How does a swfBook work?
A swfBook is a Flash file that serves as a container for other files, such as images, audio, and text. The swfBook creator must supply a list of media, and indicate which ones belong together, and the order in which they should appear. This information is supplied by way of an xml file named slideshow.xml. Inside the slideshow.xml file are a series of slide nodes, each of which includes information about the media required for a single swfBook page. A slide node looks something like this:
<slide title="Getting Started" media="slide1.swf" narration="song1.mp3" quiz="quiz1.xml" ><![CDATA[Here are the notes for this slide]]></slide>
It is possible to edit any xml file using a text editor such as notepad, or a web editor such as Dreamweaver, however, the most reliable way to obtain a bug-free xml file for use with a swfBook is to use the online xml editor provided at this website.
If you are using iSpring Presenter to author content, you can take advantage of our exportSlideshow.bas macro to get you started with a basic slideshow.xml file. This file will include slide titles, slide notes and media references, but will not include any glossary or quizzing information.
How do I create my own swfBook?
As of this writing, there are three ways to author a swfBook.
Do it yourself. Combine your existing media files (jpg, gif, swf, mp3) with glossary entries and self-test questions. This is most useful if you already have some interactive content in the swf format, however all of the follwing formats are supported: .jpg, .png, .mp3, .gif. Video must be encoded as .flv and embedded within an swf file.
In addition to images and video, a swfBook supports two built-in interactive page types, the book page and the magTool page. To create either of these interactive page types, follow the instructions found in the online swfBook Editor.
A book page is simply a way to put relatively large amounts of text into your page rather than simply in notes. This is particularly useful as a lead-in for more complex slides that need significant introduction. Although the same text can easily be placed in the notes panel, students may not see it there, whereas they are almost certain to see it in a book page. You can put any amount of text into a single book page. The page itself looks like an open book with turnable pages. Search and print features for a book page are under development.The xml node for a book page (with no quiz or narration) looks like this:
<slide title="Book Sample" media="book"><![CDATA[Here is where you would type the text you wanted in the book.
You can put in multiple paragraphs simply by adding carriage returns. For a real book page, you would have much more text than this...]]></slide>
A magTool page is a way to combine two images in such a way that when a magnifying glass icon is moved across the first image, the corresponding part of the second image is revealed. Most commonly, this would be used to allow a magnified version of some portion of an image to be visible, but it can also be used to overlay same-sized images to create an x-ray effect. The xml node for a magTool page looks like this:
<slide title="magTool Sample" media="magTool" outer="seashell.jpg" inner="seashell_xray.jpg" ><![CDATA[Here are the notes for this slide]]></slide>
To see how the various swfBook content types look in action, visit the swfBook Content sample.
Another quick and easy way to create swf content is to use PowerPoint files converted with iSpring Presenter. To learn more about this option, experience the iSpring for Educators swfBook. A swfBook created in this way can be further modified using the same swfBook editor used to create a swfBook from scratch. Simply upload the slideshow.xml file created by the PowerPoint macro, and start editing.
Contact Us about a custom-designed swfBook based on your lesson plans, syllabus, or textbook.
Get the Flash source code. For educational content developers who have Flash 8 or above. Use the Moonlight Multimedia inquiry form. Be sure to Include a description of your plans for using this code. Source code is available only for non-profit educational use. All copyrights reserved by Moonlight Multimedia. Please note that no formal documentation is available at this time.
Where do I get the media?
It has never been easier to obtain media for use within a swfBook. You can use digital images you take or scan yourself, search copyright-free images from flickr.com, or locate interactive content at a learning object repository such as merlot.org.
What about audio? I don't have any mp3 files except for commercial music.
You can record and/or import your own audio files using the free program Audacity. Be sure to export your files as mp3 for use in a swfBook.
What is iSpring?
iSpring is a family of products that can be used to convert PowerPoint slideshows to the swf format. Using iSpring Pro is one of the easiest ways to prepare media files including narration for use within a swfBook.