11 0789735865 ch08.qxd 7/27/07 10:09 AM Page 175 Mastering ...

Chapter Eight

Mastering Windows

Media Player 11

IN THIS CHAPTER

How Microsoft's New Media Player Is the Master of Its Domain

WMP 11's Play Controls

Configuring WMP 11's Options

Working with Audio in WMP 11

Playing Video in WMP 11

Media Sharing and Your Home Network

Windows Media Player Tips and Tricks

How Microsoft's New Media Player Is the Master of Its Domain

It wouldn't seem like a new version of Windows if Microsoft didn't pony up a new version of Windows Media Player (WMP) to go with it. Vista is no exception--it includes version 11 of Windows Media Player as its dice-slice-rip-play multimedia powerhouse. With version 11, WMP offers big improvements in usability, support for portable media players, the Xbox 360 game console, CD and DVD burning, Internet access, network support, and file synchronization.

MAXIMUM PC MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA EXPOSED

NOTE WMP 11's Play Controls

After you configure WMP, you can start it directly from the QuickLaunch toolbar, next to the Start button, or from the Start

When you start Windows Media Player, the Library view is displayed by default. The newly uncluttered Explorer-style interface uses a menu along the left side of the WMP display for selecting different views of your digital library (see Figure 8.1). The play controls are centered along the bottom center of the display, for easier access when running WMP 11 in a windowed mode.

menu. However, the first time you run it, you must run it from the Start menu.

WMP 11 enables you to move quickly from one level to another of a menu without excessive scrolling. In Figure 8.2, for example, you can click on either the navigation pane on the left or on the

menu tree shown above the current item. This tree works just like

the breadcrumb feature found in the Windows Explorer, except the avail-

able options are specific to Media Player. Note that by using the menu tree

above the current item that some options can be selected that are not

available from the left-hand menu, such as contributing artist, composer,

parental rating, store, and folder.

1 Menu tree

2 Media navigation

pane

1

6

5

3

4

3 Search field

4 Playlist pane toggle

5 Layout options menu

2

9

6 View options

menu

7 Switch to full-

7

screen mode

8 Switch to skin

mode

Figure 8.1

8

9 Playlist Pane

WMP 11 provides an uncluttered interface with fast access to major features.

176 MAXIMUMPC

MASTERING WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER 11

Figure 8.2 Use the pull-down menu above the current selection for additional options. Just like when using a web browser, you can use the Back and Forward arrow buttons on the top-left corner of the window to access previously viewed items in the Media Player window and then return to a more recent view.

Playback Controls

In WMP 11, the playback and appearance controls have been significantly redesigned from previous versions. These controls are located at the bottom of the screen, but the playback controls (refer to Figure 8.1) are now centered and offer easier-to-understand designs than in previous WMP versions.

? You can also use the Play menu to play media. See "Using the Now Playing Menu," p. 191, this chapter.

MAXIMUMPC 177

MAXIMUM PC MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA EXPOSED

Multimedia File Types Supported by Windows Media Player 11

The following table lists the file types that WMP 11 supports. Use it to help you plan which file types you want WMP 11 to play,

and which ones you'd prefer to leave available for a different program.

Media Type Video Audio

Audio/Video Playlists Shortcut WMP Skins Protocols for streaming Windows Media files

Extension

.mpv2, .mpg, .mp2v, .mpa, .m1v, .mp2, .mpe, .mpeg, .avi

.wav .aiff, .aif, .aifc .au, .snd .midi, .rmi, .mid .cda

.asf, .wmv, .wm

.wmx, .wpl, .wvx, .m3u .wax

.wms .wmz

.MMST .MMSU .MMS

Notes

MPEG movie Windows video

Uncompressed audio file AIFF audio AU audio MIDI audio sequence CD audio track

Windows Media A/V

Windows Media playlist Windows Media

Skin file Skin package

Streaming using TCP Streaming using UDP Streaming

Note that Apple's QuickTime A/V format is not supported by WMP 11; to get a player for QuickTime, visit quicktime/win.html. To play back the AAC format used by Apple's iPod portable media players, use Apple's iTunes (http:// itunes/). Sony's ATRAC audio format is not supported by WMP 11; use an ATRAC-compatible media player and companion software for playback. See for details.

You can also view digital photos in common files types such as JPEG, TIFF, and others with WMP 11. Select Pictures as the media type or open the Library menu and select Pictures to view pictures in WMP 11. You can organize pictures by rating, by date taken, or by keyword tags. However, for more picture playback and editing options, use the Windows Photo Gallery (see Chapter 9 for details).

178 MAXIMUMPC

WELCOME TO WINDOWS VISTA

Keyboard Shortcuts in WMP 11

Don't be a mouseaholic! Give your mousing arm a rest and use the keyboard shortcuts in WMP 11 instead. Here's a comprehensive list of each shortcut and what it does.

Command

Toggles Play/Pause Previous track Next track Rewind Fast forward Shuffle Repeat Increase volume Decrease volume Mute audio Enable lyrics, captions, and subtitles (if available) Eject media

Keyboard Shortcut Ctrl+P Ctrl+B Ctrl+F Ctrl+Shift+B Ctrl+Shift+F Ctrl+H Ctrl+T F10 F9 F8

Ctrl+Shift+C Ctrl+J

Command

Open media Open URL Close media New playlist Add selection to library Full mode Skin mode Classic (top-level) menus Refresh display 50% video size 100% video size 200% video size Help

Keyboard Shortcut

Ctrl+O Ctrl+U Ctrl+W Ctrl+N F3 Ctrl+1 Ctrl+2 Ctrl+M F5 Alt+1 Alt+2 Alt+3 F1

Classic Menus

By default, WMP uses a so-called "breadcrumb" and drop-down menu system. However, if you prefer the traditional menu bar (File, View, Tools, and so on), relax: it's not gone for good. WMP 11's traditional menus can be accessed in one of two ways: Right-click the lower-left corner of the display or press the Alt key on your keyboard and select Show Classic Menus. In any case the menus you can choose from include the following:

The File menu can be used to open media or a specified URL, close media, save the current media file, create playlists, add selected media to a library, examine the properties of the currently selected media file, work offline, view recently played files, or to exit WMP 11.

MAXIMUMPC 179

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download