The IBM HotMedia assembly tool takes multiple images and other media types and assembles them into a HotMedia file. The HotMedia assembly tool does not replace content-creation tools -- it takes existing media and concatenates them into a HotMedia file. This HotMedia file can then be played on a Web page.

The tool has four main sections:

1. HotMedia File (.mvr) Functions

These clear (start new), open, close, and set file-specific options for a HotMedia file.

Note: Clicking on the name of an MVR file starts the HotMedia application with that file loaded.

2. Media Tabs

Within your HotMedia file, different media types can be included as part of the presentation. Each of these tabs allows you to import the respective media type represented by the tab.

3. Media Workspace

Once within a Media Tab, functions, buttons, and previews specific to the Media type are presented. Typical functions include importing files, modifying attributes, and in the case of animations, arranging the order of images.

4. Composite Tab

When this tab is selected, the Composite workspace is shown. In this workspace, the temporal (time-based) representation of all the current media that have been imported are shown in the order that they will be presented to the user on the Web page. Here you can modify the types of transitions which occur between the media (such as mouse-clicks and automatic timer-based transitions).

For this version of HotMedia, the following table represents the various media types supported in the Media Tabs, and the transition types supported in the Composite Tab: