Standalone vs. Web Development Analysis
a preliminary study of video options in two multimedia environments

  Director 6.0/Lingo Netscape 4.0/Javascript
delivery mechanism CD/DVD CD/DVD
Internet
supported platforms PC
Mac (no spatial links)
PC
Mac
Unix
links types spatial* (not on Mac)
temporal
spatial*
temporal
hypertext no yes
text effects/vrml no yes
video file format Quicktime RealVideo
video quality high high (local)
variable (networked)
multiple video on-screen yes yes
moving video on-screen yes yes
full-screen video yes (Mac only) yes (PC only, local/hi-band)
full black screen/no widgets yes yes
networked script yes (limited) yes
networked media no yes
serialization no yes
revenue scheme licensing
sale of CD/DVD
licensing
advertising
subscription
unaddressed advantages no extra software needed uniqueness of web-based multimedia
unaddressed disadvantages decline in CD-ROM market

no mass distribution

limited scalability
RealVideo splash graphic**

lack of RealVideo server space post-graduation

uncontrollable network latency
 
* using Ephyx Technologies' V-Active software
** there is an unconfirmed report that this splash can be removed

note: one unexplored option is the RealVideo XTRA for Shockwave which plays a Director movie in Netscape while sucking RealVideo in externally


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