[comp.ivideodisc] Which drivers to use?

LB7@psuvm.psu.edu (Lorinda L. Brader) (12/15/90)

The unit I work in has just started developing courseware that interacts with
videodiscs.  We need to standardize on videodisc XCMDs to drive the videodisc
on a Mac using HyperCard.  We have both Voyager and Apple's drivers.

Can anyone give me an idea which one is better/faster/easier to use?

Thanks for any info,

Lorinda Brader
Instructional Programmer
CBEL-Teaching and Learning Technologies Group
Penn State University

taylorj@yvax.byu.edu (12/18/90)

In <90348.113136LB7@psuvm.psu.edu>, Lorinda L. Brader <LB7@psuvm.psu.edu>,
writes:
>The unit I work in has just started developing courseware that interacts with
>videodiscs.  We need to standardize on videodisc XCMDs to drive the videodisc
>on a Mac using HyperCard.  We have both Voyager and Apple's drivers.
>
>Can anyone give me an idea which one is better/faster/easier to use?

I prefer the Voyager drivers, even though they're more expensive.  The Apple
drivers are, in my opinion, TOO modularized,  There's a separate XCMD for each
command (videoplay, videosearch, etc.), a set of player-specific drivers, and
the set of serial commands from the HyperTalk Serial Toolkit.  Each command
goes through quite a few layers of XCMD calls before it gets to the player.

Voyager's set has only two commands (video and vidControl) and a set of
player-specific drivers, so they are simpler and faster than Apple's.  Also,
(and the main reason I switched from Apple's drivers to Voyager's) Apple's
drivers don't work very well in SuperCard.


Jim Taylor
Microcomputer Support for Curriculum  |
Brigham Young University              |  Bitnet: taylorj@byuvax.bitnet
101 HRCB, Provo, UT  84602            |  Internet: taylorj@yvax.byu.edu