How do I play DVD video in HTML, PowerPoint, Director, VB, etc.?
A variety of multimedia development/authoring programs can be extended to play video from a DVD, either as titles and chapters from a DVD-Video volume, or as MPEG-2 files. In Windows, this is usually done with ActiveX controls. On the Mac, until DVD-Video support is added to QuickTime, the options are limited. Newer versions of the Apple DVD Player can be controlled with AppleScript. DVD-Video and MPEG-2 video can be played back in an HTML page in Microsoft Internet Explorer using many different ActiveX controls (see table). Some ActiveX controls also work in PowerPoint, Visual Basic, and other ActiveX hosts. Netscape Navigator is out of the game until it supports ActiveX objects. Simple MPEG-2 playback can be done in PowerPoint using the Inert Movie feature (requires a DirectShow-compatible MPEG-2 decoder). DVD and MPEG-2 playback can be integrated into Macromedia Director using specialized Xtras.
A variety of multimedia development/authoring programs can be extended to play video from a DVD, either as titles and chapters from a DVD-Video volume, or as MPEG-2 files. In Windows, this is usually done with ActiveX controls. On the Mac, until DVD-Video support is added to QuickTime, the options are limited. Newer versions of the Apple DVD Player can be controlled with AppleScript. DVD-Video and MPEG-2 video can be played back in an HTML page in Microsoft Internet Explorer using many different ActiveX controls (see table). Some ActiveX controls also work in PowerPoint, Visual Basic, and other ActiveX hosts. Netscape Navigator is out of the game until it supports ActiveX objects. Simple MPEG-2 playback can be done in PowerPoint using the Insert Movie feature (requires that a DirectShow-compatible MPEG-2 decoder be installed). DVD and MPEG-2 playback can be integrated into Macromedia Director using specialized Xtras.
A variety of multimedia development/authoring programs can be extended to play video from a DVD, either as titles and chapters from a DVD-Video volume, or as MPEG-2 files. In Windows, this is usually done with ActiveX controls. On the Mac, until DVD-Video support is added to QuickTime, the options are limited. DVD-Video and MPEG-2 video can be played back in an HTML page in Microsoft Internet Explorer using Windows Media Player (docs on DVD scripting are in the Windows Media SDK), InterActual PC Friendly, or SpinWare PortaLink. Netscape Navigator doesn’t work, since it doesn’t support ActiveX objects. MPEG-2 video can be played in PowerPoint, Visual Basic, or other ActiveX hosts using Windows Media Player. Because of an annoying reliance on IE, WMP must be embedded into an HTML page, then controlled with the Browser ActiveX control in order to play DVD-Video. Zuma Digital’s ActiveDVD (using the PC Friendly engine), Daikin’s Enhanced DVD Kit (also using the PC Friendly engine), and Visi
