MidWavi Pro Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)



Question:
What are MPEG Tags.

Answer:
Quite simply a method of an mp2 or mp3 having details about itself embedded in the file itself (i.e. you can detail the artists name, song title, album title, year of release, add a comment and choose a "style" (genre) from a drop down list of choices).

Most of the entries can be up to thirty characters long (and MidWavi Pro will prevent any excesses).

This information can then be manipulated later (i.e. search for all mpegs by a certain artist etc.) and indeed this feature is now part of MidWavi Pro (see "WhatsNew.Txt for version 2.82 or on-line help).

Question:
Why is it that some AVI videos do not play properly or at all.

Answer:
Well, apart from files that are just plain corrupted, it has been found that many so-called AVI video clips are in fact MPEG clips. Some players can cope with this but MidWavi Pro needs to "see" the real filename extension.

What this means is that if you have (say) a video clip called train.avi that does not play, try renaming it to train.mpg and see if it now works (obviously, if the file is on a read only device e.g. a CD ROM, you will have to copy it to a hard drive before you rename it).

Question:
What are "Play Lists/Display Lists" and where can I use them.

Answer:
Play Lists/Display Lists are fully documented in the on-line help system under "MidWavi Pro Play & Display Lists" as well as in the text file "MidWavi Pro Play Lists.Txt".

Both the sound/video and graphics modules support them.

Question:
MPEG and MOV video doesn't work (I keep getting an error message box up whilst trying to play *.mpg or *.dat MPEG video etc.).

Answer:
The first thing to establish is that all supported platforms (Windows 95/98 & NT4) have IE5 installed (2000 will be ok and might work with IE4 but has not been tested).

This in turn will mean that you are running the Windows Media Player Version 6.x or later.

As far as MPEG is concerned:

It's a bit of a minefield because there are several 3rd party systems out there that might be hi-jacking your MPEG capability, but try this:

Go to your Windows directory, and edit files as follows...

In WIN.INI under the section heading [MCI Extensions] ensure there is (or if not add) the following:

mp2=MPEGVideo
mp3=MPEGVideo
mpg=MPEGVideo
dat=MPEGVideo

Also, in SYSTEM.INI under the section heading [MCI] ensure there is (or if not add) the following:

MPEGVideo=mciqtz.drv

(always assuming that you have a file called mciqtz.drv in your "\windows\system" directory!).

If you already have a setting for MPEGVideo and it is NOT mciqtz.drv, this is probably the cause of the problem.

It goes without saying that you should backup both of the above files before you alter them!

Bear in mind of course that if you alter any existing settings to the above, something else in your system (MPEG player) may stop working properly. You'll have to try it and see (that's one of the reasons it is important to preserve your original .ini files so that you can put things back as they were).

For instance, some Matrox users will have a proprietary MPEG driver installed etc.

The above solutions have been known to work on systems that otherwise would not play MPEG video.

If all else fails, you could un-install the proprietary MPEG software (look in Add/Remove Programs for things like "Brand X Multi Media Player" etc.) that is almost certainly causing the problem, but of course, only do this providing you can re-install if you so wish!!!

As for MOV files, well as a rule of thumb, if the Windows Media Player Version 6.x or later cannot display them, MidWavi Pro is unlikely to be able to. Try installing the Quick Time driver etc.

Question:
Can I display MPEG video from "VideoCD" type disks?

Answer:
Yes, subject to the above answer and...

Yes (providing of course your CD drive and system can handle them!), but you have to take the "*.dat" option in the "Files of type" drop down box of supported filenames when you elect to "Select Sound & Video".

Because VideCD MPEG files seem to have the extension ".dat", they could not be included in the "Search Drive" option (its a very common filename extension i.e. not unique to MPEG).

In latter versions, MidWavi Pro might check for validity whilst its searching, but this is bound to slow the search process down...so maybe not!

Of course, if you have a Video CD that does not have either ".mpg" or ".dat" as its filename extensions, then MidWavi Pro will not work with it.


Question:
How do I get a Graphics Slide Show with sound (i.e. play a CD or selected sound tracks whilst displaying my graphic selections)?

Answer:
All you have to do is ensure that an Audio CD or sound selection (MID, WAV, MPEG etc.) is ACTUALLY PLAYING when you hit the "Graphics" button (but note that any video selections (*.AVI etc.) will be ignored).


Question:
When displaying graphics, how do I get to the "Display at Original Size" and "Resize To Fit Window" options?

Answer:
Simple...Uncheck the "TV Look" option.
In some cases, you might have to click on "Stop" first.


Question:
How can I tell the details of a graphic file on display?

Answer:
Again, simple...SINGLE RIGHT MOUSE CLICK ANYWHERE WITHIN THE GRAPHIC ON DISPLAY and a popup menu will offer file details as a choice (the details will include the graphics height and width).

If no graphic is on display, if you right mouse click on a hi-lighted file name in the list box, its details will also be revealed (except its height and width).


Question:
How can I tell the details of a sound or video file?

Answer:
SINGLE RIGHT MOUSE CLICK ANYWHERE IN THE FILE LIST BOX (or in the video itself when playing). If you are in "Full Screen" video mode, a popup menu of choices will appear.


Question:
How do I abort a drive search for graphics or sound?

Answer:
Hit the Esc (Escape) key once (it may not react straight away, please wait).


Question:
How do I move backwards/forwards through a list of graphics when in "Full Screen" or "Display At Original Size" mode.

Answer:
SINGLE RIGHT MOUSE CLICK ANYWHERE WITHIN THE GRAPHIC ON DISPLAY to bring up a menu of choices including "Next" and "Previous".


Question:
How do I stop a graphic display when in "Full Screen" or "Display At Original Size" mode.

Answer:
Hit the "Esc" key...it may take a second or two to kick in or, SINGLE RIGHT MOUSE CLICK WHITHIN THE GRAPHIC ON DISPLAY to bring up a menu which will offer "Stop".


Question:
How do I change the file list box font colour?

Answer:
If you click on the down arrow next to the current colour indicator, you will be presented with a "drop down" list of colour options - click the one you want.

To supply a custom font colour, do as above, but click on the LAST item in the drop down list. This will then reveal a custom colour box from which to make your selection.


Question:
How can I tell what the random CD audio tracks are going to be?

Answer:
Single right mouse click anywhere in the "Random" checkbox area (you can also call for this option from the Tools menu). The computer generated list will then appear (each time you un-check / check the Random box, a new random list is generated).


Question:
How do I make a CD selection to play in a given order and then how can I check this selection.

Answer:
First, ensure that you check (tick) the Checkbox called "Select". You then merely click on each tracks Checkbox in the order in which you wish to hear it (e.g. if you clicked track 2, then track 1, you will hear track 2 first followed by track 1).

To check your selections, single right mouse click anywhere in the "Select" checkbox area. The order in which you have made your selections will be displayed (you can also call for this option from the Tools menu).


And finally...

Remember the old adage: "If all else fails, read the Manual"!

Enjoy.

Terry Simpson - TSoft

