Using Windows Media Player (WMP) in TT2007

TT2007 is designed to use WMP to play the sound-files and video-clips.

The sound files include voice-recordings of the sentences, voice-mails and dialogues in the tasks and the items in the folder VoiceMails on the DVD which are accessible from the Tasks menu.

WMP can be run in several different modes - called “skins”.

Once you select the skin, it remains in that form till you decide to change it.

Sound files

For sound files it is best to use the slimline default. It looks like this:

If, when you play a sound-file, WMP displays in Full Mode, you need to reduce it to slimline. If no film is being played, it fills the screen with fast-moving coloured psychedelic patterns which do not help concentration! To reduce it to slimline, click on the little arrow in the bottom right-hand corner of Full Mode, or click the middle button of the three buttons in the top right-hand corner.

In slimline you should see the control-bar above the Start/Pause button. It enables you to grab and move the marker.

If you do not see the control-bar, it will look like this:

To display the control-bar, right-click on the space to the left of the Start/Pause button. This opens a small white box giving several options. Click on

“ PShow Classic Menus”

This will remove the tick(P) and allow you to see the control-bar. It must not have a tick on it.

It will then look like this:

The control-bar is very valuable. As the file plays, you see the little marker move to the right. This tells you how far you have got through the file.

You can grab this marker with your mouse at any time and move it forwards or backwards. enabling you to re-play a phrase or a part of the text repeatedly. This is very valuable for comprehension and pronunciation practice.

To the right of the Start/Pause button there is a little horn with a down-arrow. This allows you to increase or decrease the volume. Pressing on the horn itself will mute the sound. If you hear no sound, try clicking on the horn. When it is muted you should see a small red exit sign next to the horn.

To change from slimline to Full Mode, click on the little arrow in the bottom right-hand corner, or click the middle button of the three buttons at the top right.

Video clips

To play video-clips in TT2007 you should use “Corporate Mode”. It looks like this:

If you want to see the video-clip larger, then grap the bottom right-hand corner of the Corporate box (a double arrow pointing diagonally down and to the right), and drag it downwards and to the right.

To change to Corporate Mode, change first to Full Mode.

In Full Mode, right-click on the lower-left edge of the WMP box.

This will open a small white box

Select View

This will open a larger white box

Select “Skin Chooser” and click

“Corporate”

Then click “Apply skin”.

To return to slimline from Corporate, go first to “Full Mode”. To do this click on View and select Full Mode. Then click the little arrow in the bottom right-hand corner of Full Mode.

“Skin Mode”

An attractive alternative to slimline is Skin Mode. It looks like this:

It has the interesting feature that it fades out and becomes almost or completely invisible when the cursor is not on it. It can be disconcerting if you cannot see it and think it has disappeared.

You can find Skin Mode from Full Mode by right-clicking on the bottom-left edge. Click “View” and select “Revert”. Then click “Apply skin”.

To get back to Full Mode from Skin Mode, click the left-hand button of the three buttons at the top left.