Running of the CD-ROM show

As you might have noticed already from the very first time running the show, SynthArt consists of a number of sub-shows, and in some of them, various series of clips, or even single clips. When the main file, SynthArt.exe, is started, it will run the whole show automatically, with all the included sub-shows, and repeat it endlessly, until you click on some button or quit it altogether. However, you always have an option to run any sub-show separately, by starting up its own .exe file from the folder where it is placed (done via double-clicking on the file name under Windows Explorer), with all its clip files and video/audio material. For instance, the MathFantasy.exe file found in the \MathFantasy folder, is for starting of the MathFantasy Clips sub-show separately (note that you can create a shortcut to your favourite sub-show and place it on the Windows desktop). Once started this way, the sub-show will enter a long loop, repeating endlessly its clips sequence, one after another.

There is a standard set of buttons like this: in the main show and most of its sub-shows, meant to give you a better control on the clips sequence and allow to choose various useful options (see the "What can be customised" chapter). The buttons, as they are designed, are partly transparent on the background of the image currently displayed, so sometimes it is unclear what the button's label says, but I hope it won't be a big obstacle (especially after watching of a few clips), since the position of every button on the screen is pretty static.

The first button, "Play", will start the show's automatic running. When entering a sub-show, you will see this button displays the "Pause" text, allowing thus to pause and resume the show's run  (once stopped, the button will display the "Play" label, waiting for you to click on it). When in the paused state, it becomes possible to select a particular clip from the show's playilist; you will see that the second button under the "Play" one shows the "Select" text now; click on it and select a desired clip from the pop-up menu list. It will display the first frame of the chosen clip, but you will need to click on the "Play" button again, in order to resume the run.

In the usual case, the second button has the label "Rewind" and lets you jump back to the beginning of the currently played clips sequence of a sub-show. If you see this button on the opening screen of a sub-show, you can use it to return back to the higher-level sub-show (for instance, the "Animations") which called the sub-show displaying the opening screen at the moment (for example, "MathFantasy Clips").

When running a clips sequence, the twin buttons displaying the "<<" and ">>" characters, allow you to jump to the previous and the next clip in the currently played sequence. This way you can also navigate to the part of the sequence which interests you at the moment, but note that in this case the accompanying soundtrack will keep on playing, causing quite soon a loss of synchronisation of the music with the clips displayed. The "Pause/Select" pair of options is better in this respect, as it allows you to jump to the desired part the fastest way and with keeping it in sync with the music. The "<<"/">>" buttons will have no effect when the very first or the very last, respectively, clip of the sequence is being played.

The lowest button displayed, "Quit", will quit the show immediately, without a question asked, at any moment you click on it. Please use it when you are sure you want to leave the show.

Note that the two animation clips, "Cross (The Liquid Beatles)" and "Into The Grey Matter", due to their simpler flow design, don't feature the full set of the control buttons, only the "Rewind" and "Quit" ones.

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