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Belgian Amiga Club - ADF Collection
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BS1 part 65.zip
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BS1 part 65
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VideoStudio v3.0 disk 2.adf
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manual
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timefunctions
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1992-04-19
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__________________________________________________________
INFORMATION ON ZVP VIDEOSTUDIO TIMEFUNCTIONS v3.0
__________________________________________________________
(This file vs2:manual/timefunctions may be removed to provide
more disk space, but only do this on a working disk!)
DESCRIPTION
A dedicated program allowing both the display of time
related post-production functions (clock, VTR-start, stopwatch etc.)
with (and this is a new fearure compared to earlier versions of the
software) the ability to overlay a vector textpage simultaneously if
required. Furthermore, the overlay may incorporate graphic (IFF)
logos. Dedicated graphics are also vector plotted for phenomenal
floppy disk efficiency... (so that's how we pack so much in!)
The overlay is edited using the Captor3 editor which may be
invoked from this program by selecting EDIT OVERLAY. The detailed
working of the CAPTOR editor will not be dealt with here, instead
please refer to the information on CAPTOR itself. (but see section
below on REALTIME and SHOWDATEFUNCTION text substitutions)
A separate (vector) overlay is saved permanently for each of the
six functions, and you may display each either with, or without
the overlay, as appropriate.
For reference, the overlays are stored in the file:
vs2:admin/clock_overlays
and the file adheres to the Captor CV3 filetype.
(N.B. not a VSpro type zScript file)
So if you want to restore the original settings, then copy this
file from an unused working vs2 disk onto the disk you wish to
restore.
THE AMIGA REAL TIME CLOCK
Before using the program, the real-time clock in your
Amiga (in the case of the A500 this is fitted in the A501
expansion module) is battery backed up, so the time is not
lost when you switch off. With a new computer, this needs
to be set. Use the SET TIME/DATE button and enter the time
(with or without date) in the correct form. Initially
set as PERMANENT (this resets the RTC). When using the
program, you may instead use TEMPORARY which allows you to
use the clock at a different date or time to the real one.
Note: Many A500 expansion plug-ins are reported faulty, so
check this first if you cannot set the RTC.
___________________________________________________________
USING TIMEFUNCTIONS
___________________________________________________________
Click one of the six functions, set the options or
edit the overlay if you wish, and click RUN.
STATION CLOCK
You can customise this with your own choice of
divisions on the clockface, adjust the palette as you
please, and edit the overlay to incorporate any text or
an IFF logo if you wish.
Be patient! This takes a while to draw, especially
if you use the minute division option. You can change the
palette, and alter the overlay (incorporating your logo) too.
The date is part of the overlay (see SHOWDATEFUNCTION) and
like the text it can be postioned anywhere with the font,
colours renderings you choose.
Options: Grats for HOURS MINS and QUARTERs.
Timesignal audio 'pips' on the hour.
SHOWDATEFUNCTION on/off
INSET ANALOGUE (CLOCK)
A 'breakfast' style analogue clock in the corner of the
screen. This operates identically to station clock (above),
but has its own overlay that you can freely edit.
FRAME COUNTER
Select FRAMECOUNT. Click RUN. Start the VTR as
required, click the LH mouse to start the count. Click
once more when you have finished.
This clock is very accurate... seconds in a month.
So too are most VCRs as far as frame-rates are concerned.
There should be no reason for the Amiga clock being
significantly out-of step with an accurate VCR for the
duration of a tape, so this program may be readily be used
to overlay HH:MM:SS:FF over a rough for off-line editing.
The clock is synchronised therefore to the frame-scan
of the computer (25Hz) exactly.
The synchronisation of this program is self-checking.
Any problem with your computer is indicated by a bad phase-locked
loop value, see notes on 'phase locked loop'.
VTR STARTCLOCK
Select VTR Startclock, and prepare the overlay using the
Captor editor EDIT OVERLAY. Click on the lines to change from
the previously saved version. Edit the text as required, and
exit with SAVE PAGE. The new overlay is ready to run, or if
you wish to save it to disk, click SAVE CONFIG. Likewise
the settings of the four options FLASH (at -10 sec) COLOURBARS
DEFINITION BARS and 1KHz TONE may be saved in their current
settings, click on the respective buttons to turn them on or off.
Click RUN, and when the clock is drawn, start up the VCR in
record mode, (alow a fair leader) and then click the LH mouse
button to start. If you click it again, before the 40-sec
count has finished, it will abort for you. If not it will
stop at zero with a key screen for identification or simultaneous
overlay, if you wish. (This automatically reveals any picture
through the genlock, so long as you are in foreground mode).
You can use the clock as a means of identifying and
starting your master recordings. Any details you require may
form part of the overlay. Do this BEFORE blacking the tape.
You can black the tape with the frame display if you want
an on-screen indication while 'Insert editing'. This can be
very helpful. (see note below BLACKING TAPE)
Include the line SHOWDATEFUNCTION if you wish, this
automatically displays the current date.
Two additional cue reference points are included at -35sec
and -30sec. These are intended for use when two VCRs are to be
accurately synchronised (often for sound dubbing) or for any process
requiring this during post-production. The two machines are paused with
the -35s cue block illuminated. They are started simultaneously (some
domestic/semi-pro VCRs can be started together using one remote control
handset) and then as an added check, the -30s cues should be perfectly
in step. You can observe the video, or use the sound 'pip' depending
on what you are doing. If not, you know to abort the attempt without
wasting time through finding out that the machines were out-of step at
some later point.
Options:
Inset Colourbars
Inset Definition bars (to approx 6MHz)
Flash at -10 sec
1KHz tone from -15 to -10 sec
SHOWDATEFUNCTION on/off
STOPWATCH
Options:
Hours On/Off
Mins On/Off
Secs On/Off
Tenths On/Off
SHOWDATEFUNCTION on/off
This function is similar to framecounter, except the last digit
is tenths. (see note below on PHASELOCK)
INSET DIGITAL (CLOCK)
This allows real-time update of the keyword "REALTIME"
if it forms part of the overlay. The clock can therefore be
positioned at will, and the font, colour, rendering etc. set up
by the user. (see REALTIME below)
Options:
12-hour/24-Hour clock
Seconds on/off
_________________________________________________________
Feature "SHOWDATEFUNCTION" and "REALTIME"
_________________________________________________________
SHOWING THE DATE
Any of the six overlays may include an automatically
loaded date in any font, colour rendering you choose, and at
any position on the screen. Futhermore, the fifth option
button (DATE) allows you to switch this on and off at will,
without altering the overlay.
Looking at the examples of the overlays you will see
that a line is included "SHOWDATEFUNCTION" (no spaces and caps).
If you include such a line, when you refresh the page, or when
you run the function, this 'keyword' is substituted by the current
date.
REALTIME
Including the keyword "REALTIME" on a line of any of the
overlay pages will, like "SHOWDATEFUNCTION" result in the current
time being substituted. However, this will not be contantly updated
unless you select the INSET DIGITAL (CLOCK) mode.
You can pick colours, font rendering etc. and position
this at will, by editing the overlay.
__________________________________________________________
FONTS
__________________________________________________________
Unlike with CAPTOR 3 you can have up to five fonts MAXIMUM
at once, this includes all the overlay pages together. The
standard setup includes fonts zHelv20 zCond30 and zCond40.
The current status is indicated by arrows on the font selector
pull-down menus of the editor. Every time a new font is added,
a new arrow indicator will appear.
Two more may be allocated as you require. If however
you wish to remove any of the three above, then to remove a
given font (say zCond 20) then NONE of the overlays must call
it up. Lines that do, must be deleted or the font reselected.
Before saving, the program checks for redundant fonts and then
updates its instructions for re-loading.
After saving the font zCond 20 should no longer
be called up (check with the font selector pull-downs to see
font is no longer arrowed) and now new font(s) can be
selected providing again the total again does not exceed five.
You may have to quit and reload the program to force it to
re-read the overlay data.
PHASELOCK
After using STOPWATCH or FRAMECOUNTER the program will return
a PHASELOCK value. This represents how much 'spare time' the CPU
and graphics processor have when the function is run. This will
confirm the absolute accuracy in time. A value greater than zero
indicates all is well, a negative number indicates a fault, when
the timing loses sync, and is inaccurate.
Using FRAMECOUNT our typical test values are (approx) :
25 A500 Kickstart 1.2
15 A500 Kickstart 1.3
2 A500-plus Kickstart 2.0 (slow old dog)
122 A2000/1500/1.3
n/a A1500/2.0 (new, not yet seen, expecting trouble!)
n/a A3000
These represent timing 'benchmarks'. If your machine fails,
check that no spurious processes are running, and try a fresh
boot before consulting ZVP. If operating on HD, check that
there is no rubbish in the startup-sequence you don't need.
Note that old A500s are often fastest (the earlier graphics chips),
and the A500-plus scores a definite minus on speed!
BLACKING A TAPE (Insert editing only)
In order to ensure that the sync pattern used when laying down
your syncs on blank tape is as accurate as possible, the computer
should be genlocked to an accurate source, e.g. a camera, SPG etc.
Broadcast video is not recommended, since although accurate, it
is subject to disturbance (such as interference) outside your control.
NOTES FOR A500 USERS
Versions of the A500 (pre Kickstart 2.0) have 0.5Mb Chip Mem maximum
irrespective of how much extra RAM you add. This program operates
permanently in double-bufferd mode, since the pages all require cleanly
drawn animation. There cannot therefore be a "LowChipFix" mode on this
program. The result of this is that if you wish to incorporate logos,
or use the 'Move Line' function, you may need to take special
precautions before entering this program to conserve your chip memory.
The A500/1.3 is the most touchy, the A500-plus is easily expanded.
See notes under CAPTOR INFORMATION on CHIPMEM.
If you have K/S 2.0, see notes on 'screen-spoiler'.
IMPORTING OTHER FONTS (Advanced users)
Any Amiga compatible font (to 99pt) will do, and must be
copied to the vs1:fonts directory (or hard disk equivalent).
In order that its name can appear on the program menus,
the file vs1:flist must be updated to include this font also.
Remember that if you alter the number of fonts in a given font
directory, the utility 'fontfixer' must be used.
The fonts zCond20, zNum30 are essential for this program, so
NEVER remove these from your vs1.
iss 0 20 Nov 91
iss 1 20 Jan 92
iss 2 29 Jan 92