VideoPlayground is a mixed bag of video related hacks. It assumes you have a live video source (AV board, or a Connectix QuickCam), but you can also use a VCR -- it looses the interactive "edge," though.
Some of the toys in the playground:
• Beachball. If you Drag & Drop any file named 'Beachball' onto the video window, it will bounce around on the screen. Against a dark background, you can 'trap' the balls with a white piece of paper. Against a light background, use a dark object to 'bat' the icon. A beachball has been included in the folder for you.
• Video Trigger. If you Drag & Drop a file *not* named "Beachball", it will just sit on the video image. The cool part is when you 'poke' it in the video -- the Finder will open the file. If it's a sound file it will play, if it's an AppleScript it will execute.
General Tips:
o Point your camera at a dark or light background. Paterned backgrounds should be ok, but solids are better.
o DON'T WIGGLE THE CAMERA.
o Option clicking on an icon (moving or stationary) will open an info-panel about the icon. On the panel you can set an activation level for the icon -- some tweeking of this level may be necessary for good results.
o Sorry, you can't manipulate the icons with the mouse. I'll implement this feature just as soon as I figure out MetroWerks' DirectManipulation classes!
o Oh, and also, it's (partially) AppleScriptable & recordable. This gives you the flexibility to drop applescript 'triggers' that interact with other triggers, kick off a movie capture, etc. Go wild!
If you like VP, stay tuned -- I'll be releasing a more complete shareware version shortly. It will be throughly AppleScript-studly, and will have some cool new features.
And remember, there's lot's of cool things that can be done with digital video besides SAVING IT TO A 90 GAJILLABYTE FILE!!!
David Mojdehi
david_mojdehi@avid.com
MacHack, June 24, 1995
VideoPlayground may not be redistributed without the prior consent of the author. Permission to distrubute on the MacHack '95 CD-ROM is granted.
Special thanks to Shane Looker, Ron Duritsch, Bill Johnson, and Andrew Dignan for their suggestions and support.
