Multimedia Player Dialog

Use the Multimedia Player Dialog to play video and audio files.

To display the Multimedia Player dialog use one of the methods below:

From the Main Menu, select File -> Multimedia Player.
To play a Source file from the Tasks List, select the file and select $image\IconItemsListPlaySource.gif$ , or double-click the file.
To play the Target file (if it exists), select the file from the Tasks List and select $image\IconItemsListPlayTarget.gif$ .

The Multimedia Player dialog is shown in the figure below:

$image\DlgPlayer.gif$

The following menus are on this dialog:

File Menu

Command	Description
Open	Use the Open sub menu options to select a source media file for playing. The available options are:
	File…	Select this option to open the Windows Open dialog to navigate and select a source media file. After you select the file, select Open to load the file for playing.
	URL…	Select this option to open media files using their Uniform Resource Locator (URL). When this option is selected, the Open URL dialog appears. Use the dialog to type in the location of the file and select OK to open it. The location you enter must include the name of the file including its extension.
Close	Use this option to close the file being played.
Exit	Use this option to close the Multimedia Player Dialog.

View Menu

Command	Description
DV DV stands for Digital Video and has been defined in "Specification of Consumer-use Digital VCRs" (aka the Blue Book). Playback Size	Default	Plays the file at the default resolution.
	Full (720x480)	Plays the file at full screen resolution.
	Half (360x240)	Plays the file at half screen resolution.
	Quarter (180x120)	Plays the file at quarter screen resolution.
	DC (88x60)	Plays the file at DC resolution.
Full Screen	Go To Full Screen	Select this option to have the Multimedia Player Dialog hide all of its controls and consume the entire screen to display the video stream The portion of the file holding the video data. The video data might be compressed to save disk space. The data has to be decompressed using a video decompressor before you can play (see) it.decompressor Also known as a decoder, this is a module or algorithm to decompress data. before you can play (see) it.decompressor before you can play (see) it.decompressor before you can play (see) it.decompressor before you can play (see) it.. To abort this mode, press the Esc key or right-click the Playing window and select the Exit Full Screen option. To toggle full screen mode, press "Alt + Enter".
	Fit Video To Screen	Select this option to make the video fit on your screen.
Fit Player To Video	Select this option to have the Multimedia Player Dialog, whenever it starts, try to display the whole video stream using the last selected zoom level by resizing itself to as large a size as the screen can hold. If the video size is small, the Multimedia Player Dialog maintains its last size and position, centering the video in the middle of the video display area.
Fit Video To Player	Select this option to resize the video to the current Multimedia Player Dialog size. Note that the Multimedia Player Dialog size does not change. This menu item has two options:
	Option	Description
	Maintain Aspect Ratio	Maintain the aspect ratio when fitting the video to the player
	Stretch	Stretch the video to the size of the display area of the player.
Range Selection	Select this option to show range selection controls for the Playback Tracking Slider

Control Menu

Command	Description
Close Captioning	Select this option to enable/disable the data from the close caption streams.
Audio Decompressor…	Select this option to open the playing file’s corresponding audio decompressor’s properties dialog, if available.
Video Decompressor…	Select this option to open the playing file’s corresponding video decompressor’s properties dialog, if available.
MPEG Splitter…	Select this option to open the playing file’s MPEG Splitter dialog, if available.
Audio Renderer The audio device that will play the sound. This is usually your sound card. Some computers have more than one sound playback device. You select which sound playback device will play the sound by selecting the corresponding audio renderer.	Select this option to open a sub menu to allow you to pick an Audio renderer from the list of those available for your machine.
MIDI Renderer	Select this option to enable the audio stream The portion of the file holding the audio data. The audio data might be compressed to save disk space. The data has to be decompressed using an audio decompressor before you can play (hear) it. with MIDI commands.
DVD Options	Root Menu Select this option to navigate to the latest menu. Title The name for a group of related video files (called "Chapters") on your DVD. For example, for a DVD called "My Summer Vacation," you might have the titles "Water Skiing," "New Friends," and "Hiking." For each of those titles, you might have one or more different video files. Menu Select this option to navigate to the DVD’s title menu. Resume Select this option to resume playback and leave the DVD menu. Back Select this option to start playback from the beginning of the current DVD chapter The name for each individual video file on a DVD. For example, under the title "Water Skiing", you might have the chapters "My first try," "My first wreck," and "My first jump.".
	Previous Chapter The name for each individual video file on a DVD. For example, under the title "Water Skiing", you might have the chapters "My first try," "My first wreck," and "My first jump." Select this option to play the previous chapter. Next Chapter Select this option to play the next chapter. Title The sub menu lists all available DVD titles. Use it to select a title to play.

Playback Menu

Command	Description
Play	Select this option to start or resume the playback. This option is available only when the playback is stopped or paused.
Pause	Select this option to stop the playback maintaining the current tracking position. This option is available only when the playback is running.
Stop	Select this option to stop the playback without maintaining the current tracking position. This option is available when the playback is running or paused.
DVD, VCD or CD Audio	Select this option to play a DVD, VCD file or CD Audio tracks, this options will popup a menu with available CD drives on your machine, it will display the available media for each drive. Note: To playback DVDs, your system should have the proper software or hardware DVD decoder Also known as a decompressor, this is a module or algorithm to decompress data. installed. If you do not have a compatible DVD decoder installed, DVD-backup/playback operations will fail. By default, Windows does not include a DVD decoder.
Go to Start	Select this option to move the tracking to the start.
Rewind	Select this option to rewind the playback 5 seconds backward.
Forward	Select this option to forward the playback 5 seconds.
Step Frame Backward	Select this option to move the tracking position one frame backward.
Step Frame Forward	Select this option to move the tracking position one frame forward.
Go to End	Select this option to move the tracking to the end.
Repeat	Select this option to restart playback whenever it reaches the end.

Help Menu

Select this option to open a popup help topic.

The following fields are on the Multimedia Player dialog:

Video Playback Window

This black box area encapsulates the video display in the Multimedia Player Dialog. Changing the player size changes the video playback window size. If the video being played is larger than the video playback window the video play size shrinks to the maximum size that the Multimedia Player Dialog can hold without trimming.

Playback Tracking Slider

Use this slider to set the current playing position by moving the upper thumb of the slider either by dragging or by selecting the position you want to reach.

The lower triangular thumbs enable setting a range for the playback. By default the entire file is set for playing. To modify this behavior, drag the left thumb to set a new play start, and the right thumb to set a new playback end.

Playback Buttons:

The Playback buttons are:

$image\IconPlayerPlay.gif$ Play: Starts or resumes the playback. This option is available only when the playback is stopped or paused.

$image\IconPlayerPause.gif$ Pause: Stops the playback maintaining the current tracking position. This option is available only when the playback is running.

$image\IconPlayerStop.gif$ Stop: Stops the playback but does not maintain the current tracking position. This option is available only when the playback is running or paused.

$image\IconPlayerGotoStart.gif$ Go to Start: Moves the playback tracking slider to the start.

$image\IconPlayerGotoRewind.gif$ Rewind: Rewinds the playback by 5 seconds.

$image\IconPlayerGotoForward.gif$ Forward: Forwards the playback by 5 seconds.

$image\IconPlayerGotoEnd.gif$ Go to End: Moves the playback tracking slider to the end.

$image\IconPlayerRewindFrame.gif$ Step Frame Backward: Moves the tracking position one frame backward.

$image\IconPlayerForwardFrame.gif$ Step Frame Forward: Moves the tracking position one frame forward.

$image\IconPlayerRepeat.gif$ Repeat: Restarts playback whenever it reaches the end.

Mute Button

Use the Mute button to enable or disable the audio stream.

Note that the button is only available when the file playing has audio.

Volume Slider

Use the Volume slider to set the volume. Values range from 0% (No Sound) to 100% (Maximum sound).

Note that the volume slider is only available when the file playing has audio.

Zoom Level Drop-down list box

Use the Zoom level drop-down list box to set the video size. Available options are:

25%. The display size is 25% percent of its original size.
50%. The display size is 50% percent of its original size.
75%. The display size is 75% percent of its original size.
100%. No change is being made to the video display size.
200%. The display size is two times larger than the original size.
300%. The display size is three times larger than the original size.
400%. The display size is four times larger than the original size.

Note that changing the Zoom level does not affect the Multimedia Player Dialog’s size, unless View -> Fit Player to Video option is selected. Only the larger video sizes enlarge the Multimedia Player Dialog size to hold them but not the opposite.

This list is only available when the file playing has a video stream.

Play Rate Drop-down list box

Use the Play Rate drop-down List box to select a play rate and increase or decrease the playback speed. The Play Rate options available depend on what is supported by the file format.

Balance Slider

Use the balance slider to control the amount of sound passed to the left and right speakers. A value of 100% at either end of the slider mutes the sound at the other speaker.

Information Pane

Use the information pane to view the following:

Playback state.
Current tracking position.
Range information.
Total duration of the file.