Multimedia Authoring collides with OS/2 at Warp Speed!

What really bugs me, though, is that multimedia is one of Warp's selling points when there seems to be so little of it out there specifically for Warp. Stardock has released a few games (good games, mind you, but only a few so far) and there seem to be more on the way, but so far the pickings are slim. So what are we, as OS/2 enthusiasts, to do?

Answer: make our own damn applications. This answer is not as frivolous as it appears. Now, for less than the cost of your typical Windows 95 word processor, you can easily create and distribute your own fully integrated, customized multimedia applications.

Without programming a single line of code.

Repeat: without programming a single line of code.

"How is this possible?" I hear you ask. Easy. The folks at Compo Software, who have already released an impressive 3D rendering tool called NeoN Grafix, have now released NeoN StoryBook: an easy-to-use multimedia authoring tool that makes multimedia design as easy as pasteboarding and drag-and-drop.

Multimedia Authoring

And you could always go the programming route -- if you are a programmer and you have the time to debug your programming, which I am not and I don't. What I and most people need is an affordable application that lets me concentrate on multimedia design rather than implementation. This is where NeoN StoryBook comes in.

StoryBook has all the tools you need to make a respectable kiosk, demo, even training application. StoryBook runs the gamut, from simple PowerPoint slide presentations, to moderately sophisticated "point and click" interactive interfaces. StoryBook's predefined tools allow you to set regions on your application's display for text and graphics, animation and sound. In StoryBook you can define what video resolution your presentation will be using, how long or short it will be... in effect, it gives you a large number of possibilities with only a minimum amount of time spent trying to figure it out.

Installation

Installation is simple and quick. You can begin using StoryBook immediately, but I suggest running through the included demo application included with the program first: it will give you a good picture of what you can do with the software. After watching the demo, I opened up StoryBook and began working immediately.

The manual is sparse in the way of tutorials: it's more of a command and tool reference guide. While I would have liked more elaborate documentation (I'm a tech writer after all) you really don't need any more than you get. The manual is useful for looking up specific functions of specific tools -- the rest is fairly intuitive.

Working in StoryBook

First, you define the size of your pages (you can choose from preset 640x480, 800x600, etc., or you can set an "irregular" size) then you add "stuff" to it. This "stuff" (buttons, animations, videos, music, etc.) is added by choosing an item from a floating toolbar, then placing it on the screen and resizing it until it meets your approval. You can add text, graphics, just about anything you'd expect from a multimedia application.

Each basic screen (for example, a starting "splash screen", or a screen of menu items) can be thought of as a page in your building process. Multiple screens mean multiple pages. The pages themselves can be static and unchanging (like a basic PowerPoint presentation) or they can be interactive (have audio and video files, scrolling text).

Double-clicking on any object brings up a properties toolbox (GIF, 8.5k) that allows you to assign its functions. For example, double clicking on a button object allows you to decide whether or not the button is a text button (simple button with text on it), graphic button (a button you design -- this means you need to design what it looks like normally, and what it looks like pressed in), or an icon (you can use normal OS/2 icons as buttons in your applications!). You also decide what that button does (does it take you to another page, exit the program, display copyright information, etc.) and, if you're using text on the button, what font the text is (and what color).

StoryBook uses whatever fonts are on the system running the application, so if you're using an uncommon font in your application it may be swapped out and replaced by something less suitable when running on a system that doesn't have it. For this reason, most of the time you'll want to avoid using anything but the most basic fonts (Helvetica and Times Roman), or import your text as a graphic (.bmp, .gif, .tif, .tga) which will increase the size of your application, but allow you a little more flexibility when trying to tinker with your layout. This is probably one of the most limiting of StoryBook's functions; I'd like to see the ability to actually embed a font in an application (so you don't need it installed on the target system) in a future release.

When you've finished with the application, you can create a runtime file to be included with your runtime module for distribution. Once you've done that, your job is done!

Limitations

Because of this limitation, one feature on the Windows side of the application is not available under OS/2. This feature is called "MediaSelect", and it allows Windows developers to examine a large "pool" of multimedia files at once. Hopefully, after this problem is resolved, we'll see it included in a later version.

There are also some annoying quirks in the UI. For example, starting a StoryBook session causes it to open the same way every time -- window not maximized but taking up most of the screen, toolbar floating at the bottom of the window. And resizing your application window can cause your toolbar to jump around the screen (or even offscreen).

Evaluation

NeoN StoryBook

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