Cometa En El Cielo

Using the Microsoft Agent Character Editor

ActiveX™ Technology for Interactive Software Agents





[pic]

Last updated: August 1997
Microsoft Corporation




Note: This document is provided for informational purposes only and Microsoft makes no warranties, either expressed or implied, in this document. The entire risk of the use or the results of this document remains withthe user.

Information in this document is subject to change without notice. Companies, names, and data used in examples herein are fictitious unless otherwise noted. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation.

Microsoft may have patents orpending patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document. The furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights. Microsoft, MS, MS-DOS, Windows, Windows NT, and the Windows logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of MicrosoftCorporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Contents

Introduction

Installing the Agent Character Editor

Starting the Agent Character Editor

Defining a New Character

Command Reference

Toolbar buttons

Introduction


The Microsoft® Agent Character Editor enablesyou to compile character animations for use with Microsoft Agent. You can define animations by importing Windows bitmap images, setting their duration, and optionally including branching, sound effects, and speaking overlays. For information about designing a character's animation, see Designing Characters for Microsoft Agent.

With the Agent Character Editor you can define the character's nameand description as well as output options, including text-to-speech (TTS), synthesized voice output, pop-up menu support, and the character's word balloon design.

Installing the Agent Character Editor


To install the Microsoft Agent Character Editor, open its self-extracting cabinet file. This will automatically install the appropriate files on your system. If you are downloading theAgent Character Editor from the Microsoft Web site, the downloading software gives you the option to save the file and open it or open it automatically as soon as the download completes.

If you plan to use a TTS engine for your character's output, you need to install that engine before you begin creating your character. A special version of the Lernout & Hauspie® TruVoice text-to-speech engine(American English language) can be downloaded from the Microsoft Agent Web site. You can use and distribute this engine as part of a Microsoft Agent application, subject to the conditions described in the End User Licensing Agreement that displays when you install the engine. If you plan to use another TTS engine, contact that vendor to confirm their support for Microsoft Agent and for information ontheir licensing provisions for use and redistribution.

Starting the Agent Character Editor


To run the Agent Character Editor, choose the Agent Character Editor option from the Windows Taskbar's Start menu, or double-click the Microsoft Agent Character Editor icon on your desktop. The Editor's window will open, displaying its menus, a toolbar with frequently used commands, a tree listingthe components that make up a character's definition, and a set of tabbed pages that change based on your selection in the component tree.




[pic]

Figure 1. Microsoft Agent Character Editor window

To access fields in the window from the keyboard, you can use the tab key and shift+tab to navigate between controls, or use the access key (alt+underlined letter) to move to a...