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EXPERIENCING MULTIMEDIA
by
Sharon Bond
Wndows is designed to help you enjoy the features of your
multimedia computer. If your system includes a sound card, speakers, and a
CD-ROM drive, the Windows multimedia software gives you full access to the
powers of these hardware components. Using a variety of Windows
applications, you can:
1.
Listen to
music on your CD-ROM player while you do other work on your computer.
2.
Record your
own sounds and save them as files on disk.
3.
View video
clips directly on your screen.
To take advantage of these features, begin by installing a
selection of the Windows multimedia programs on your hard disk (if you have not
done so already)-----including
CD Player,
Media
Player, Sound Recorder, and Volume Control.
The
Add/Remove Programs
utility in the Control panel guides you through
the steps for installing new Windows applications.
HOW TO PLAY A MUSIC CD
Using your computer’s
CD-ROM
drive, sound card, and speakers, you can listen to music while you work.
Just start the CD/Multimedia Player program and put your favorite music CD into
the drive. Like any good CD/Multimedia player, the Windows software
allows you to
adjust the volume, select a new track, and even
create a program of tracks to listen to.
1.
To start the CD Player program, click the
Start menu, choose
Programs and then choose
Accessories. In the
Accessories
list, click
Entertainment and then choose
CD Player.
The
CD Player window
appears on the desktop. If the toolbar, track information, or status bar
is missing, pull down the View menu and choose the appropriate options to
display these components in the window. Then click the Eject button to
open your CD-ROM drive. Insert a music CD and close the drive again.
3.
Click the
Play button
 to begin playing the CD. You can then
minimize the CD Player window
so it won’t get in the way of your other work on
the desktop. The music continues playing even when the window is
minimized
 4.
4. If
you want to adjust the volume of the music, click the
 Speaker icon displayed
at the right side of the Taskbar. In the resulting window, slide the
Volume control down to
decrease
the volume, or up to
increase it.
Alternatively, click the Mute option
to turn your speakers off altogether. You can then
listen to music privately through a
headset
attached to your CD-ROM system. On the Taskbar,
Windows displays a red circle and slash over the speaker icon to represent the
mute mode.
5.
To
switch
to a different track on the current CD, pull down the
Track list and
make a new selection.
Windows immediately begins playing at the track you have chosen.
6.
If you want to listen to a
specific list of tracks—and skip other tracks---click the
Edit Play List button (the
first button on the CD Player toolbar), or choose
Edit Play List from the Disc
menu. In the resulting dialog box, click the
Clear All button to erase the
default
Play List. To begin
building a custom Play List, select a track from the Available Tracks list and
click the Add button; repeat this process for each track you want to include.
Then click the Ok
button. The CD Player plays only those tracks you have included in the
list.
TIP CORNER:
If you want the CD Player to play the current
CD repeatedly, click the Continuous Play button, the second-to-last button on
the CD Player toolbar or pull down the
Options
menu and choose
Continuous Play.
When the Player reaches the end of the CD, it will start again at the beginning.
To stop playing temporarily, click the
Pause button, located
just to the right of the Play button.
When you subsequently click the Play
button again, the CD Player resumes the music where you left off.
Alternatively, click
the Stop
button, located just to the
right of the
Pause button; when you click
Play again, the CD
Player starts at the beginning of the CD or at the beginning of your play list.
If you want to
restore the original play list (consisting of all the tracks on the current CD),
click the Edit Play List button
in the CD Player window and then click Reset
in the resulting dialog box. Another way to
start the CD Player program is to double-click the CD-ROM disc icon in the
My
Computer window.
HOW TO RECORD SOUNDS:
The Sound Recorder
program gives you tools to create your own sound files. You can record
from a music CD that’s currently playing on your CD-ROM drive, or from a
microphone attached to your computer. Once you have completed the
recording, you can save it as a file on disk and then replay it at any time.
You can even paste the sound to another file, where it adds an audio component
to the content of a document.
 1.
1. To start the
recorder, click the Start button, choose Programs, and then choose Accessories.
In the Accessories list, click Multimedia and then choose Sound Recorder.
2.
Prepare the hardware or
device from which you want to record. If you plan to record from a music
CD, insert the disc in the CD-ROM drive and start the CD player. If you
are going to record from a microphone, make sure it is attached to your computer
and placed in a convenient location for recording. To begin recording,
click the red Record button, at the lower-right corner of the Sound Recorder
window.
3.
Click the Stop button (just
to the left of the Record button) to stop the recording. Then click the Play
button to listen to what you have recorded.
4.
To save your recording as a
file on disk, pull down the File menu in the Sound Recorder window and choose
Save As. Select the folder in which you want to save the recording, and enter a
file name. Then click the Save button. The file is saved with a .WAV
extension.
5.
To play any sound file,
double-click its icon and Windows opens the Sound Recorder to play the sound.
To incorporate a sound file into another document, click the file’s icon with
the right mouse button and choose Copy from the resulting menu. Then open the
target document and press Control plus V to paste the sound icon. Inside the
document, you can double-click the icon to hear the sound.
TIP CORNER:
When you play back a sound that you have
recorded, you can use the options in the Sound Recorder’s Effects menu to change
the properties of the sound. For example, you can increase or decrease the
volume or speed of the sound, and you can even play the sound backwards.
After you create a sound recording, you can
copy to sound to the Clipboard by choosing the Copy command from the Sound
Recorder’s Edit menu. The Copy operation is available whether or not you have
saved the sound as a file on disk.
To open a sound file directly from the Sound
Recorder, pull down the File menu and choose Open. Find the folder where the
sound file is stored, and select the file’s name. Then click Open. Back in the
Sound Recorder window, click Play to begin playing the sound.
To record a new sound, choose the New command
from the File menu. Then click the Record button when you are ready to begin.
HOW TO PLAY A VIDEO CLIP
Video
is a dramatic feature of Window’s multimedia capabilities. The Media Player
allows you to view a video clip directly on your computer screen and listen to
its sound on your speakers. You will find some sample videos on the Windows
installation disk (CD version). In addition, video is a component of many
educational and entertainment software packages that you can purchase to run on
your computer.
1.
Click
the
Start menu and choose
Programs. Then click
Accessories and choose
Entertainment
from the Accessories list. Click
Media Player from the
Entertainment or Multimedia
list.
2. The Media
Player window appears on the desktop. To view a sample video clip, insert
the Windows installation disc into your CD-ROM drive. Then pull down the
Media Player's File menu and choose Open.
3.
3. In the Open dialog
box, select the CD folder that contains the video clip samples. Then select the
video
that you want to view and click the Open button
4. 4.
A video window opens onto the
desktop. Click the Play button at the lower-left corner of the Media Player
window to begin the video clip.
As Windows
plays the video, you will see its images on the screen and hear its sounds from
your speaker.
TIP CORNER:
You can paste a video clip to another
document, just as you can with a sound file. Use the Media Player to open a
video file, and then choose Copy Object from the Edit menu. Open the document
to which you want to paste the video; then pull down the Edit menu and choose
Paste.
Video files have .AVI extension names.
In general, they are
very large files, many megabytes long.
Rather than copy a file to your hard disk, you will probably prefer to play the
video directly from the CD on which it is delivered.
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