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Creating Media Engine content for your BlackBerry handheld

Plazmic^® technology enables you to build, test, and run mobile media content for viewing with the BlackBerry Browser version 3.7.

Getting the tools you need to create content

You need to download and install the Plazmic Content Developer’s Kit 3.7 to create and view content using your BlackBerry Browser with the BlackBerry Media Engine.

The Plazmic Content Developer’s Kit 3.7 is a collection of GUI and command line tools that enable content developers to build, test, and optimize animated, 2D graphical SVG content for BlackBerry wireless handhelds.

The following tools are included with the Plazmic Content Developer’s Kit:

• Composer
  
• SVG Transcoding Utility
  
• BlackBerry Media Engine Simulator
  
• BlackBerry Handheld Simulator
  
• SWF Conversion Utility
  
• Mobile Data Service Simulator
  
• Apache HTTP Server
  

Interactive and animated content built using the Plazmic Content Developer’s Kit 3.7 runs on BlackBerry wireless handhelds that support BlackBerry handheld software version 3.7. The BlackBerry 6200 series and BlackBerry 7200 series of wireless handhelds support BlackBerry handheld software version 3.7.

What are PME files?

BlackBerry Media Engine runs content that is encoded in .pme and .pmb formats.

The .pme file format is a binary representation of your SVG content that plays on wireless handhelds. SVG is a text-based language similar to HTML that represents 2D graphics, animation, and interactivity.

The .pmb format combines images, audio, and a .pme file into a single file to minimize the number of connections made over the wireless network.

These files enable you to:

• Animate primitives (e.g. rectangles, polygons)
  
• Animate color
  
• Animate images (PNG, GIF)
  
• Create hotspots (similar to links in HTML, but more flexible)
  
• Trigger events (e.g. clicking a hotspot changes a color or plays an animation)
  

How to create and play content

The basic steps for creating content are:

1. Use Composer to create content then export it to SVG, PME or PMB format.
   
2. If necessary, use the command line SVG compiler tool to compile an SVG file to PME or PMB format.
   
3. Play the file by loading it into the BlackBerry Media Engine Simulator, or by accessing it with your BlackBerry Browser.
   

The next sections describe these steps in detail.

Step 1. Create SVG content

You can export SVG content using a content development tool such as Composer. Composer is one of the components of the Plazmic Content Developer’s Kit 3.7. It enables you to create complex, colorful content with animation, interactivity, and hotspots (links).

Use the BlackBerry Media Engine Simulator to preview content during creation, as detailed in Step 3a below.

When you complete your content in Composer, export it in SVG, PME or PMB format using the File->Export menu option. Exporting to SVG format enables you to add command line options when you use the SVG Transcoding Utility command line tool as detailed in Step 2. Skip this step if you export in PME or PMB format.

Step 2. Transcode SVG to PME or PMB format

Use the SVG Transcoding Utility command-line tool to transcode .svg files to .pme or .pmb format.

Create a .pme file

1. From the command prompt, navigate to the directory where you saved your .svg file.
   
2. Type:
     svgc [myfile].svg
   ... where [myfile] is your SVG file. This produces a .pme file with the same name.
   
   For example, the:
     svgc mysvgfirstfile.svg
   ... command creates a file named mysvgfirstfile.pme.
   

Create a .pmb file

1. From the command prompt, navigate to the directory where you saved your .svg file.
   
2. Type:
     svgc -pmb [myfile].svg
   ... where [myfile] is your SVG file. This produces a .pmb file with the same name.
   
   For example, the:
     svg -pmb mysvgfirstfile.svg
   ... command creates a file named mysvgfirstfile.pmb.
   

Step 3. Play your content

You can play and test your content in a simulated BlackBerry environment using the BlackBerry Media Engine Simulator.

3a. Test content

Launching the BlackBerry Media Engine Simulator

The BlackBerry Media Engine Simulator can be launched directly from within Composer using the ‘Simulator’ icon, or on its own, using the following Start Menu shortcut:

Programs->Content Development Toolkit 3.7->BlackBerry Media Engine Simulator

The BlackBerry Media Engine simulator emulates BlackBerry handhelds on your PC.

3b. View content on your BlackBerry

1. You need to place your content on a web application server after you create PME file.
   
2. Using your BlackBerry Browser, point it to the location of your PME. You content will be displayed on your device.
   

If you have access to a web server ...

You must modify your web server’s MIME type settings to enable your BlackBerry browser to recognize .pme or .pmb content.

Changing your MIME type settings for PME and PMB files under Apache

1. Open the httpd.conf file that is usually located in [install_location]/apache/conf
   
2. Add the following lines:
   AddType application/x-vnd.rim.pme .pme
   AddType application/x-vnd.rim.pme.b .pmb
   
3. Save the file.
   
4. Stop then restart your web server.
   

Resources and FAQs

The following information will be useful when developing content for the BlackBerry platform.

Documentation

• Plazmic Content Developer’s Kit for BlackBerry User Guide
  
• BlackBerry Wireless Handheld SVG Reference
  
• Composer User Guide
  
• BlackBerry Browser Developer Guide
  
• Composer Quick Reference
  

Documentation is provided in PDF format after you install the products on your computer.

Demos

Type the following URL in your BlackBerry Browser:

• RIM DemoPortal site: http://www.blackberry.com/browserdemo
  

FAQs

How much of the SVG 1.0 specification do you support?

For details about the supported SVG elements and attributes, refer to the BlackBerry Wireless Handheld SVG Reference (see "Documentation").

Why is PME necessary? Why doesn’t BlackBerry Media Engine play .svg files?

The .pme format is more compact than the .svg format, and thus, is transmitted wirelessly more quickly than .svg files.

Does the simulator play SVG?

Yes, you can load .svg, .pme or .pmb files in the BlackBerry Media Engine simulator. The BlackBerry Media Engine simulator compiles .svg files to .pme format at run time.

Why does the Plazmic Content Developer’s Kit have two handheld simulators? What is the difference between them?

The BlackBerry Handheld Simulator shipped with the Plazmic Content Developer’s Kit 3.7 simulates the entire BlackBerry handheld experience, and is geared toward developers who do not have access to a BlackBerry handheld device. The BlackBerry Handheld Simulator displays .html, wml, pme and .pmb files.

The BlackBerry Media Engine Simulator is intended for content developers with features such as ‘on the fly’ transcoding of SVG files, play, pause, and restart buttons, scene properties dialogs, etc. The BlackBerry Media Engine Simulator displays .pme and .pmb files.

Can I see some mobile media content right now, to see how it can be used or what type of content I can create? Are there any sites that I can browse to see some demo examples?

Samples that you can transcode and view in the BlackBerry Handheld Simulator are shipped with the Plazmic Content Developer’s Kit. These samples, created in Composer, demonstrate some of the types of content you can create with the Plazmic Content Developer’s Kit. The Composer samples are installed with the Plazmic Content Developer’s Kit 3.7.

The Demoportal site is also good place to view mobile media content. Use your BlackBerry Browser to view the following URL:

• http://www.blackberry.com/browserdemo
  

Why can’t I see the Demoportal with my WAP browser?

The BlackBerry Browser is required for viewing the Demoportal.

How do I get content out of Composer into a format that the BlackBerry Media Engine understands?

1. Export your scene out of Composer as .svg, pme or .pmb format.
     File -> Export
   
   If you export your content in SVG format, you must transcode it into .pme or .pmb format.
   
   
2. Perform the following actions to view .pme or .pmb content:
   
   1. Place your content on a web application server.
      
   2. Edit the web application server’s mime types to enable the BlackBerry browser to recognize the .pme or .pmb content.
      
   3. Use your BlackBerry browser to view your content.
      

Please see step 3B above for more information.

Are there any other programs besides Composer that I can use to create PME content?

Yes, in a two-step process. Besides Composer, you can use Macromedia Flash to create an .swf file, then use the SWF Conversion Utility to convert .swf files into .svg files. Next, use the SVG Transcoding Utility to transcode the resulting SVG file into PME format.

Do you have any tips for creating content?

Please see the "Recommended practices" section below.

Recommended practices

To create the best possible user experience (that is, less time downloading content and more time interacting with it), optimize your content. The following issues are important to understand when creating content for wireless handhelds. Create content as small as possible to provide the best possible user experience.

• Be familiar with the handhelds you are deploying to: Understand the handheld’s color depth, audio capability, and screen size.
  
• Audio: BlackBerry Media Engine supports audio in .midi format through a custom extension to SVG.
  
• Images: To reduce the number content requests and network transmissions, use the least amount of images possible. Use small-resolution images or to "stitch" your images together (Combine your images and tile them as one single larger image. In your content, move the large tiled image around and display only certain portions of it in the view port, whenever you need to).
  
• Colour: Use the least amount of colors possible in your images. For example, when exporting your content from Composer, (File->Export menu option), reduce the number of colors in the Export Dialog, in the "Image" folder, under the "Color Reduction" parameter. In Adobe Photoshop, save your images by using the ‘File->Save for Web’ menu option.