Part 4 - Multimedia

The following topics are discussed further below:

• RealAudio/RealVideo G2
• TrueSpeech
• MIDI Audio Files
• Java Chat Rooms
• VolanoChat (On accounts prior to 19 December 1999.)

RealAudio/RealVideo G2

Important: Make sure you have initiated RealAudio/Video for your account. To do so, login to your Web Control Panel (http://YourDomain.com/cgi-bin/plusmail), click on "Extras", and follow the directions provided. Activation takes place automatically within 15 minutes.

1. First, you need to download RealPlayer and RealProducer, free versions of which are available at RealNetworks. RealPlayer allows you to play the RealAudio and RealVideo files, while RealProducer allows you to create them. With the encoder, you can convert existing audio or video clip files or create new ones.
2. Install RealPlayer and RealProducer according to RealNetworks' instructions located on the site from which you downloaded the files.
3. Each audio and video clip requires two files: a metafile with the extension .ram, and the digital audio or video clip itself, with the extension .ra or .rm, respectively.
4. RealNetworks provides an excellent, step-by-step RealProducer User's Guide for encoding files. Follow the guide to encode your file.
5. Upload your encoded file in BINARY mode to your realaudio subdirectory.

6. Next you will create the .ram file. The .ram file holds one or more lines of ASCII text, each of which references the .ra or .rm files to be played when the .ram file is accessed by the browser. Entries in .ram files have the form:

   rtsp://machine.host4u.net/yourdomain/name-of-clip.ra
   or
   rtsp://machine.host4u.net/yourdomain/name-of-clip.rm

   Replace "machine" with your machine name. Your machine name was included in the Welcome e-mail we sent you. Your machine name is also shown on your Web Control Panel.

7. Upload your .ram file in ASCII (text) mode to your realaudio subdirectory.

8. In your HTML document, reference the metafile in a hyperlink as:

   <a href="http://www.yourdomain.com/realaudio/filename.ram">

9. When a visitor clicks on the link, the file begins to download. The RealPlayer begins playing after a few seconds; it does not need to wait for the entire file to be downloaded before it starts playing.

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TrueSpeech

If you are using Windows, then you should already have the software to play TrueSpeech and encode TrueSpeech files. The Windows Sound Recorder can encode .wav files into TrueSpeech, and both Sound Recorder and Media Player can play them back. And if you download the TrueSpeech Player, you'll be able to play TrueSpeech-encoded content in real-time over the Internet.

Background info on TrueSpeech.

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MIDI Audio Files

You can use MIDI files as background music on your page by adding the following code to your HTML file:

<embed src="yoursong.mid" autostart=true hidden=true><noembed><bgsound src="yoursong.mid"></noembed>

Replace "yoursong" with the name of your MIDI file.

To make a MIDI file play "on request" in the foreground, create a link to the MIDI file as follows:

<a href="yoursong.mid">Click to hear Music

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Java Chat Rooms

To setup your chat rooms, login to your Web Control Panel at http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/plusmail, select "Extras," and then select "Chat Services." The name of the chat file needs to end with .htm or .html; if you want the chat room located in a subdirectory, put the name of the subdirectory in the box labeled, “Location of chat file”; otherwise, leave that box blank.

To see an example of this chat room, click here. (This particular example employs Server Side Includes, so the file name ends with the extension .shtml.)

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VolanoChat (On accounts prior to 19 December 1999.)

You have a chat directory installed on your web site. To join the chat, with your browser, go to:

http://www.yourdomain.com/chat

The page can be customized, but do not disturb any of the tags that have to do with <APPLET CODE>.

These rooms are capable of up to 20 users at one time. To make your chat room accessible to only a select group, password-protect the directory.

To see an example of this chat room, click here.

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