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Text File | 2000-08-26 | 78KB | 1,342 lines

READ ME - Version 2.01 Revised August 25, 2000 Welcome to SoundSaVR¬Æ 2.01, the wired sprite QTVR editing tool that embes directional sound into single or multinode panorama movies. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ System Requirements SoundSaVR 2.01 requires a Macintosh PowerPC or compatible system with a base requirement of 5 MB of RAM and 5 MB of hard disk space for installation. The sounds and VR movies used will require additional hard disk space and memory. A recommended system configuration for adding sounds to VR movies is 16 MB RAM and 50 MB of hard disk space. SoundSaVR requires QuickTime 3.0 to be installed (version 4.12 strongly recommended), and requires System 8 or higher. Sound Manager 3.3 should also be installed as some compression codecs require it. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Usage Notes Adding sounds using SoundSaVR should be the last step in the QTVR authoring process. This is due to a special flattening process that permits QuickTime to loop sounds without storing it multiple times. As QuickTime editing software calls the default QuickTime flattening function, when a SoundSaVR movie is re-flattened it will grow in size. Only SoundSaVR is capable of flattening SoundSaVR movies. Modifications using other editors such as Movie Player will work as long as the movie is not flattened. To flatten the movie, open it with SoundSaVR and save the movie again. Note that multinode movies with object nodes are now supported, but sounds can not be added to the object nodes. Developers who are using authoring packages with scripting capabilities such as Director or mTropolis, should take note that each node is set to a length of approximetely one hour so that sounds can independently loop. At the end of each hour the movie will transition to the next sequential node in the movie file. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Quick Start Launch SoundSaVR Open a QTVR movie Add sounds to all nodes (unless a node is an object) Select a node in the movie (repeat as necessary) Import required sound files (repeat as necessary) Click the "Add Sound..." button Choose a sound file from the dialog Repeat until all required sounds have been imported Preview the sound settings ( as often as desired during the steps below) Select the "Edit Mode Set the correct direction for sounds that should pan Select a sound from the "Sounds" list box Pan the movie to the desired angle Click the "Set Angle" button Repeat until all directional sounds have been set correctly Set the volumes for each sound Select a sound from the "Sounds" list box Drag the volume slider(s) to the desired level Repeat until all sound volumes have been set as desired Save the output movie Select "Save A Copy As...." menu item from the "File" menu Choose the file destination from the dialog _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Menu Bar There are two active menu bar items in SoundSaVR: File and Options. The File menu has five active items: "Open...", "Close", "Save A Copy As...", and "Quit" The "Open... " menu item will open a dialog to select a movie file. Importing a file that has no panorama track or QTVR track will cancel the process and the user will be notified that the file was not a panorama. When a valid QTVR movie has been selected, a SoundSaVR editing window will open, displaying the selected movie file. The "Close" menu item will close the active editing window. If the movie has been edited, and the changes haven't been saved, a dialog will open prompting the user to save before closing the movie, to close without saving, or to cancel. The "Save A Copy As..." menu item will open a standard put-file dialog allowing the user to save the current movie with edited sounds. It is recommended that users do not try to overwrite already existing files. The "Export..." menu item is only available if a NodeSaVR registration key is installed. See your NodeSaVR documentation for usage. The "Quit" menu item will close all editing windows and Quit the application. As with the Close menu item, the user will be prompted to save any changes. The Options menu has nine active items: the first two, "Degrees" and "Cross Hairs", toggle the info displays on and off. The remaining six menu items set the color of the information displays. The info displays use the dimensions of the panorama track, not the entire movie, and are therefore always placed in their correct positions even if a panorama track has been rotated or if additional media elements have been added to the movie. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Editing Window Only one SoundSaVR editing window can be opened at a time. Clicking the windows "zoom box" will reset the window to its original size if it has been changed. The Editing Panel Each window contains an editing panel on the left side, that has a "Node List", and "Sound List", as well as buttons to add or delete sounds, and controls that set the volume(s), type (ambient or directional), and looping status of each imported sound. Add Sound... Button Clicking on this button will open a dialog box where an appropriate sound file can be selected in the get-file list box. Clicking on this button will open a dialog box where an appropriate sound file can be selected in the get-file list box. Clicking on Open will import the selected sound into the current node and display it in the 'Sounds' list box. Previously grayed out items in the SoundSaVR editing panel will become active. If a sound file (that is not in a QT movie) can be played back in QT3.0, the Open button will change to Convert. Clicking on the button will convert the file to a QT movie, save the converted movie to a specified file directory, and then import it into the current node. To add an RTSP track, first save the RTSP movie to your hard-drive. From the plug-in choose "Save As QuickTime Movie..." or from QuickTime Player choose "Save As..." and then "Make movie self-contained". Then just add it like any other sound. Remove Sound Button Clicking this button will remove the currently selected sound from the 'Sounds' list. This button will be grayed out if the Clicking this button will remove the currently selected sound from the 'Sounds' list. This button will be grayed out if the currently selected node has no sounds. Nodes List There will be only one item in this list if a single node pano is open. If it is a multinode pano, the name of each node contained in the movie will be displayed. Clicking on a node list item will select it as the current editing node and the sounds list box will be updated accordingly to reflect any sounds that may have been embedded. Sounds List This list box will be grayed out until at least one sound file is imported into the current editing node. To import a sound file, use the 'Add Sound...' button. Clicking on a "Sounds" list item will select it as the current editing sound, and update the sound setting controls accordingly. If the currently selected sound is set to be directional, then the movie screen will be updated to display the corresponding view. More than one sound can be imported into each node, as long as there is enough available memory. However, keep in mind that too many sounds in a node can confuse the listener. Auto Play Button If this check box is selected, the audio for the current node will automatically start playing whenever the end user enters the node. If this option is not selected you will need to include an external mechanism to start the sound. Ambient Sound If the "Directional Sound" check box for a particular sound is not checked, the sound is considered to be ambient and its volume will not change based on the pan angle. This is the default state of imported sounds. Setting Ambient Sound Volume. Ambient sound volumes are set using a single control slider in the "Volume" section of the editing panel. Drag the slider thumb to the desired sound level to set playback volume. The volume is represented as a range from -50 to 150 with the default being 100. The current volume level is displayed in the upper right of the Volume section. Directional Sound An imported sound is considered to be directional (that is, the sound volume changes based on the pan angle) if the "Directional Sound" check box is checked. The current pan angle is used when clicking on this check box. When this box is checked, the Volume section of the editing panel will display a second volume control slider and label the controls "Front" and "Rear" respectively Setting a Sounds Direction The direction of a sound can be changed in two ways: by clicking the "Directional Sound" check box (only the first time) or by clicking the "SET ANGLE" button after panning to the desired view. Setting Directional sound volumes When the current sound to be edited is a directional sound, the "Volume" section of the editing panel displays two control sliders and corresponding labels "Front" and "Rear". The slider labeled 'Front' indicates the volume that will be used when the pan angle matches the set direction of the sound source. The slider labeled 'Rear' indicates the volume that will be used when the pan angle is 180 degrees away from direction of the sound source. The volume level can range from -50 to 150. Zero to 100 represents an even fall off all the way around the panorama with 180 degrees away from the set direction being inaudible. Setting the Rear volume lower than 0 produces a narrower volume fall off for a directional sound. Setting the Front volume higher than 100 amplifies sound sources if they were too quiet when originally sampled. Looping Style Check Box Selecting this check box will enable the Looping Style Pop Up Menu. When this box is not selected the sound will be played only once. Looping Style Pop Up Menu Selecting an item will determine the loop state of the currently selected sound to indicate type of loop generated for playback. Continuous will play the sound repeatedly for the entire duration of the current node. Random Delay will play the sound repeatedly with random length silence between plays. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Known Issues 1) Multinodes which contain object nodes are now supported but you can not add sounds to the object nodes. This is due to the differences between the format of object movies, and panoramic movies. There are no plans to add sounds to object nodes, as QuickTime currently does not have support for asynchronous track playback in one self-contained movie. As a result, this issue will not be addressed by SoundSaVR. 2) Adobe Go-Live requires the "GoLive CyberMovie Module." or your computer may crash during uploads. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Reporting problems SoundSaVR 2.01 is a completely redisigned from the ground up application. As a result of the wide variety of different types of sound compressors, VR creation programs and system configurations, it is expected that some conflicts and bugs are going to be found. Please consult the FAQ for information on current SoundSaVR issues and bugs. If you believe that you have found a different problem, please ensure that you can reproduce it, and check if it still occurs when starting up with only the required standard Apple extensions. Please also make sure that all source movies and sounds play correctly in MoviePlayer before they are brought into SoundSaVR. If problems persist, please e-mail a detailed description of the problem, how it is triggered, and if possible, an example source movie, as well as what program the movie was authored with, to <dev@smgVR.com> _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SoundSaVR¬Æ - Copyright 2000 SQUAMISH Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. SoundSaVR and associated logos are registered trademarks of SQUAMISH Media Group, Inc. does not want them to be visible on a particular node. mapsaVR preserves embedded media such as custom graphics or wired sprites. This is designed to provide further compatibility with custom authored panoramas. Note that object movies and multinode movies that contain object movies are not officially supported. However, in some cases it is possible to use mapsaVR successfully with such movies. Please see the Tips and Tricks section for more details. Using mapsaVR To use mapsaVR a finished QTVR single or multinode panorama movie is needed, plus one or more images to use as overhead maps of the area(s) where the nodes are located. Maps can be created using a variety of graphics or rendering packages that save out any graphic format supported by QuickTime (jpg, GIF, Pict, BMP, etc.). If you wish to use custom node markers of your own design, you will need a resource editing tools such as ResEdit. Please see the tutorial on Marker Sets for more details. mapsaVR works on most multinodes panorama movies, but there are certain tile requirements that need to be observed for mapsaVR to work properly on some movies. Object movies can be used with mapsaVR in some cases, and using mapsaVR with them is considered an advanced activity. Object movies are covered in the Tips and Tricks section. Quick Start Launch mapsaVR. Select a QTVR Panorama movie to open. Set the dimensions that you want your finished movie to have from the options window that opens. An editing window with the editing canvas will open displaying your pano. Drag the panorama movie to where you want it. Add Maps and Set Markers Import required map files Click the "Add..." button. Choose an image file from the dialog. Repeat until all required maps have been imported. Set the Maps for each Node Select one or more nodes in the movie. Select the appropriate map in the "Maps" list box. Position the maps by dragging them to the desired location. Repeat until all nodes have the desired maps in the correct locations. Set the correct direction for Indicator Markers Select a node from the "Nodes" list box. Use the "Panorama Angle" slider control to pan the movie to view an identifiable object. Use the "Indicator Angle" slider control to point the indicator at the object in the panorama. Repeat for each node until the node's directional indicator has been set correctly. Preview the movie Switch to the Preview Mode and interact with the panorama to see if everything works as it should. If necessary go back to Edit mode and make adjustments. Save the output movie Select "Save A Copy As...." menu item from the "File" menu. Choose the destination of the file from the dialog. The Menu Bar There are four active menu bar items in mapsaVR: Apple, File, Edit and Display. From the Apple menu the "About mapsaVR..." menu item can be accessed. The "About mapsaVR ..." menu item will open a window that displays the application version number, user registration information, and a scrolling text field for quick access to the ReadMe documentation. The File menu has four active items: "Open...", "Close", "Save A Copy As...", and "Quit" The "Open..." menu item will open a dialog to select a movie file. Importing a file that has no panorama track or QTVR track, will cancel the process and the user will be notified that the file was not a panorama. A warning dialog will open if the user opens an object movie or a multinode movie that contains an object. The warning will tell the user to refer to the Tips and Tricks section of this manual. The user can continue to work with this movie, or they can close the editing window and open a different movie. When a valid QTVR panorama movie (with no previously embedded maps) has been selected, the "Movie Options" dialog window will open to allow output settings to be set. If there are maps already present in the movie, the Movie Options dialog will be bypassed and the editing window will open. The "Close" menu item will close the active editing window. If the movie has been edited, and the changes have not been saved, a dialog will prompt the user to save before closing the movie, close the movie without saving, or cancel closing the window. The "Save A Copy As..." menu item will open a dialog asking the user to save the current movie. It is recommended that users do not try to overwrite already existing files. The "Quit" menu item will close the editing window and Quit the application. As with the "Close" menu item, the user will be prompted to save any changes. The Edit menu has one active item, "Movie Options..." The "Movie Options..." menu item will open a window that allows a number of options to be set that affect the entire movie. This window is initially displayed only when opening a QTVR Panorama movie that was not previously saved out by mapsaVR. Once a movie is open, this window can be opened again when the Editor Window is in "Edit Mode" . When in "Preview Mode" the menu will be grayed out. The Display menu has nine active items: The first two, "Degrees" and "Cross Hairs", toggle on and off the info displays for the panorama. The next six menu items set the color of the information displays to specific color selections. The last item, "Choose..." allows a custom display color to be selected. Movie Options Window Map Options: Markers: Marker Set Field This field displays the name of the marker set that will be used by mapsaVR. If no marker set has been selected then a default set will be used and the field will display "Default". Import... Button Clicking this button will open a get file dialog that allows you to import mapsaVR marker sets. Clicking the "Show Preview" check box in this window will display a visual representation of the selected marker set. Changes will not be seen until the "Movie Options..." window is closed. Disable Node Jumping Check Box If this box is checked, clickable node markers will no longer become active in preview mode, or in the the saved out movie. Node markers will still be visible and show node locations, but they just won't jump to the corresponding node when the user clicks on them. Background: Background Color Button Clicking this button will open the Apple Color Picker window to select a new background color. The background color can be used to create a border around the panorama movie and the maps or to simply separate the map from the panorama. White is the default background color. Use Image Field If a background image has been selected or embedded, the file name will be displayed here. QTVR movies and maps are always placed on top of the background image and only one background image can be used for the movie. When a background image is being used, the editing canvas will adopt the image dimensions and the movie dimensions panel will be grayed out. Import... Button Clicking this button will open a get file dialog that allows you to import an image file in any format supported by QuickTime 3.0. The original file format of the image will be retained when added to the movie. Clicking the "Preview" check box in this window can display a visual representation of the selected file. Changes will not be seen until the "Movie Options..." window is closed. Before importing a background image, please read the Windows Compatibility section, to learn how to ensure that MS Windows users will have no problems viewing movies that contain a background image. Remove Button Clicking this button will remove and delete an embedded background image. The size of the editing canvas will remain the same size as the last imported image, but the dimension panel will now be enabled, allowing the user to modify the dimensions. If there is no background image this button will be grayed out. Changes will not be seen until the "Movie Options..." window is closed. Transparency: Transparency Check Box If this check box is "on" then a transparency color will be applied to any and all embedded maps that are imported into the movie. This works best with lossless image codecs like ".gif" since compression artifacts can interfere with the transparent effect. Transparent Color Button If the Transparency check box is checked, clicking this button will open the Apple Color Picker window to select a new transparency color. The background color can be used to create a border around the panorama movie and the maps or to separate the map from the panorama. If the Transparency check box is not checked, this button will be grayed out. Movie Dimensions (pixels): Select Dimension Menu This popup menu has four items to help with the selection of common editing canvas dimensions. Selecting a menu item will immediately enter the selected dimensions into the horizontal and vertical dimension fields. The menu items will adjust themselves based on the size of the QTVR panorama movie. Horizontal field This edit field displays and sets the width of the editing canvas. This field will accept numerical values only. Vertical field This edit field displays and sets the height of the editing canvas. This field will accept numerical values only. Please read the Windows Compatibility section, to learn how to ensure that MS Windows users will have no problems viewing movies created by mapsaVR. Click OK to keep changes. Click Cancel to abort. Editor Window Only one mapsaVR editing window can be opened at a time,. Clicking the windows "zoom box" will reset the window to its original size if it has been changed. The Editing Window has two components, the Editing Canvas, and the Editing Panel. This window can be resized smaller or larger than the editing canvas. If some of the canvas is obscured, then the scroll bars can be used to bring hidden areas of the canvas into view. Editing Canvas The dimensions of the panorama movie must be smaller than the dimensions of the editing canvas, but map dimensions can be larger than the canvas. The saved out movie will have the same dimensions as the entire editing canvas (even if the window has been resized). Resizing the window with the Grow Box does not resize the canvas, it just adjusts how much of the canvas is in view. If the whole canvas is not visible in the window, the scroll bars will be enabled and can be used to adjust which part of the canvas is in view. The canvas can be resized in the Movie Options window. Editing Panel On the left side of the editor window there is an editing panel. The editing panel has a "Nodes" list, a "Maps" list and "Markers" list, as well as buttons to add or remove maps and markers, and sliders that control the alignment of the directional indicator in each node. Nodes List There will be only one item in this list if a single node pano is open. When a multinode pano is open, the name of each node contained in the movie will be displayed in the list box. Clicking on a node list item will select it as the current editing node, and update the editing canvas as well as the alignment setting controls for that node. Multiple nodes can be selected by holding down the shift key for continuous selection or the command key for discontinuous line selection. Operations that can be performed across multiple nodes are: Map Selection and Map Positioning. Note that map positioning is performed on multiple nodes, that only maps that are the same will be affected. This way, a smaller map than the one currently being dragged, won't "disappear" off the canvas. Performing an operation that can not be performed on multiple nodes will deselect all nodes except the current node. Multiple node selection has no effect on marker positioning. The only reason why multiple nodes are not deselected in this case, is just in case the user accidentally clicked on a marker instead of a map, when trying to position multiple maps. Maps List The "Maps" list box is used to associate imported maps to specific nodes in the movie being edited. Clicking on a "Maps" list item will select it as the map for all currently selected nodes. "Add..." Button Clicking on this button will open a dialog box so that an appropriate graphic file can be selected for use as a map. Clicking on "Open" will import the selected graphic into the movie and add it's name to the 'Maps' list box. "Remove" Button Clicking this button will remove the currently selected map from the 'Maps' list and delete its image from the movie. This button will be grayed out if the currently selected node has no map selected. The user will be prompted to confirm removal of a map that is being used on more than one node. Markers List This list box will be grayed out until at least one marker is visible in the current node being edited. Markers will automatically be added to all nodes that use the same map. Clicking on a "Markers" list item will select the corresponding marker as the current marker. The marker that corresponds to the current node is a directional indicator. All other markers are considered to be node jumpers. No Markers will be visible until a map has been selected for the current node. "Add..." Button Clicking on this button will open a dialog box with a list of all markers for nodes that do not use the current map (or markers that have been previously removed). Multiple items can be selected from the list. Clicking the "OK" button will close the dialog and add the selected node markers to the current map. These markers will not be positioned automatically by mapsaVR and must be positioned by the user. "Remove" Button Clicking this button will remove the currently selected marker from the 'Markers' list and the current map. This button will be grayed out if the currently selected node has no markers specified. Navigation Alignment Panel Each node's direction indicator must be aligned to the panoramic image. This is required because it is possible that at the time the panorama nodes were photographed, the first picture of every node may not have been pointing in the same direction, and therefore each node may not be oriented the same way. Aligning in mapsaVR is a much simpler than requiring every node's sourcepict to be altered with a graphics editor and requiring that the multinode be re-authored. Use the Panorama Angle slider to rotate the view of the current node so that an identifiable object (such as the corner of a room or building, a mountain, stream or statue) is in view in both the panorama and the map image. Next, use the Indicator Angle slider to rotate the directional indicator so that it points at the object on the map. The directional indicator should now be aligned to the panorama. If the indicator does not seem to maintain synchronization for all 360¬∞ of the panorama, then it may be possible that the node marker is not correctly positioned, or that the map itself may not be completely accurate. If the map is not proportionally correct, perfect angle alignment for all 360¬∞ will not be possible. If all nodes were photographed with the first picture facing North, and the maps being used were oriented with North at the top of the image, then no alignment adjustments will be necessary. If, however, all maps were oriented with East at the top, then all indicator alignment adjustments could be set arbitrarily to a 90¬∞ offset without adjusting the panorama angle. Edit and Preview Modes To switch between the Edit and Preview mode, just click on the popup menu and chose the desired mode. All editing of maps and markers in the movie takes place in the Edit mode. When the user switches to Preview mode, the panorama movie becomes interactive, and the user can check that the maps and markers look and work like they should. When the user saves out the final movie, it will look exactly the same as it does in Preview mode. Positioning Maps To position a map, click on the map's image and use the mouse to drag it to the desired location. Maps can not be completely dragged off the editing canvas. At least two pixels must always be visible so that the map will not "disappear" off the editing canvas. Positioning a map when multiple nodes are selected will align the top-left corner of all selected maps to the top-left corner of the map currently being dragged. Nodes that do not share the same map as the current node will not be affected, so that their maps will not "disappear" off the editing canvas. Positioning Markers To re-position a marker, click (and hold the mouse button down) on the marker and use the mouse to drag it to the desired location. Cross hairs will appear to help with the alignment to other node markers. If the marker is currently an indicator, an extra line will be displayed showing the current direction. The marker's new position on the map will be updated on any other node that uses the same map, even if the maps are located in different places on the editing canvas. Markers can not be dragged off the map. Note that markers will become obscured by the panorama if they are dragged underneath it. All markers are initially positioned at the top-left corner of the currently selected map. Known Issues Interface Quirks Sprite information displays do not stay "on" when the mouse button is released. This issue will not be addressed in the release version. The indicator angle line does not stay "on" while adjustments are made with the slider control. The indicator angle line updates once only when the current angle changes during the control dragging process (i.e.: It blinks). This issue will not be addressed in the release version. List boxes that have been disabled in Preview Mode will have clickable list items if a Finder window or a window from another application becomes active. Although the list items can then be selected, no actions will occur, and proper settings will be restored once Edit Mode is selected. This issue will not be addressed in the release version. Tile Requirements All nodes in a multinode movie MUST have equal durations. Movies containing nodes with different durations will NOT play properly. When authoring a multinode movie you must use the same number of tiles for every node. If you are using sourcepicts of different dimensions for any reason, you can use the QTVR Tile Calculator (free HyperCard stack included with mapsaVR v1.0) to help find suitable valid tile values for a set of sourcepict dimensions. This stack also stores calculated values for later reference and allows set naming and searching. Different horizontal and vertical tile dimensions can be used as long as each node still uses the same number of tiles. The following is a compatible movie file because each node uses six tiles and will be of equal duration: Node 1: 1 horizontal tiles 6 vertical tiles Node 2: 3 horizontal tiles 2 vertical tiles Node 3: 2 horizontal tiles 3 vertical tiles If you have problems with a particular movie file, then please send it (or one like it) to us for testing at "dev@smgVR.com". You should send the original movie before it is edited with mapsaVR. Windows Compatibility There is a bug in the Windows version of QuickTime 3.0 that affects the way a sprite track (the editing canvas in mapsaVR is a sprite track) in a movie is displayed. If the color depth of the monitor is greater than 16 bit, strange skewing of the sprite images will occur if the horizontal dimension of the sprite track (editing canvas) is not evenly divisible by 16. This problem occurs in all wired sprite movies. Additionally, if the horizontal dimension of the sprite track is greater than 512, the horizontal dimension of the sprite track must be also be evenly divisible by 32. mapsaVR has two warning icons which indicate that the movie may not play correctly on Windows machines. It is up to the user to decide if the movie should be authored so that the movie plays back correctly. A warning icon will become enabled anytime the dimension of the sprite is changed in such a way that it will cause incompatibility problems. Clicking on the enabled warning icon will display a warning message, and instruct the user on what can be done. The warning icons are located in the Background Image panel, and in the Dimensions panel. Clicking on the warning icon corresponding to the background image will warn the user that the background image is not the right size, and that the image will have to be resized before it is imported into mapsaVR. The suggested compatible size will be given. Clicking on the warning icon beside the horizontal dimension field will warn the user that the dimension of the editing canvas is not compatible, and will suggest the correct size. It will also give the user an option of automatically setting the horizontal dimension to the correct value. Other than this issue, output movies should behave the same as on the Macintosh OS. Streaming Multinodes If you plan to deliver large multinode movies over the internet, movies should be optimized with preview graphics and deliVRator, so that users can navigate the environment as soon as possible. This holds true whether mapsaVR has been used or not, and there are excellent tools for this at http://vrtools.com/. Clickable wired sprite node jump markers can NOT function properly until the corresponding hi-res image has been entirely downloaded. Clicking on a node jump marker before the hi-res image for that node has downloaded will result in odd panorama behavior. This is a bug in QuickTime 3.0, and this problem is prevalent in any application that uses wired sprites to navigate streaming multinode movies. For this reason you may wish to use deliVRator to place the mapsaVR sprite track at the end of the movie file so that it can not be interacted with until all the hi-res images have been completely downloaded. If you want the map and markers to be visible as soon as possible, you may want to disable node jumping so that that the end user will encounter no weird panorama behavior. Tips and Tricks Object nodes in a multinode movie have been found to work if designed with mapsaVR in mind but are not at this time considered to be part of the applications supported feature set. Single Node Object Movie A single node object movie can effectively utilize an overhead map if the object is fairly large, like an automobile in a courtyard or the Bay Bridge, but a special custom indicator will probably need to be constructed in order for the map and indicator to appear synchronized. For this reason whenever a single object node is opened a warning dialog will be displayed. There is a new marker set named "Object Set" that can be used for objects on a map image that require a radius of not more than 48 pixels. See the section on Marker Sets for information on how to create your own custom markers. To create a large size directional indicator for an object node movie you must use five images that are exactly 32 pixels wide for the indicator sprite vertical positions. They should also all be the same height. The center point of the rotation will be at image co-ordinates 16,16. So, if the object on the map is roughly 130 pixels in radius and a rotational radius of 152 is desired, the images required would need to all be (152 + 16) = 168 pixels in height. Because the center point is always at 16,16 the indicator graphic must be located at the bottom of each image facing upwards. The transparent color used for all node markers is white, and the graphics used for vertical positions of the indicator should make sense visually for the object movie for which it is being created. Multinode Movie With One Object Node Using mapsaVR with a multinode panorama with a single object node requires a small amount of additional planning in QTVRAS to achieve good results. For this reason whenever a multinode with one or more object nodes is opened a warning dialog will be displayed. Object nodes in a multinode movie have been found to work but are not at this time considered to be part of the applications feature set. Even though it has been stated that all nodes in a multinode movie MUST have equal duration's, the exception to the rule is when a single object node is at the end of a multinode movie. This can be ensured by adding the object node to the QTVRAS project after all other nodes have been added. In this instance the object node can be any duration, and the only side effect should be that the default view of the object may not be the initial frame displayed. The navigational indicator marker for an object node will probably need to be removed. mapsaVR currently supports only one marker set per movie and it is likely that an object in a multinode will not work well visually with directional indicators that are appropriate for panoramas. In some cases, however, this may not hold true and it is up to the creator to decide whether or not to remove the object nodes directional indicator. Multinode Movie With Many Object Nodes Using mapsaVR with a multinode panorama containing more than one object node requires some advanced planning and authoring techniques in QTVRAS to achieve good results. Object nodes in a multinode movie have been found to work but are not at this time considered to be part of the applications supported feature set. Since all nodes in a multinode movie MUST have equal duration's, each object in the movie must have the frames per second set so that the entire duration of the object node is equal to that of the panorama nodes. The proper frames per second for an object node can be calculated with this formula: (# of frames in object) / (Node duration) . The frames per second should be set in QTVRAS during the creation of the object movie. When final release of mapsaVR occurs there will be a small utility included for easier calculations. In some cases it will not be possible to set the object nodes to be EXACTLY the same duration, and for that reason all object nodes should be at the end of the multinode movie so that they will not interfere with the panoramas. This can be ensured by adding the object nodes to the QTVRAS project after all other nodes have been added. If an object node can not be made to have exactly the right duration it should be added to the QTVRAS project after any object nodes that do have exactly matching durations. The side effects from using object nodes without exactly matching durations are as follows: 1) The default view of the object nodes may not be the initial frame displayed when the node is jumped to. 2) Rotating the object may cause the map to change or be repositioned. 3) Rotating the object may cause the directional indicator to switch to a different object node. Therefore, if unequal duration object nodes are used, ensure that: 1) All object nodes use the same map and map position. 2 ) All object node markers are removed from the object nodes. By doing this, the user should not notice that the movie is not actually responding properly. The navigational indicator marker for an object node will probably need to be removed. mapsaVR currently supports only one marker set per movie and it is likely that objects in a multinode will not work well visually with directional indicators that are appropriate for panoramas. In some cases, however, this may not hold true and it is up to the creator to decide whether or not to remove the object nodes directional indicator. Reporting problems mapsaVR is a new application that utilizes many components introduced in QuickTime 3.0. As a result of the wide variety of different types of image compressors, VR creation programs and system configurations, it is expected that some conflicts and bugs may be found. Please consult this manual for information on current mapsaVR issues. If you believe that you have found a different problem, please ensure that you can reproduce it, and check if it still occurs when starting up with only the required standard Apple extensions. Please also make sure that all source movies and maps play correctly in MoviePlayer before they are brought into mapsaVR. If problems persist, please e-mail a detailed description of the problem, how it is triggered, and if possible, an example source movie, as well as what program the movie was authored with, to <dev@smgVR.com> mapsaVR¬Æ - Copyright 1998, 1999 SQUAMISH Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. mapsaVR and associated logos are registered trademarks of SQUAMISH Media Group, Inc. READ ME - Version 1.0 Revised March 31, 1999 Welcome to mapsaVR¬Æ, the wired sprite QTVR editing tool that embeds directional indicators and clickable node markers and maps into single or multinode panoramic movies. System Requirements mapsaVR requires a Macintosh PowerPC or compatible system with a base requirement of 5 MB of RAM and 5 MB of hard disk space for installation. The maps and VR movies used will require additional hard disk space and memory. A recommended system configuration for adding maps to VR movies is 16 MB RAM and 50 MB of hard disk space. mapsaVR requires QuickTime 3.0 to be installed, and requires System 8 or higher. Program Features mapsaVR creates a sprite track of a specified size and adds it to single or multinode panorama movies. This sprite track can contain: 1 Background Image. (Your movie dimensions will adopt the dimensions of the image) 1 Background Color. (Not visible if a background image is used) 1 Map Transparency Color to be used for all maps. 1 Directional Indicator for each node in a Panorama Movie. 1 map image per node (The same map can be used on several nodes). As many clickable node jump markers as required to get from one node to all other nodes. The program has two modes, Edit and Preview, which can be changed by selecting the desired mode from the popup menu in the editing panel.. Since each node can have a different orientation, the Directional Indicator marker can be aligned separately for each node. mapsaVR has an automated marker placement system that logically determines which node markers should be placed on each map and where, based on marker positions on other nodes. Additionally, marker re-positioning on any node will be replicated on every other node that shares the same map. Node markers to nodes that don't share the same map as the current node, can be manually added. Also, nodes can be manually removed, if the user does not want them to be visible on a particular node. mapsaVR preserves embedded media such as custom graphics or wired sprites. This is designed to provide further compatibility with custom authored panoramas. Note that object movies and multinode movies that contain object movies are not officially supported. However, in some cases it is possible to use mapsaVR successfully with such movies. Please see the Tips and Tricks section for more details. Using mapsaVR To use mapsaVR a finished QTVR single or multinode panorama movie is needed, plus one or more images to use as overhead maps of the area(s) where the nodes are located. Maps can be created using a variety of graphics or rendering packages that save out any graphic format supported by QuickTime (jpg, GIF, Pict, BMP, etc.). If you wish to use custom node markers of your own design, you will need a resource editing tools such as ResEdit. Please see the tutorial on Marker Sets for more details. mapsaVR works on most multinodes panorama movies, but there are certain tile requirements that need to be observed for mapsaVR to work properly on some movies. Object movies can be used with mapsaVR in some cases, and using mapsaVR with them is considered an advanced activity. Object movies are covered in the Tips and Tricks section. Quick Start Launch mapsaVR. Select a QTVR Panorama movie to open. Set the dimensions that you want your finished movie to have from the options window that opens. An editing window with the editing canvas will open displaying your pano. Drag the panorama movie to where you want it. Add Maps and Set Markers Import required map files Click the "Add..." button. Choose an image file from the dialog. Repeat until all required maps have been imported. Set the Maps for each Node Select one or more nodes in the movie. Select the appropriate map in the "Maps" list box. Position the maps by dragging them to the desired location. Repeat until all nodes have the desired maps in the correct locations. Set the correct direction for Indicator Markers Select a node from the "Nodes" list box. Use the "Panorama Angle" slider control to pan the movie to view an identifiable object. Use the "Indicator Angle" slider control to point the indicator at the object in the panorama. Repeat for each node until the node's directional indicator has been set correctly. Preview the movie Switch to the Preview Mode and interact with the panorama to see if everything works as it should. If necessary go back to Edit mode and make adjustments. Save the output movie Select "Save A Copy As...." menu item from the "File" menu. Choose the destination of the file from the dialog. The Menu Bar There are four active menu bar items in mapsaVR: Apple, File, Edit and Display. From the Apple menu the "About mapsaVR..." menu item can be accessed. The "About mapsaVR ..." menu item will open a window that displays the application version number, user registration information, and a scrolling text field for quick access to the ReadMe documentation. The File menu has four active items: "Open...", "Close", "Save A Copy As...", and "Quit" The "Open..." menu item will open a dialog to select a movie file. Importing a file that has no panorama track or QTVR track, will cancel the process and the user will be notified that the file was not a panorama. A warning dialog will open if the user opens an object movie or a multinode movie that contains an object. The warning will tell the user to refer to the Tips and Tricks section of this manual. The user can continue to work with this movie, or they can close the editing window and open a different movie. When a valid QTVR panorama movie (with no previously embedded maps) has been selected, the "Movie Options" dialog window will open to allow output settings to be set. If there are maps already present in the movie, the Movie Options dialog will be bypassed and the editing window will open. The "Close" menu item will close the active editing window. If the movie has been edited, and the changes have not been saved, a dialog will prompt the user to save before closing the movie, close the movie without saving, or cancel closing the window. The "Save A Copy As..." menu item will open a dialog asking the user to save the current movie. It is recommended that users do not try to overwrite already existing files. The "Quit" menu item will close the editing window and Quit the application. As with the "Close" menu item, the user will be prompted to save any changes. The Edit menu has one active item, "Movie Options..." The "Movie Options..." menu item will open a window that allows a number of options to be set that affect the entire movie. This window is initially displayed only when opening a QTVR Panorama movie that was not previously saved out by mapsaVR. Once a movie is open, this window can be opened again when the Editor Window is in "Edit Mode" . When in "Preview Mode" the menu will be grayed out. The Display menu has nine active items: The first two, "Degrees" and "Cross Hairs", toggle on and off the info displays for the panorama. The next six menu items set the color of the information displays to specific color selections. The last item, "Choose..." allows a custom display color to be selected. Movie Options Window Map Options: Markers: Marker Set Field This field displays the name of the marker set that will be used by mapsaVR. If no marker set has been selected then a default set will be used and the field will display "Default". Import... Button Clicking this button will open a get file dialog that allows you to import mapsaVR marker sets. Clicking the "Show Preview" check box in this window will display a visual representation of the selected marker set. Changes will not be seen until the "Movie Options..." window is closed. Disable Node Jumping Check Box If this box is checked, clickable node markers will no longer become active in preview mode, or in the the saved out movie. Node markers will still be visible and show node locations, but they just won't jump to the corresponding node when the user clicks on them. Background: Background Color Button Clicking this button will open the Apple Color Picker window to select a new background color. The background color can be used to create a border around the panorama movie and the maps or to simply separate the map from the panorama. White is the default background color. Use Image Field If a background image has been selected or embedded, the file name will be displayed here. QTVR movies and maps are always placed on top of the background image and only one background image can be used for the movie. When a background image is being used, the editing canvas will adopt the image dimensions and the movie dimensions panel will be grayed out. Import... Button Clicking this button will open a get file dialog that allows you to import an image file in any format supported by QuickTime 3.0. The original file format of the image will be retained when added to the movie. Clicking the "Preview" check box in this window can display a visual representation of the selected file. Changes will not be seen until the "Movie Options..." window is closed. Before importing a background image, please read the Windows Compatibility section, to learn how to ensure that MS Windows users will have no problems viewing movies that contain a background image. Remove Button Clicking this button will remove and delete an embedded background image. The size of the editing canvas will remain the same size as the last imported image, but the dimension panel will now be enabled, allowing the user to modify the dimensions. If there is no background image this button will be grayed out. Changes will not be seen until the "Movie Options..." window is closed. Transparency: Transparency Check Box If this check box is "on" then a transparency color will be applied to any and all embedded maps that are imported into the movie. This works best with lossless image codecs like ".gif" since compression artifacts can interfere with the transparent effect. Transparent Color Button If the Transparency check box is checked, clicking this button will open the Apple Color Picker window to select a new transparency color. The background color can be used to create a border around the panorama movie and the maps or to separate the map from the panorama. If the Transparency check box is not checked, this button will be grayed out. Movie Dimensions (pixels): Select Dimension Menu This popup menu has four items to help with the selection of common editing canvas dimensions. Selecting a menu item will immediately enter the selected dimensions into the horizontal and vertical dimension fields. The menu items will adjust themselves based on the size of the QTVR panorama movie. Horizontal field This edit field displays and sets the width of the editing canvas. This field will accept numerical values only. Vertical field This edit field displays and sets the height of the editing canvas. This field will accept numerical values only. Please read the Windows Compatibility section, to learn how to ensure that MS Windows users will have no problems viewing movies created by mapsaVR. Click OK to keep changes. Click Cancel to abort. Editor Window Only one mapsaVR editing window can be opened at a time,. Clicking the windows "zoom box" will reset the window to its original size if it has been changed. The Editing Window has two components, the Editing Canvas, and the Editing Panel. This window can be resized smaller or larger than the editing canvas. If some of the canvas is obscured, then the scroll bars can be used to bring hidden areas of the canvas into view. Editing Canvas The dimensions of the panorama movie must be smaller than the dimensions of the editing canvas, but map dimensions can be larger than the canvas. The saved out movie will have the same dimensions as the entire editing canvas (even if the window has been resized). Resizing the window with the Grow Box does not resize the canvas, it just adjusts how much of the canvas is in view. If the whole canvas is not visible in the window, the scroll bars will be enabled and can be used to adjust which part of the canvas is in view. The canvas can be resized in the Movie Options window. Editing Panel On the left side of the editor window there is an editing panel. The editing panel has a "Nodes" list, a "Maps" list and "Markers" list, as well as buttons to add or remove maps and markers, and sliders that control the alignment of the directional indicator in each node. Nodes List There will be only one item in this list if a single node pano is open. When a multinode pano is open, the name of each node contained in the movie will be displayed in the list box. Clicking on a node list item will select it as the current editing node, and update the editing canvas as well as the alignment setting controls for that node. Multiple nodes can be selected by holding down the shift key for continuous selection or the command key for discontinuous line selection. Operations that can be performed across multiple nodes are: Map Selection and Map Positioning. Note that map positioning is performed on multiple nodes, that only maps that are the same will be affected. This way, a smaller map than the one currently being dragged, won't "disappear" off the canvas. Performing an operation that can not be performed on multiple nodes will deselect all nodes except the current node. Multiple node selection has no effect on marker positioning. The only reason why multiple nodes are not deselected in this case, is just in case the user accidentally clicked on a marker instead of a map, when trying to position multiple maps. Maps List The "Maps" list box is used to associate imported maps to specific nodes in the movie being edited. Clicking on a "Maps" list item will select it as the map for all currently selected nodes. "Add..." Button Clicking on this button will open a dialog box so that an appropriate graphic file can be selected for use as a map. Clicking on "Open" will import the selected graphic into the movie and add it's name to the 'Maps' list box. "Remove" Button Clicking this button will remove the currently selected map from the 'Maps' list and delete its image from the movie. This button will be grayed out if the currently selected node has no map selected. The user will be prompted to confirm removal of a map that is being used on more than one node. Markers List This list box will be grayed out until at least one marker is visible in the current node being edited. Markers will automatically be added to all nodes that use the same map. Clicking on a "Markers" list item will select the corresponding marker as the current marker. The marker that corresponds to the current node is a directional indicator. All other markers are considered to be node jumpers. No Markers will be visible until a map has been selected for the current node. "Add..." Button Clicking on this button will open a dialog box with a list of all markers for nodes that do not use the current map (or markers that have been previously removed). Multiple items can be selected from the list. Clicking the "OK" button will close the dialog and add the selected node markers to the current map. These markers will not be positioned automatically by mapsaVR and must be positioned by the user. "Remove" Button Clicking this button will remove the currently selected marker from the 'Markers' list and the current map. This button will be grayed out if the currently selected node has no markers specified. Navigation Alignment Panel Each node's direction indicator must be aligned to the panoramic image. This is required because it is possible that at the time the panorama nodes were photographed, the first picture of every node may not have been pointing in the same direction, and therefore each node may not be oriented the same way. Aligning in mapsaVR is a much simpler than requiring every node's sourcepict to be altered with a graphics editor and requiring that the multinode be re-authored. Use the Panorama Angle slider to rotate the view of the current node so that an identifiable object (such as the corner of a room or building, a mountain, stream or statue) is in view in both the panorama and the map image. Next, use the Indicator Angle slider to rotate the directional indicator so that it points at the object on the map. The directional indicator should now be aligned to the panorama. If the indicator does not seem to maintain synchronization for all 360¬∞ of the panorama, then it may be possible that the node marker is not correctly positioned, or that the map itself may not be completely accurate. If the map is not proportionally correct, perfect angle alignment for all 360¬∞ will not be possible. If all nodes were photographed with the first picture facing North, and the maps being used were oriented with North at the top of the image, then no alignment adjustments will be necessary. If, however, all maps were oriented with East at the top, then all indicator alignment adjustments could be set arbitrarily to a 90¬∞ offset without adjusting the panorama angle. Edit and Preview Modes To switch between the Edit and Preview mode, just click on the popup menu and chose the desired mode. All editing of maps and markers in the movie takes place in the Edit mode. When the user switches to Preview mode, the panorama movie becomes interactive, and the user can check that the maps and markers look and work like they should. When the user saves out the final movie, it will look exactly the same as it does in Preview mode. Positioning Maps To position a map, click on the map's image and use the mouse to drag it to the desired location. Maps can not be completely dragged off the editing canvas. At least two pixels must always be visible so that the map will not "disappear" off the editing canvas. Positioning a map when multiple nodes are selected will align the top-left corner of all selected maps to the top-left corner of the map currently being dragged. Nodes that do not share the same map as the current node will not be affected, so that their maps will not "disappear" off the editing canvas. Positioning Markers To re-position a marker, click (and hold the mouse button down) on the marker and use the mouse to drag it to the desired location. Cross hairs will appear to help with the alignment to other node markers. If the marker is currently an indicator, an extra line will be displayed showing the current direction. The marker's new position on the map will be updated on any other node that uses the same map, even if the maps are located in different places on the editing canvas. Markers can not be dragged off the map. Note that markers will become obscured by the panorama if they are dragged underneath it. All markers are initially positioned at the top-left corner of the currently selected map. Known Issues Interface Quirks Sprite information displays do not stay "on" when the mouse button is released. This issue will not be addressed in the release version. The indicator angle line does not stay "on" while adjustments are made with the slider control. The indicator angle line updates once only when the current angle changes during the control dragging process (i.e.: It blinks). This issue will not be addressed in the release version. List boxes that have been disabled in Preview Mode will have clickable list items if a Finder window or a window from another application becomes active. Although the list items can then be selected, no actions will occur, and proper settings will be restored once Edit Mode is selected. This issue will not be addressed in the release version. Tile Requirements All nodes in a multinode movie MUST have equal durations. Movies containing nodes with different durations will NOT play properly. When authoring a multinode movie you must use the same number of tiles for every node. If you are using sourcepicts of different dimensions for any reason, you can use the QTVR Tile Calculator (free HyperCard stack included with mapsaVR v1.0) to help find suitable valid tile values for a set of sourcepict dimensions. This stack also stores calculated values for later reference and allows set naming and searching. Different horizontal and vertical tile dimensions can be used as long as each node still uses the same number of tiles. The following is a compatible movie file because each node uses six tiles and will be of equal duration: Node 1: 1 horizontal tiles 6 vertical tiles Node 2: 3 horizontal tiles 2 vertical tiles Node 3: 2 horizontal tiles 3 vertical tiles If you have problems with a particular movie file, then please send it (or one like it) to us for testing at "dev@smgVR.com". You should send the original movie before it is edited with mapsaVR. Windows Compatibility There is a bug in the Windows version of QuickTime 3.0 that affects the way a sprite track (the editing canvas in mapsaVR is a sprite track) in a movie is displayed. If the color depth of the monitor is greater than 16 bit, strange skewing of the sprite images will occur if the horizontal dimension of the sprite track (editing canvas) is not evenly divisible by 16. This problem occurs in all wired sprite movies. Additionally, if the horizontal dimension of the sprite track is greater than 512, the horizontal dimension of the sprite track must be also be evenly divisible by 32. mapsaVR has two warning icons which indicate that the movie may not play correctly on Windows machines. It is up to the user to decide if the movie should be authored so that the movie plays back correctly. A warning icon will become enabled anytime the dimension of the sprite is changed in such a way that it will cause incompatibility problems. Clicking on the enabled warning icon will display a warning message, and instruct the user on what can be done. The warning icons are located in the Background Image panel, and in the Dimensions panel. Clicking on the warning icon corresponding to the background image will warn the user that the background image is not the right size, and that the image will have to be resized before it is imported into mapsaVR. The suggested compatible size will be given. Clicking on the warning icon beside the horizontal dimension field will warn the user that the dimension of the editing canvas is not compatible, and will suggest the correct size. It will also give the user an option of automatically setting the horizontal dimension to the correct value. Other than this issue, output movies should behave the same as on the Macintosh OS. Streaming Multinodes If you plan to deliver large multinode movies over the internet, movies should be optimized with preview graphics and deliVRator, so that users can navigate the environment as soon as possible. This holds true whether mapsaVR has been used or not, and there are excellent tools for this at http://vrtools.com/. Clickable wired sprite node jump markers can NOT function properly until the corresponding hi-res image has been entirely downloaded. Clicking on a node jump marker before the hi-res image for that node has downloaded will result in odd panorama behavior. This is a bug in QuickTime 3.0, and this problem is prevalent in any application that uses wired sprites to navigate streaming multinode movies. For this reason you may wish to use deliVRator to place the mapsaVR sprite track at the end of the movie file so that it can not be interacted with until all the hi-res images have been completely downloaded. If you want the map and markers to be visible as soon as possible, you may want to disable node jumping so that that the end user will encounter no weird panorama behavior. Tips and Tricks Object nodes in a multinode movie have been found to work if designed with mapsaVR in mind but are not at this time considered to be part of the applications supported feature set. Single Node Object Movie A single node object movie can effectively utilize an overhead map if the object is fairly large, like an automobile in a courtyard or the Bay Bridge, but a special custom indicator will probably need to be constructed in order for the map and indicator to appear synchronized. For this reason whenever a single object node is opened a warning dialog will be displayed. There is a new marker set named "Object Set" that can be used for objects on a map image that require a radius of not more than 48 pixels. See the section on Marker Sets for information on how to create your own custom markers. To create a large size directional indicator for an object node movie you must use five images that are exactly 32 pixels wide for the indicator sprite vertical positions. They should also all be the same height. The center point of the rotation will be at image co-ordinates 16,16. So, if the object on the map is roughly 130 pixels in radius and a rotational radius of 152 is desired, the images required would need to all be (152 + 16) = 168 pixels in height. Because the center point is always at 16,16 the indicator graphic must be located at the bottom of each image facing upwards. The transparent color used for all node markers is white, and the graphics used for vertical positions of the indicator should make sense visually for the object movie for which it is being created. Multinode Movie With One Object Node Using mapsaVR with a multinode panorama with a single object node requires a small amount of additional planning in QTVRAS to achieve good results. For this reason whenever a multinode with one or more object nodes is opened a warning dialog will be displayed. Object nodes in a multinode movie have been found to work but are not at this time considered to be part of the applications feature set. Even though it has been stated that all nodes in a multinode movie MUST have equal duration's, the exception to the rule is when a single object node is at the end of a multinode movie. This can be ensured by adding the object node to the QTVRAS project after all other nodes have been added. In this instance the object node can be any duration, and the only side effect should be that the default view of the object may not be the initial frame displayed. The navigational indicator marker for an object node will probably need to be removed. mapsaVR currently supports only one marker set per movie and it is likely that an object in a multinode will not work well visually with directional indicators that are appropriate for panoramas. In some cases, however, this may not hold true and it is up to the creator to decide whether or not to remove the object nodes directional indicator. Multinode Movie With Many Object Nodes Using mapsaVR with a multinode panorama containing more than one object node requires some advanced planning and authoring techniques in QTVRAS to achieve good results. Object nodes in a multinode movie have been found to work but are not at this time considered to be part of the applications supported feature set. Since all nodes in a multinode movie MUST have equal duration's, each object in the movie must have the frames per second set so that the entire duration of the object node is equal to that of the panorama nodes. The proper frames per second for an object node can be calculated with this formula: (# of frames in object) / (Node duration) . The frames per second should be set in QTVRAS during the creation of the object movie. When final release of mapsaVR occurs there will be a small utility included for easier calculations. In some cases it will not be possible to set the object nodes to be EXACTLY the same duration, and for that reason all object nodes should be at the end of the multinode movie so that they will not interfere with the panoramas. This can be ensured by adding the object nodes to the QTVRAS project after all other nodes have been added. If an object node can not be made to have exactly the right duration it should be added to the QTVRAS project after any object nodes that do have exactly matching durations. The side effects from using object nodes without exactly matching durations are as follows: 1) The default view of the object nodes may not be the initial frame displayed when the node is jumped to. 2) Rotating the object may cause the map to change or be repositioned. 3) Rotating the object may cause the directional indicator to switch to a different object node. Therefore, if unequal duration object nodes are used, ensure that: 1) All object nodes use the same map and map position. 2 ) All object node markers are removed from the object nodes. By doing this, the user should not notice that the movie is not actually responding properly. The navigational indicator marker for an object node will probably need to be removed. mapsaVR currently supports only one marker set per movie and it is likely that objects in a multinode will not work well visually with directional indicators that are appropriate for panoramas. In some cases, however, this may not hold true and it is up to the creator to decide whether or not to remove the object nodes directional indicator. Reporting problems mapsaVR is a new application that utilizes many components introduced in QuickTime 3.0. As a result of the wide variety of different types of image compressors, VR creation programs and system configurations, it is expected that some conflicts and bugs may be found. Please consult this manual for information on current mapsaVR issues. If you believe that you have found a different problem, please ensure that you can reproduce it, and check if it still occurs when starting up with only the required standard Apple extensions. Please also make sure that all source movies and maps play correctly in MoviePlayer before they are brought into mapsaVR. If problems persist, please e-mail a detailed description of the problem, how it is triggered, and if possible, an example source movie, as well as what program the movie was authored with, to <dev@smgVR.com> mapsaVR¬Æ - Copyright 1998, 1999 SQUAMISH Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. mapsaVR and associated logos are registered trademarks of SQUAMISH Media Group, Inc.