Re: Help on creating multi-media CD-ROM

[Faith Weber <weber -at- EASI -dot- ENET -dot- DEC -dot- COM>]

John,

I can't help with the CD-ROM questions, but I have played with
Acrobat a little and can provide a little info on that. First,
as far as I know, it has only been released on the PC and Mac
platforms (not Unix). I hear that they plan to go to Unix, too,
but I have no idea what the schedule is. Second, you might want
to look for someone who has a copy, so you can try using it with
files like the ones you'll be using. Unless you have a primo
system, the reader can be pretty slow at repainting the screen,
etc., particularly when large files are involved. (Creating the
Acrobat files can be even slower, but you only have to do that
a few times and can plan to do it at, say, lunchtime.)

I don't mean to imply that Acrobat isn't a good product. I think
it's really easy to use and it's a good tool for distribution
and document review. I just want you to be forewarned that in
some cases it may be a bit slow, and some viewers may find that
irritating.

You know, now that I think of it, I have seen a great
product for doing slide-show type things. Take a look at
Macromedia's Action! product. It's online presentation software,
really, but it has some very nice features. If you need hypertext-
type capabilities, something like Acrobat would be better, but if
you don't, Action! can produce some very slick stuff.

Sounds like a fun project. Let us know what you decide and how
it turns out!

Faith
weber -at- easi -dot- enet -dot- dec -dot- com