This README document is applicable to Web Theater Client 2.0 for Macintosh.
DISCLAIMER:
Copyright (c) 1996, 1997 VXtreme, Inc. All rights reserved. Web Theater 2.0 is the property of VXtreme, Inc., and may not be altered, reproduced, or copied in any way, shape, or form without prior written consent from VXtreme, Inc. This software is subject to the license agreement terms as acknowledged at the time of the installation.
SOFTWARE DESCRIPTION:
Web Theater Client software is a browser plug-in for Netscape Navigator 3.0 and Netscape Navigator 3.01 and runs on Mac OS 7.5.3 or greater. The Client enables users to watch video on demand and live real-time video broadcasts.
Web Theater Client also enables users to view pages with rich content including pre-recorded video and audio. Video clips can be viewed and controlled with VCR buttons including play, stop, pause, fast forward, rewind and live.
The Client offers connectivity with virtually any firewall or proxy server through four protocols: UDP,TCP, HTTP (single port), and HTTP (multiple ports). The Client provides flexible bandwidth connections via modem, ISDN, or network.
RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Macintosh Power PC computer
- 32 MB RAM
- 5 MB free disk space
- Mac OS 7.5.3 or greater
- Netscape Navigator 3.0 or Netscape Navigator 3.01
-Set your Navigator Memory partition to 17000 (see online help for details).
- Open Transport 1.1.1 or 1.1.2
- Virtual Memory turned on in the control panels.
Note: Web Theater 2.0 for Macintosh does not currently work with Microsoft Internet Explorer.
After installing the Client, you may view live real-time video broadcasts or the video clips installed at VXtreme's Web site.To access some sample video clips, open the URL <http://www.vxtreme.com> and visit the gallery.
Memory Partition Settings: You must adjust your Netscape memory partition in order to properly run Web Theater Client for Macintosh.
To adjust your Netscape memory partition:
- Highlight the Netscape Icon by clicking on it once
- Do a "Get Info" from the File menu
- In the Memory Requirements section of the "Get Info" window, set the Preferred size to
18000, and the Minimum size to 17000
Additional help can be obtained from Web Theater's Online Help.
Note: You can easily access WebTheater's online help file by doing the following:
- Position the mouse over the plug-in or video window.
- Hold down the mouse button until the pop-up menu appears.
- Select Help.
PROXIES:
Web Theater Client allows you to choose a UDP or HTTP proxy to receive video through a firewall. In order to use a proxy, you must:
- Position the mouse over the plug-in or video window.
- Hold down the mouse button until the pop-up menu appears.
- Select Preferences.
- From the Advanced tab, select either UDP or HTTP.
- In the Proxies tab, check the Use box and type in the hostname
and port number of your proxy server.
You can specify a list of servers for which the Client will ignore your proxy settings in the edit-box at the bottom of the dialog box. Furthermore, this is where you should list all the video servers inside your firewall. We recommend that you do not change your proxy configuration without first consulting your Network Administrator.
Problems with Workarounds:
• Annotations such as Page Flips, Ticker Tapes, and Item Lists will often result in crashing. For this reason, they have been turned off by default. Should you wish to view annotations, you can turn them on by following the steps listed below, but be advised that you will be increasing the likelihood of crashing. To turn annotations on:
- Position the mouse over the plug-in or video window.
- Hold down the mouse button until the pop-up menu appears.
- Select Preferences.
- From the Advanced tab, check the box "Show all page flips, ticker tapes and item lists.
- Click OK. You will be asked to Reload the page. After you do so, annotations will be
functional while video plays.
• Low Memory condition is detected and video stops, or plug-in will not load.
-Increase your Netscape memory partition. See the online Help file for details on how to do
this.
• Attempting to execute other commands when Java-based VCR control buttons are depressed results in Netscape “hanging.”
-Please wait for VCR control commands to execute before attempting to link to other pages
or quit your Netscape browser.
-If your system does “hang,” you will need to restart your computer in order to alleviate the
problem.
• Netscape 3.0 does not recognize the Web Theater plug-in upon installation.
- In order to use Web Theater with Netscape 3.0, you need to perform the following steps:
1. Install Web Theater 2.0.
2. Go to the Netscape “Options” menu and select General Preferences.
3. Click on the Helpers Tab.
4. Scroll down until you see the Web Theater Client.
5. Double-click on Web Theater Client.
6. In the “Handled By” section, select “Plug-in” and click OK.
7. In the suffixes section, enter the suffix "ivy."
Netscape will now recognize the Web Theater Plug-in.
• Messages which are printed in the video window (i.e., “Receiving Data…”) appear distorted when your monitor is set to 8-bit color mode.
- Increase you monitor’s color depth to Thousands or Millions of colors.
• In very rare instances, Netscape may crash after a large number of videos have been played.
- Restart your system.
• A dialog appears saying the server connection has been reset.
- Select Reload/Refresh in your browser.
• Web Theater will ask you to reload your page if you click “OK” in the Preferences dialog box.
- It is not necessary to reload the Web page if you do not alter your Preferences.
Problems Without Workarounds
• High Bandwidth video clips are not supported with this version of Web Theater.
• Do not attempt to link to multiple video sites simultaneously. Using multiple Netscape browsers to do this will result in a crash.
• Web Theater 2.0 does not work with the Netscape Proxy server 2.5 on Windows NT 4.0.
• Video Overlay messages such as “Receiving Data…” will sometimes interfere with messages sent to the video window during Auto Configuration. This will not adversely effect Auto Configuration and should be ignored.
• Attempting to run other applications or exiting to the Macintosh Finder while video is playing will sometimes result in a loss of audio.
• Some graphics are sometimes misdrawn in the upper-left-hand corner of the Netscape browser window.
• Resizing the browser window on pages that contain Java-based VCR controls will result in a crash.
• Upon installation of WebTheater, a folder is created on the root level of your hard drive that is entitled: "VXtreme." Do not move this folder, as it contains important online help documents that will not be found by the plug-in if they are not in the correct location.
