Video Blender ReadMe File GENERAL INFORMATION A3000 / 1950 Connections Page 7 of your manual illustrates the Video Blender connection to an Amiga 2000 computer. The Video Blender RGB OUT to Amiga RGB and the Serial Connection for the Amiga 3000 are identical to the Amiga 2000 connections. However, if you are using a 1950 or similar multisync monitor, there will be no change from its current connection. The Amiga 3000 has two video ports. The Video Blender uses the port marked 15 KHz and the monitor uses the port marked 31 KHz. Because the Video Blender does not alter the image displayed by the RGB monitor, there is no need to use the Video Blender's RGB passthrough. Two Distribution Disks ? The Video Blender manual states that there is one Video Blender program disk. We have included a second disk containing example files and tutorial files. Disk A contains the Video Blender utility programs, Disk B contains the example and tutorial files. A => B Rolls The Video Switcher is an optional video accessory designed for use with the Video Blender or PP&S's Rambrandt video card. The switcher features two composite video inputs, two S-VHS video inputs, and one RGB video output. With the Video Switcher and Video Blender, you can perform A => B rolls between VCR's. Due to the nature of video and its synchronization requirements, two time based correctors are also required for A => B rolls between VCR's. Video Blender and Video Switcher have been tested with the TBC Personal, manufactured by Digital Processing Systems, with satisfactory results. Live A => B rolls between one Composite Video Camera and an RGB Camera do not require time base corrected input. If your production application involves live video, acquiring an RGB camera may be a viable way of performing A => B rolls. Video Switcher is available in an internal A2000/3000 software controllable version, and an external DIP switch controlled version. NTSC and PAL versions available. Available late August 1991: internal version - $399.95, external version- $499.95 Program File Compression The program files on disk A are compressed using a program written by Peter L. Dunlap, author of Dunlap Utilities. This compression method allows the program to load into memory, decompress itself and run. All this takes place automatically. If you are running these programs from floppy disks, you will want to leave these programs in their compressed form. However, if you are going to install the Video Blender programs on your hard drive, you may want to have them decompressed for faster loading. The installation program will automatically decompress the appropriate files and copy them to the hard drive. If you choose to use the compressed files with your hard drive to save disk space, you can copy the compressed files directly from the floppy disks. GPI Triggers VBPanel, VBPerform and VideoScriptor (Slides) can accept a cue from an external source. This source can be a mouse, joystick, or another device. Shorting pin 6 (mouse 1 or Fire) to pin 8 (ground) emulates the action of pressing the Left Mouse Button or the Fire button on a joystick. An interface cable can be built to use GPI triggers with the Video Blender software. Program Change Tutorial Seven makes use of a program called "PlayAnim". This program has been replaced with another animation viewing program called "View". This new program is in the UTILITIES drawer of Disk A. SETLACE PROGRAM NTSC is an interlaced signal. For proper genlocking, the video sources must also be interlaced. The Amiga 1000 computer automatically switches to interlace mode when it senses a genlock device on its RGB port. This is not true of the Amiga 500, 2000, or 3000 series computers. SetLace, included in the UTILITIES drawer, is a program which places the Amiga in interlace mode. This program should be used when genlocking non-interlace screens on the Amiga 500, 2000, or 3000 series computers. Setlace is run by double-clicking on its icon. It can also be run from the CLI or started in your Startup-Sequence (no arguments are required for this program). VIDEO SCRIPTOR Line Numbers Line number selections are POSITIONAL, not NUMERIC. In other words, if you click on #1, then scroll down on the list of script commands, the Scriptor will move the line number selection down to 2, 3, and so on, as you scroll down the list. You should bear this in mind when you are inserting script commands. Algorithmic Circle Wipes The algorithmic Circle-In and Circle-Out wipes in the Wiper and VideoScriptor programs may seem slow. This is because of the intensive calculations required to produce the circles. If these wipes prove to be too slow for your needs, we recommend that you create your own circle "anim-wipes". MIXMASTER Chip RAM If your Amiga has only 512K of chip RAM, you may run out of memory when creating lengthy or complex wipes. (To see how much chip RAM you have in your Amiga, open a CLI or Shell, type Avail , then press return.) When MixMaster loads, it will automatically check for available chip RAM and close your Workbench screen if chip RAM is low. When this occurs, the depth gadget will be disabled. Nearly all Amigas (except the A500DS) come with 1MB chip RAM factory installed. Upgrading an Amiga 500 or 2000 to 1MB of chip RAM is relatively simple. Contact your Amiga dealer for information about this procedure. Previewing Wipes The small wipe preview screen will give you a general idea of what your wipe will look like. To streamline the preview process, there are certain wipe parameters that are ignored by the preview. The effect of XInc and YInc on brushes, for example, is not shown in the preview window. For a more detailed "preview", you may wish to turn Advance Mode OFF, then click on the CREATE WIPE button. This will show you exactly what the wipe looks like, without creating a playable wipe. Turning Advance Mode OFF saves time and conserves RAM when you are just trying to "fine tune" a wipe. Overscan Screen Resolutions and AmigaDOS 1.3 MixMaster always runs in overscan mode. If the screen is distorted or if the bottom of the control panel is "cropped", in addition, the pointer may become garbled even though the program will operate correctly. To solve this problem, you'll need to adjust your screen position setting using the AmigaDOS 1.3 System Preferences program. Move the screen position cursor to the lower right corner of the position window, then save this setting. Additive Wipe Effects Although you can use Scan and Waterfall wipes on previously created wipes to create special effects, this is not true of the Zoom wipe. The Zoom wipe must clear each frame before calculating and placing the brush. This allows you to create reverse zoom effects. However, this prevents you from applying a zoom wipe on top of a previously created wipe. Incrementing Scan Wipes When creating wipes, the wipe will automatically end when (1) the screen is completely the destination color, or (2) when the brush completely leaves the screen. If you are incrementing the size of the brush during a scan wipe, the brush may not actually leave the screen for several frames after it appears that the wipe is complete. If this occurs, click on the "Abort" button to stop the wipe, or delete the unwanted frames after the wipe does complete. Repeating Animated Wipes If you want an "anim-wipe" to repeat, use the "loops" argument of the ShowIFF command to loop the animation. Placing two ShowIFF commands playing the same animation, or placing a RESTART after the only animation in the script will cause a "screen tear" between playings. Zoom Wipes with "Rub-Through" When using the "Rub-Through" feature with zoom wipes, the animation will continue to create after the actual wipe path is done. This is seen as a scrolling effect to the top left of the screen. You can stop the animation creation when the wipe path is complete by clicking on the "Abort" button, or you can delete the unwanted frames after the animation has finished. Use Common Sense When Creating Wipes MixMaster's flexibility gives you the opportunity to create unique and exciting theme wipes. There are often many different ways to create a desired wipe effect. Some are more difficult and time-consuming than others. If you try, you can create wipes which will fill all 999 frames and never actually finish! If a wipe is taking too long to create, leaving undesirable "holes", or is not created as you expected, try a different technique. MixMaster has been tested extensively. Before you call the technical department with a suspected problem, we urge you to re-read the sections in the manual which explain MixMaster's many features: the tutorials (pgs. 107-134), and reference section (pgs. 191-207) are packed with information that may not sink in with only one read-through. If the effect you desire cannot be generated by MixMaster, you may wish to use other paint software, such as DeluxePaint® from Electronic Arts®. Virtually any paint software which has 2-color overscan capability can create IFF wipes for use with Video Blender. The possibilities are unlimited! PROGRAM ERRORS Although the Video Blender software has received extensive testing to make it as error free as possible, it is impossible to catch everything. If you get unexpected results when using these programs, and the results are repeatable, please report it by writing down exactly what you did to obtain the unexpected results. Send the report to: Progressive Peripherals & Software, Inc. 464 Kalamath Street Denver, CO 80204 Attn: Quality Assurance Please do not attempt to phone in your report. WARRANTY CARDS Be sure to complete and send in your postage paid warranty card found in the back of your manual. Without this information, we will not be able to inform you of future video products or product updates. THIRD PARTY DEVELOPMENT The software provided with the Video Blender is fairly complete. However, it may not be adequate for every application. The Video Blender hardware is easy to control through the serial port. Section 9.3 of the user manual provides a complete description of the Video Blender serial commands. We will be happy to work with any developer wanting to adapt their product to allow direct Video Blender control. WARNING!!! Our VideoBlender trained technicians spend over an hour adjusting each Video Blender unit. A $100 minimum fee will be charged for any Video Blender adjusted by anyone other than our trained technicians. If you are having a problem with your Video Blender, call us at (303) 825-4144.