MovieWorks Deluxe 6.1

Written by Philip Roy | 26 August 2006
Posted in Multimedia

First published in New Zealand Macguide Magazine - Issue 27

Sometimes when you're roaming around the net you stumble on some Mac applications you've not really paid that much attention to in the past. The starting point for this article is that I wanted to go back to something we've not looked at for a while - developing a simple-to-build interactive presentation. My first investigations this time looked at products like SuperCard (http://www.supercard.us/) and iShell (http://www.ishell.com/), but the first seemed a little daunting and second cost-prohibitive.

What ended up catching my eye was MovieWorks Deluxe (http://www.movieworks.com/) at a cost of $79.95 USD.

Review
Installation & Documentation
Ease of use
Value for money
Price approx.	$79.95 USD
Software/Hardware Requirements	Mac OS 8.6+ or Mac OS X 10.1+ 50 MB HD space 128 mb RAM QuickTime 5.0+ CD or DVD drive
Available from	MovieWorks.com

Best described as a blending of eZedia's QTI and MX applications (the latter looked at previously), MWD develops projects that run with the help of a freely distributable player (available for Mac and PC) or can also export movies in QuickTime format. Their site has some interesting demos, although I wish more visually impressive demonstrations could be shown also.

It's more than just one application
The interesting thing about MovieWorks Deluxe (and hence its name) is that not only is it an application that can develop interactive projects, but it doubles as a simplistic movie editor that can then export QuickTime movies that they themselves are interactive to some extent. The fact that the program is called "Works" might also explain the fact that what you get is 5 applications that connect together, rather than one.

I like to try out a program first before reading anything (who needs "Read Me" files and manuals anyway?) and you quickly discover that the programs don't necessarily integrate as much as you might have hoped for.

Want to make a Button? Click to make a new button and the "Paint" program opens. But don't worry, it has a "Send to Author" option once you've styled your button. You end up with that button in your project all right, but it may not have the functionality you need. I tried dragging the button file I created onto my project. Again, I got the button image, but it wouldn't work as a button should.

So, I ended up having to resort to the manual, to find that a button can be dropped into a scene, but that you have to hold the 'Command' key down on your keyboard as you do that. Another option is to use the "Import button" option in the authoring application.

Does this all sound confusing? Well you're not alone. I had created a button easily but then found that only two out of the four ways you can get that button into your project actually see button ending up as a genuine, clickable button.

It's the small things that count, but where were we?
So buttons are made in a separate program and saved as a separate file, which you then drop onto your project. Open up that button file at a later date and change its look and it has no effect on the button in the project at all. It makes me wonder why there are separate development environments that integrate in someway but not in others. It seems more logical to me that simple tasks such as button design for a multimedia project should be done within one program.

Projects But let's take a step back and look at the mechanics of building a project. People who have used programs like HyperStudio in the past will find many similarities, although the terminology and some concepts (such as scenes, a timeline and setting frames per second for playback) are little more Flash-like than anything. I quickly created a couple of scenes, added a background (sadly, only one 'master' background per project) and added buttons. Going to the second scene, I easily dropped in an Apple iPod movie that I had got off the 'net.

The program reminded me a lot of HyperStudio. Partly because it felt rudimentary, partly because I knew it had tremendous potential, but also because there were glitches that you simple had to learn to work around or get frustrated by. This included things such as being unable to place a text block in front of a button or sending the button behind the text. It also meant learning that despite some Object-Orientated terminology in usage, items having things such as 'Attributes', lLinks' and 'Transitions' didn't necessarily mean these objects would do what hoped, when the object you were using wasn't what you thought it was (that "button" issue obviously go to me!).

Slideshows and animation
The program also has the ability for you to drag and drop a folder of images onto a scene. These images then get added to the timeline/sequencer and you can then extend the length that each of these image plays for. Then move them along the timeline to stagger their display. Import a sound and you'll find this added to the same timeline to accompany the presentation.

While this all sounds great, I found the timeline quite finicky, so patience is required. Nice aspects of the slideshow are that you can add narration using your inbuilt (or attached) microphone and apply simple transitions between the images. These slideshows can then be exported nicely into QuickTime format.

The animation process is very similar to creating a button (I wasn't able to import an animated gif at all) and you build up your image based on a number of frames that you draw. The drawing tools are fairly rudimentary, but the transfer of this animation (made in a separate animation program) to the authoring environment, went well.

Packaging, movies and Virtual Reality
Once you're comfortable with the slideshow development approach, you'll find the video editing options the same. Drag and drop clips into a timeline and then order their sequence, as well as adding in transitions, courtesy of QuickTime's default effects library. Just keep in mind that this isn't iMovie, but a more rudimentary way to take clips and combine them into one in the MovieWorks Deluxe environment.

What is also interesting is that MWD allows for QTVR movies to be included into projects, making a more interesting environment for those interacting with your project. MovieWorks will capture video straight from a firewire-enabled video camera as well.

Slideshows Once you've created your project, you have the ability to 'package' it for distribution. This is an incredibly handy feature, particularly as your source files (your images, sounds, video etc) get included into that file rather than remaining separate, making it hard for anyone to get their hands on the original files you might have used.

When you go to create a "Player Document" as it is called, you also get the option of saying you want to share the project on CD or DVD, and by saying this, MovieWorks packages everything into a folder that includes the player file, a copy of the free Mac and free PC executable player, as well as an 'Autorun.inf' file to make the project immediately play when inserted into a PC.

Just burn these files onto an appropriate CD and you'd be happy. QuickTime movies of your slideshows and videos can be exported to QuickTime also.

It's like HyperStudio - Possibly for the wrong reasons
When I first used HyperStudio as a teacher, I disliked it. I found it clunky and dismissed it quickly. My first reaction was that it was frustrating and had limited potential, and I have to say that I found the same with MovieWorks Deluxe. As I used it, I grew frustrated with some of its quirks and nuances.

But like HyperStudio, I could see myself possibly going back to MWD in school environment, but only if I was really sure what I wanted to use it for. It could create some great interactive multimedia that kids could find easy to produce, just as I did in the past with HyperStudio.

But both you and they would have to take the time to learn all the glitches and quirks associated with it. Whether you'd want to do that probably depends on your reaction to the program itself, so download the demo version and give it a go.

Packaging