Frequently Asked Questions

AutoPlay Media Studio 8 is an easy-to-use software development tool that allows you to create your own custom software applications using a visual drag and drop workspace. You can make everything from CD-ROM/DVD-ROM/BLURAY autorun menus and interactive presentations to complete multimedia software programs – all in less time than you expect! You can simply drag and drop your way to amazing software applications…

Here are some answers to common questions about AutoPlay Media Studio…

Who Needs AutoPlay Media Studio?

Anyone who wants to create their own software needs AutoPlay Media Studio. Whether you are creating an autorun menu for a software CD-ROM/DVD-ROM/BLU-RAY disc, distributing document files, PowerPoint presentations, Acrobat PDF files or making full multimedia applications, AutoPlay Media Studio is the tool for you.

What can I do with AutoPlay Media Studio?

Quite simply, AutoPlay Media Studio helps you make professional software applications. While the product excels at certain tasks like making graphically rich multimedia software applications and front-end browsers for CD/DVD/BLURAY-ROMs (i.e. Autorun/AutoPlay menus), that’s just the beginning. Integrating diverse media types such as images, sounds, videos, text, and flash into a single professional application is what AutoPlay Media Studio does best. In fact, it’s been trusted to deliver rock-solid multimedia experiences to millions of people around the world. Examples include:

  • Multimedia Authoring & Application Development
  • Computer Based Training (CBT) Applications
  • CD-ROM AutoPlay/Autorun Menu Systems
  • Interactive Marketing Presentations
  • CD Business Cards
  • Much more!
How easy is it to learn?

AutoPlay Media Studio has always been known for its easy-to-use visual design environment. It’s super easy to add interactive objects (images, video, text etc.) to your project and move them into position with the help of alignment tools, guidelines, and grids. Once you’ve completed your interface, it’s a snap to attach powerful actions to events such as mouse clicks and key presses. Whether opening a PDF file, playing a video, or showing a web site, the Action wizard makes it easy to choose from over 865 built-in functions. It’s just as powerful as Visual Basic, Delphi, Java or C++, but it’s much easier to learn and faster to get results.

Does AutoPlay Media Studio have a drag-and-drop WYSIWYG interface?

Yes. AutoPlay Media Studio boasts an intuitive drag-and-drop WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interface. Adding images, videos, and other content is as easy as clicking a button. Or, simply drag your media into the Design Environment from Windows Explorer. Moving and re-arranging items in your project is just as easy; just drag them around the page! What you see when you are designing your project is what your users will see when they run your project. Adding and working with content has never been easier!

Can I make Autorun menus and video browser projects with AutoPlay Media Studio?

Absolutely! While AutoPlay Media Studio was originally designed to create front-end autorun menus for CD/DVD-ROM’s, but the new features in AutoPlay Media Studio 8 make it the perfect tool for any multimedia task you can throw at it. Create stunning software, dazzling video projects, or anything else that you can dream up!

Do I have to pay any royalties to distribute application created with AutoPlay Media Studio?

Once you purchase the commercial version of AutoPlay Media Studio, there are no additional costs to distribute your applications.

Can AutoPlay Media Studio Burn to DVD and Blu-Ray discs?

Yes! AutoPlay Media Studio 8 can now burn Blu-Ray and DVD media right from the design environment. Simply select ‘CD/DVD/BLURAY’ as your publish method, insert a blank disc and AutoPlay Media Studio takes care of the rest. DVD’s burnt through AutoPlay Media Studio will play in any Windows computer that can read DVD+/-R format discs. Blu-Ray discs obviously require a bluray drive…

Does AutoPlay Media Studio support Adobe Flash?

Yes! AutoPlay Media Studio comes standard with a Flash object, enabling you to seamlessly integrate your Flash files into your AutoPlay Media Studio projects.

What video formats does AutoPlay Media Studio support?

AutoPlay Media Studio’s video objects supports a wide variety of video formats including Windows Media Video (WMV), AVI, and MPEG. In addition, with the new QuickTime object, AutoPlay Media Studio 8 can display any video format supported by Apple’s QuickTime plugin.

What image formats does AutoPlay Media Studio support?

AutoPlay Media Studio supports all major graphics file formats, including BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG, PSD, and TIF.

What audio formats does AutoPlay Media Studio support?

AutoPlay Media Studio supports a variety of audio formats including OGG and WAV. MP3 files can be played through the Windows Media Player plugin. In v8, the QuickTime object can also be used for playback of dozens of additional audio formats.

What operating systems do AutoPlay Media Studio projects run on?

Applications created with AutoPlay Media Studio 8 will run on Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and above. Please consult the help file for a complete list of system requirements.

Can I use AutoPlay Media Studio with Macs?

Unfortunately, AutoPlay Media Studio is designed for use with Windows only. It currently does not support other operating systems such as Mac. That being said, AutoPlay Media Studio 8 does support a variety of cross-platform technologies, such as universal video formats, Flash and QuickTime.

Do I need to be a programmer to use AutoPlay Media Studio?

Absolutely not! With its intuitive drag-and-drop WYSIWYG interface and easy-to-use action wizard, both programmers and non-programmers alike can create professional, fully functional applications in a matter of minutes. Beginners will appreciate the quick results while power users love the flexibility of the software.

Can I create web pages with AutoPlay Media Studio?

No. AutoPlay Media Studio is designed to create interactive software applications. It is not able to generate web pages. With that being said, you can publish to a self-contained executable which can be hosted on a website for your users to download. You can even host web pages within your application, thanks to the included Web object.

Are there any templates to work from?

Yes! AutoPlay Media Studio ships with a number of professional templates to choose from. As well, both Indigo Rose staff members and users alike post sample projects from time to time on the Indigo Rose forums and at www.autoplaymediastudio.com.

How long does it take to create a project?

Simple yet fully functional applications can be created in a matter of minutes! It really depends on what you are trying to create. Suffice to say, you can create impressive multimedia software projects faster and easier with AutoPlay Media Studio, than you could with any traditional software development tool, like Visual C++, Delphi or Visual Basic.

Do any large companies use AutoPlay Media Studio?

AutoPlay Media Studio is used by thousand of companies, both large and small alike. Large companies love our royalty-free licensing policy, while small companies enjoy the multitude of features for an affordable price.

Is AutoPlay Media Studio only for creating AutoPlay / Autorun menus?

No! AutoPlay Media Studio is a powerful multimedia design tool that can be used to design just about any software application you can dream up. Our users have used AutoPlay Media Studio to create everything from computer-based training applications to video games. No matter what your multimedia task, AutoPlay Media Studio is up to the challenge.

Can I distribute my projects by email?

AutoPlay Media Studio can publish to a self-extracting executable file, which is perfect for internet distribution. While it is possible to attach this file to an email message, due to many modern spam filters blocking executable attachments, your best bet is to post the generated file to a web server and email your clients a link that they can use to download your application.

What type of files can I use within my AutoPlay Media Studio project?

Any file that can be read from Windows can be opened using AutoPlay Media Studio. Some files, such as images, PDF (new in v8!) and videos, can be displayed within your AutoPlay Media Studio application through objects. All other files, (such as PPT, DOC, XLS) can be opened in their default system viewers.

Can AutoPlay Media Studio react to mouse clicks and mouse movement?

Absolutely! AutoPlay Media Studio can detect mouse movement, and both left and right mouse-clicks. With this powerful interactivity AutoPlay Media Studio can perform tasks when objects are clicked and display pop-up menus when the user right-clicks within your project. You can even perform tasks each time the user moves the mouse! Thanks to the flexibility and high level of interactivity, the possibilities are limitless.

Can AutoPlay Media Studio read and write registry values and XML files?

Yes! AutoPlay Media Studio comes standard with easy-to-use actions for reading from and writing to the user’s registry as well as reading from and writing to XML files. As well, there are actions to determine if the user has the appropriate permissions to read from and/or write to the registry etc.

What objects are included in AutoPlay Media Studio 8?

AutoPlay Media Studio 8 includes a huge collection of objects including: Custom Drawn Button Object, Image Object, Text Label Object, Paragraph Text Object, Video Object, QuickTime Object, Flash Object, Slideshow Object, PDF Object, Web Browser Object, xButton Object, Checkbox Object, Radio Button Object, Input Object, Combo Box Object, List Box Object, Checkbox List Object, Tree Object, Grid Object, Progress Bar Object, Rich Text Object and Hotspot Object.

In addition to the built-in objects, AutoPlay Media Studio can be expanded through object plugins. Some of the plugins available allow you to include a calendar, a slider and image thumbnails in your project.

Can I add my own information to the file properties of the published executable?

Yes! The commercial version of AutoPlay Media Studio 8 allows you to customize the information displayed in the file properties of your published application’s executable.

Can I change the icon of the published executable?

Yes! The commercial version of AutoPlay Media Studio 8 allows you to customize the icon displayed both in your application, as well as the icon associated with the executable of your published application.

Can I change the properties of objects at runtime?

Yes! Objects in AutoPlay Media Studio 8 have corresponding easy-to-use actions allowing you to retrieve the existing object properties, and set new properties at runtime. As well, you can create and destroy objects at runtime through actions.


Learn More About AutoPlay Media Studio

There’s lots more to explore! Click on one of the following links to find out more…

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