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[4.9] How do I play DVD video in HTML, PowerPoint,
Director, VB, etc.?
A variety of multimedia development/authoring programs
can be extended to play video from a DVD, either as titles and chapters
from a DVD-Video volume, or as MPEG-2 files. In Windows, this is
usually done with ActiveX controls. On the Mac, until DVD-Video
support is added to QuickTime, the options are limited. Newer
versions of the Apple DVD Player can be controlled with AppleScript.
DVD-Video and MPEG-2 video can be played back in
an HTML page in Microsoft Internet Explorer using many different
ActiveX controls (see table). Some ActiveX controls also work in
PowerPoint, Visual Basic, and other ActiveX hosts. Netscape Navigator
is out of the game until it supports ActiveX objects. Simple MPEG-2
playback can be done in PowerPoint using the Insert Movie feature
(requires that a DirectShow-compatible MPEG-2 decoder be installed).
DVD and MPEG-2 playback can be integrated into Macromedia Director
using specialized Xtras.
| |
Price |
HTML (IE only) |
PowerPoint |
ActiveX host (VB, etc.) |
Director |
| Microsoft MSWebDVD
or MSVidWebDVD
(see MSDN overview) |
free |
yes |
yes |
yes |
no |
| Microsoft Windows Media Player
6.1 (docs in Windows
Media SDK) |
free |
yes |
no |
no |
no |
| InterActual PC
Friendly |
not available |
certain versions |
no |
no |
no |
| InterActual Player 2.0 |
$2000 and up |
yes |
yes |
yes |
yes? |
| SpinWare iControl |
PE: $120, Web: $1200 and up |
Web version |
PE version |
no |
no |
| Visible Light Onstage DVD |
$500 and up |
ActiveX version |
ActiveX version |
ActiveX version |
Director version |
| Sonic
eDVD (InterActual engine, feature of Sonic products) |
$4000 |
yes |
no |
no |
no |
| Sonic DVD Presenter (InterActual
engine, no longer available) |
$40 |
no |
yes |
no |
no |
| Tabuleiro DirectMediaXtra |
$200 |
no |
no |
no |
MPEG-2/VOB files, but not DVD-Video
volumes |
| LBO Xtra
DVD |
$500? |
no |
no |
no |
yes |
| Matinée Presenter |
? |
Separate presentation
application. Plays MPEG-2 files (not DVD-Video). |
Of course, if you simply treat DVD-ROM as a bigger,
faster CD-ROM, you can create projects using traditional tools (Director,
Flash, Toolbook, HyperCard, VB, HTML, etc.) and traditional media
types (CinePak, Sorenson, Indeo, Windows Media, etc. in QuickTime
or AVI format) and they'll work just fine from DVD. You can even
raise the data rate for bigger or better quality video. But it usually
won't look as good as MPEG-2.
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