Path: cdrom.com!barrnet.net!decwrl!hookup!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!howland.reston.ans.net!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!wariat.org!config!joe From: joe@config.com (Joe Rinehart) Newsgroups: alt.cd-rom Subject: CD-ROM Review; MediaClips, Tropical Rainforest Message-ID: <765677477.6snx@config.com> Date: Thu, 07 Apr 94 00:11:17 GMT Lines: 120 CD-ROM Review Aris Entertainment's Tropical Rainforest by John P. Husvar jhusvar@nimitz.mcs.kent.edu Hurry, hurry,hurry! Come one, come all! Take a quick swing through the jungle with the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees! Not to mention the big cats (nice kitty!) and the reptiles that slither on their bellies like...well...reptiles. This offering in Aris' MediaClips (tm) series takes you on an attractive, 100-image, tour of the tropical forests. It's another of their coffee table books on CD and that's not bad. You get the same high image quality of Aris' Jets & Props that I reviewed a few days ago. More, you get a nice overview of an environment few of us are likely ever to see in person, kind of an armchair safari. The images are good quality, viewable in either 320 X 240 small format (about 2" X 2" on a 14" monitor) or large format 640 X 480. (about 6" X 6") There's detail enough to satisfy the curious and broad overview enough for the younger set just to look at all the pretty animals, plants, and scenery. The 25 Video-for-Windows-format movies on this disc suffer a few problems, small image size, a bit grainy and, (to be fair, maybe because I'm only running a 486-25), slightly choppy action. (You might want to wave a salt shaker lightly over this criticism because of my machine's limitations.) For a nice treat, the TIFF images in 24-bit color are spectacular viewed in a hi-res photo program. Of course, you can play with them that way, too. Another possibility for the collection might be to develop a way to scroll through the pictures using a screen-saver type program or a batch file to display them in order. The large BMP files would also make nice wallpaper. Using the program is straight GUI in Windows, point and click. The command bar is mostly intuitive and includes random access by thumbnail sketches or search string. While the thumbnails are small, after just one or two run-throughs, they are clear enough to allow you to pick out a desired image pretty easily. The search function lets you type in keywords, including wildcards, and then posts a list of all the images that fit. You then select the desired one. Switching images in the large-size display does require clicking the next-image and enlarge buttons in sequence, but it soon becomes second nature. Aris includes good help files, including troubleshooting tips. I found them useful enough that I didn't miss printed documentation and I seemed to learn more about the program than I would usually credit to helps. I'll continue to gripe that I would like it better if the picture notes were a little more detailed. The short descriptions provided with each image contain only a filename, a picture title for scenics, the scientific name if of an animal or plant, a short list of search keywords, and a list of the most prominent colors. More textual information would add educational value. Now Aris doesn't seem to trying to produce encyclopedias here but I think a little more text would put a finer gloss on an already nice product. My only other real gripe is not being able to turn off the no-sound-card alert box. Jets & Props told me once that my sound card wasn't responding and then kindly shut up about it. Tropical Rainforest alerts with every image or change in image size. It could be that I just never managed to find the combination but I looked, I really looked! That was an irritation I hope Aris will cure or has cured in their other offerings. Installation was as easy as with Jets & Props. You pop the disc in the drive, log in to it, run SETUP, answer a few simple questions, and let it run. SETUP allows you to select your own choice where to load its files. I had it put the ARIS directory under my WINDOWS directory. Drag and drop the icons to a convenient place on the desktop or just leave it in its own group icon and you're ready to run. The MAC and DOS instructions are equally straightforward. As in their other products, Aris takes care of the chance you might want to do more than just view the images. They supply all 100 files per disc in 8-bit 320 X 240 and 640 X 480 BMP and PCX formats, 24-bit TIFF for use in high-res paint programs, and their audio in both WAV and VOC formats. They also extend on-the-box permission to reproduce up to 20% of the images sounds or videos royalty-free in print or digital publications so long as the artists and Aris Entertainment's copyright are duly credited. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> APPENDUM NOTICE <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< This review was provided by the author along with authorization for redistribution by config.sys, Inc., in an unedited state above this appendum. Reformatting may have been necessary for various operating systems. The reviews provided by config.sys, Inc. reflect the opinions of the reviewer and not necessarily that of config.sys, Inc. They are provided solely to serve as a guide for information to determine the potential purchase of a CD-ROM disc. Any copyrights are retained by the author. Not all CD-ROM discs reviewed are available through config.sys, Inc. A catalog of over 1500 discounted CD-ROM discs is available upon request. The author(s) have not been compensated by config.sys, Inc. Enjoy! Joe Rinehart joe@config.com config.sys, Inc. CD-ROM Division P.O. Box 27 Kent, Ohio, 44240-0001 Tel.: (216) 296.4446 North American Toll-Free Order Line: 1-800 6CONFIG (626.6344) All reviews and our catalogs are also available via anonymous ftp from ftp.wariat.org, in directory /pub/cdroms.