Back in the olden days of the Web (about one year ago), animation (or any image sequencing) was achieved by placing images on separate Web pages and requiring the user to navigate from page to page via hyperlinks or imagemaps. Working slightly worse than those old- fashioned flipbooks, many of the creators of this animation felt much of the effect of their hard work was lost in the method. New methods followed and developers began utilizing new techniques, such as server push, where the Web server sends the client a series of images in a row. Although this method produced the desired effect for the fading in and out of images, it was too slow and cumbersome for the display of true animation.
Today there are several different methods for achieving animation over the Web, including Java, animated gifs, and now ActiveX controls. These methods have graphic artists, Web artists, and end users jumping for joy. In this chapter, several of the more popular ActiveX controls that will help you provide high-quality animation on your Web site are discussed.
The FutureSplash Player Control for ActiveX from Future Wave Software, Inc. (http://www.futurewave.com) allows you to integrate and display Web animations created with the FutureSplash Animator within HTML page (see Figure 16.1).
Figure 16.1 : FutureSplash Player Control for ActiveX
Vendor Information:
FutureWave Software Inc.
http://www.futurewave.com
9909 Huennekens St. Ste. 210
San Diego, CA 92121 USA
619-552-7680
619-552-7680 (fax)
Table 16.1 summarizes all of the properties available in the FutureSplash
Player Control for ActiveX.
| Property | Description |
| Align Mode | Sets the alignment of the frame |
| Background Color | Sets the background color of the frame |
| Code Base | Sets the location of the page to download the control |
| FrameNum | Sets the number of frames in the Animation |
| Height | Sets the Height of the frame |
| ID | Sets the ID of the control (FutureSplash1) |
| Left | Sets the left orientation of the frame |
| Loop | Sets the movie to loop |
| Movie | Sets the name and path of the movie |
| Playing | Sets the movie to automatically begin playing |
| Quality | Sets the image quality to high or low |
| Top | Sets the top location of the frame |
| Visible | Sets the animation to visible |
| Width | Sets the width of the frame |
Table 16.2 lists the events of the FutureSplash Player Control
for ActiveX.
| Method | Description |
| Back | Moves the animation backward one frame |
| Current Frame | Sets the current frame of the animation |
| Forward | Moves the animation one frame forward |
| IsPlaying | Sets the state of the animation |
| PercentLoaded | States the percent of the animation loaded |
| Play | Plays the animation |
| Rewind | Rewinds the animation to the first frame |
| SetZoomRect | Sets the size of the zoom frame |
| Stop | Stops the animation |
| StopPlay | Stops the playing of the animation on the current frame |
| Zoom | Sets the zoom percentage for the animation |
Table 16.3 lists the events of the FutureSplash Player Control
for ActiveX.
| Event | Actions |
| FS Command | Accepts FutureSplash command options |
| On Progress | Sends a signal prompting the progress of an animation |
| OnReadyStateChange | Sends a signal prompting a change of state |
The following code enables you to view FutureSplash animations and images through an HTML page.
<OBJECT ID="FutureSplash1" WIDTH=127 HEIGHT=71
CLASSID="CLSID:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000">
<PARAM NAME="_ExtentX" VALUE="3360">
<PARAM NAME="_ExtentY" VALUE="1879">
<PARAM NAME="Movie" VALUE="MyMovie">
<PARAM NAME="Loop" VALUE="-1">
<PARAM NAME="Play" VALUE="0">
<PARAM NAME="Quality" VALUE="AutoLow">
<PARAM NAME="SAlign" VALUE="_">
<PARAM NAME="DeviceFont" VALUE="0">
<PARAM NAME="Menu" VALUE="-1">
</OBJECT>
The mBED Player Control for ActiveX from mBED Software allows you to incorporate interactive animation into your Web site by displaying "mBEDlets" through the mBED player (see Figure 16.2).
Figure 16.2 : mBED Player Control for ActiveX
Vendor Information:
mBED Software
http://www.mbed.com
185 Berry Street
Suite 3807
San Francisco, CA 94107 USA
415-778-0930
415-778-0933 (fax)
Table 16.4 summarizes all of the properties available in the mBED
Player Control for ActiveX.
| Property | Description |
| Codebase | Sets the location of the page to download the control |
| Height | Sets the height of the player frame |
| ID | Sets the ID of the control (MbedPlayer1) |
| Left | Sets the left position of the player |
| Name | Sets the name of the mBEDlet to display |
| Top | Sets the top position of the player frame |
| Visible | Sets the animation to visible |
| Width | Sets the width of the player frame |
| Src | Sets the source path of the animation .mbd file |
Table 16.5 lists the methods for the mBED Player Control for ActiveX.
| Method | Description |
| AboutBox | Invokes the mBED About box |
| Action | Sets the action of the animation |
| Start | Starts the animation |
| Stop | Stops the animation |
Table 16.6 shows the event of the mBED Player Control for ActiveX.
| Event | Description |
| CallBack | Sets the current call back state of the animation |
The following code inserts the mBED Player Control, allowing you to display animated "mbeblets" on your HTML page.
<OBJECT ID="MbedPlayer1" WIDTH=127 HEIGHT=137 CLASSID="CLSID:873237C3-C440-11CF-B4B6-00A02429C7EF"> <PARAM NAME="_ExtentX" VALUE="3360"> <PARAM NAME="_ExtentY" VALUE="3625"> <PARAM NAME="src" value="my.mbd"> <EMBED SRC="my.mbd" height=535 width=325> </OBJECT>
The Sizzler Control for ActiveX from Totally Hip Software allows you to incorporate streamed animation into your Web site by displaying Sizzler animation files (see Figure 16.3).
Figure 16.3 : Sizzler Control for ActiveX
Vendor Information:
Totally Hip Software
http://www.totallyhip.com
Suite #301
1224 Hamilton Street
Vancouver, BC V6B-2S8 Canada
(604) 685-6525
(604) 685-4057 (fax)
Table 16.7 summarizes all of the properties available in the Sizzler
Control for ActiveX.
| Property | Description |
| CodeBase | Sets the location of page to download control |
| Height | Sets the height of the frame |
| ID | Sets the ID of the control (Sizzler1) |
| Image | Sets the path of the Sizzler file to display |
| Left | Sets the left position of the frame |
| Top | Sets the top position of the frame |
| Visible | Sets the viewer to visible |
| Width | Sets the width of the frame |
Table 16.8 shows the methods for the Sizzler Control for ActiveX.
| Method | Description |
| AboutBox | Invokes the Sizzler About box |
| Hide | Hides the current object |
| Show | Shows the current object |
| Start | Starts the animation |
| Stop | Stops the animation |
Table 16.9 lists the events of the Sizzler Control for ActiveX.
| Event | Description |
| OnHidden | Performs action when object state is hidden |
| OnNewFile | Performs action when new file is opened |
| OnProgress | Performs action when state of animation is in progress |
| OnReadyStateChange | Performs action when animation state is about to change |
| OnShown | Performs action when object is shown |
| OnStopped | Performs action when animation is stopped |
The following code inserts your HTML page.
<OBJECT ID="Sizzler1" WIDTH=137 HEIGHT=83
CLASSID="CLSID:088D8100-C496-11CF-B54A-00C0A8361ED8"
DATA="DATA:application/x-oleobject;BASE64,
AIGNCJbEzxG1SgDAqDYe2CFDNBIIAAAAKQ4AAHoIAABOYbwAAAAAAA==
">
<PARAM NAME="Image" VALUE="my.spr">
</OBJECT>