i need someone to help me with a client of mine

the client has pc's setup in many locations that display advertisements on big monitors
currently they only cycle jpeg and flash advertisements on monitors
the ads are loaded on a central server and the pc's download it every 20 minutes or so
he wants them to add video to that,

anyone who can do this pm me

8/4/2007 9:45:12 PM

bttt

post here

[Edited on August 10, 2007 at 3:49 PM. Reason : .]

8/10/2007 3:49:34 PM

when you say "flash advertisements" do you mean macromedia flash ads or do you mean that thay flash (show) ads? if it is macromedia flash ads, then how about just inserting the video into the flash ads?

[Edited on August 10, 2007 at 5:57 PM. Reason : ]

8/10/2007 5:57:28 PM

yeah its macromedia flash,

right now they have a .gif file that has like 10 picture ads that cycle through
but with flash i wanna insert video, and pictures
im starting from scratch so i need help


ok let me put it in a little more detail, heres all i need to do

1. set up the pc to boot and login to a remote server automatically (it will be remote)
2. set the pc to download the advertisment flash file automatically
3. set the pc to display the flash advertisement

the flash file should contain like 10-15 advertisements, some are just a picture, some are video, some are flash animation
the ads should stay up for like 20seconds, then go to the next one

i dont know how to do 1, 2, or 3

[Edited on August 10, 2007 at 6:41 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on August 10, 2007 at 6:42 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on August 10, 2007 at 6:43 PM. Reason : oh by the way IM paying $$$$$]

8/10/2007 6:37:01 PM

how about...
you have a folder on the server in which you place the ads. The files would be named Comp1.exe Comp2.exe, etc. The ads would be in the form of self-executing flash files (with the video and pics contained therein) that have a loop command at the end of the animation. Each computer would have a shortcut (placed in the startup folder) to its specific ad file on the server (Computer 1 points to Comp1.exe, etc.) You would need to know how to animate in flash and how to make the file loop, but the loop command is probably something really easy to do. Each flash file would contain a sequence of ads. If you want to change the ad sequence, just change the file on the server and restart the client PC.

8/10/2007 6:56:57 PM

how about...
if your getting paid for this you earn it

8/10/2007 7:34:03 PM

^^thanks, that makes sense,

i just messed around with powerpoint and it seems to do the job also, although flash would be better

^by the way i said i was gonna pay $$$,
my bro's helping me a bit too

8/10/2007 8:44:47 PM

what program does your client use now?

8/10/2007 11:02:15 PM

why reinvent the wheel...
buy cisco's Digital Media Manager/Player system.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6681/index.html
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps7220/index.html


This is what we have in the new building here at cisco, with LCDs mounted across the floor.

Apparently, they forgot to change the password on them, so we can access them and use the CLI to display what we want... But its a pretty slick system.

There is a cli Command called plist, and you just direct it to a file you host that has a list of the different media that you want displayed, and the length of time in Day::Hour::Minutes of its rotation.

8/11/2007 1:02:10 AM

^interesting, $2000 is kinda steep though, i'll leave that as a last option,

right now powerpoint is looking real good, it can play video, pictures, and even flash
i can just make a folder with the powerpoint presentation and the videos
then have the pc's download them automatically every 20minutes of so

im still working on the automation thought.... still looking for help

8/11/2007 1:32:20 AM

1. Perl
2. OLE Automation
3. ...
4. Profit



[Edited on August 11, 2007 at 2:56 AM. Reason : ]

8/11/2007 2:56:18 AM

2k?? I think its only like $450 ...

https://www.softwareplusonline.com/catalog/productDetail.aspx?productid=Moch5b9CYTU%3D

8/11/2007 9:16:34 AM

you could install powerpoint on the clients and have them point to powerpoint files on the server

-or-

you could (in powerpoint) use the "save presentation to a CD" command and direct it to a folder on the server (one for each client (you would have so save multiple times or copy the folder and rename for each comp)). it would save it as an exe and would save the media files needed by the exe in the same folder as the exe, and then you would have the clients point to the exe

[Edited on August 11, 2007 at 5:58 PM. Reason : ]

8/11/2007 5:57:15 PM

^that looks very good, it made a folder with an executable and powerpoint viewer is included in the folder, perfect.

now just need to see how to auto start it, then pull in the new folder every x minutes, then run it.

8/11/2007 8:17:48 PM

how long do the ads go for in a predictable pattern before the order and/or ads are changed? because that time is how often it should request the file from the server

8/11/2007 10:35:13 PM

Quote :

"i dont know how to do 1, 2, or 3 "

Bet that didn't stop you from telling the client you could.

8/11/2007 10:41:30 PM

^hahah, exactly

right now the guy want to download the file once a day so that makes it alot easier

8/12/2007 10:35:08 PM

is the content going to change every 20 minutes? if not why would you want to d/l it so often?

8/12/2007 11:08:23 PM

^ yea, what is what i was getting at with ^^^^

8/13/2007 9:23:34 AM

well i need to be able to update it several times a day
but for now i only need to download it once a day,

8/13/2007 11:27:24 AM