An encoded Windows Media stream may optionally contain arbitrary embedded data called script commands.
A primary purpose of script commands is to enable the construction of interfaces (mainly in the context of a web browser) using Windows Media streams which may synchronize other media with the streams in various interesting ways. Script commands may be embedded in the live Windows Media stream by sending them directly to the running encoder. Script commands and associated markers may also be added to archived stream files (WMV files) by formatting script command data in a particular way, then importing the data into the WMV file using one of a variety of tools such as the Windows Media Indexer. The purpose of the Script Command Client and Server tools is to permit easy, flexible and fail-safe collection of script command data, and optionally, transmission of that data to a running live encoder. The post-production tools are designed to automate the process of preparing the collected data for integration into a stored stream file. The image preparation tool simply exports JPEG images from a PowerPoint presentation using user-defined dimensions. The tools specifically target a situation where script commands are of type "URL" and represent slides in a PowerPoint presentation, but they could be extended to cover other requirements. The data collection is accomplished with one or more Script Command Clients and one Script Command Server. The clients are intended to run on systems on which lecturers, presenters, or assistants will run Powerpoint presentations. The server (if used) should run on the system with the Windows Media Encoder. After the client opens a PowerPoint presentation, it detects slide transitions as the instructor moves along. These transitions and timing information can be saved to a local log file for later use, and optionally transmitted to the server for inclusion in a live stream. When the server launches, it listens for clients and attempts to connect to a running Windows Media Encoder on the local machine. It monitors the status of client and encoder connections, writes a local log file, and passes script commands received from clients on to the encoder. The server can handle multiple simultaneous client connections. Multiple clients can be run on one machine, or different presenter machines can send script commands to the same server.
Client Configuration :
- Install the Script Command Client on the target system if necessary. Otherwise, just run the executable ScriptClient.exe
- Run the client, and click configure. If the client is to be used in conjunction with a server, select "Connect to Script Command Server, enter the name or address of the server system, and the port number you set in the server configuration. If the client is to be run stand-alone, don't check the connect box. In this case, it will still record a local log file with timings of PowerPoint slide transitions.
- The Base URL should be the location at which the exported jpeg images of the slides will be available. This string will be prepended to a file name for each slide, composed as "slideN.jpg", where N is the slide number. As mentioned above, the base URL can be overridden on the server.
- The client records a log file for every PowerPoint file opened. These files will be stored at the location specified, and have names beginning with "TIMING_LOG".