__________________________________________________________ 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