MBDA digital repository for pictures, streaming audio/video and documents

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1. How can I search for files in the gallery and what is the gallery?
2. How can I rate files?
3. How can I download files ?
4. What are popular files?
5. Why can't I play or view a certain media file?
6. What is the Hot List feature?
7. What is the Slideshow feature?
8. What is the E-Mail to Friend feature?

1. How can I search for files in the gallery and what is the gallery?
Answer: This feature of the portal is a digital repository for multimedia files including pictures, audio and video streaming files of interest to our MBEs.  To search the gallery use the link "Find" at the top, right corner of the page. On the search page you can search for keywords in various fields. Additionally further useful options are available to sort and limit the search results.

2. How can I rate a file?
Answer: You can rate an image or media file on the detail page of the relevant file. The rating function is similar to the school note principle. If you find a file especially good, then you can give it the rating "excellent" (5 yellow stars). If you do not like it at all, you can select the worst rating "poor" (1 yellow star). Ratings between these two extremes are of course also possible. The file has not been rated before if all stars are silver.

3. How can I download files?
Answer: Select the 'Download' icon to the lower right of any file.  This does not work for all browsers, especially older ones.  If you are not prompted to download the file or if the file merely re-displays in the browser window, simply place your mouse over the media file, right click once then "Save As...".  If you see the filename has .PHP on the end, simply rename the file by backspacing to remove those 4 characters (the period followed by PHP on the end).

4. What are popular files?
Answer: Multimedia files which have been viewed the most number of times are popular. Popular files are displayed on the main page and/or in the Hot List.

5. Why can't I play or view a certain streaming (real time) media files (audio or video)?
Answer: The gallery supports various streaming file types, e.g. Quicktime (mov), Windows-Media (avi, wmv, asf, mpg, mpeg, wav, wma, midi), Realvideo (rm, mp3) or Macromedia Flash (swf). In order to view these files in your browser you must have the respective plug-in installed on your computer. Such plug-ins can usually be downloaded free of charge on the websites of the manufacturing media company. Depending on media type you may be notified about the missing plug-in automatically.  This is not an error, simply a dialog asking you to download the plugin.  Follow directions according to the vendor dialog.  Remember, such dialogs are presented by your browser and/or the vendor - not our web site.

If you happen to have Real One player installed, you may want to try selecting the Real One icon in the right hand side of the RealVideo display and open the media file within the Real One player. This is optional to do, but seems to work better on some platforms

FIREWALL IMPLICATIONS:
If the plug-in is properly installed but nothing happens (the player simply stalls, no errors) then disable any firewall running, as streaming media sometimes is restricted by firewalls that do not permit data to be sent in this way.  If you do not maintain your own firewall, contact your network administrator directly and inquire. The MBDA Help Desk does not offer any advice or assistance regarding firewall configuration. We stream through port 80, via HTTP, and also might use UDP.

OR SIMPLY DOWNLOAD IT:
If you still can't view the media online, simply download the media and run it locally on your own computer.  That solves most issues.

For listening to audio, such as MP3's, Wave (.wav) or Audio (.au) you might want to download WinAmp if you download it and listen locally.
Otherwise, our Media Gallery will attempt to stream the audio through the RealVideo player (a common/popular player that also handles audio, of course).

6. What is the Hot List feature?
Answer: This is a page listing the most popular media files, and a couple of top 10 listings including most download, most highest rated, most viewed.  You may select any media file or category from that entire page.  It's a nice way to see how busy the Media Gallery is as well.

7. What is the Slideshow feature?
Answer: Did you know the Media Gallery has a slideshow feature for each category?  If you enter a category or view any media file within it, you might see a Slideshow link at the top right of the screen.  If so, that means there are still images in that category and they may be viewed in sequence with a time lapse between each media file. An electronic slideshow!  If you don't see a link, no still images exist in that category.  When you select a slideshow, you may configure the time lapse between images, the order based on title, name or ID, and what color background to use.  Within the slideshow you can stop it, manually navigate forwards or backwards using "DVD" like controls, and adjust the time lapse if desired.  For browsers that support it, you will even see the time lapse countdown on the top right of the slideshow screen during each slide.  The slideshow is a powerful and easy way to view all still images in any category, easily and in a nice looking way!

8. What is the E-Mail to Friend feature?
Answer: This is how you can E-Mail the link (not the actual media file) to any media file to someone else.  The option is on the bottom right when viewing any media file in any category.  You will be promted to enter or confirm your address, enter your friend's address, subject and optional comments.  Your friend will receive an E-Mail with a link to the media file and instructions on how to access it.  Remember, not everyone has access to all media files and categories, so if you are a member of the MBDA staff and attempt to send a private media file to a public user, they won't be able to view it.  A disclaimer is included in each E-Mail to make this point clear.  This is a great way to promote the Media Gallery and bring viewers to the web site.


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