Development of mPower™ File Converters for Multimedia Design Corporation

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Challenge

•   Account for layout differences between mPower and HTML.
•   Account for non-supported objects and attributes in   Hyperstudio^®.
•   Account for large feature set associated with PowerPoint^®.

Results

•   Orbital was able to deliver the three file converters to MDC   on budget.
•   MDC was required to allocate minimal management   resources to the project.

Value

•   MDC was able to increase the capabilities of its mPower   multimedia authoring software.
•   MDC was able to better penetrate its target market.

“Orbital is a flexible and dynamic company that we consider to be a strategic custom software development partner. Our relationship with Orbital has allowed us to utilize their deep reservoir of expertise to assist us in developing great software products. With Orbital, it is “mission accomplished” every time!”

          -President and CEO, Multimedia Design Corporation

Multimedia Design Corporation (MDC) is a privately held company that has developed mPower, its proprietary multimedia authoring software with total sales to date of over 150,000 units. mPower provides market-leading multimedia authoring for education, training and presentation applications. Orbital was secured by MDC to develop the following three Windows and Mac based file converters for mPower:

•   mPower to HTML converter.
•   Hyperstudio^® to mPower converter.
•   PowerPoint^® to mPower converter.

The Hyperstudio to mPower and PowerPoint to mPower converters were developed to allow mPower users to import files created in Hyperstudio and PowerPoint, respectively.

The mPower to HTML converter was created to allow MDC customers to publish their mPower documents to the Internet. Development of this converter required a mapping of the basic features in mPower into appropriate HTML-based textboxes, graphics and hyperlinks. In order to achieve a precise mapping between mPower and HTML, Orbital’s team had to overcome certain layout differences to ensure the behavior of mPower’s native objects were closely mimicked in HTML, and to appropriately position these objects in HTML, given its less precise nature.

The general process used by Orbital to develop these converters was as follows:

•   Research and understand Hyperstudio and PowerPoint file   formats, including all graphical objects, such as photos and   clip art.
•   Create a plug-in that could “read” in the Hyperstudio or   PowerPoint file, “map” it to mPower’s objects, and then use   the mPower API to write the file out as an mPower   document.

The Orbital team encountered a number of challenges in developing these converters. One major challenge occurred while developing the Hyperstudio to mPower converter was to account for the fact that Hyperstudio had objects and attributes distinctly different than those supported by mPower. Moreover, in creating the PowerPoint to mPower converter, the Orbital team had to account for a very large feature set that required an innovative mapping scheme to achieve the desired results in mPower.

It took approximately two-person years to complete development of the three converters, and Orbital was able to deliver these solutions to MDC within the agreed upon budget.

As a result of this project, MDC has been able to allow its mPower customers to publish their documents to the Internet and import files from two multimedia authoring software applications: Hyperstudio and PowerPoint. This has allowed MDC to market mPower as a more robust multimedia authoring software solution.

This project illustrates why Orbital has secured a position as a leading global software company – our outstanding people build great code and provide unsurpassed service. Orbital’s development of three file converters for MDC demonstrates our focus on providing leading-edge solutions that meet or exceed the expectations of our customers.

The Multimedia Design name and logo and the mPower name and logo are trademarks of Multimedia Design Corporation. Additional product names indicated herein may also be registered trademarks of other companies.