Belgian Amiga Club - ADF Collection/BS1 part 65.zip/BS1 part 65/VideoStudio v3.0 disk 2.adf/manual/captor

Text File | 1992-04-19 | 28KB | 723 lines

________________________________________________

INFORMATION ON VideoStudio CAPTOR Main Titler
________________________________________________

(note that this file vs2:manual/captor may be
deleted when no longer required to make disc space)

Captor 3 is a WYSIWYG full-page HiRes graphical mutipage
vector text edit and display utility, post edit and
auto layout capable. (Before you ask!)

Because of the increasing variety of Amigas, and because
of the various upgrade possibilities, this version of Captor
incorporates many improved features compared with earlier programs,
(designed solely for A500s with 1Mb of RAM).  It now offers much
enhanced performace on machines with further chip memory.

IMPORTANT !! If you have an A500 please VARIATIONS at the end.

__________________________________________________

RUNNING A TITLE SEQUENCE
__________________________________________________

Each title (of one or more pages) is stored on disk as a
JOB.  These are files that live in the JOBs drawer on vs2.

You must define which of the jobs you want to run (or edit)
before you can proceed. If the jobs available are not curretly
displayed (this is automatically done for you when the program
is first loaded) then click on the button LIST (RH arrow) JOB.

When you have decided which one you require, then click on the
job displayed, whereupon its name will appear in the JOB
indicator box.  Load the job by clicking LOAD JOB. (you can
if you only wish to run it, click RUN, then the load is automatic)

The parameters such as CUE and TRANSITION are now displayed.

The initial and final cues of the job when it is run are given
using the LH mouse button.  If the CUE TYPE of the job is set
to MANUAL, then additionaly the job pauses at each page for
your cue to proceed.  If the cue type is DWELL, then the pause
between pages is for the seconds that you have set.

CUE type and DWELL are set simply by clicking on the
corresponding buttons unit the desired option is displayed
alongside.

As an alternative to clicking the mouse to cue pages, the keyboard
may be used.  Press <spacebar>.  This method is preferable with
K/S 2.0 machines, to prevent screen corruption caused by the new
chipset bugs, whenever the mouse is clicked on a new screen.

__________________________________________________

ABOUT TRANSITION TYPES
__________________________________________________

(DB) CUT TO  (DoubleBuffered so N/A with LowChipFix ON)

    A double-buffered dispay mode where the drawing of
the page is not visible.  A preceeding page is instantly
replaced by the next in sucession, once drawn.
This transition is NOT compatible with the CUE TYPE
PAGE ON/OFF (which is sensible if you think about it).
Appropriate for use either with or without backgrounds.

(DB) CUT BLANK  (DoubleBuffered so N/A with LowChipFix ON)

    As CUT TO (above) except there is a period between
each page when neither is displayed.
This period in between pages is a fixed brief pause in the
case of automatic dwell cue types, or if PAGE ON/OFF is set
then this pause is indefinite, and decided by your keypress.
Appropriate for use either with or without backgrounds.

(DB) FADE TO BLACK  (DoubleBuffered so N/A with LowChipFix ON)

    All of the screen colours are faded from black to
their usual colours as a page is first displayed.  The
reverse occurs as the page is removed. This is slicker
than a single-buffered fade.
If CUE TYPE 'NEXTPAGE' is set then your user controlled
pause occurs with the title on-screen.  If the CUE type
is 'PAGE ON/OFF' then additionally it will wait for your
cue with no title displayed between pages.

    Note that this will look best overlaid over
darker picture areas, and is not really suitable for use with
a background.

(SB) PRINT  (single-buffered)

    A single-buffered display mode where the drawing of the
page is visible.  Each letter appears in turn, line by line.
This may be used with backgrounds, or without, as required.

(SB) CUT (to) BLACK  (single-buffered)

    Appears much the same as the Double-Buffered CUT BLANK, but
because the writing of the screen occurs on the displayed screen
(the writing is invisible because the whole palette is set black)
then this will not work right with your genlock set in BACKGROUND
MODE (Col 0 keying).  So you should switch to foreground mode.

Note that this (unlike the double-buffered cuts) cannot continuously
display the same background for titling over, it too will be cut
to black at the transitions. (See also CUT to Col0)

(SB) FADE (to) BLACK  (single-buffered)

     This is inferior to the double-buffered fade for two
reasons.  It is writing on the displayed screen with all colours
set black, so it must be used in foreground keying mode on the
genlock.  Secondly it cannot display a continuous uninterrupted
background picture, as this will be faded also (but see below).

(SB) FADE (colours) 1 (and) 2 (to) BACKROUND (colour 0)

     This is the only type of fade that works with a background
picture, without affecting its continous uninterrupted display.
It fades colours 1 and 2 of the palette ONLY.  This means that
the picture used must not contain parts painted in these two
colours, or they fade too.  The example pictures 'leaf' and
'twilight' are both examples of this.  Any pictures you create
for use with this transition must adopt the same rule.
The job examples are 'wedding2' and 'nightfall'.  The former
uses the two colours one as a text colour, one as rendering;
the latter uses both colours for text.  You can use either,
and freely change the palette of these two colours without
altering the picture behind.

(SB) CUT TO COLOUR 0

      This is an important transition as a substitute for a
double-buffered CUT TO.  It cannot display a continuous background
(unlike the DB version) but you may need this from memory reasons.
It does however, avoid the normal glitches of a SB display.
Colour 0, is of course, any colour you set the background to.
(Compare with Cut to black, which is a different effect).

(SB) CUMULATIVE

      This is a simple transition that allows the progressive
adding to a page by superimposing a page on top of the
predecessor, i.e. there is no erase.

(!) NOTE

You should only use one TRANSITION TYPE per JOB in general.
If you do mix them, this is only permitted if they are
all of the single-buffered type. (i.e. labelled (sb)).

In the case of double-buffered transitions, the type is
set at page one, the remainder of instructions ignored.

____________________________________________________

ABOUT CUE TYPES
____________________________________________________

Most of the demos have automatic 'dwell' (i.e. pauses)
between pages to make it easy to run the demos.  In practice
it is likely (esepecially for subtitles) you would wish to
cue each page individually.

There are two types of manual cue, 8 settings of auto cue:

NEXTPAGE

This pauses at each page awaiting your cue to proceed
immediately to the next one.  There is no pause in between.

PAGE ON/OFF

This pauses both when the page is displayed, AND at an
interval between pages.  So in effect you cue each page on
and off the screen.

AUTO DWELL (=seconds)

A period between pages is set in seconds if you do not
wish to give a manual cue at all.

(!) WARNING

Although it is possible to mix cue types within a JOB,
this is not reccomended because the result is most
confusing.  Varying dwell value though is quite acceptable.

RUN TYPE SELECTION

The four buttons above the RUN buttons select the RUN TYPE.
In the NORMAL mode, all cue types are available.

In the LOOP mode, (intended for continuous presentation) you
should set the cue type of all pages to a dwell type.  The job
will then run continuously, and is stopped using the RH mouse button.

To use the TIMECODE RECORD mode, all cues must be set to either of the
two manual types.  When the job is run, with 'TC rec' engaged the timing
of each cue point is recorded (to a maximum of 50 cue points).

After you have run a job from end to end in TC RECORD you will then
have the option of saving the timings of the manual cue points as part
of the job, for future use.  If you choose to incorporate these timings,
you will then be able to use TC PLAY from the moment the job is loaded.
If you don't incorporate them, you can still use TC play, but in a
temporary fashion (until you reload another job).

TIMECODE PLAY can only be selected when a job has been previously
run in the Timecode Record mode.  Now the earlier timings will
be used for 'hands-off' operation.

Please note that if you change the number of pages, or the cue type,
the timecode track must be re-recorded.

____________________________________________________

STARTING A NEW JOB
____________________________________________________

Click NewJOB on the menu, and enter a name you choose
so the program makes a drawer for it. If the name
has been used, you will be told "already exists".

Initially it will have one page, with CUT transition
and a dwell of 3sec (unless you change it).

It is most important to set up the TRANSITION and CUE
type (also the palette if possible) as you require it
before you create any further pages.  This avoids having
to change all the pages later, which can be a nuisance.

You can begin editing page one.  The current page is
selected by clicking the +/- buttons alongside the page
indicator.  The total pages are set in a similar manner,
but this should be set as the pages are created and saved,
otherwise there is a risk of confusion.

(!) The JOB will NOT RUN if it contains unused pages.

The editor is entered by clicking EDIT PAGE once the page
you wish to work on has been selected.  (See section EDITOR).

SAVING PAGES

Saving the JOB writes all pages to disk at once, in
one compact file, saved in the JOBs directory.

You can, if you wish, save page(s) as IFFs for use with
other software.  Avoid this if you don't have heaps of
hard drive space to spare, as a 10-page job could consume
a whole floppy disk.  But you should also save the captor
files.  YOU CANNOT POST-EDIT AN IFF FILE.

If you do use SAVE AS IFF the output file will be saved
in the BGNDS drawer, as 'jobname_p???'.  This can then be
imported into D-Paint, D-Video etc.

PAGE MANIPULATION

In addition to the +/- selector button for selecting a page,
the GOTO button may alternatively used.  You type the page
number directly, and in many cases this is faster.

Page DELETE is used after moving to the page to be deleted.

Page INSERT is used also after selecting the point to insert
the new page.  This page is then duplicated and the JOB is
extended by one page.

Page COPY allows you to copy the current page to any other,
provided it is within the selected range.

______________________________________________________

SHOW PAGE / BACKGROUND / LOGO
______________________________________________________

If you have any example of a job with several pages loaded,
you will notice that a small part of the text is displayed
in the preview window.  This is simply an aide memoir in
case you cannot remember what was on each page.  Should
you simply wish to display a page properly, without either
entering the editor or running the job, click SHOWPAGE.

In a similar manner, if you want a quick look at a logo or
background, click the LIST BACKGROUND or LIST LOGO button,
click on the file you want, and then select SHOW BACKGROUND
or SHOW LOGO.  A single mouseclick will return to the
index.

____________________________________________________

THE EDITOR
____________________________________________________

The editor allows you to add, modify, reposition or
delete existing text line by line.  Therefore each operation
is either on a new line, an existing line, or a universal
operation on all lines.

Selection of a line is very simple.  If you click on an
existing line, MODIFY LINE mode is assumed.  A cursor
appears, you can change the text if you wish.  The
three centre menus are operational so you can change
the font, rendering, spacing, style etc. if required.
Note MODIFY LINE is shown top left to confirm this.

If you click anywhere else on the screen, then a new line
will be started at this point.  The cursor appears as
before, and you can begin typing the text.  Note that
if you haven't yet selected a font, the cusor will
be squashed and the message "no font selected" may appear.
In this case pick any font from the two font menus to use.

KEYS

Use the letters and numerals etc. as usual, to erase characters
from the right, use the BACK ARROW KEY top right of the main
keyboard group.  Press <enter> (or click) to finish editing the line.
If you are ADDING LINES you can resume at the line below at
the correct spacing if required, again terminating with <enter>.
Any subsequent line that has no text (press enter a second time)
will escape from this tabulation process.

You can also escape from editing a line by selecting a menu item,
or clicking anywhere with the mouse if you prefer.

COLOURS

While the line is still selected (usually before entering text)
you can set the rendering type, colour, text style colour etc.
The text colour is indicated by the white frame around the
corresponding colour top right.  Click any other coloured
box to change this.  To change the rendering colour
(indicated by the "R") select SET REND COLOUR from the
second menu first, then click the colour box required.

RENDERINGS

You can choose from NONE, SHADOW, HIGHLIGHT, BOX & SHADED BOX.
(The box rendering is around each line separately, if you want
a page box, select this from the main menu).

The shadow, outline or box will be in the colour you have set as
the RENDERING COLOUR (see above).  The highlight however is
automatically selected from the palette as the BRIGHTEST COLOUR.
(usually white).

MOVING A LINE

Should you wish to align a line left/right MARGIN or CENTRE it,
use the LINE FORMAT MENU.  You can also move it freely by selecting
MOVE and then clicking the mouse when you have brought it to the
new position. (see notes on machine variations at end)

The margins are set from the PAGE FORMAT MENU.  Select which
margin to change, and click on the new position.

Should you wish to allign the cursor at the correct postion
to continue tabulation below an existing line, select that line,
then select TAB BELOW.

If you want to continue a line, while changing attributes,
(e.g. font, rendering, colour etc.) use APPEND LINE.  Only
use this function after clicking an existing line.


FONT SELECTION

Captor loads all the fonts of a job at once.  This uses
FAR MORE (RAM) MEMORY than the text of the job itself
which occupies a tiny amount of diskspace.  Therfore every
new font you include in a job will eat up more of the
computer's RAM, and you could easily exceed the capability
of your computer... if you are not careful.

Try to stick to five fonts MAXIMUM per job.  Properly set
titles will not require more than this.  It is only the novice
who gets into trouble by erratically loading many fonts to
try out.  Every font you have selected during editing
and remains in use in one or more places in the job
will be loaded every time you load the job subsequently.
So don't waste RAM with unnecessary font selections.
If you want to see the range of fonts available, then run
the job 'show_fonts' or SHOW the background 'fontref'.

The ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM number of fonts per job is now 12.

However, once a font is loaded, you can use it as much
as you want with negligible extra memory use. The fonts
currently called up by the job are displayed in the
editor's font requester pull-down menus.

If you have selected a font during editing that ultimately
is never used in the job, do not worry though.  The program
will strip spurious font selections out for you, when you
come to save the job.  This includes any fonts subsequently
deleted too.  The font is therefore automatically no longer
called up in a job once you have removed all lines requiring
it, or changed the font to another.

It is good practice to resave the job after each page has
been edited.  In this way minimal extra work will be required
to correct errors, or in the event of a  power failure.

If you alternatively back up your work (i.e. the current JOB)
using REPLICA and another JOBNAME (e.g. 'temp' 'myjob3' etc.)
then you will be able to return to any number of previous versions,
should you change your mind or make an error.

REMEMBER saving a page (and not the job) records nothing on disk.

EXITING FROM THE EDITOR

There are two menu options, Save and Abandon (page).  Use
abandon if you want to return to the previouly saved page, use this
if perhaps you have messed up a page, or just been experimenting.
Otherwise EXIT and SAVE.

DON'T FORGET THAT SAVING A PAGE RECORDS NOTHING ON DISK.
TO MAKE A PERMANENT RECORD (OF ALL PAGES AT ONCE) YOU MUST
CLICK ON SAVE JOB ON THE MAIN MENU.  DON'T FORGET THAT EXITING
THE PROGRAM WILL LOSE ANY TEMPORARY INFORMATION YOU HAVEN'T
YET SAVED AS A JOB.

ADDING A LOGO

Start from the menu page, first select the page number of
a previouly loaded job on which the logo is to appear.
LIST and PICK a logo.  Now go to EDIT PAGE and select
POSITION LOGO.  Click where the logo is to be placed.
(see notes on machine variations at the end)

CHANGES TO A WHOLE PAGE

Because of the powerful page layout functions available,
there is no great need to take much care in your initial
layout.  The Right-Hand menu offers you various layout
tools to fix the layout neatly.  You can postion a single
line horizontally, i.e. centre it, or allign it with
either margin from the LINE FORMAT MENU with the line
selected for modification.

More useful are the page layout operations on the
PAGE FORMAT MENU.  You need not select a line to use this.
All functions operate on the page as a a whole.  All the
text lines may be vertiaclly respaced, alligned left or
right margin, centred either vertically or horizontally,
or even laid out as a subtitle with one menu selection.

For these functions to work correctly, make sure that you
enter the text lines on the page in their correct chronological
order.  If you don't, then vertical relayout functions will
put the lines in unexpected places!  The same applies to the
PRINT transition, where the text will appear in the same order
that you originally entered it.

IMPORTANT

You are advised to SAVE PAGE before using any V-Layout commands
in case the layout was not what you intended.

The Vertical page layout functions are not appropriate if you
have used the APPEND line function, or have created multiple
tabulation.

____________________________________________________

TECHNIQUE TIPS
____________________________________________________

1.  Do things in the right order.

Set up the main menu parameters (cue type, transition,
page rendering) correctly when you start from page one.
Set up the style, rendering type & colour, spacing etc.
as you require it from the first line of a page.  This
includes any margin setting to apply to all pages.

Both these steps remove the need to go back over many
pages or many lines making changes later.

2.  Copying attributes of a line.

The 'attributes' are the colours, style, rendering, font
etc. in use on a line.  Remember that if you want to start
a new line with these same attributes as the preceding
line, then that automatically occurs anyway.  If the
attributes you require are on another line, you can 'grab'
these by clicking the line, and then clicking where you
are to start the new line.  This is much easier than
setting them up from the menus.

3.  Copying attributes to next page.

As you create the job page by page, you can avoid reselecting
these attributes on each new page by:

(a)  Set the page number to your previous (complete) page.
(b)  Select COPY or INSERT, and copy the old page to the next one.
(d)  Now begin editing the new page, clearing the text as you go.
     (use line CLEAR)

This has an extra benefit that the layout is preserved too,
along with fonts, renderings etc.

4.   Why bother about layout?

In most cases you can 'bung' the text on very roughly indeed
and use the PAGE FORMAT menu to sort it all out.  OR the MOVE
function allows you total freedom of layout. (this includes
lines side-by-side etc.)

5.   Page order.

Although you can put text (especially symbols) anywhere,
and in any order, remember that all are included in any
subsequent vertical page relayout.  If you don't want
this to happen, edit the part of the page to be laid out
automatically, and finish it, before adding 'floating'
symbols.  (Advanced users can edit the jobfile, see below)

6.   Tricks with Append line.

If you click an existing line, and want to include a
change of attributes (font/colour etc.) within the line
then select append.  You now cannot backspace, but you
can select a new colour (etc) without changing the
earlier text.  Repeat this if you wish.

7.    Making a 'Build Page'

(A page that appears progressively, line by line, e.g. features
list etc.)

Start with one page, and complete it, containing all the lines.
Select only the transition DB cut to.  Now save the page.
Next increase the number of pages to the required number,
copying your first page to each.  Save the job again.  Now go
back from the last page, progressively deleting more and more lines
as you go from one page to its predecessor.

This method ensures that the position of all lines is correct.

____________________________________________________

PAGE RENDERING
____________________________________________________

This is primarily for providing a box around all of the
text on a page for muting backgound video.  Normally
used only with subtitle type layouts.  The type of
box ix set by clicking on the PAGE REND button.

Also available are preset landscape and portrait masks.

The page rendering colour is selected from the Palette
adjuster, using SET COLOURS.  If the masks are selected,
make sure you use foreground mode on your genlock, and the
colour of the key area is set to suit.  (Usually R=0 B=0 G=7)

____________________________________________________

PREPARING YOUR OWN BACKGROUNDS
____________________________________________________

These are created using an IFF-compatible Art-Package, such
as DELUXE PAINT 2/3/4. Deluxe paint 1 is not suitable.

CAPTOR requires IFF files in 8-colours, and 620X512 pixels
in dimensions, in HIGH RES only.  Other resolutions cannot
be loaded into this program.

It is suggested that you use one of the existing files as a
starting point, if you are not sure about RESOLUTION and
number of colours.

Any pics you create must reside in the bgnds drawer in order
that CAPTOR may use them.

_________________________________________________________

AMIGA VARIATIONS (The C*******P Overture)
_________________________________________________________

A500 1.2

Few probs, you need 0.5Mb A501 expansion, and use LowChipFix
to display backgrounds.

A500 1.3

As A500 1.2 (above) but with the additional provisions as follows.
Less memory than A500/1.2 so much more touchy on MOVE LINE and
POSITION LOGO.  You may have to use LowChipFix on these as well.
If you add a hard drive, this uses CHIP MEMORY (perplexing), but
certainly absorbs RAM.  So you will probably have to add RAM with a HD.
Same applies to any other peripherals that use memory.

A500 1.3 modified for 1Mb Chip (illegal)

Some display bug wobblers (see ZVP).  A strange mixed-up machine
(but only when you plug in a hard drive (?))

A500-plus

You require a special version of VS1 (make sure you have the correct
version).  Because K/S 2.0 is so memory inefficient you are advised to
add... wait for it... an A501 expansion.  Back to square one!

Please take special note that you are advised on this machine to
enter each program directly via DEPTS unlike other A500 users who
have a choice of routes.  This is due to the A500-plus's liking for
a 'program failed' message rather than cleaning up vacated RAM properly.

The A500-plus has a display bug - the screen spoiler - that puts white
bars at the top of the screen (in order to annoy you).  Commodore are
aware, but won't fix it unless enough people draw this to their
attention.  In the meantime, the software tries to chase this,
repairing the screens where possible.

Some companies now offer 'upgrades' to the former A500 spec (to run
much of the existing software out in the field).

It's a pity this machine has 4-col S/Hires instead of 32-Col Hires.

A1500/B2000 1.3

Drawing 50% faster than A500s and truly upgradeable. The business.

A1500 2.0

Expecting problems.

A3000

No idea... can't afford one.

_________________________________________________________

REDUCING MEMORY DEMANDS
_________________________________________________________

Users with A500s may find these notes helpful if only 0.5Mb ChipMem
and 1Mb RAM is available:

1.  Close ALL workbench windows when entering, from a fresh boot.
2.  Only boot using the VS1 startup disk.
3.  Remove unnecessary peripherals (e.g. third disk drive).
4.  If running from HD, remove unnecessary garbage from startup-seq.*
5.  Adding a H-Drive will kill 100K of mem at least.  So add more RAM.
6.  Do not upgrade a 1.2 kickstart to 1.3. (kills 100K of RAM)
7.  Do not upgrade a 1.3 kickstart to 2.0. (kills 200K of RAM)
8.  Do not run any genlock control processes without extra RAM.
9.  Fitting a 1Mb display chip ("illegal") creates display bugs.
10. Performance of A500-Plus enhanced by downgrading to A500 spec!

NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, YOU CANNOT MAKE A SILK A1500 OUT OF A SOW'S A500.

*Do not run resident AmigaDOS, or any unwanted processes. The old WB1.2
startup is at least 100K more memory-efficient than 1.3, while the new
WB2.0 yums up a staggering 200K before you can start!

_________________________________________________________

ADVANCED USERS
_________________________________________________________

The Amiga file editor ED may be used to manually 'tweak' the
jobfiles.  Each page is delimited by the character #<CR>,
but not numbered, so you can freely insert and delete.
Remember though that changing the text will certainly affect
layout, and so you should re-import the file into CAPTOR ED for
'post tweak' tweaking!  But NEVER change the number of font fields.
If a font is no longer called up, the program will do any necessary
redundant font field pointer corrections for you when saving.

Global font substitution is possible this way, providing the
sizes are similar to, or smaller than the original, just by
changing one of the header font fields. Acess to the file is
also useful for changing the chronological order of lines
(the print transition is sensitive to this, as is vertical
automatic layout).

The page fields are:

CUE TYPE, TRANSITION, ASC(PAGE REND+64) <CR>
00:00:00:00 <CR>      (HH MM SS FF)    OR   00:00:00:00-00:00:00:00
XXXYYYlogoname<CR>
backgroundname<CR>
ABCABCABCABCABCABCABCABC<CR>     (PALETTE, ASC(R+64,G+64,B+64)X8)
.
.
.             any number of line fields up to 20
#<CR>

The line fields are:

XXXYYYFSPCRTtextline<CR>

where:

XXX=3digit X-coord
YYY=3digit Y-coord (baseline)
F=file pointer to the file header font definition strings (1-5)
S=intution font style
P=character spacing
C=pen colour
R=rendering colour
T=rendering type (0=none,1=shadow,2=outline,3=box,4=sbox,5=hlght)
textline=any ASCII string that will fit the screen given the above!

Only attempt editing the file if you understand this!

iss 0  Nov 14 1991
iss 1  Jan 12 1992
iss 2  Jan 20 1992