Multimedia

Below is a selection of commercial Multimedia Applications produced, a brief description of their functionality, and the tools used in their creation.

	Earth for Millennium House is a showcase of planet, Earth. Earth contains some 300 topics including stunning photography. It includes searchable maps with close to 100,000 cities, towns, lakes, rivers mountains, and other geographical features in it's database. Earth was programmed in Java. Perl, AppleScript and FileMaker were used to extract data from InDesign and Illustrator files. Further information about this title (a book/DVD bundle) can be found at Millennium House"
	Astronomica for Millennium House is a computer-DVD including a history of Astronomy, and information on our Solar System, Stars, Galaxies, Cosmology and Space Exploration. Included is an interactive map of the stars and constellations, as seen from any location on earth, any time of day and year, and facing any direction (even looking up). Rolling the cursor over more than 3000 stars reveals the star name and symbol, from a total of more than 9000 stars plotted in real time. Astronomica was programmed in Java. Perl, AppleScript and FileMaker were used to extract data from InDesign and Illustrator files. Further information about this title (a book/DVD bundle) can be found at Millennium House"
	China for Global Book Publishing. A reference of searchable information of China through the ages, with some 500 pictures and maps. China was programmed in Java. Perl, AppleScript and FileMaker were used to extract data from InDesign and Illustrator files.
	Middle East for Global Book Publishing. A reference of searchable information of the Middle East through the ages, with some 500 pictures and maps. Middle East was programmed in Java. Perl, AppleScript and FileMaker were used to extract data from InDesign and Illustrator files.
	Historica's Women for Millennium House showcases the roles women have played through history, including over 1300 full-length articles from a collection of some 7000 time-lined events and features. Including historical images and fully searchable of course. Historica's Women was programmed in Java. Perl, AppleScript and FileMaker were used to extract data from InDesign and Illustrator files. Further information about this title (a book/DVD bundle) can be found at Millennium House"
	Geologica (Land) for Millennium House is an informative study of the Earth's physical feature, landscapes, plants and animals. It including over 300 topics, double this number of pictures, and over 50 maps. Geologica was programmed in Java. Perl, AppleScript and FileMaker were used to extract data from InDesign and Illustrator files. Further information about this title (a book/DVD bundle) can be found at Millennium House"
	Biblica for Global Book Publishing. A reference of biblical times, with some 150 topics covered, searchable including the interactive maps. Programmed using Director and C. Perl and FileMaker used to extract data from InDesign documents.
	Egypt for Global Book Publishing. A reference of Egypt through the ages covers close to 1000 topics, searchable with loads of pictures, of course. Programmed using Director and C. Perl and FileMaker used to extract data from Quark documents.
	Anatomica for Global Book Publishing. A reference of anatomical information, searchable by topic, body part or body system, cross-referenced topics with internet links. Not available in the book of the same name are detailed views of the body, zoomable, scrollable, and revealable in 12 detailed layers, from skin to skeleton. At any layer or any view (front, side, back, zoomed, male, female, etc) labels can be revealed indicating the organ names, and hot-links take you to the relevant text. An excellent example of how an interactive multimedia title can add value to what is predominantly pictures and text. Contains over 1000 topics and 2000 individual body parts. Programmed using Director and C. Perl, AppleScript and FileMaker used to extract data from Quark documents.
	Geographica for Random House Australia is an atlas of the world containing over 50,000 towns, lakes, rivers mountains, and other geographical features, all of which are fully searchable. Maps can be scrolled and zoomed, and towns and features are automatically located and highlighted as the result of a search. The CD-ROM also includes a wealth of regional, cultural, technical information on our planet. This was a mammoth database project. The shell was programmed using Director, but all database and computer-intensive operations were necessarily delegated to C routines, some specially written for this project. Perl, AppleScript and FileMaker were used to extract data from Quark (text) and Illustrator (maps). AppleScript and PhotoShop were also to process the maps.
	Flora for Global Book Publishing. A reference database of over 10,000 genus and species, with pictures, common names, cultivation information and much more. The CD-ROM is searchable by various names, plant groups, uses, flowering seasons, sun requirements, zones and physical attributes. Includes animations and morphs of plants through the seasons. This CD-ROM comes complete with a screen-saver for Windows and Macintosh. And custom dictionary of botanical terms for Microsoft Word. Programmed using Director and C. Perl and FileMaker used to extract data from Quark documents.
	Mythology: Myths, Legends and Fantasies for Global Book Publishing. A reference of myths and legends across the globe. This CD-ROM had a strong emphasis on creating a functionally and visually elegant interface to compliment the material. The CD-ROM is searchable by topic, section and keywords within the text. Animations and web-links complete the product. Programmed using Director and C. Perl and FileMaker used to extract data from Quark documents.
	James Halliday Wine Companion CD-ROM for HarperCollins Publishers. Updated for 5 years running, the latest version contains thousands of wines and around 5000 tasting notes by James Halliday, plus wineries, regional information with hot-clickable maps. Includes a companion program where users keep their own cellar and notes which they can view alongside James Halliday's notes. Both programs are fully searchable by every conceivable attribute, and links between the programs are provided. Programmed using Director, C and FileMaker runtime. Accompanying book generated automatically from a FileMaker database, into a Quark‘QX tags’ document . Companion Wine Organiser includes web updates.
	Blue Mountains Navigator for Nick A’hern Productions. This promotional CD-ROM includes the full gamut of multimedia components, including extensive video footage, sound, photos, text cross-linked and with internet links. Accommodation and other services are searchable, and you can plan your holiday itinerary within the CD-ROM product. Programmed using Director and C.
	America, Australia and Antarctica CD-ROMs for Random House Australia, present a broad range of information including the history, explorers, regional information down to the town level, national parks, wildlife, wineries, treks, fishing, as is applicable to the title. The information is searchable, with full map coverage including locator maps and zooming (where appropriate). Towns and places of interest can be located on the map from within the text. Programmed using Director and C. Perl, AppleScript and FileMaker used to extract data from Quark. Antarctica reprogrammed in Java as proof of concept.
	Botanica’s Roses for Random House Australia. This product contains over 4000 roses, with pictures, breeders and general rose information. Roses can be located by name and type, as well as two extensive searches by attribute: one to choose a rose plant as per your requirements, and the other to determine which rose you have in your garden. Programmed using Director and C. AppleScript and FileMaker used to extract data from Quark. AppleScript and PhotoShop used to process images.
	Make it Count CD-ROM handbooks for TAFE NSW. Contains information about the TAFE courses and course requirements, including voice guidance and videos of students in action. Course information is accessible by your area-of-interest and through a keyword search. Programmed using Director and C. Perl, C and FileMaker were used to extract the textual data from raw text files. Original music created using Performer.
	Together in Song for HarperCollins Publishers, is a database of over 750 hymns, designed for use on an overhead projector. Hymns are searchable by subject, first-line, author, composer and hymn number. Programmed using Director and C. BBEdit and FileMaker used to extract data from text documents.
	Trees & Shrubs for Global Book Publishing is an encyclopedia of (naturally) Trees and Shrubs, including cultivation information and a Gardening Journal to keep track of plants in your own garden. Entries are searchable by name, height, use soil type and other attributes. Contains close to 6000 entries, with 5000 pictures and seasonal change animations. Programmed using Director and C. Perl, AppleScript and FileMaker used to extract data from Quark.
	Ultimate Australian Gardening CD-ROM for Beaver Multimedia. Includes gardening and seasonal information for over 2000 plants. Entries are cross-linked and fully searchable. Includes informational videos and pest control information. Users can write their own notes next to available entries, and create a shortlist of plants in their garden. Programmed using Director and C.
	The Global Encyclopedia of Wine for Global Book Publishing. This wine atlas includes wines, winery (producer) and grape information from regions around the world, included maps and video, wine tasting methods and cultural information. The CD-ROM includes over 5000 wines, 1500 producers and over 1500 pictures. The information is fully searchable to locate wines by their various attributes, regions, topics and producers. It includes a cellar log book to keep your own records. Programmed using Director and C. Perl, AppleScript and FileMaker used to extract text and picture data from Quark.
	RealView for the company of the same name, was a Real Estate advertising CD-ROM, distributed with BRW magazine in the early days of CD-ROMs. Included searching and speech assistance for new users. Programmed using Director and C. Perl, AppleScript and FileMaker used to extract text and picture data from Quark.
	Australia Through Time for CDMT. A pictorial history of Australia. In an unusual departure from programming, contribution to this CD-ROM was using Photoshop for artwork retouching and optimising for the limited colour palettes of computers of the time (Macintosh 256 colours and Windows 3.1 16 colours).