wwp@yahoogroups.com:
QTVR hotspot button help
Caroling Geary 2007-Sep-26 23:13:00
I have been looking at the Help line displayed above the panorama on
the WWP page. It is a sort of text slide show of lines explaining how
to use the "interactive picture". I think it is great. Helpful for
the newbie. But not too obtrusive for the viewer. I never noticed it
before.
However, it doesn't explain the "?" icon in the controller bar. The
use of this button isn't something that movie users would have
learned. It is specific to QuickTime panoramas and I'd like to have
another help line. It could say something like "To show hot spots for
info links, click the "?" button". An image of the icon itself could
appear in the line instead of "?", for clarity. Of course, there's a
complication. Many, in fact, probably most panoramas don't have
hotspots and the button is dimmed. So I guess the only elegant way to
use it would be to only include that help line if the pano developer
requests it. Or possibly the code for the page would be the clue to
hotspots, so it could be automatic. Set a flag, true or false, false
by default.
For object movies, there is the usually dimmed "translation" button
that could have a similar optional line of explanation.
We've got this interface, why not help people get the most out of it?
My personal ulterior motive is that some of my hotspots are so small
they would only be discovered by chance when panning. Yet for this
particular movie, the links are pretty much an integral part of the
message. I want people to know they are there. Perhaps I should
include my own explanation in the text. However, I never know how
many people actually read the text. And even if skimming, do they get
it? Probably I'll make duplicate links in the text so they aren't
dependent on the hotspots in the pano.
Caroling Geary, www.wholeo.net
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