TVM The Virtual Meeting

Visual Communications Software for Macintosh and Windows Computers

The Virtual Meeting For Macintosh System Tour

The Virtual Meeting folder contains the following applications and sample files

Included Applications

Conference Gateway

The Conference Gateway orchestrates the Multi Media Teleconference on your Macintosh. You use the Conference Gateway to connect your Macintosh to the others in the Meeting.

WhiteBoard

The live WhiteBoard is used to broadcast sketches, drawings and text to all the other meeting participants in real time.

QT Movie Player

The QT Movie Player is used to control an view the presentation of Appleıs QuickTime movie and slide presentation files.

TVM Edit

TVM Edit is a recordable and Scriptable text editor that allows the conference leader to create and edit text files on everyone's computer simultaneously.

Apple TeachText

TeachText allows the viewing of TEXT files and PICT files. TeachText can also be used to create simple TEXT files.

Cyber Link

Cyber Link is a TVM Helper application for controlling Web Conferences. Cyber Link is also a useful for collecting and organizing spots (URL's) on the World Wide Web.

Optional Applications

Optionally you may wish to add the following applications to your Virtual Meeting folder in order to use all of TVM's functionality.

Netscape Navigator

Netscape Navigator can be used to view web documents and graphics files as well as download multimedia files to be viewed by a helper application like the QT Movie Player.

Adobe Acrobat Exchange or Exchange LE

Adobe Acrobat PDF documents may be navigated and viewed by all TVM users simultaneously. By adding the TVM Plug-Ins to Acrobat the conference leader can sketch and annotate on top of these documents while everyone watches.

Folders Where You Should Store Your Meeting Files

In the Virtual Meeting Folder you will find five other folders called Applications, Documents, Presentations, Files and Scripts. You can organize your presentation and meeting documents by putting them in one of these folders or in the Virtual Meeting Folder itself. These are the locations that the system will search first when documents or applications are needed. If they are not found in one of these locations you will be prompted by the standard Macintosh File Finder dialog to locate the needed files every time they are needed.

Before a meeting you should distribute any presentation files you are going to use to all of your collaborators either electronically or by mail. Everyone should place the files into one of the above folders in order for them to be available during the conference. This preparation is not necessary if you use the WhiteBoard to prepare your slides because the WhiteBoard can transmit the images in its drawings as you open them if you wish. Sample Conferencing Files

Other Files

Moderator

This file contains a PICT resource of the meeting moderator.

Panelists

This file contains a PICT resource of the panelists in a panel discussion style meeting

Participants

This file contains the PICT resource of the participants in a meeting

Agenda File

This TEXT file could contain all the items that would be presented in a HyperCard based presentation.

Hyper Slide Show

This is a HyperCard stack that demonstrates how easy it is to integrate HyperCard applications into your conferencing system.

Open HyperCard

This TEXT file contains a TVM script that launches HyperCard.

Open WhiteBoar

d This TEXT file contains a TVM script that launches the WhiteBoard.

PICT File 1

This PICT file is a sample PICT File Slide that can be displayed by TeachText or any PICT viewing application like Adobe PhotoShop etc.

Pict File 2

This PICT file is a sample PICT File Slide that can be displayed by TeachText or any PICT viewing application like Adobe PhotoShop etc.

Pict File 3

This PICT file is a sample PICT File Slide that can be displayed by TeachText or any PICT viewing application like Adobe PhotoShop etc.

Pict File 4

This PICT file is a sample PICT File Slide that can be displayed by TeachText or any PICT viewing application like Adobe PhotoShop etc.

Pict Scrapbook

This is a sample slide show collection. The slides are stored as PICT resources in a resource file much as in the Macintosh,s Scrapbook. Scrapbook files can be created by most presentation systems like Microsoft PowerPoint and Aldus Persuasion.

TVMSLIDES.Scrapbook

This is another sample slide show collection. This slide show is a presentation on The Virtual Meeting and was created with Microsoft Power Point.

qtslides.mov

This is a sample slide show collection. The slides are stored in an Apple QuickTime file. PICT files , PICS files, and scrapbook files can be converted to a QuickTime movie using the Convert To Movie application.

clrheart.mov

This is a sample QuickTime Movie of a human heart in action. QuickTime movies can be created using a video digitizer like Super Macıs Video Spigot or the one built into the AV series Macintoshes.

vibrate.mov

This is a sample QuickTime Movie of a mathematical model.

WhiteBoard Slide 1

This is a sample WhiteBoard File.

WhiteBoard Slide 2

This is a sample WhiteBoard File.

WhiteBoard Slide 3

This is a sample WhiteBoard File.

WhiteBoard Slide 4

This is a sample WhiteBoard File.

TVM Read Me

This is a sample TeachText document that describes how to install the Virtual Meeting system and how to connect to a Virtual Meeting.

TVM Tour Postcard

This document as a Postcard. you can open it using the Open ScrapBook... menu command in the WhiteBoard.

Customizing TVM

This is a sample TeachText document that describes how to customize the Virtual Meeting system for your organization.

What Should You Do Now

Installation

Follow the instructions in the Installing TVM document to get everything setup properly.

Establishing a Connection between Two Users

In order to connect together two users that are connected on a network.
  1. On the userıs computer who will wait for a call Choose the AppleTalk ADSP Connection tool using the Connection... Command from the Configure menu.

  2. A Connection Dialog will appear. click OK.

  3. Choose Wait For Connection from the Session Menu.

    On the Other users computer, the user who will initiate the connection. Choose the AppleTalk ADSP Connection tool using the Connection... Command from the Configure menu.

  4. Choose initiate connection from the Session Menu.

  5. Both users should now be connected to each other and they should now be able to type back and forth to each other in the terminal window or use the multimedia conferencing features described below.

Learning The System

QuickTime Player

In order to use the QuickTime movie player to display a slide show presentation click on the QuickTime movie playerıs icons in the CC window.

Once the QuickTime Movie player is Launched you can open a QuickTime Movie or slide show using the Open Command from the File Menu. The following sample movies should be in The Virtual Meeting Folder

You should choose qtslides.mov. The QuickTime Player will load and cue the QuickTime slide presentation.

You can now use the right arrow keys to advance thru the slide presentation. If you click the right mouse button in the QuickTime player window a message gets sent to your collaborators to display the cursor in their QuickTime player window s at that same location. You can cause all the QuickTime Movie players to quit using the Quit Another Program command in the Conference Gatewayıs Process menu.

Try Opening a QuickTime movie using the Open... command from the File Menu in the QuickTime Players File Menu. A file finder dialog box will appear so you can choose which QuickTime movie file to open. You should choose clrheart.mov The QuickTime Player will load and cue the Clear Heart movie .

You can now use the up and down arrow keys to start and stop the movie. If you stop and move around in the movie you can use the Transmit Cue Point menu command in the Movie menu to synchronize the current frame on all your collaborators computers.

WhiteBoard

In order to use the WhiteBoard you should Launch the WhiteBoard by clicking on the WhiteBoard ıs icons in the CC window. The WhiteBoard Application will be launched on your computer as well as your collaborators computer. Choose a sketching tool and sketch an object. Try changing its color using the Color command from the WhiteBoard menu.

Try Opening a Scrapbook or Postcard using the Open Scrapbook command from the file menu. A Sample scrapbook has been provided called "TLVMSLIDE.ScrapBook² Open it and go thru the pages experiment with drawing and annotating on top of the pages. This document has been provided in a Postcard format try opening it and paging and scrolling thru it.

Try Opening a PICT file sing the Open PICT File command from the file menu. Some Sample PICT files have been provided.

Experiment with drawing and annotating on top of the PICTıs.

Try using the mouse and command M or Function key F5 to point at objects in the WhiteBoard window.

Adobe Acrobat Exchange (not included)

In order to use Adobe Acrobat Exchange you should launch the Acrobat by selecting launch Adobe Acrobat Exchange from the Conference menu. You may be prompted to locate an Acrobat PDF file on your hard disk when you start Acrobat Exchange, you should click on the cancel button. Files opened within the Acrobat Exchange application will only be visible to you (you can keep Acrobat Exchange from asking you to choose a file to open by setting the ³Display Open Dialog at Startup² to off in Acrobatıs General Preferences dialog box). In order to open Acrobat files on your computer and your collaborators computerıs you should use the Open Adobe Acrobat File menu command from the Conferencing menu. You should remember to put the PDF files and other files you want to use in a conference either in the Conferencing Tools folder or in one of the ten folders provided (Applications, Documents, Files, Presentations, Scripts, acrobats, comngrnd, movies, pwrpnts, texts) so the system will be able to find them and access them easily.

A sample Acrobat PDF file has been provided (TVM Tour.PDF), try opening it using the Open Adobe Acrobat File menu command from the Conferencing menu. Try using the Acrobat Go To Next Page menu command (Command L) and the Acrobat Go To Previous Page menu command (Command K) from the Conference menu to navigate thru the document. You can close the current Acrobat document by selecting the Acrobat Close Front Window (Command V) menu command from the Conference menu.

If you have the TVM Acrobat Plug-Ins installed try using the Pencil Tool and the Eraser Tool to sketch and annotate on top of Acrobat PDF documents. Try using the Gesturing Tool to point out features in PDF documents.

Web Conferencing

In order to do Internet Web Conferencing you need an INTERNET connection. You can also do Web Conferencing with files and multi media content that are located on File Servers and CD ROMS. You will need a web browser program like Netscape Navigator installed on your Macintosh. You will also need a conferencing extension file like the "Person to Person" conferencing extension in your Extensions folder.

To start web conferencing while running the TVM Conference Gateway the conference leader should launch Netscape Navigator on everyone's computer by selecting launch Netscape Navigator from the Conferencing menu. The conference leader can use three styles of web conferencing.

The Transmit Current Web Page Location menu command can be used to send all the all the web browsers in the conference to the page being displayed on the leaders web browser.

You can also have a more tightly coupled Web Conference by using the WWW Follow Me menu command from the Applications menu. Once activated every link the leader clicks on on his or her web browser will not only cause their web browser to go to that link but everyone elses as well. The WWW Stop Following menu command stops the monitoring and forwarding of new link locations to the other conference attendees.

Cyber Link can be used to organize all the places you want to visit in a conference and to instruct all the web browsers in a conference to go to the web location described in a Cyber Link file the leader clicked on. You should try clicking on some Cyber Link files. a few sample Cyber Link files have been provided

Netscape can also used to start The Virtual Meeting Conference Gateway and connect it to a conference if desired. This is done by clicking on, downloading and running a TVM connect script file that has been placed on a Web Server and linked to a web page. In order to connect to a conference server in this way all you need to do is click on its link on the web page. In order for this to work correctly The Virtual Meeting Conference Gateway will need to be registered with Netscape to handle .tvm files (TVM connect script files). While you are at it you may want to register the TVM QuickTime movie and slide player application to handle .mov files as well.

AppleScript Conferencing

In order to do AppleScript Conferencing you need to have AppleScript installed on your Macintosh and you need a conferencing extension file like the "Person to Person" conferencing extension in your Extensions folder.

TVM Edit a Scriptable and recordable word processor has been provided as part of the system. You can launch TVM Edit on everyone's computer by using the Launch Application menu command from the Processes menu. Once launched you can use the AppleScript Follow Me menu command to start the monitoring and forwarding of recordable actions in TVM Edit like typing and menu commands etc. Try typing in some words. You should hit the return key to transmit what you have typed to the other participants. Try selecting some text and changing the font or style. The AppleScript Stop Following menu command stops the monitoring and forwarding of of the leaders actions to the other conference attendees.

Experiment

Experiment

Experiment

HyperCard

In order to experiment with HyperCards multi user HyperText capabilities. Launch HyperCard and the Hyper Slide Show stack using the Launch To Front With Documents... command from the Processes menu. HyperCard will be launched and the Hyper Slide Show stack will be opened. You can click on any of the buttons and the action you choose will be performed on your Macintosh as well as your collaborators Macintosh simultaneously.

A sample HyperCard stack called ³A Zoo In A Floppy² has been included for your viewing pleasure. To view it launch HyperCard and the ³A Zoo In A Floppy² stack using the Launch To Front With Documents... command from the Processes menu. HyperCard will be launched and the A Zoo In A Floppy stack will be opened.

Teach Text

In order to Teach Text to View a Document Choose Open Text File from the Conference menu. A file finder dialog box will appear allowing you to look for and choose the text file that you want to open. Find the ³TVM Read Me² file and click OK. The TeachText Application will be launched on your computer as well as on your collaborators and the ³TVM Read Me² file will be displayed on everyone's screens .

Teach text can also be used to open and display PICT files using the Open PICT File command from the Conference menu. Before TeachText can only open one document at a time so you should kill Teach Text first by using the Kill Application command from the Process menu

Working With Your Own Content

Soon you will be ready to experiment with some of your own documents and presentations. The Print2Pict and the Print To QuickTime Extension for Print2Pict have been included on the Great Shareware diskette. With them you will be able to Create QuickTime Slide shows, Scrapbook Files or Postcard Files using the Print... command found in virtually every Macintosh.

Copyright 1996 by Seth Snyder All Rights Reserved