Q148142: Macintosh Cinemania 96: Cinemania 1996 ReadMe Contents
Article: Q148142
Product(s): Microsoft Home Multimedia Titles
Version(s): 1996 edition
Operating System(s):
Keyword(s):
Last Modified: 15-DEC-1999
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Cinemania for the Macintosh 1996 edition
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY
=======
The following article contains a copy of the Cinemania 1996 ReadMe file located
on the Cinemania 1996 for the Macintosh compact disc.
MORE INFORMATION
================
-----------------------------------------
Microsoft Cinemania 96 Read Me:
-----------------------------------------
This file contains information on the following topics:
1. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR RUNNING CINEMANIA 96
- What you need to run Cinemania 96.
2. MEMORY USE
- Cinemania memory usage.
- How to make it run on low-memory machines.
3. PERFORMANCE
- Tips on how to increase Cinemania's speed.
4. SCREEN SIZES AND COLOR CONFIGURATION
- What makes Cinemania look best.
5. SOUND PROBLEMS
- Common problems playing sounds and how to fix them.
6. PRINTING AND COPYING
- How to print and copy information from Cinemania 96.
-----------------------------------------------
1. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR RUNNING CINEMANIA 96
-----------------------------------------------
To install and run Cinemania 96 you need:
- Any Macintosh computer that supports a 256-color, 640x480 (13-inch)
or higher resolution monitor
- System 7.0 or later
- 8 MB of random-access memory (RAM)
- CD-ROM drive (double-speed recommended)
You can run Cinemania directly from the CD. However, to play the
movies and hear the sounds, QuickTime 2.0 or later must be installed
in your System Folder. If Cinemania can't find these files, it will
prompt you to run the Installer. You can also install QuickTime
manually by dragging the files from the System Files folder on the CD
onto your System Folder icon.
The Cinemania Installer will add all necessary files to your System
Folder. It will also copy the Cinemania program to a folder on your
hard disk titled "Cinemania 96". Although installing the application
to your hard drive occupies about 6 MB of free space, it makes the
program launch and run noticeably faster. The text, sounds and images
remain on the Cinemania 96 CD, so you will still need to insert the CD
to run Cinemania.
-------------
2. MEMORY USE
-------------
Cinemania 96 should run on any Macintosh with 8 MB of RAM. However, if
4 MB of memory are not free when you launch the application, a warning
message may be displayed indicating there is insufficient memory
available.
Most users with 8 MB of RAM will not experience problems, but if your
system software takes up more than about 4 MB you may need to adjust
memory usage to make Cinemania run properly. Some general suggestions
follow:
- Run only one application at a time. If other applications are
running, close them and then re-launch Cinemania.
- Reduce the amount of memory being used by your system software. To
do this, return to the Finder and select About This Macintosh...
from the Apple menu at the top left corner of the screen. The
Largest Unused Block needs to be greater than 4,096K to run
Cinemania. If the only item listed in the About This Macintosh
dialog is System Software and the Largest Unused Block is less than
4,096K, you need to reduce the amount of memory consumed by your
system software. Refer to your Macintosh documentation for details
on how to do this, but some general suggestions follow:
a. Open the Memory Control Panel and check the Disk Cache
setting. To maximize the memory available to Cinemania, set the
cache to 32K.
b. Fonts and sounds consume system memory. Removing those you
aren't using will make more memory available.
c. Third party system extensions such as screen savers, fax
software, desktop pictures, menu-modifying utilities and other
system enhancements increase the amount of memory consumed by
your system software. Removing some or all of these extensions
will increase the amount of memory available to applications. Be
sure that you save anything you remove from your System Folder
and place it in a separate folder on your disk so that you can
replace it later.
- Remove Cinemania monthly update files. Integrating new movie
reviews and artist information from the monthly updates you
download from the Internet consumes application memory. Moving
these files to a temporary location outside the Cinemania Folder
will increase the amount of memory available for other features and
improve overall performance.
- Turn on Virtual Memory. Virtual Memory allows you to increase the
amount of available memory by using space on your hard disk to
simulate RAM. Although using virtual memory will slow down
performance, the extra available memory may cause applications like
Cinemania to be allocated more memory on launch or allow more
applications to be run simultaneously. To turn on Virtual Memory,
open the Memory control panel, switch the Virtual Memory radio
button to On, and then restart your computer. You may also wish to
investigate third-party virtual memory utilities, such as RAM
Doubler from Connectix Corporation.
Note: Be warned that reducing the minimum size for Cinemania's memory
requirements may cause the program to perform poorly. For example,
Cinemania may not be able to play film clips or enlarge stills if it
runs out of memory. If you allocate less than 4,096K, these problems
are likely to result.
--------------
3. PERFORMANCE
--------------
If Cinemania seems to be running slowly or its audio and video are
choppy or interrupted, there are a number of things which may help:
- If you have over 6 MB of available hard drive space, you can
install the Cinemania application to your hard drive rather than
run it directly off of the CD-ROM. To install the application to
your hard drive, double-click the Installer icon on the Cinemania
96 CD and select Easy Install.
- If less than 5 MB of memory are free when you launch Cinemania, you
may also have performance problems. Check the previous section,
MEMORY USE.
- Increase the preferred size for Cinemania's memory allocation.
Cinemania is pre-set to a suggested memory size of 5,120K. If you
have plenty of additional memory available to run Cinemania, you
can increase the amount of memory Cinemania requests by clicking
the Cinemania 96 application icon, choosing Get Info from the File
menu, and then changing the preferred size in the section titled
"Memory Requirements".
- If you are using Virtual Memory to expand available memory to more
than double your physical RAM capacity, you may find that Cinemania
runs slowly. For best performance, turn off Virtual Memory or
reduce its allocated size in the Memory control panel.
- Cinemania is designed to work properly on a CD-ROM drive with a
150K/sec transfer rate or faster. A double-speed CD-ROM drive or
one with a faster transfer rate will provide even better
performance in some areas. If your CD-ROM drive has a sustained
transfer rate of less than 150K/sec, it may not be able to supply
audio and video information to the Macintosh at the speed required.
This problem cannot be fixed short of upgrading to a faster CD-ROM
drive. If you suspect a problem with your drive, ensure that it is
properly terminated and that its software is properly installed.
For details on SCSI termination, see your Macintosh or CD-ROM drive
documentation, or contact your Apple dealer.
- A dirty or scratched CD-ROM disc can cause your drive to perform
poorly. Make sure the bottom surface of the Cinemania 96 disc is
clean and undamaged.
- If you are using QuickTime 2.0, the video clips in Cinemania will
run more smoothly if you upgrade to QuickTime 2.1. Power
Macintoshes will also see significant performance improvements with
installation of the QuickTime PowerPlug extension. To install
QuickTime 2.1, double-click the Installer icon on the Cinemania 96
CD, select Customize, and install the QuickTime package that is
appropriate for your Macintosh.
---------------------------------------
4. SCREEN SIZES AND COLOR CONFIGURATION
---------------------------------------
On startup, Cinemania checks your monitor and displays the images as
best it can on your Macintosh. If your monitor settings can be
adjusted to make Cinemania look better, you will be prompted to change
them.
Cinemania will run on any 256-color, 640x480 (13-inch) or higher
resolution Macintosh compatible monitor, although Cinemania's video
clips and still images look best in 16-bit color (thousands of colors)
or 24-bit color (millions of colors).
NOTE: Running in 24-bit color (millions of colors) will slow
performance and cause Cinemania to consume memory more quickly. If you
normally run in this color mode and experience out-of-memory
conditions, you can increase the amount of memory Cinemania requests
by clicking on the Cinemania 96 icon, choosing Get Info from the File
menu, and then changing the preferred size in the section titled
"Memory Requirements".
Cinemania is not designed to run in black and white, in 16 colors, or
on monitors displaying less than 640x480 pixels (e.g., Color Classics,
most PowerBooks and all 12" Apple monitors).
-----------------
5. SOUND PROBLEMS
-----------------
If the audio in Cinemania is missing or interrupted, check the
following:
- Sounds may be inaudible if the sound level is turned down. To set
the sound level, open the Sound control panel and experiment with
the speaker volume setting until you find a comfortable sound
level. If you set the sound level to maximum, you may get some
sound distortion just as you might on a stereo system. With
external speakers, be sure they are connected properly and turned
on; you will generally be able to adjust sound level with the
external speaker volume knob as well as with the Sound control
panel.
- If Virtual Memory is enabled on your Macintosh, you may find that
sounds are choppy. When Virtual Memory is turned on, sounds are
sometimes placed on the hard disk rather than in physical RAM. For
optimal performance, Virtual Memory should be turned off. To
disable Virtual Memory, open the Memory control panel, click the
Virtual Memory Off button, and then restart your computer.
- In low memory situations, you may find that sounds will not load or
play. If you cannot get a sound to play and are sure that your
Sound control panel is set correctly, or you are receiving error
messages when attempting to play sounds, you may need to allocate
more memory for Cinemania. Please refer to the MEMORY USE section
for suggestions on how to solve memory problems.
- Some sounds used in Cinemania are stored on the CD-ROM in a
compressed format. In order to be played, the sound must be read
from the disc and decompressed. Older or slower Macintoshes (such
as the Macintosh II and Macintosh LC) may experience interruptions
in audio playback.
- In some situations, QuickTime 2.0 and Sound Manager 3.0 may have
insufficient system memory available to play sounds. Upgrading to
QuickTime 2.1, included on the Cinemania 96 CD, should improve the
system's ability to play sounds under these conditions.
- Version 1.5.1 of Connectix RAM Doubler has a known bug that
prevents audio and video clips from playing properly on Power
Macintosh models. To obtain upgrade information, contact Connectix
Corporation.
-----------------------
6. PRINTING AND COPYING
-----------------------
You can copy or print any article or List Maker list within Cinemania
by choosing the appropriate command from the File or Edit menu. These
commands are also available from the flydown menu directly above the
text. If you select a range of text with the mouse, only the page
header and your selection will be copied or printed. Due to licensing
restrictions, you cannot copy or print images or videos from the
product.
If you find that printed text is improperly formatted or that special
characters are not printed correctly, check the following:
- Turn off Background Printing. In order to support launching
directly from the CD-ROM, Cinemania stores the Arial and MS
Reference TrueType fonts within the application. This provides
Cinemania access to these custom fonts without taking up space on
your hard drive. However, because many printer drivers launch a
separate application to manage the printer queue and handle print
jobs in the background, printing errors will result when Background
Printing is enabled. To disable Background Printing, open the
Chooser, select the active printer and switch the Background
Printing radio button to Off.
NOTE: If you install the Arial and MS Reference TrueType fonts into
your System, Background Printing is fully supported. You can install
these fonts manually by dragging the suitcases from the Fonts folder
on the Cinemania 96 CD onto your System Folder icon.
Additional query words: 1996 multi media multimedia multi-media mmtitles kbmm cdrom cd-rom cd-disc
======================================================================
Keywords :
Technology : kbHWMAC kbOSMAC kbHomeProdSearch kbHomeMMsearch kbCineManiaSearch kbCinemania1996Mac
Version : :1996 edition
=============================================================================
THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.
Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1986-2002.