Expert: Jeff Kelley - 10/29/2004

Question
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Followup To
Question -
Thanks Jeff for your comprehensive answer. I am not sure I want to go to a great expense for what I am writing. These projects will have a short life. Basically I want to be able to write out a paragraph of explanation with certain words highlighted. Clicking on a highlighted word will bring up a picture of what that word references.
Can that be done easily?
Thanks
Bill

Hi Jeff
I'm not sure this question is up your alley but you are the closest I could find. If you know someone better qualified, I'd appreciate the referral.
I am looking for software of some sort that works with Word.
I write children's stories and would like to be able to have the child be able to click on certain words that will then bring up a picture of the word. For instance, mentioning a "lighthouse" and then clicking on the word would bring up a picture of the lighthouse from a picture data bank.
Got any ideas?
Thanks
Bill
Answer -
Hi Bill,

The important question is how do you want the enduser/child to view the book?  Assumably, you're looking for interactive multimedia software. HyperStudio does the trick, but it doesn't run under Mac OS X, so delivering your book as a HyperStudio project will require Mac users to launch it under OS9. Not good with the newer Macs.

A widely accepted way to deliver interactive books is using html. FrontPage is very close to MS-Word and results in a web site that can be viewed by anyone with a web browser. You don't need to know html coding to use it. The downside is that the enduser would be seeing everything within a web browser. Not very pretty when you want to deliver a fully "immersive experience". Nonetheless, FrontPage is relatively easy to master and would do the trick. View an simple example I made for you here:  

http://www.movieworks.com/book/

MovieWorks Deluxe (a program I work with) is another option. It's a presentation/authoring program with a full complement of editors for sound, paint, animation, video and text. It's inexpensive and packs a lot of power, but it's definitely not Word-like in any way. You can download a 15-day Trial version (get the tutorials too!) at http://www.movieworks.com/download.html

Since MovieWorks projects (player documents) are run/viewed with a separate player application, you can create fully immersive environments (e.g. no browser window) much like you would see in programs like "Grandma and Me" by Living Books/Broderbund. Downside is there's no web option with interactivity and it has a longer learning curve than FrontPage or Word.

To do what you're looking for in MovieWorks, you'd typically start by creating scenes that display your text. Then, make buttons or individual text objects over the words you want to be clickable. Then, you'd create scenes containing the pictures you want to display. Finally, you'd link the text or buttons to these 'picture' scenes (with a return button/icon of some kind). Again, the plus side is that you can control virtually every audio/visual aspect. The end product is a single file viewed with the free player. You'd deliver this on an autorun CD or computer DVD.

Other easy-to-use multimedia programs to consider:

mPower,  http://www.mmdesigncorp.com/

mPower is easy enough to learn and can export a version of your project that's viewable on the web (as an option) with their free web plugin/player.

MediaBlender, http://www.tech4learning.com/mediablender/index.html

HyperStudio-like, easy to learn. Projects can be viewed in a web browser.

eZedia MX and QTI,  http://www.ezedia.com

Relatively easy to learn. Their eZedia QTI creates interactive QuickTime movies but an interactive book would be challenging as everything you create in QTI is linear in nature.

Hope this helps!

Best Regards,

Jeff Kelley


Answer
Bill,

Well again, how you'd like the enduser to view your paragraph/picture links will determine what software you should use. All the programs I referenced are under $200.

If a web page (like the example I created) is acceptable, then FrontPage is Word-like enough. FrontPage is included with MS-Office 2003 or separately for $199.

If you want to deliver a fully immersive experience (e.g. no web browser window/menu) then a program like MovieWorks does the trick. MovieWorks is $99 online.

Good luck!

Jeff Kelley