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1990-07-05
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SportsText
----------
by Mike Berro
Version 1.01/ Feb 1988
SportsText allows you to quickly display over 100 different titles for
overlaying on top of external video (using the Amiga genlock). This
is particularly useful for identifying players in a sports video (as
suggested by Bob Wolniak).
Version 1.01 uses lo-res, supports eight different fonts, 6 types of
dropshadow, 3 dropshadow depths, and allows color selection of both
foreground and background. I wrote this from scratch (in asm) in about
four days of spare time. If there is interest, more features will be
added, including:
1) High resolution,
2) Unlimited fonts,
3) Multiple colors,
4) Multiple lines of text with auto-parsing,
5) Multiple script files,
6) etc., etc.
Preparing the Script
--------------------
To use SportsText, you must first create the script file using a text
editor such as ED, TxED or UEdit, and save the file as "sportstext.script".
Each line in the script file contains a two-digit unique ID, a separation
character (a colon is nice), and the title text.
The first two characters are the ID characters; they are what you type
to call up that particular line of text. Any keyboard character may be
used, and SportsText does not distinguish between upper and lower case.
This allows over 1300 lines of text. I recommend using numbers, so that
you can use the numeric keypad.
This version of SportsText ignores the separation character after the
ID. The text following the separation character is the title text.
SportsText does not limit the size of the title text. Keep in mind that
the thinnest fonts supported (Topaz 8 & 11) allow a maximum of 40
characters per line, the others allow less. If you exceed the length limit,
the title will be chopped off at both ends.
Displaying Text
---------------
When you run SportsText, you must first Get the script file using the
Project menu. You can then use the Settings menu to adjust the colors,
dropshadow, font and position of the text (see below). To get rid of
the pointer, just click the left mouse button. Click the right mouse
button to re-activate the pointer.
To display a particular line of text, type in the two digit ID, then
press RETURN or ENTER. This allows you to type in the ID in advance,
wait for the appropriate cue, then press ENTER. To clear the screen,
press the SPACE BAR or the MINUS key (for numeric keypad users).
The text is always centered, even when using a proportional font.
If you make an error typing in the ID, press the SPACE BAR or MINUS key
and start over. For obvious reasons, a visual error indicator was not
included. Future versions (if any) will have an audio alarm, or voice
status messages.
Don't forget to use LACE (included in the archive) before running
SportsText. LACE was written by me, and is also public domain. It
automatically toggles between interlaced & non-interlaced video each
time it is run.
Changing the Settings
---------------------
Selecting an item from the Settings menu will cause the text to
reappear at the default location so as not to be hidden by the
adjustment panels. The text will return to it's former location
when you are done.
Both the foreground and background colors can be adjusted using the
Select Colors menu selection. This brings up the color adjustment panel.
Move the sliders to change the colors, click on ACCEPT to accept, CANCEL
to cancel (with me so far?), and NORMAL to return to a white foreground
and black background.
The dropshadow can be adjusted using the Select Dropshadow menu
selection. Click on one of the six dropshadow options (LL=lower left,
LR=lower right, UL=upper left, UR=upper right, WINDOW=full window,
NONE=no dropshadow). Click on one of the three dropshadow depths (in
WINDOW mode, this adjusts the size of the window). Click on OK when
you are done.
The font can be selected using the Select Font menu selection. Click
on one of the eight fonts to immediately see the result. If the selected
font is not in your fonts: directory (and they should be when using a
standard 1.2 Workbench disk), the font style will not change. Click on
ACCEPT when you are done.
The text position can be changed using the Select Position menu
selection. The pointer will display an "M" (for Move). Move the pointer
to the desired location and click the left mouse button (crude, but
effective). Click the right mouse button when you are done.
All of the settings can be saved onto the disk, and subsequently loaded
back in again. The settings are saved in a file called SportsText.Settings.
If you have any comments, give me a call, or leave a message to
73267,3361 on CompueServe, or to Mike Berro on the 1939 BBS (818)
368-4248.