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Lesson 8
Audio and Video files

Plug-ins

As the technology has grown there have been more types of media that can be delivered on the web. The dilemma of keeping up with the rabid changes spawned a clever browser software design: Plug-ins. Plug-ins are software programs that can "plug-in" to an existing program to extend the capabilities of that program. In the case of browsers, plug-ins allow the browser to process digital audio, MIDI, video and 3-D VR (virtural reality) files. Many plug-ins are freely available on the web. These different files types are collective referred to as MIME types (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions). So the buzzword phrase for what we need to do is " configure (or map) the MIME types to the appropriate plug-in (or helper program)".

This discussion assumes you are using Netscape but the process is similar in Internet Explorer. Netscape has a default plug-in capable of playing audio files, however some will want to down apple's QuickTime. QuickTime is a versatile and important technology that contains programs that can deal will Digital Audio, MIDI, Video, and VR files. Another plug-in that is specific to digital audio and MIDI files is MIDPLUG by Yamaha.

This first thing to do is to check to see if your browser is set up to play audio files.

You will need to check two things in your browser.

  1. Is your browser configured for JavaScript?
  2. Is your browser configured for Audio, MIDI, Video and VR files?

  • To enable JavaScript in Netscape, go to the Options and choose 'Network Preferences...'. When the window appears choose 'Language' then click in the checkbox to select JavaScript (enable Java while you're there). Click 'OK'

  • I like to use Yamaha's MIDPLUG (free MIDI plugin) to play audio and MIDI files. However, you should be aware that this plugin will expire after 3 months (after which you will have to download a new free copy).

    The use of MIDPLUG will require some modification in the MIME settings of your browser. The link below is to the documentation for Yamaha's MIDPLUG and contains instructions pertaining to both Macintosh and Windows versions of MIDPLUG using Netscape 3.0, use it to check your browser settings and to become familiar with the process. These instructions come with the download of MIDPLUG, you will get a copy with your download. Even if you don't use MIDPLG you might want to check out the documentation to this internet MIDI and audio player. For those of you who are JavaScripters, there are instructions on how to write Scripts for the MIDPLUG. It's fun.

  • Go to Yamaha's MIDPLUG documentation.

Apple's QuickTime will also play audio and MIDI files (and more). Here are links to apple's QuickTime and yamaha's MIDPLUG.

Audio files

Audio files can be embedded into an HTML document or they can set as a link so that they will play in their own separate window. The HTML code is pretty simple. Below is the code I used to embed a MIDI file into the HTML document at my Foothill College Web Page. The MIDI file named PathMamb.mid resides in a folder called "MIDI" which resides in the current directory.

<EMBED SRC="MIDI/PathMamb.mid" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=40 PANEL=0 AUTOSTART=TRUE REPEAT=FALSE>

The EMBED tag allow you to attach non HTML objects to a web page. This code will start the MIDI file named "PathMamb.mid" when the page is loaded into the browser. The attributes set the size, color and playback characteristics. These attributes tell the file to automatically start when the page loads and play the file once only.

You can also make a link to a audio or MIDI file. The following code can be used to link to a MIDI file. When you click on the link you will displace the current document in the window.

<A HREF="../Music10/FGA/MIDI/Rhy333322.mid" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=40 PANEL=0 AUTOSTART=TRUE REPEAT=TRUE>MIDI file</A>

The MIDI file below will be played in the current window or frame, displacing this page.

MIDI file

If you want the file to play in a new window you can use the target attribute like this:

<A HREF="../Music10/FGA/MIDI/Rhy333322.mid" TARGET="MIDI" WIDTH=150 HEIGHT=40 PANEL=0 AUTOSTART=TRUE REPEAT=TRUE>MIDI file</A>

The MIDI file below will be played in a new window and leave the original window untouched.

MIDI file

Video files

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3-D virtual reality

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