toys executable file to your hard drive. This will only take up 1.5Mbytes of hard drive space, but Sound Toys performance may be slow with a 2X CD-ROM drive. We recommend that you install the artwork and sound files to your hard drive.
Note: When you install Sound Toys you are installing over 700 sound and picture files. Most of these files are very small, which is why they don't take up more than 20Mbytes of space.
Manual Installation
You can manually install the version of the program that you want to use. Doing this will dramatically improve the speed at which the various Sound Toys screens load. Drag either the 8-bit Sound Toys folder or the 16-bit Sound Toys folder from the CD to your hard drive. Then, drag the files from either the 8-bit Preferences folder or the 16-bit Preferences folder (whichever is appropriate) to the Preferences folder in your System Folder. Please note that Manual Installation requires from 30 to 50Mbytes free space on your hard drive.
GETTING STARTED
1. Make sure the Sound Toys CD is in your CD-ROM drive, even if you have copied the entire program to your hard drive.
2. Double-click the Sound Toys icon on your hard drive. Please be sure not to double-click the Sound Toys icon on the CD or Sound Toys performance will be slow.
ABOUT MEMORY
If you have a Macintosh with only 8 Mbytes of RAM installed, you must use the 8-bit version of Sound Toys. The 8-bit Sound Toys will only work if you have at least 5,500K of RAM (memory) free before you launch it. If you wish to use the 16-bit version, you will need at least 7,000K free. Activating loops and using the record feature may require extra memory on some screens, so you should give Sound Toys as much extra memory as you can afford. Making this much available can be difficult with certain models and system software combinations. Here╒s how to tell whether you have enough RAM available:
1. If you╒re using some other form of memory extension, such as Connectix╒s RAM Doubler¬, turn it off. If you make changes, restart your Mac before proceeding.
2. Quit all applications. (Print this document first if necessary.)
3. In the Finder, choose ╥About this Macintosh╙ from the Apple menu.
4. Note the ╥Largest Unused Block╙ figure. This is the amount of RAM you have available. If it is more than 5,500K, you can run the 8-bit verson of Sound Toys. If it is less than 5,500K, however, you must take steps to trim the amount of memory your system software is using. This will make more available for Sound Toys.
To trim your system software╒s memory needs, you must temporarily disable the extensions and control panels you don╒t need. Sound Toys does not need QuickTime¬ in order to function, so you can safely disable this extension to free up memory. If this isn╒t something you╒re comfortable with, refer to your Macintosh documentation, or seek the help of a knowledgeable friend.
GENERAL NAVIGATION
When you first open Sound Toys, you╒ll come to the Center Screen. Select any of the icons surrounding the center button by pointing to them with your mouse. Then click the center button to go to a new screen.
THE CURSOR
Unlike most applications, every element in Sound Toys is loaded into memory whenever you switch screens. This allows Sound Toys to be much more responsive than most other CD-ROM applications, but on some computers this loading process can be slow. While Sound Toys elements are loading, the cursor will blink and you cannot interact with the screen elements. We recommend that you do not click the mouse button while Sound Toys is loading a new screen. Sound Toys will usually make a noise when it has completed loading.
CONFIGURING SOUND TOYS
Many parts of Sound Toys allow you to alter the behavior of the the screen by using your keyboard (check the help section for hints). Any changes you make only last as long as Sound Toys is open; they are reset to the default state when Sound Toys is reopened.
VOLUME
You can adjust the volume of Sound Toys from the menu bar on the Center Screen. Sound Toys uses the volume settings of your computer as its guideline. If you have the sound on your computer turned off, Sound Toys can╒t make any sound no matter how high you set the volume on the menu bar.
HELP
You can get Help by using the menu bar on the Center Screen. You can also press -H from anywhere in Sound Toys.
QUIT
To quit Sound Toys, select Quit on the Center screen or press -Q from anywhere in Sound Toys.
RECORD
Sound Toys contains a Record feature which allows you to make recordings and save them. You can open and close the Record Palette by using the Tab key, or by clicking the button in the lower left corner of most screens. Recordings are saved in sessions, and each session holds six individual recordings. When one session is filled, you can open a new session from the menu bar on the Center Screen. You can also press -N from any screen. The Record Palette has its own Help screen, which you can access by clicking the Help button that appears on the Record Palette.
Saved Sessions and Recordings
Session files hold up to six recordings. These recordings do not contain audio; they contain a record of your mouse movments and clicks. When you play back a recording, each and every action you performed is repeated on the screen. If you have altered the configuration of Sound Toys after you made the recording, playback may sound different (possibly better!). Each recording can hold up to 500 mouse-related events.
Opening Session Files
You can open an existing session by choosing Open from the menu bar on the Center Screen. You can also press -O from any screen.
Sharing Session Files
Saved sessions are small and you can easily send them to friends on disks or attached to e-mail messages. Some e-mail software may corrupt recordings; please consult the documentation for your e-mail software for information on sending attachments.
PERFORMANCE TIPS
We recommend that you quit out of all other applications before launching Sound Toys. Increasing the "Preferred size" setting in the Sound Toys "Memory Requirements" to an amount greater than 5,500K may improve performance as long as you have more memory available. To increase memory allocated to Sound Toys, click once on the Sound Toys icon so it is highlighted and either choose Get Info from the File menu or press -I. At the bottom right corner of the Get Info window you will see two boxes for allocating memory to the Sound Toys program. Change the "Preferred size" setting to the new figure.
Increasing Speed
You can increase responsiveness and substantially reduce load times by copying the entire application to your hard drive manually. See the instructions in Manual Installation above to do this.
SOFTWARE REGISTRATION
Please register your software for technical support and so that we can keep you posted on the ever-growing Voyager catalog. To register this Voyager title, see the Software Registration file in the Documentation folder on the CD-ROM.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Call 212.219.2522 for software support, or send e-mail to any of the following addresses:
Internet: techsupport@voyagerco.com
America Online: voyager@aol.com, or go to the AOL Voyager forum: keyword is ╥voyager╙
CompuServe: 75300,1635@compuserve.com or go to the Multimedia A Vendor forum
You can also visit our Internet site at http://www.voyagerco.com and look for the link to Technical Support. Please use the on-line Technical Support Request Form located there.
