Creating Windows Media Download Packages

Custom Branding
You can also brand the player with your own graphics by including a custom border in the package. A Windows Media border is a custom graphical layout that displays inside the playback window. It can include buttons and controls, and supports and limited degree of interactivity. Building a border is similar to building a skin – you'll use the same markup language and graphical techniques. The difference is this: where a skin replaces the entire look-and-feel of the player – buttons, menus, and all – a border runs inside the Windows Media interface.

When you create a border, you add all the graphical elements and script code into a .ZIP file renamed with the .WMZ extension. If you're making a download package, you simply add that file to your WMD zipfile and reference it, as you would a skin, from your ASX playlist.

Remember, NOT every feature of ASX files is supported when the file is part of a download package. The BANNER element will not work, nor can you display html pages in the package using the <PARAM name="HTMLView" value="[URL goes here]"> technique. You can, however, use full URLs to make links to pages or media that live on the Web.

For more information, download the WindowsMedia 9 SDK from Microsoft. The RealONE player has its own version of WMD packages – the Real Metadata Package or .RMP file, which is described in the RealOne Metadata Package Creation Guide.