Customer Reviews

SMIL For Dummies

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I've been using SMIL for about a year now and was hoping that this book would give me a good single reference to use in leiu of the W3C documentation which can be a bit dry. I was actually encouraged when I found out this book was being delayed, since I figured that meant that SMIL 2.0 related material was being included. My problems with this book are two-fold:
First,SMIL 1.0 and SMIL 2.0 is intermixed throughout the book and since most players still do not implement SMIL 2.0, most of the examples will not work, leaving a newcomer to SMIL confused. SMIL 2.0 tags are not even specifically identified until you read Appendix E, which is only on the CD. Once you buy the book and print the PDF file in Appendix E, then and only then can you go back through the rest of the book to see what you can do now versus what you'll be able to do shortly. I realize that SMIL 2.0 is 'just around the corner' but if I'm building today, I need to know what I can do today.
My second problem is with the CD. Other than the directory for applications and the Appendices, this is disk was not much help. Most of the examples will not even run on Real Player 8. Many of the chapter examples contain only the SMIL file and none of the media references. Several of the examples reference directory structures not on the CD. What you end up with is a few megabytes worth of documentation which can be printed or

stored on your hard disk and a CD which can act as your drink coaster.