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1.5.2

Adde1.5.2 Addendum

This addendum documents the features included in the1.5.2 release of Anark Studio.

Whats new in this version

Windows Media export

You can now export Anark Media files to a format thatcan be viewed in the Windows Media Player. You canalso opt to preview presentations in the player.

SCORM conformance

Anark Media presentations can now be made SCORM-

conformant.

3ds max and plasma plugins for improved

model importing

Plugins are now available for 3ds max and plasma thatallow you to export files into the .amx format. Whenimported into Anark Studio, all hierarchy, precisenormals, materials and bitmaps are preserved.

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Creating Windows MediaPlayer filesAn Anark Media presentation can beexported as a .asf file, which can be played

in Windows Media Player.Viewing a presentation in Windows MediaPlayer requires the following:

!Anark Client 1.2.2

!Windows Media Player 9

!The Anark Client for Windows MediaPlayer plugin. This plugin is available onthe Anark Web site(www.anark.com) onthe Install Anark Client page.

While these are included as part of the

Anark Studio 1.5.2 installation, your viewerswill need to download these before they willbe able to view a presentation in the player.

Note: While Windows Media Player 7 orlater is required to run Anark Studio,viewing Anark Media in the mediaplayer requires version 9. If you donthave Windows Media Player 9 installedon your machine and you try to exportto the Windows Media format orpreview a presentation in the player, an

error message will appear.There are several things to keep in mindwhen creating Anark Media presentationsfor Windows Media Player.

!Relative paths will not work on eithervideo or sound resources. Use the URL orabsolute path.

!The Anark Media file cannot be over

10Mb.

!Windows Media Player controls such asbuttons (play, stop, volume, etc.) do notwork. The presentation will automatically

start playing when opened in the player.To export to the Windows Media format:

1. Choose File > Export Presentation(Ctrl+Shift+S).

2. Create a name for your file and select alocation.

3. From the Save as Type pulldown menu,select Windows Media File.

This creates a Windows Media file (.asf).The .asf file has the Anark Media presenta-tion data embedded within it.

Viewing a project with WindowsMedia Player

If you are creating a presentation forWindows Media Player, you will probablywant to use it to view your work as well.

To select Windows Media for previewing:

Choose Edit > Application Preferences.The Preferences dialog will open with theApplication tab selected.

To preview a project you are working on:

Press the F12 key or choose File > Preview.To view the finished presentation:

Double-click on the Windows Media file(.asf) that was saved during export.Windows Media Player will open and beginplaying the presentation. If Windows MediaPlayer is already open, you can also drag a.asf file onto the player to make it play.

http://www.anark.com/http://www.anark.com/

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1.5.2 Addendum

Creating SCORM-conformantpresentationsSCORM (Sharable Content Object Refer-ence Model) is a set of specifications and

standards aimed at making learning contentreusable, accessible and interoperable.Anark Media presentations can easily bemade SCORM Version 1.2 conformant(specifically, they are SCO-RTE1-confor-mant).

SCORM has two essential parts: a SCORM-conformant Learning Management System(LMS) and the learning unit called a Shar-able Content Object (SCO). A SCO is astandardized unit of learning content that

typically contains text and may containgraphics. All SCOs must be able to commu-nicate with an LMS.

An LMS is a system that keeps learner infor-mation, can launch and communicate withSCOs, and can interpret instructions thattell it which SCO comes next. When set upfor SCORM conformance, an Anark Mediapresentation and its accompanying HTMLpage become a SCO. As such, they are ableto communicate with the Application

Protocol Interface (API) provided by anLMS, and issue two commands: LMSIni-tialize and LMSFinish.

A JavaScript file, APIWrapper.js, whichwas included with the Anark Studio down-load, provides the link between the SCOand the LMS.

The APIWrapper.js file is located in thefollowing directory:

C:\ Program Files\ Anark\Anark Studio1.5\SCORM

When you are ready to distribute yourfinished project, you must include threefiles: the Anark Media file, the HTML fileand APIWrapper.js.

To prepare a presentation for SCORM

conformance:

1. Import the behavior SCORM.bvs intothe project by dragging it from the Stor-age palette onto the Library palette.

SCORM.bvs is located in the Storage pal-ette under Behavior Lib > Miscellaneous

2. Drag an instance of the SCORMbehavior from the Library onto theobject that you want to have start thelesson. This could be either the Scene oran object that will function as a startbutton.

3. With SCORM selected in the Timeline,set the LMS Message property in theInspector palette to LMSInitialize.

4. Do one of the following:

If you attached the behavior to theScene object, set the On Event prop-erty to onAttach.

If you attached the behavior to anobject that will act as a start button, setthe On Event property to one of themouse events: onMouseDown,onMouseUp, onMouseOver,onMouseClick or onMouseOut.

5. Drag a second instance of the SCORMbehavior from the Library onto theobject that you want to have end the les-son. Its recommended that you attach itto an object that will function as a fin-ished or done button.

6. With SCORM selected in the Timeline,set the LMS Message property in theInspector palette to LMSFinish.

7. Set the On Event property to one of themouse events: onMouseDown, onMou-

seUp, onMouseOver, onMouseClick oronMouseOut.

8. Save and close your presentation.

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9. Open the HTML that was created alongwith the .am file and enter the following

script within the tag:

Note: This code is also viewable fromwithin the comments of SCORM.bvs.

10.Ensure the JavaScript file APIWrapper.jsis located in the same directory as theHTML file that will play the Anark pre-sentation.

Working with the 3ds maxand plasma pluginsAnark Studio can now import the newAnark Exchange file format, which uses the.amx file extension. To enable 3ds max andplasma to export 3D models and scenes inthe .amx file format, Anark has createdplugins for those programs.

When imported into Anark Studio .amx filesinclude all geometry, hierarchy, groups,precise normals, materials and bitmaps.

They do not include instance information,however.

Installing the 3ds max and plasma plugins isas easy as copying a .dle file into a directory.

To install the plugins:

1. Copy AnarkExport.dle (located in:C:\ Program Files\ Anark\Anark Studio1.5\Third Party Plugins under either 3dsmax or plasma

2. Paste it into the plugins folder for 3dsmax or plasma, usually located at:

C:\ProgramFiles\discreet\ plasma\ plugins

or

C:\ Program Files\ discreet\3dsmax\plugins

Now you can run either 3ds max or plasmaand create models using the .amx file formatthat can easily be imported into AnarkStudio.

To export a file as a .amx:1. After you have created and saved a model

or scene in 3ds max or plasma, do one ofthe following:

Select File > Export.Select the models you want to export

and select File > Export Selected. Childobjects will not be exported unless theirparent objects are selected as well.

2. Create a name for the file and selectAnark Exchange (*.AMX) from the Saveas Type pulldown.

Anark Exchange files are imported exactlylike all other files.

Guidelines for creating .amx models

To get the best results from your 3D modelsin Anark Studio, there are several guidelinesyou should follow when creating 3Dmeshes, materials and maps. A complete listof recommendations is included in Chapter2: Preparing Models, Images and Videos inthe Anark Studio User Manual. The mostup-to-date version of the manual is availablein the Help Topics under the Help menu inAnark Studio. Tips that are specific to usingthe AMX file format are included here.

!If a model is not aligned to the worldbefore it is exported, an extra group willbe added to the models hierarchy with apivot extension in order to preserve thepivot information. If this is not the resultyou want, then be sure to align the objectspivot point to the world before exportingit using the instructions in Pivot pointguidelines in Chapter 2 of the Anark Stu-dio User Manual. The instructions willwork for both plasma and 3ds max.

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1.5.2 Addendum

!When an AVI is used as an image map fora material in plasma or 3ds max, only thefirst frame of the video is used as the mapwhen the model is imported into Anark

Studio. To successfully map the video tothe model in Anark Studio, you need todelete the single-frame image mapattached to the models material, importthe .avi file directly into Anark Studio andreattach it to the material. For more infor-mation about working with video, seeChapter 6: Working with Streaming Videoand Music Files in the Anark Studio UserManual.

!The .amx file format now enables the useof GIFs as image maps. However, GIFscannot be imported into Anark Studiodirectly. They must be mapped to a modelusing 3ds max or plasma and thenexported to the .amx format. Once theAMX file has been imported into AnarkStudio, the GIF image can be used onother models in addition to the model towhich it was originally attached.

!Only Bitmap Material Maps are preservedduring export. Others such as Mix, Noise,

Cellular, Smoke, etc., are not exported.

!W Angle settings on maps in 3D max andplasma are not imported into Anark Stu-dio. I f you want a map to be rotated on an

object, set the UV Rotation for the imagedirectly in Anark Studio.

Note: AMX now exports normalscorrectly, so fine-tuning vertex normalsbeyond Smoothing Groups settings willnow import correctly into AnarkStudio.

Working with imported models

When a model created using the AnarkExchange format is added to a scene in

Anark Studio, it will appear to be rotated 90degrees along the X axis. This is becauseplasma and 3ds max use a Z-up coordinatesystem while Anark Studio uses a Y-upcoordinate system. Either rotate the modelalong the X axis or adjust the layers cameraso that the model has the correct orientationfor viewing.