Looking for the FASTEST way to play and close a video in fullscreen

[MCSmarties]

Hi all,

I would like to find a way to play a video in FULLSCREEN just before launching an executable.

In essence, I want to insert a CD into my computer drive which will then:
- open a video file in full screen, ideally without any possibility for user interaction
- quit the player and IMMEDIATELY launch an executable file with as little a delay as possible.

The crappy low-tech way I found is to write a .bat file calling first the video using either BSPlayer or Media Player 6.4
and then calling the executable. But it's way to slow like that...

The purpose of all that is to play a short fullscreen video, then launch a CD autorun menu covering the entire screen
(the background image being the last frame from the video I want to play first)

Does anyone have an idea or know a tiny program than can help with my plans?
Thanks a lot!

[LoRd_MuldeR]

You can try my InstantPlayer tool :D
It's based on MPlayer.

Download: MakeInstantPlayer.2006-02-14.exe (http://mulder.dummwiedeutsch.de/pub/downloads/MakeInstantPlayer.2006-02-14.exe) - Mirror (http://www.brhack.net/MuldeR/public/downloads/MakeInstantPlayer.2006-02-14.exe)

(Also check out the INSTPLAY.EXE, which is inlcuded in the "system\mplayer" folder)

[setarip_old]

Hi!

From what you describe, it sounds like you should create an AUTORUN.INF file on your CD, the first part of which should look something like this (Assuming you D:/ drive is the CD/DVD drive being used:

[AUTORUN]
open=mplayer2 /fullscreen D:\Test.avi
icon=mplayer2.exe

[MCSmarties]

Thanks for the quick replay, guys!

LoRd_MuldeR: Your instaplayer tool looks perfect for the job!
From toying around with it: If I just put instplay.exe and mplayer.exe on my CD and call the program as:
"instplay movie.avi -fs -zoom", is that enough? (eg I don't have to INSTALL the player first)
I would of course also put the installer on my CD to comply with GPL.

setarip_old: Thanks for the suggestion but I know how to make an autorun.inf.
My point is that I need a way to shorten the time between the end of the movie and the launch of my executable
Something like a way to time or "pre-load" the executable (am I making any sense?)
Simply calling the video and the executable in sequence is not fast enough.

[LoRd_MuldeR]

Thanks for the quick replay, guys!

Your instaplayer tool looks perfect for the job!
From toying around with it: If I just put instplay.exe and mplayer.exe on my CD and call the program as:
"instplay movie.avi -fs -zoom", is that enough? (eg I don't have to INSTALL the player first)

Yes, this should work :)
I don't know, why not...

(Maybe you use "instplay.exe movie.avi -fs -zoom")


BTW: Using mpalyer2, like setarip_old suggested, requires the filters for decoding the video to be installed on the computer. If you do it with MPlayer, you don't need to care about codecs/filters :D

[MCSmarties]

LOL Sorry about the confusion, it *does* work.
I just wanted to make sure I could just put that player on a CD and play it on any other computer without having to install something first.

But what about the second part of the problem - how can I load my executable immediately after playing the video, with a seamless transition?

[LoRd_MuldeR]

LOL Sorry about the confusion, it *does* work.
I just wanted to make sure I could just put that player on a CD and play it on any other computer without having to install something first.

But what about the second part of the problem - how can I load my executable immediately after playing the video, with a seamless transition?

Do I understand correctly
You want to run the video first and then, when the video is done, launch some application ???

If so, you can use a good old batch file:
@echo off
start /wait instplay.exe video.avi
start foo.exe

[MCSmarties]

Thanks LoRd_MuldeR but see original post...
The crappy low-tech way I found is to write a .bat file calling first the video (...)
and then calling the executable. But it's way to slow like that...


I'm looking for a way to have if possible a SEAMLESS transition from the video to the executable.
I already tried exactly this (even with /realtime switch) but it's still too slow.

Guess I need some kind of program to launch things sequentially since obviously the executable
would have to be pre-loaded somehow.

Sorry to be a pain in the a$$!

[foxyshadis]

This is really the sort of thing flash is for. Most of those crappy interactive installer menus on cds are made in flash.

[LoRd_MuldeR]

Thanks LoRd_MuldeR but see original post...


I'm looking for a way to have if possible a SEAMLESS transition from the video to the executable.
I already tried exactly this (even with /realtime switch) but it's still too slow.

Guess I need some kind of program to launch things sequentially since obviously the executable
would have to be pre-loaded somehow.

Sorry to be a pain in the a$$!

I could add an option to InstPlayer, so it will run the specified application on exit. Would that help?

[MCSmarties]

Sure would, LoRd_MuldeR!! That would be absolutely AWESOME, man - assuming you can get it to load extremely fast ;)

I can provide you with a short video and a trimmed executable if you want.

[LoRd_MuldeR]

I would just add a new Edit in MakeInstPlayer to let you enter an executable that is to be startet right after the video finishes...