PALMEDIA Media Transfer version 2.0
1996, 1997 Lee Moon. All rights reserved.

PALMEDIA Media Transfer Documentation (BETA)                   Version 2.0
1/21/97

The PALMEDIA Media Transfer HyperCard stack allows you to send images and sound to your Newton MessagePad.  Images can then be viewed as a slideshow or a movie using PALMEDIA Player on the Newton.  PALMEDIA Media Transfer has been tested on a Power Book 520c (OS 7.5.1) and a Power Mac 6100/66 (OS 7.5.1) using both HyperCard 2.3 and HyperCard Player 2.2.

This version of PALMEDIA Media Transfer is a freeware application.

*** NOTICE ***
This version of the documentation DOES NOT describe all the features/steps that PALMEDIA Media Transfer currently supports.  This is BETA documentation.  Only the "Configure Settings" and the 3 Easy Transfer Modes are documented here (the other buttons all work, though).
*************

Features of PALMEDIA Media Transfer include:
 Converts PICT, JPEG and QuickTime movies into dithered black and white images.
 Converts and transfers PICT, JPEG, QuickTime movies to the Newton.
 Converts and transfers small System 7 sound files to the Newton.
 Easy configuration of the connection settings.
 Choose between the modem or printer ports (useful on a PowerBook).
 Communication handshaking between Newton and the Mac allows for the fastest possible transfer speed (Newton will pause the Mac until it's ready for more data).
 Displays status information of the serial port, connection activity.
 Works with PALMEDIA Player 2.x (version 2.3 recommended) and Slurpee 1.x.

Requirements:
1) A Newton MessagePad with PLENTY OF ROOM to store images and movies (a storage card is HIGHLY recommended).
2) A Macintosh computer with a Newton serial cable and HyperCard 2.x or HyperCard Player 2.x (I suggest using HyperCard Player).
3) Slurpee 1.8 (recommended) or higher installed on the Newton.
4) PALMEDIA Player 2.x (version 2.3 recommended) installed on the Newton.  You may also use any other program that can read image/sound data from a Newton soup.

*** NOTICE ***
Slurpee is a shareware package by Steve Weyer.  Please be sure to pay your shareware fees!  Without his software, you wouldn't be able to import images into PALMEDIA Player.

Using PALMEDIA Media Transfer:
1) Connect the Newton and Macintosh with a serial cable.  Remember the Macintosh port that you are using.

2) Double-click on the PALMEDIA Media Transfer stack.

3) In a moment, the stack will initialize.  The version number and connection state will be displayed in the Current Status window.

4) Click on "Configure Settings" to jump to the serial port settings card.  The default settings are:  Printer port, 9600 baud.  These settings should be satisfactory for most uses.  If you are using a PowerBook, you may need to switch to the Modem port (and turn AppleTalk off).  When you are finished selecting the port options, click the "Return to Main Screen" icon.

5) Make sure Slurpee is running (with the same baud rate as the Mac) on the Newton before continuing.

--- The next 3 steps describe the functions of the 3 buttons near the bottom of the stack.

6) SENDING A SINGLE PICTURE TO THE NEWTON:
Click on "Transfer 1 PICT Directly into Newton".  A dialog box will appear asking you if the Newton is connected (click on "Yes").  Select a PICT or JPEG file and click "OK".  Another dialog box will appear asking to shrink large images to fit the Newton display.  Click "Yes" - small images will not be scaled, but larger images will be scaled depending on their landscape or portrait orientation.  In a few moments, you will see a black and white version of the image flash on the screen.  You will then be prompted for the name of a Newton soup to store the picture in.  If the soup doesn't exist, it will be created.  If it does exist, the image will be appended at the end of the soup.  The Bytes Sent display will begin updating as the image file is sent.  When the transfer is complete, the Bytes Sent display will clear and a message will appear in the Current Status window indicating that the file has been sent.  You may click on the "Transfer 1 PICT Directly to Newton" button again to send another image file.

7) SENDING A FOLDER OF PICTURES TO THE NEWTON:
Click on "Transfer PICTs Directly into Newton".  A dialog box will appear asking you if the Newton is connected (click on "Yes").  Select a PICT or JPEG file and click "OK".  Please note that all files in this folder MUST be either PICT or JPEG images (not GIF or any other type of file).  Another dialog box will appear asking to shrink large images to fit the Newton display.  Click "Yes" - small images will not be scaled, but larger images will be scaled depending on their landscape or portrait orientation.  You will then be prompted for the name of a Newton soup to store the picture in.  If the soup doesn't exist, it will be created.  If it does exist, the image will be appended at the end of the soup.  In a few moments, you will see a black and white version of each image flash on the screen.  The Bytes Sent display will begin updating as the image files are sent.  When the transfer is complete, the Bytes Sent display will clear and a message will appear in the Current Status window indicating that the file has been sent.

8) SENDING A QUICKTIME MOVIE TO THE NEWTON:
Click on "Transfer Movie Directly into Newton".  A dialog box will appear asking you if the Newton is connected (click on "Yes").  Select a QuickTime movie file and click "OK".  A dialog box will ask if you'd like to skip every other movie frame (for increased playback speed) or transfer all frames.  Typically, you will select "All Frames" unless the movie plays too slowly.  You will then be prompted for the name of a Newton soup to store the picture in.  If the soup doesn't exist, it will be created.  If it does exist, the movie will be appended at the end of the soup.  In a few moments, you will see a black and white version of each movie frame flash on the screen.  When the transfer is complete a message will appear in the Current Status window indicating that the file has been sent.

9) Select "Quit HyperCard" (command-Q) to exit PALMEDIA Media Transfer.

10) Run PALMEDIA Player 2.x (or any other Newton application that can read image data from soups).  If you want to erase a movie or image soup, tap on "Extras", tap on the selector at the top of the Extras screen and select "Storage."  All the image/movie soups will be displayed (with all other Newton soups).  Scrub out the desired soup to delete it.

General Notes/Suggestions
 If the Newton hangs up during a transfer (usually due to lack of storage space or heap) you will likely need to "Force Quit" HyperCard (command-option-esc) and restart the Mac in order to reset the serial port.
 Create different soups for landscape versus portrait images/movies.  I have soups for each movie, plus one for my family, one for friends, one for miscellaneous portrait images, and one for miscellaneous landscape images.
 Images will be scaled (if chosen) to a maximum of either:
   234 (wide) X 290 (tall) in portrait mode
   314 (wide) X 210 (tall) in landscape mode
 Movies are not automatically scaled to fit the Newton screen.  Try using a Macintosh utility such as "ConvertToMovie" which does a fine job of scaling (and reducing to black and white) QuickTime movies.
 If, when using PALMEDIA Player, movies appear to be running slowly, try freezing packages and make sure the Notepad "caret" is not visible (simply tap the note's divider bar to make the caret disappear).
 Things to do:  Finish this documentation!! :-)   Also, make an easy transfer button for moving small System 7 sound files directly into the Newton.

For further information, questions, or comments you may contact me via the following:
AOL:  LeeMoon  (LeeMoon@aol.com)
URL:  http://members.aol.com/LeeMoon/

I'd like to thank all the folks who have used Newton Movie Player, Newton Slide Show, and PALMEDIA Player version 1.0/2.0 and all the other Newton stuff I've made.  Thanks for trying PALMEDIA Media Transfer version 2.0!
Lee Moon
