A good question. It's a regular audio CD with a bonus multimedia CD-ROM track.
What does it run on?
A regular audio CD player for the audio portion itself and a Windows or Macintosh based computer for the CD-ROM track. You can also play the audio portion of the CD from your computer if you have an application that will allow you to do so. The multimedia portion won't run on a computer using OS/2 (warp or no warp), unix, amiga, or anything else.
What are the system requirements?
At least 8Mb of free application RAM (that is on top of what your system is chewing up) and a double speed CD-ROM player. Macintosh System 7 or greater. A monitor that can display at least thousands of colors makes a difference, although it does run in 8-bit color.
What is Quicktime and why?
Quicktime is video compression and playback software developed by Apple.
The Multimedia CD includes the latest copy of Quicktime for both Mac and
Windows. You must have Quicktime 2.1 to watch the videos. Quicktime is the most dependable cross platform video software we've found so far. Get this straight - Quicktime will not harm your computer in any way whatsoever. It is software. PowerPC users will need, in their extensions folder, the Quicktime PowerPlug located in the "For Power Macs Only!" Folder.
OK, the BIG question: Why doesn't my multimedia work?
Well...multimedia technology isn't perfect yet. There are quite a few
bugs. So let us start at the beginning and see if we can get your enhanced portion
running for you. Our turn to ask the questions:
First Question: Does your CD-ROM player actually work? Is it installed
correctly?
Try using another CD-ROM to see if it works.
Have you read the instructions?
Most people skip that step. So here they are again, just in case
you missed them the first time:
Multimedia CD Installation Instructions
Step 1 - Install Quicktime:
Insert disc into CD-ROM drive. If you have a Power Mac, you need to copy the contents in the Power Mac folder. Place the "Copy these to the System Folder" contents into your system folder (this contains Quicktime 2.0 and the new Apple CD drivers) and then restart the computer.
Step 2 - Check Monitor video card Settings:
Best settings are 640x480 and thousands of colors.
Step 3 - Starting the program:
Just double click the "Aimee #3" icon.
Step 4 - Using the multimedia program:
It's pretty simple. Click stuff. Click icons, song titles, pictures or
people.
Step 5 - Using the audio portion of the CD:
Yes, the entire album is on this disk as well. Just pop it into a regular CD player and listen. Make sure to skip over Track 1 as that contains Computer Data.
Still here? Still doesn't work?
Do you have a defective copy of the Multimedia CD?
This happens sometimes. A regular audio CD can have a flaw or dust speck
or whatever and you never notice it, that's the beauty of CDs. But
CD-ROMs are very picky--one little flaw on the wrong spot and it's
game over. Try cleaning the disc carefully with a lint free cloth,
wiping from the center to the edge. Try again.
The Multi Media CD seems to be OK, but it still won't run?
Here are some tips:
Unload every extension you can. Director seems to conflict
with a few popular program extensions out there. Take everything you
don't need out of your extension folder. That usually fixes things up.
Make sure to keep your CD-ROM and Quicktime extensions in place. If you are using System 7.5, you can use the built in extension manager to turn extensions off and on or you can get a program like Conflict Catcher.
Make sure you have enough RAM! At LEAST 8Mb free
memory is required, and at least a double speed CD-ROM drive.
You can see the cover interface screen but can't hear anything?
Do you have the new version of Sound Manager? There are some
bugs in the older versions. Also, find it somewhere, but make sure you have the Apple Multimedia Tuner installed, version 2.0.1 or greater. Turn up the volume.
The videos won't play or play really slow and jerky?
Make sure you placed the Quicktime 2.0 Files in the
extensions folder. Try using the Quicktime Player program to play a
video right from the SOURCE folder. PowerPC people may notice some
performance problems on the earlier version of the multimedia CDs. Make sure your monitor is set to Thousands or 256 colors. An occasional hesitation of playback on most systems is to be expected. Single speed CD-ROM players will be pretty slow and painful. If you have a double speed make sure it has been set to run at double speed in the Control Panel.
Some Other tips:
Add Apple's Multimedia Tuner 2.0.1 to the extensions folder. It's
designed specifically to improve QuickTime playback in Director and
similar programs. Also, for Power Macintosh users, make sure the
version of the QuickTime Power Plug matches the version of QuickTime
installed. They are not "cross-compatible" (i.e. - QTPP 1.0 won't work
with QT 2.0, QTPP 2.0 won't work with QT 1.6.2)
The Multimedia Tuner 2.0.1 is available at http://www.support.apple.com
Try turning off virtual memory. Note: RAM Doubler is a form of
virtual memory.
For Quicktime information try http://www.support.apple.com
For Director information try http://www.macromedia.com
Still not happening?
You can contact us for help by e-mail at
ARISTA95@aol.com and we'll do what we can to help. Just remember that we're not experts and almost all Mac users.
