Flash dinosaur help

[marsinafrica]

Hi, I used to be good...it was even my specialty in its early years, but the world has moved on. I just got a gig doing a flash presentation for a CD, which has never been an issue in the past.

I knew the flash world had changed, but I didn't realize how much (I've been living/designing in Africa and they don't use flash often where I live). I just did a kick-A presentation 5 years ago ... isn't it possible anymore to do a auto-run CD presentation that shows up on both mac and pc?

I have the following questions (BTW-I'm on a PC and have Flash CS 5.5.):

1. Is it still possible to do a self-launching flash projector for both mac and pc environments from the same CD (Hybrid) ... and if so, can someone point me to a current tutorial.
2. is it true that self-launch is an issue no matter what i do for mac OS X?
3. If the above is possible, is it true that I would need to use a mac to create the .app file?
4. What is the best program to turn the files into an image file (so they do not see sub-folders). I've seen macimage but it seems like a dinosaur like
5. What is the most current industry standard program for creating interactive presentations (not slideshows) that can be created on a pc, turned into a self-launching cd-rom, and viewed from both pc and mac environments?

Thanks for any help you can provide,
Marija

[northcode]

1. yes (kind of)
2. yes, autoplay is part of QuickTime and disabled by default
3. no, you can create the .app file directly from Flash on your PC
4. this is difficult, you don't put files beside your .app file anymore, they have to be inside the .app file (at least that's where the fscommand folder has to go)
5. no idea, sorry

[marsinafrica]

Thank you for replying Northcode

1. yes (kind of)
2. yes, autoplay is part of QuickTime and disabled by default
3. no, you can create the .app file directly from Flash on your PC
4. this is difficult, you don't put files beside your .app file anymore, they have to be inside the .app file (at least that's where the fscommand folder has to go)
5. no idea, sorry

Do you mind elaborating a bit on #1?

You had answered yes for #3. I am having trouble creating a .app icon when exporting from my PC. I am using flash 5.5.

The problem I'm experiencing is that when I take a flash file, with or without externally dependant files, and I choose the settings to create both a .exe and .app when publishing - I see a nice, neat icon for the .exe, but the .app shows up as a folder and there are many sub-folders/files within it.

If it would just produce a small icon for the mac, I would be happy. I can always name the files "mac user click me" and "pc user click me" and do some autorun code that works for most pc users and perhaps some mac users. I just cannot distribute a file with so many sub-folders. I am not concerned about security or anything like that. I am ok with the file not autorunning on all platforms, although I'd prefer if it did.

Unfortunately, I cannot borrow a Mac for this because I will be adapting this piece many times and re-burning many times so that solution would be impractical.

I am ready to abandon the idea of using Flash for this. I have done extensive searches for hybrid cd (do they use that terminology anymore?) I have looked all over forums for flash presentations and there are hardly any posts. I am becoming scared that I made a mistake offering a flash presentation. Powerpoint just doesn't cut it and all of the presentation software I see is about slide shows. I need a 1-2 level navigation and interactivity.

If i could just figure out how to turn the folders & subfolders into an icon and know that it would show up on just about any Mac and PC I would be happy.

I downloaded Nero because I read somewhere that it would create icons for folders and can burn hybrid cd's but I see almost no explanation on how to use Nero online. Hybrid is a word that hardly appears in search engines.

The Ultimate Question:

- What PC program is the industry standard for burning CD's that play on both Mac and PC platforms

- What PC program can I use to take a bunch of folders>subfolders>files and turn them into an icon.

Anybody? I am getting closer to deadline with no solution

Thanks,

Marija

[northcode]

This post from FK http://board.flashkit.com/board/show...62&postcount=2 is the only source of tutorial(s) I'm familiar with for burning cross-platform CD's. It's not recent and I haven't tried it in years.

The projector.app file on a PC looks like a folder because on a PC it *is*a folder. When you copy that projector.app folder to a Mac it will *magically* be interpreted as an application by OSX. The icon is in the folder structure and it will appear as well on OSX.

[marsinafrica]

Hi, The cd's will be distributed randomly and I won't be able to predict who has a mac or pc so both .app and .exe will have to be on it. I won't be able to distribute a cd with folders.

I guess my last step before I abandon flash for this is to check out burning software to see if something can create an icon for me.

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.
Marija

[northcode]

When viewed on a Mac, the .app "folder" on the Mac partition of a hybrid CD will look like a single application with an icon. That's just how OSX works. If you're trying to create a single file for OSX it will ALWAYS be this way, regardless of the application you use to create the .app