Re: MMB - SIMPLE intro?


"Ken Maltby" <kmaltby@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1-mdncmylqhDcZ_bnZ2dnUVZ_q-vnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


I just tried one of the Video Tutorials from the web site
they appear to have been supplied by www.skogdev.ca
and look pretty good. (Don't do the first "Example"
video, it is made from chunks of the others on the page.)
Now I'm going back to download the rest of the five in that
series.

Luck;
Ken

Well, I picked up a few things I hadn't noticed myself, but
there are some essential parts that need a little more description.

There is a great deal of the use of objects that relate to the the
settings and data you enter on the objects Properties page.
Most of what's there, depends on the nature of the object,
but there is a common layout.

(For instance; the Text Button object can be set to be a
"Menu item" where the background is made transparent and
only the text is visible.)

Most objects have, in addition to the settings/data inputs
needed to create the object, the following Actions icons:

Command & Page Icon (External Commands and Page actions)

This is one way to interact with external programs (like Media
Player Classic)

The Trigger Actions for a Text Button are:

On Mouse Click: (a dropdown list with a bunch of options
including Run Program.)

Path: (where you specify the path to the external program to
run)
[For example C:\MMB Menus\mplayerc.exe]

More Parameters: ( This is where the command line switches go)
[ for example
"M:\Stargate Atlantis\Season 1\SGA_S1_E14.mp4" /play /fixedsize 1280,720]


Then for the Interactions Icon (Interaction with other objects)

There are actions for when the mouse is over an object, including:
Show/Hide, Show/Fade Out, Show Only, Hide Only, and
Run Script.
You select the Object for the action from another dropdown list.

[ For example I have the Episode description (like in the Andromeda
menus I posted) as a text object that is hidden until mouse over, for
my later menus.] [ I have also used the Text to Speech script
commands, to have the text read aloud on mouse over]

You can also set two Mouse click on object triggers.
( These are in addition to any command action, and just deal
with the objects display and embedded video.)


Then for the Sounds Icon (Sound Actions)

It is where you can specify a sound to play on mouse over
and/or mouse click for the object.

You can use an Embedded Sound or an external audio file.

The last Icon for most objects is the Script Icon (More Actions)

Here you can create very useful scripts, using the only "Wizard"
I ever liked. [Most "Wizards" do more to restrict you than help you,
this one is different.] [On these menus I usually just use it to stop the
background music when the object is selected.]

The wizard covers plenty more than you need for menus, but
you can also create your own, with a lot more possibilities. MMB
even provides a nice little script editing window, and save and load
buttons.

That describes the objects for the most part.

There are settings for the Project as a whole and settings for the
Page. (It is in the Page Properties that you set the background
music, image, mouse cursor and Page Transitions. )

Luck;
Ken



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