Table of Contents 1
Installation.............................................................................................................................3 1.1 System Requirements............ Requirements............................ ................................. ................................. ................................. ................................. ................................ ................................3 ................3 1.2 Installing the Software................... Software................................... ................................. ................................. ................................. ................................. ....................................... ....................... .3 1.3 The Hardware Dongle Key.......................... Key........................................... ................................. ................................. ................................. ...........................................4 ...........................4 1.4 Checking the Installation............... Installation............................... ................................. ................................. ................................ ................................. .........................................4 ........................4
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Overview................................................................................................................................5 2.1 About MagicSoft CG........................... CG........................................... ................................ ................................. ................................. ................................ .....................................5 .....................5
3 CG User Interface..................................................................................................................6 3.1 Toolbar......... Toolbar......................... ................................ ................................. ................................. ................................. ................................. ................................ ...................................... ...................... .....7 3.2 Preview window............... window................................ ................................. ................................ ................................. ................................. ................................ ................................. .......................9 ......9 3.3 Projects window................. window................................. ................................ ................................. ................................. ................................. ................................. ............................... ............... ...10 3.4 Items window................ window................................. ................................. ................................ ................................. ................................. ................................. ...................................... ..................... .11 3.5 Item properties window................ window................................ ................................. ................................. ................................ ........................................................12 ........................................12
4 CG Live Manager.................................................................................................................14 4.1 Toolbar......... Toolbar......................... ................................ ................................. ................................. ................................. ................................. ................................ ................................ ................ .........15 4.2 Status bar......................... bar......................................... ................................ ................................. ................................. ................................. ................................. .....................................15 .....................15 4.3 Project controller................ controller................................ ................................. ................................. ................................ ................................. ................................. ..................................15 ..................15 4.4 Macro dialog ................................. ................................................. ................................ ................................. ................................. ................................. .................................. ................. ......16 4.5 Spelling.............. Spelling............................... ................................. ................................. ................................. ................................ ................................. ................................................ ............................... ...19 4.6 Scheduler................. Scheduler.................................. ................................. ................................ ................................. ................................. ................................. .............................................21 ............................21
5 MagicSoft CG Working with the time line.........................................................................24 5.1 Working with advanced time line....................... line....................................... ................................. ................................. ................................. ..................................24 .................24 5.2 Working with time line presets......................... presets......................................... ................................ ................................. ................................. ....................................26 ....................26
6 MagicSoft CG How to..........................................................................................................37 6.1 Working with the 2D Text item............................. item............................................. ................................. ................................. .................................... .................... ............37 6.2 Working with the Image item.......................... item.......................................... ................................. ................................. ................................ ......................................42 ......................42 6.3 Working with the Rectangle item..................................... item...................................................... ................................. ....................................................47 ....................................47 6.4 Working with rounded rectangles.................. rectangles................................... ................................. ................................. ................................. .....................................49 .....................49 6.5 How to work with sound items......................... items......................................... ................................. ................................. ................................ ....................................51 ....................51 6.6 Applying effects on the 2D Text.......................... Text........................................... ................................. ................................ ................................................53 ................................53 6.7 Creating and managing a Ticker project............................ project............................................ ................................ ..................................................56 ..................................56 6.8 Creating and managing an advanced Ticker project ...................................... ....................................................... ....................................59 ...................59 6.9 Working with Smileys...................... Smileys....................................... ................................. ................................ ................................. .................................................. ................................. ...63 6.10 Working with the Clock Items........................ Items........................................ ................................. ................................. ................................ ................................. .....................65 ....65 6.11 Masking ............................... ................................................ ................................. ................................ ................................. ................................. .............................................. .............................. .68 6.12 Working with Lower thirds.................... thirds.................................... ................................. ................................. ................................ ................................. ..............................69 .............69 6.13 Working with the Timer................. Timer................................. ................................. ................................. ................................. ................................. .....................................71 .....................71 6.14 Making a Script (Game) project..................... project..................................... ................................. ................................. ................................ .....................................72 .....................72 6.15 How to work with linked items.................................. items................................................... ................................. ................................ ................................ ................ .........75 6.16 Working with color selector....................... selector........................................ ................................. ................................ ................................. ................................. ........................77 ........77 6.17 Working with Live Item........................ Item......................................... ................................. ................................. ................................. .................................. .................. ............78 6.18 Working with Chroma Key............................ Key............................................ ................................. ................................. ................................ ......................................80 ......................80
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6.19 Working with video playout.................. playout.................................. ................................ ................................. ................................. ................................. ..............................82 .............82 6.20 Working with the flash item.......................... item.......................................... ................................. ................................. ................................ ......................................85 ......................85
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Automation..........................................................................................................................87 7.1 Working with automation................ automation................................ ................................. ................................. ................................ ................................. ......................................87 .....................87 7.2 Working with Kramer matrices......................... matrices......................................... ................................ ................................. ................................. ....................................89 ....................89 7.3 Working with Leitch matrices........................ matrices........................................ ................................. ................................. ................................ .......................................91 .......................91
8 Additional software.............................................................................................................93 8.1 RSS manager..................... manager..................................... ................................. ................................. ................................ ................................. ................................. .................................. .................. .93 8.2 Extended keyboard................... keyboard.................................... ................................. ................................. ................................. ................................ .................................. .................. .........96 8.3 Scheduler................. Scheduler.................................. ................................. ................................ ................................. ................................. ................................. .............................................98 ............................98 8.4 GPI....................... GPI....................................... ................................. ................................. ................................ ................................. ................................. ................................................102 ................................102
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1 Installation 1.1 System Requirements The operating system: MagicSoft CG ver 5 is designed to run under Windows 7 / Vista .Net 3.5 SP1 must be installed in order to run the Live Manager Video card / Framebuffer: The BlackMagic DeckLink card must be installed before installing the CG software. Available Storage on the hard drive: A minimum minimum of 100 MBytes of space on the hard drive is necessary to install the program. We recommend that you use a separate partition or a hard drive for storing graphic elements. CD-ROM: If you intend on installing the software from a CD-ROM, the system must have a CD/DVD drive. Processor (CPU): Magicsoft CG will run on a 2 Ghz or better Intel or AMD processor. processor. RAM: MagicSoft CG requires requires 1GB of RAM. We therefore recommend a minimum minimum of 2GB of RAM to run the application and operating system. USB Port: The computer must have at least 1 unused USB port to install the USB Dongle key that is required to run the application in license mode. VGA Card: We recommend a nVidia graphic card with a memory bus of min. 128 bits for SD (for example 440GT) min. 256 bits for HD (for example 460GTX) Starting with version 5 of the CG, ATI ATI cards are supported as well. Intel GPU iCore3/iCore5 iCore3/iCore5 may work for SD setups .
1.2 Installing the Software .Net 3.5 SP1 must be installed before installing the program The installer's .zip package contains the web installer for .Net 3.5 SP1 so an internet connection will be required to complete the installation. Just launch “dot net 3_5 SP1 web_setup.exe” and follow follow the indications. indications. After installing .Net 3.5 SP1 you can install MagicSoft CG. The MagicSoft CG has a Setup program (with extension .msi) that installs the software to run on your computer.
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The installer can be run from either CD-ROM or from your hard drive (if you have downloaded the software from our Web site). Installing from a CD-ROM Insert the MagicSoft CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive. Run the .msi program from the CD-ROM and the system will automatically begin installing the software. Follow the on screen instructions until the software is completely installed. After installation, a folder called “MagicSoftCG5” should appear in the Programs menu. Installing from the Hard Drive Run the .msi program and the system will automatically begin installing the software. Follow the on screen institutions until the software is completely installed. After installation, a folder called “MagicSoftCG5” should be in the Programs menu.
1.3 The Hardware Dongle Key Starting with version 5 the dongle key doesn't require a driver.
1.4 Checking the Installation Run the program to test the installation by double clicking on the "MagicSoft CG5" icon. The program’s window should appear after several seconds. As we can see in the interface bellow:
If there are more than one Decklink cards installed, the user can choose the appropriate card for video output. Also for the card that can be used for video capture. If you want to use an additional Live input you need to have installed a second DeckLink card Using the program’s graphical interface you can choose the framebuffer, video standard and keying mode.
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2 Overview 2.1 About MagicSoft CG The MagicSoft CG software is designed to be an intuitive and powerful CG solution for professional television broadcasting stations that use the Blackmagic Design Decklink video card. A project is a collection of items(texts,images,rectangles) . All the items contained by the projects are synchronized.
Magicsoft CG is a scalable so lution supporting both Standard Definition and High Definition in all video modes: PAL/NTSC ( including 16/9 option ) HD 720p ( both 50p and 59.94p) HD 1080i ( both 50i and 59.94i ) Depending on which Decklink card you use, Magicsoft CG will support analog or digital input and output and either internal or external keying. Magicsoft CG is with the following in mind: - work done in a 3d environment supports anti-aliasing; this takes advantage of greater GPU speeds, - provides a workflow that is based on projects, which are collections of items - text,images,rectangles, etc., - projects can have one or more items that are synchronized. - key-frames can be used to interpolate the characteristics of projects, - projects requiring edits can be viewed in the Preview while output of on-air projects are displayed, - the content and display status of the projects can be controlled using a TCP/IP protocol MagicSoft CG can handle simultaneous previewing, creating, displaying and controlling of projects incorporating tickers, logos, crawls, image sequences, analog / digital clocks and script based projects. A separate client application called Live Manager is included. This provides a more flexible user interface to control all of the projects using the TCP/IP protocol. The goal is to have a template-like workflow so that templates are created as CG projects . A CG project can contain text, images, shapes, flash and video clips as items that can be dynamically changed from Live Manager. Live Manager application is linked with the CG so each project’s changes will be automatically loaded into Live Manager.
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3 CG User Interface MagicSoft CG Studio graphical interface has several elements : Tool Bar Preview window Project List window Items List Window Item Properties Window
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3.1 Toolbar Toolbar has several sub-menus and an icon bar
File sub-menu Contains "Exit" command that will stop the application Tool sub-menu "Capture one frame" command will capture the output frame as bitmap with alpha channel and save it on the partition C:\MagicSoft The name of the file contains data when the capture has made. "System Info" will launch a dialog that shows some information about used video card and frame buffer
"Options" command will launch a dialog with multiple tabs to set the program options
Video & Audio Settings tab This tab allow you to choose set TV standard (PAL,NTSC,HD) and the type of keying, internal or external. Decklink board must support the video standard as well as the keying mode. The program must be restarted in order to initialize the new settings . Socket communication tab allows you to set the IP and port pairs of the internal server that can listen the TCP/IP commands from other applications. There are 16 pairs of ports available in the server and each client uses one port to send commands and it can receive the server response on another port.
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One port can't be used for send and receiving commands in the same time. A client can use only one port ( for example the free applications provided with the installation package uses only the CG commands port ) In order allow both local and remote clients to use the server, it may be a good idea to set the IP to be 0.0.0.0. Playout tab allows you to set the behavior of the playout regarding the Park and Pause state so the clip will show or not Automation tab allows you to list and try the automation commands available for the CG
Smiley sub-menu Smileys give you the possibility of replacing the sequence of characters with an image or a sequence of images in a similar way as chat programs do. You can create .sml files that contain these correspondences between sequence of characters and images. Only one smiley file can be assigned to a p roject. "New" creates a new smiley file "Open" opens an already existent smiley file Help sub-menu "About" command : displays information about the current version of the program and the type of license. "Help" command : displays the help Icons Move : by selecting this icon, the mouse can be used to move the selected item Offset : by selecting this icon, the mouse can be used to adjust the offset of the selected item Resize : by selecting this icon, the mouse can be used to resize the selected item Move only on X : by selecting this icon, the item can be moved on X (left-right) Move only on Y : by selecting this icon, the item can be moved on Y (up-down) Lock : locks an item so it can't b e moved or resized with the mouse Zoom - : zoom the Preview Window Zoom + : zoom the Preview Window Zoom 1:1 : reset the size Preview Window to video size
Only current project : restrict the selection to the items that belongs to current selected project Only current item : restrict the selection to the item that is currently selected
Live Manager : start the Live manager Application Img Update : Updates all the images loaded in CG if the corresponding image file was updated
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3.2 Preview window
Preview window displays a preview of the projects. This window is scalable to enable the display on the monitors with lower resolution than the recommended one.
It has the grids standardized in pixels , the horizontal and vertical edges and the standardization is made automatically, according to the chosen TV standard (NTSC,PAL,HD). The preview window will display according to the aspect ratio of the pixel because the PAL/NTSC/16:9 TV systems has pixels that are not square. The preview window have Safe Area and Safe Title that helps for positioning the items It is possible to zoom the window. Items can be moved and resized with the mouse in preview. By clicking on wheel you can change between moving and resizing and the cursor will change accordingly.
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3.3 Projects window
This window has a list that contains projects name and shortcut controls and a panel with buttons to access dialogs for specific operations regarding projects ( creating, loading, saving etc...)
The project list has columns for : Enable Preview : a check-box that will display the project in preview when checked ( this is not interfering with OnAir status) Name : displays the name of the project Update : this button shows when the project has changed in Preview against OnAir . By clicking this button the modifications will be sent On Air. In : Put a project On Air . For some type of projects (like Lowerthirds) a separate program will be launched to manage the project Out : Stop a project from being displayed On Air ( so it be Off Air ) FFW : Project will go Off Air by executing the designated out effect Cond : for a project having conditions to be displayed will show a green check or a red dot depending if the condition is true or false
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3.4 Items window
This window has a list that contains items name and a panel panel with buttons to access buttons for creating or removing items
In the items list each item can be enable o r disabled. Enabling /Disabling will affect both both Preview and On Air Air The buttons panel has 8 buttons : 2D Text : By clicking clicking on this button a 2D text will be produced 3D Text : By clicking on this button will produce a 3D text (works only on W indows XP and is not suited for scripting languages ex Arabic) Image : Opens a browsing dialog to select an image (or a sequence) Rectangle : Creates a rectangle D Clock : Clicking on this button will produce a digital clock based on your system time A Clock : Opens a browsing dialog to select an image that is to be used as analog clock L Third : Creates a a 2D text that can be modified using TCP/IP protocol protocol ( mainly as lower third from Live Manager ) Remove : By clicking on this button the selected item will be removed
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3.5
Item properties window
The Item properties window appears only when an item is selected and contains : Dynamic properties of the item ( are placed above the timeline control )
Timeline Timeline is used to represent the time (as the item duration) . Fixed properties of the item ( are placed below the timeline control and remains constants on entire timeline ) Timeline Timeline is used to represent the time (as the item duration) . The timeline contains at least a key frame (usually at the beginning of the timeline at frame zero). The Keyframe is the point on the timeline that keeps the values of the dynamic properties of an item. Between keyframes, the properties of the item are obtained from the linear interpolation of the values corresponding to the keyframes.
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Starting with version 4.2 the user interface contains “Reset” and “Keep aspect ratio” controls
As we can see in the picture bellow:
The position and rotation sliders have a small button attached. The button is a shortcut for nullifying the corresponding property. property. The check box Keep aspect ratio tells whether the resizing of an item must keep the proportions between width and height or not.
There is also a new option to control the content of a text item or image item : TCPIP Variable.
If we click the button, the text or the image item automatically is changed into a TCPIP variable which means it can be remotely controlled by the other applications presented in chapter Section chapter Section VII : Additional software software..
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4 CG Live Manager
Live manager is a separate application that allows you to load and control CG projects . In order to run the program it is necessary to have installed on your computer .Net 3.5 SP1 (if ). The installer .zip package contains the web installer for .Net 3.5 SP1 so an internet connection will be required to complete the installation. The application works in Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 it has full support for UNICODE. Live Manager application being linked with the CG by TCP/IP , the changes from each project will be automatically loaded for each project.
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MagicSoft CG Studio graphical interface has several elements : Tool Bar Status bar Project controller
4.1 Toolbar The Toolbar has several sub-menus - Project the contains - "Open Project" command that opens a project and load the project in the CG - "Stop All" command that stops all the project from the CG - Hide/Unhide allows you to check from a list of all loaded projects the projects that you want to hide (by default all projects are visible) - Reconnect command will reconnect the application to the CG - Always on top command will make the application to be displayed on top of all applications that runs on your computer - Settings opens a settings dialog that contains - project default directory - TCP/IP address
4.2 Status bar Status bar appears at the bottom of the Live Manager window and shows the connection status.
4.3 Project controller A project controller is a set of the buttons and controls that are listed in the Live Manager interface and are necessary to manage a project. Each project that runs in the CG has a corresponding "Project controller" in Live manager. Each project controller has a title bar that shows the path , the name and on air status of the project Each project controller has buttons for - Play - Stop - FFW For Ticker and Game-script projects there are buttons for "Pause" and " Resume" that are specific for this kind of projects.
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For Ticker and Crawl projects it is possible to set the speed by adjusting the value from the edit box. Depending of the type of the project , the project controller can show a grid that allows you to edit the text or image to be dynamically assigned for Text or Image items and a resize button that allows you to adjust the vertical size in order to increase the size of the grid. Each project controller has a menu with some actions that can be executed for the project
- "Refresh on air status" asks the CG about the status of the project (normally this is not nedded because the communication between CG and Live Manager automatically shows the changing of the status) - "Reload project template" will load the project again in the Live manager (normally this is not needed) - "Hide" will hide the project so it will not appear in the Live Manager but the project run in CG. In order to show again click on "Hide/unhide" button from Toolbar - "Import text" allows you to import the data into the grid from tab delimited .txt files -"Export text" allows you to export the data from the grid in a tab delimited .txt file
4.4
Macro dialog
Macro dialog area allows you to create and map commands on each button as you need. To create a new button just right-click on a free space of the area ( not on an existing button ) and choose “Add button”. At right-click on a pop-up menu appears and you can choose to - add commands - duplicate button - delete button - resize/move button when you choose the "Add Commands" option , the " Macro Editor" dialog will appear in order to assist you. The editor command dialog has several elements that will be listed and explained here : - an edit box that allows you to edit the button name - a list that contains the assigned commands - add command wizard button that will start the wizard command
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- load commands from file button will start a browsing dialog to select the file that contains commands. It may be useful when you want to concatenate or duplicate some commands. After selecting the file and clicking OK the commands will be inserted in the list - delete selected rows will delete from the list the selected rows - “add time gap” allows you to insert a time gap between a series of commands that needs some time to be executed. For example if you want to stop a project in the middle of execution and after that to play again the project you need to insert a time gap between those 2 commands - “add command” will add a blank command after the selected row. You can click on the new created blank row to manually edit the content of the command. This feature may be useful for debugging. - “save commands as file” allows you to save the list of the commands in a file There dialog also contains the controlls to choose the color of the text and the background of the button. The sample button from the dialog instantly gives you a preview on how the button looks.
When clicking on add command wizard a wizard dialog will appear in order to assist you to choose the desired command. The dialog contains all the commands that can be sent to a project ( Load, UnLoad, Start, Stop, Pause, FFW out with effect, Automation, Set a variable, Set a picture ) and requires to select a command and to click on “choose the project ” to open a b rowser dialog to select the project. After selecting the project and click “OK” the command will appear in the command list and the wizard can be started again to select another command. By closing the Editor command you will return on the main program and you can click on the button. All the commands that was inserted in Editor command list be sent to Magicsoft CG when you click on the corresponding button .
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By using the options for Move , Duplicate and Resize, you can customize your macro dialog as you need.
All the macro buttons can be mapped on the buttons that controls the state of a project
As you can see in the p revious picture, by right-clicking on a button you can choose any of the predefined macro to be executed when you click the button. After you assign one or more macros to a b utton, the button icon will be display an additional gear symbol.
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4.5
Spelling
The spelling feature allows you to check the text that you type and it can give you correct spelling alternatives for misspelled words For your language you need 2 specific files : dictionary ( that has the extension .dic ) and grammar ( that has the extension .aff) Those dictionaries are specific to OpenOffice suite and can be found on internet at http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Dictionaries
In the settings dialog of the Live Manager, you need to select the dictionary and grammar files for your language in order to activate the spelling
When a word is misspelled, it will be underlined in red
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In order to spell-check, right-click and choose “check-spelling” or press F7
The Spelling dialog appears offering you the possibility to correct the misspelled word
A more direct approach is to right-click on the word and choose one of the suggested replacements.
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4.6 Scheduler
Scheduler is a module allowing the user to perform some actions at predefined moments of time on the project at hand. One can start it by selecting it from the “Actions” drop down menu or by clicking the Scheduler events monitor
Any project not having scheduled events will have the monitor grayed out.
One can start inserting events in the scheduler by double clicking on the time line, or choosing “New event” from the contextual menu (right click on the time line). The user is presented with a new window where he can edit properties of the specified event.
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By clicking “Recurring event” one is able to create a recurrent action. The rules of recurrence can be set by modifying the recurrence pattern. The user can choose from:
- daily events – these types of events can occur on a daily basis
- weekly events
- monthly events
- Yearly events
The available actions to be triggered are : - commands for controlling projects - automation commands ( listed with “ [A] “ prefix ) - macro commands ( listed with “ [M] “ prefix )
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5 MagicSoft CG Working with the time line
5.1 Working with advanced time line The Timeline control is a convenient representation of an Item’s lifetime and allows the animation of an item by selecting different properties during the item’s lifetime. Timeline units are in frames as is appropriate for video. The keyframe is the frame that specifies the dynamic values of an item’s properties. Between keyframes, the properties of the item are obtained by the linear interpolation of the values corresponding to the keyframes. The timeline contains at least one keyframe (usually created at the beginning of the timeline as frame zero.)
Several additional controls can be noted near the Timeline control, : - timeline duration ( indicates the item’s lifetime in frames ) - go to previous keyframe - go to next keyframe - create new keyframe ( set currently selected frame as a keyframe ) - delete keyframe ( deletes the selected keyframe ) - infinite loop ( the item will will loop between this keyframe and the next one. An item can have only one keyframe with this attribute ) - play ( plays in Preview window showing the entire item lifetime ) - go to frame ( allows you to p lace the cursor at specified frame ) - animate ( allows you to animate an item by changing the properties’ values at a selected frame.
When the “Animate” button is not active the properties are changed for all the keyframes. If the “Animate” button is active the properties are changed only for selected keyframe. If the Animate button is active (highlighted) the properties of the item will be modified only if the cursor is set on a keyframe
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To copy a keyframe hold CTRL and drag the keyframe with mouse to the desired location. To move a keyframe hold SHIFT and drag the keyframe with mouse to the desired location. By moving the first key we can delay the Item so it will appear later than other items of the project.
Example: Creating an empty project and adding a 2D Text item to show how to animate an item. From the Projects Window select New -> Simple project and choose a name for the project. Then select the project in Projects window list. Now in the Items window we can add a 2D Text item by clicking on “2D Text” button.
The item’s lifetime is pre-set on 250 frames by default. That duration can be adjusted by editing the value from the timeline duration control. Because the item has only one keyframe, all the values are constant during item ‘s lifetime. In order to create an animation that has a duration of 100 keyframes , go to frame 100 and create a keyframe by clicking on “New keyframe” button Then click on “Animate” and change the desired value for example for color o r for position. Now by dragging the cursor on the timeline control, the item will be displayed in the Preview window with the item’s changes in position and color between the keyframes.
We can play in the project in the Preview by pressing “Play” button. To stop the animation preview click on the same button that toggles between stop and play. While playing in the Preview, items cannot be edited. Properties listed below the timeline also cannot be changed ( can't be animated ). Depending of type of item we can also animate : - rotation - draw area - size - transparency
To put the project OnAir just click the IN button. To stop the project from being displayed OnAir click on OUT button. To save Project as file click on Save or Save As or right click on the project’s name and after choose Save from the menu. By clicking on the Remove button the project will be removed from both Preview and OnAir.
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5.2 Working with time line presets
Working with time line presets is a fast and easy way to work with dynamic items comparing to advanced time line context, but with less control. A typical time line preset looks like this:
We can observe that a time line preset consists in four stages: 1. 2. 3.
4.
Delay Stage – represented by the gray segment, where the item is not displayed. In Stage – represented by the white segment, where the item makes his “entrance”. Hold Stage - represented by the green segment (if the Infinite check is not checked the segment is yellow), where the item “performs his act” (basically, staying still on the screen) Out Stage - represented by the orange segment, where the item “leaves the stage”.
All stages has in common the duration property which tells how long the respective stage should perform. For IN and OUT stages we can choose how the item enters or leaves the scene; later we will describe more detailed the transitions. The Infinite check acts exactly like the Infinite loop che ck explained in the chapter above “V.1 Working with time line presets” When we create an item his time line preset looks like this:
The Delay, In and Out stages don't exist except the Hold stage which means the item will simply start to exist at his chosen position. The IN, HOLD and OUT buttons helps the user to navigate through time line by setting the time cursor at the corresponding moments.
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The transition is a way to tell how an item should behave in the IN or OUT stage. The interface looks like in the picture bellow:
There are three types of behaviors: I) Push – acting on position. By this we tell the item to enter the screen from left, right, upper or bottom side of the screen. For example if for the IN stage we choose Right:
The item will enter the screen by sliding from left to right towards the HOLD position in the time given for the IN stage, like in the pictures bellow:
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If we choose Down for the OUT stage:
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The item will leave the screen by sliding from HOLD position to the bottom of the screen in the time given for the OUT stage, like in the pictures bellow:
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II) Fade – acting on transparency (opacity). This type of transition changes the opacity of the object. Right now, there is only one of Fade for the IN stage (Fade In) and only one for the OUT stage (Fade Out), which can be used to make the item appear and disappear. So, we choose Fade In for the IN stage:
The behavior will look like this:
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And we choose Fade Out for the OUT stage:
And the behavior will look like this:
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III) Reveal and Wipe – this transition will transform the drawing area revealing the item during the IN stage and wiping it in the OUT stage. So, reveal:
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And wipe:
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Besides the type of transition the user can choose the weight of a transition, as shown in the picture bellow:
The weight of a transition tells how much from its behavior should be applied at its maximum moment (for IN stage, the maximum moment is the start time of the stage, while for OUT stage, the maximum moment is at the end time of the stage). For example, if we choose 75% for the Fade In transition in the IN stage, the item will not be fully transparent at the starting of the IN stage as in the example above where we let the weight at 100%, but at 25% opacity as sees in the picture bellow.
Same thing for the transition by position, like Push Down for example:
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We can observe that the start time of the IN stage, the item is not outside the screen as in the example above where we used 100% weight for the Push right transition, but at 60% from the HOLD position to the virtual maximum moment IN position.
Applying effects in preset time line mode is very similar as in the advanced time line mode, except the user doesn't have control on times and durations. While in advanced mode the user can modify offsets and duration freely, in preset mode one can only set the stage where the effect is applied: Advanced mode
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vs
Preset mode
In the example above we have a Horizontal blur effect during the IN stage and a Saturation effect during HOLD stage. So while the IN stage we have:
and while the HOLD stage we have:
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6 MagicSoft CG How to
6.1 Working with the 2D Text item This type of item is the most efficient way to display text. When working with 2D text, the application behaves the same when working in Windows XP, Vista and Windows7. It has full support for UNICODE and scripting languages and can be set to dynamically auto-fit in a designated target size. To start the example let's create an empty project. From Projects Window select New -> Simple project and choose a name for the project. Then select the project in Projects window list. Now in Items window we can add a 2D Text item by clicking on “2D Text” button.
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2D Text has fixed and dynamic properties.
Fixed properties are -duration ( indicates the item life time in frames ) -content of the text ( is editable from edit control and fully supports UNICODE ) -font type ( any installed TrueType font can be selected ) -font style (if available, any style can be selected) -font size ( any size up to 100 ) -alignment ( any combination of vertical and horizontal alignment can be selected ) -shrink factor ( you can choose to shrink the text in order to make it appropriately sized for display ) -autofit settings ( displays a dialog for enabling and has a target size in p ixels. You can indicate how much the font size can be shrunk and down-sized in order to fit the target size ) Fixed properties are applied in real-time so you will see the item’s modifications in Preview window Dynamic properties - position ( represents the place where an item is located. Position can be modified by editing the corresponding X, Y or Z value ; by clicking on edit control and spinning the mouse wheel you can have more precise control ) - offset ( represents the distance between the item position and the pivot. Pivot is the point used as the center for rotation ) - rotation ( represents the angle of rotation on each axes . A complete rotation is 360 degrees ) - draw area ( is the area where the item will be drawn. Initially the draw area is full screen but you can restrict it on both axes ) - font color and transparency ( a color dialog allows you to select the color and the transparency ) - shadow color and transparency ( also can be selected from the color dialog ) - shadow position ( represents the distance between text and shadow ) - border color and transparency ( also can be selected from color dialog ) - border size ( represents the size of the border) - text effects like blur, transparency, luminance, saturation can be applied over the text, shado w and/or border (see the chapter V. 6 “ Applying effects on 2D Text item” ) Dynamic properties are applied in real-time so you will see the item change in the Preview window In some situations it may be useful to lock an item so that it moves only on the X or Y axis. This can be done by clicking on the corresponding icons in the Toolbar or by right clicking the mouse in the Preview window and deselecting “Allow X” or “Allow Y.” This will affect only the movement with the mouse in the Preview window. An item can be Locked by selecting it with the mouse and clicking on the corresponding lock icon from Toolbar; or by right clicking the mouse in Preview window and selecting “Lock.” Locking an Item prevents it from being accidentally modified. The project’s review can be enabled or disabled by checking /unchecking the associated check box from the Project list. This will not influence the OnAir status of the project. In order to show that the project in Preview was modified, the OnAir project in the Project list will display a star after the name of the project.
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Starting with version 4.2 of the CG 2D text items can be scaled. Consider the text item bellow, which by default is not scaled:
Now we can modify its size however we desire, without changing the font size:
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We can observe that there is Keep ratio check box available. If we uncheck it we can resize the text freely:
or:
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If you want to have a text item changed dynamically, you can make the item controllable from Live Manager application by clicking on TCP/IP variable button.
After clicking on “Refresh” you will see a grid in Live Manager that allows you to edit the text
By clicking on Refresh, the modifications will be sent On Air and to Live Manager application. To put the project OnAir just click the IN button. To stop the project from being disp layed OnAir click on OUT button. The project can be controlled in the same manner from a project list or from the Live Manager application. To Save the Project as a file, click on Save or Save As or right click on the project name and choose Save from the menu. By clicking on the Remove button the project will be removed from both Preview and OnAir and the Live Manager application will discard the project.
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6.2 Working with the Image item The Image item allows you to display an image or an image sequence We will start this example by making an empty project From Projects Window select New -> Simple project and choose a name for the project. Then select the project in Projects window list. Now in Items window we can add an Image item by clicking on “Image” button. A browse dialog opens that allow to select the image that can have extensions : .tga, .bmp, .jpg, png or dds ( .dds is a compressed format 4:1 that allows you to work with images with alpha channel)
If you want to select a image sequence, just select the first image and click on “Scan if sequence” button and
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the software will count all images. You can specify how many files from sequence to use by editing “Count” value. If you want a slower playing rate, pick a slow factor greater than 1 b y editing the “Slow Factor” value. If you need to change an Image item dynamically, you can make the item controllable from the Live manager application by checking the TCP/IP variable checkbox. You can choose work with the picture at original size or to resize to match the desired width by keeping the aspect ratio.
Image item has fixed and dynamic properties
Fixed properties are - duration ( indicates item life time in frames ) - file name and properties of the sequence ( this is editable using the “Change” button ) - type of filtering used for resizing ( “Linear” is the best for most cases ) - auto update ( by checking this option, the software will scan ti ascertain whether the the image was updated and will automatically update it in both Preview and On Air. This works only with single images, not with sequences of images.) Fixed properties are applied in real-time so you will see the item’s modifications in the Preview window
Dynamic properties - position ( represents the place where an item is located. The Position can be modified by editing the corresponding X, Y or Z value ; by clicking on edit control and spinning the mouse wheel you can have a more precise control ) - offset ( represents the distance between the item’s position and the pivot. Pivot is the point used as the center for rotation ) - rotation ( represents the angle of rotation on each axes . A complete rotation is 360 degrees ) - draw area ( is the area where the item will be drawn. Initially the draw area is full screen but you can reduce it on both axes ) - picture size ( any value can be assigned for the width and height; in order to revert to original dimensions push the button bellow the width and height edit controls ) - picture transparency (is a percentage of transparency. This works for images with and without alpha channel ) Dynamic properties are applied in real-time so you will see the item change in Preview window This also works for sequences and will automatically update images in both Preview and On Air.
In some situations it may be useful to lock the item so that it can be moved only on the X or Y axis. This can be done by clicking on the corresponding icons from the toolbar or right clicking the mouse when in the Preview window and deselect “Allow X” or “Allow Y.” That will affect only moving/resizing with the mouse in preview window. An Item can be locked so as not to accidentally modify it . This is done using the mouse and clicking on corresponding lock icon from the Toolbar or by right clicking the mouse when in the Preview window and select ing “Lock”. Like all other items, Images can be moved and re-sized with the mouse in Preview window. By clicking on icon “Img Update” from Toolbar the software checks all the images used in all of the loaded projects to see if the corresponding files were changed since loading.
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If you need to change an Image item dynamically, you can make the item controllable from the Live manager application by clicking on TCP/IP variable button. Every assigned picture will be re-sized to match the allocated size.
The pictures that you want to be dynamically assigned to Image items need to b e located in a designated folder . To choose the image folder go to project Properties and select Image Folder
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By clicking on Refresh, the modifications will be sent On Air and to the L ive Manager application. In Live Manager you will see a grid that allows you to preview and select the images.
There is a check box available in the interface for antialiasing that is useful when working with images which move or resize dynamically
When it is checked the visual artifacts caused by flickering are diminished/removed.
To put the project OnAir just click the IN button. To stop the project from being displayed OnAir click on OUT button.
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The project can be controlled in the same manner from the project list or from Live Manager application. The Project can be saved as a file by clicking on Save or Save As or by right clicking on the project name and choosing Save from the menu after the name has been selected.. By clicking on the Remove button the project will be removed from both Preview and OnAir and the Live Manager application will discard the project.
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6.3 Working with the Rectangle item The Rectangle item allows you to display a rectangle on screen. You will have the ability to change the rectangle’s color and transparency as well as the color and transparency of each corner, gradients can be easily drawn in this way. We will start the example by creating an empty project From Projects Window select New -> Simple project and choose a name for the project. Then select the project in Projects window list. In the Items window we can now add a Rectangle item by clicking on “Rectangle” button.
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A Rectangle item has fixed and dynamic properties Fixed property - duration ( indicates item life time in frames ) Fixed properties are applied in real-time so you will see the item’s modifications in the Preview window
Dynamic properties - position ( represents the place where an item is located. Position can be modified by editing the corresponding X, Y or Z value ; by clicking on edit control and spinning the mouse wheel you can have a more precise control ) - offset ( represents the distance between item position and the pivot. Pivot is the point used as the center for rotation ) - rotation ( represents the angle of rotation on each axes . A complete rotation is 360 degrees ) - draw area ( is the area where the item will be drawn. Initially the draw area is full screen but you can restrict it on both axes ) - size ( any value can be assigned for width and height ) - color and transparency (a color dialog allows you to select the color and transparency when clicking on the central rectangle . To choose color and transparency for each corner, click on the rectangle’s corresponding corners) Dynamic properties are applied in real-time so you will see the items change in the Preview window
In some situations it may be useful to lock the item so that it can be moved only on X or Y axis . This can be done by clicking on the corresponding icons from the Toolbar or right clicking in the Preview window with the mouse and deselecting “Allow X” or “Allow Y” This will affect only moving/resizing with the mouse in the Preview window. An Lock can be locked so that it is not accidentally modified. This is done by clicking on corresponding lock icon from Toolbar or right clicking the mouse in the Preview window and selecting “Lock”. Like all other items except 2 D Text items, Rectangles can be moved and resized with the mouse in the Preview window. The project preview can be enabled or disabled by checking /unchecking the associated check box in the Project list .This will not influence the OnAir status of the project. In order to show that the Project in Preview was modified while OnAir a star will be displayed after the name of the project in the Project list. By clicking on the Remove button the project will be removed from both Preview and OnAir. By clicking on Refresh, the modifications will be sent On Air and to the L ive Manager application. To put the project OnAir just click the IN button. To stop the project from being disp layed OnAir click on OUT button. The project can be controlled in the same way from the p roject list or from the Live Manager application. To save a Project as file click on Save or Save As or or right click on the project’s name choose Save from the menu. By clicking on Remove button the project will be removed from both Preview and OnAir. The Live Manager application will also discard the project.
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6.4 Working with rounded rectangles A new feature for rectangles was added in version 4.2 : rounded rectangle. So, instead of classical right angle corners now we can have smooth round corners. The user can customize the roundness of a corner with the help of the interface bellow:
Each slider, except the one from the center, affects independently the corresponding corner, so for the scenario above, the result is:
The slider from the center affects all the corners in the same way:
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And here we have the result :
The slider represents the radius of the rounded corner as percentage from the half of the minimum length between the width and the height of the rectangle, thus there is no way one can overlap rounded corners, so for a square with all sliders at 100%, we obtain a circle:
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6.5 How to work with sound items The sound item allows you to assign a sound ( .wav ) file to be played together with the project. The output for the sound items can be selected by choosing the desired output from the program's options window.
You can add sound items in any project by clicking on “Sound” button or by right clicking the project items collection window.
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The user is presented with a dialogue where he can choose the sound file as .wav format extension.
The item properties box will display the path to the selected sound file. Later on, the user can change the sound file by clicking change button on sound item properties. By clicking preview, you can listen to the selected sound file with the system default media player that will play on the system's default sound card.
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6.6 Applying effects on the 2D Text Magicsoft CG allows you to apply some dynamic effects like blur, luminance, saturation on the 2D Text items. Multiple effects can be applied on the same time. We will start the example by making an empty project. From Projects Window select New -> Simple project and choose a name for the project. Then select the project in Projects window list. Now in Items window we can add a 2D Text item by clicking on “2D Text” button.
Text effects area has several controls that allows you to manage the effects : - "Add" button will open a dialog to add an effect - "Up" button moves the effect up. The effects from the list are applied starting with the first form the list - "Down" button moves the effect down in the effect list so will be processed after the effects that are above - "Delete" button deletes the selected effect - "Save" button saves all the effects from the list - "Load" button loads the effects from a list
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The effect list has several columns : - first column exposes a check box allowing to enable/disable the effect - second column shows the name of the effect - third colums contains the offset (regarding the frame 0) of the effect's starting time (in frames) - fourth column contains the effect duration (in frames)
The properties of effects are listed near the effect list : - intensity depending on type of effect that may represent a pixel value (ex : b lur) or a perchance factor ( transparency, luminance, saturation) - the way how the effect is applied : - per item (the effect is applied on the entire item once) - per glyph (the effect is applied per glyph ) - wave ((the effect is applied on the entire item progresively )
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The direction to apply the effect (default is from left to right ) can be reversed by checking the corresponding checkbox. Transition (in frames) allows you to apply the effect progressive in "Per Item" case Range contains the width of the area to apply "Per Glyph" effect . Speed represents the speed to apply the effect. An effect can be applied separately on glyph border and shadow by checking the corresponding checkboxes.
The project preview can be enabled or disabled by checking /unchecking the associated check box from Project list .That will not influence the OnAir status of the project. In order to show that the Project in Preview was modified regarding the OnAir project in the Project list a star will be displayed after the name of the project . By clicking on Refresh , the modifications will be sent On Air. To put the project OnAir just click the IN button. To stop the project from being displayed OnAir click on OUT button. Saving the Project as file can be made by clicking on Save o r Save As or or right click on the project name and after that, choosing Save from the menu. By clicking on Remove button the project will be removed from both Preview and OnAir.
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6.7 Creating and managing a Ticker project
Ticker projects work by reading the information from .txt files ( including Unicode encoding ) and displaying the contents by crawling across the screen. The software uses .txt files in order to facilitate the interoperability with other programs that may generate dynamic content. The files are processed following the named order. If the files are generated automatically it is advisable to use a name that contains the date and timetime (ex : file_name_27_09_2009__15_48_33.txt ) To create a Ticker start by creating a new a Ticker project From Projects Window select New -> Ticker project and choose a name for the project.
Then select a folder that contains the text files that with the information to be displayed by that Ticker.
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In the Item’s window there is a “Ticker” item , basically a 2D Text item that has the property “Crawl” enabled and set to a default speed. By assigning a n egative value, the Ticker will change the direction. You can change the starting location of the Crawl by changing the Y position. You can use the Draw Area to restrict the display of the Crawl to a part of the screen. A Ticker can be edited in the same way a 2D Text item can be edited. In order to improve the visibility of the Ticker a Rectangle is usually added behind the Ticker. The rectangle keyframe must be set to “Infinite Loop” in order to be keep it on screen indefinitely. If there are no text files in the assigned Ticker directory all of the items associated with the Ticker will not be displayed, even if the Ticker is started. When the directory is replenished with .txt files, the scrolling will start automatically. You can preview the Ticker by clicking the play button. Some other properties of the Ticker project are listed o n Properties page. To display Properties page, select the project from Projects list and click on properties button (or right-click and select “properties”)
You can select whether the text files will be deleted after beign displayed or will be recycled.
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The separator between messages can be modified.
By clicking on Refresh , the modifications will be sent On Air and to the Live Manager application. To put the project OnAir just click the IN button. To stop the project from being displayed OnAir click on the OUT button. The project can be controlled in the same manner from project list or from the Live Manager application.
You can save the project as a file by clicking on Save or Save As or by right clicking on the project name and choosing Save from the menu. By clicking on Remove button the project will be removed from both Preview and OnAir . The Live Manager application will also discard the project.
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6.8 Creating and managing an advanced Ticker project
You can have IN and OUT effects for Ticker projects and you can display additional information that can be read from within the same file as the text that comprises the Ticker’s contents. Start by creating a Ticker project From Projects Window select New -> Ticker project and choose a name for the project. Then select a folder that contains the text files that constitue the information to be displayed by that Ticker. Now in the Item’s window you will see that there is a “Ticker” item , basically a 2D Text that has the property “Crawl” enabled along with a default speed. By assigning a negative value, the Ticker can change the scrolling direction. Add a Rectangle behind the Ticker. The width of the rectangle will match the width of the screen and the X position will be zero. To associate additional text information with the Ticker. The Ticker shows text from the .txt files by displaying only the first row. However, it is also possible to have some extra information on the next ro ws. In order to display the data on row 2 of the .txt file with a 2DText item, it is necessary to edit the text item by adding : {LINE2} That 2DText item must have the first keyframe set in infinite loop to stay on the screen indefinitely.
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Making a IN effect for Rectangle Make a copy of the first frame by holding CTRL when drag with mouse ( or create a new keyframe in order to have a distance between keyframes that equals the effect ‘s desired duration ). The time interval between those keyframes will co rrespond to the IN Effect. On the timeline ,go to second frame and check the "infinite loop" option for the second frame so the Rectangle will stay on the screen indefinitely. In order to create a “push” effect we need to click on the “Animate” button to enable the animate mode that allows you to change the rectangle characteristics on each keyframe. After clicking “Animate” go to first frame and modify X position to match the width of the screen (the rectangle changes its position and will be transformed at the right of the screen). As you can see in preview when dragging the timeline cursor between keyframes, the rectangle will be “pushed” from right to left. In the same manner, by modifying the transparency you can make a “fade effect”, by modifying the draw area you can make a “reveal” effect and by modifying the size you can make a “resize” effect ... You can use an image (or sequence of images) instead of a rectangle. The IN effect will be displayed when we click on the ON button in the Project list or when the Ticker directory is empty and some .txt files are added.
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Making a OUT effect for Rectangle Go to the end of rectangle's timeline and create two keyframes : one on last keyframe and another placed before the last keyframe in order to have a distance between keyframes that equals the effect’s desired duration. In order to create a “wipe” effect we need to click on the “Animate” button to enable the animate mode that allows you to change the rectangle’s characteristics on each keyframe. In “Animate” mode go to the last keyframe and modify the width for the draw area to zero. As you can see in preview when dragging the timeline cursor between keyframes, the rectangle will be “wiped” from right to left. In the same manner, by modifying the transparency you can make a “fade effect”, by modifying the Y position you can make a “push-out” effect and by modifying the size you can make a “resize” effect ... You can use an image or a sequence of images in lieu of a rectangle. The OUT effect will display if the Ticker runs On Air and we click on FFW button or when Ticker directory is emptied.
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By clicking on Refresh , the modifications will be sent On Air and to the Live Manager application.
To put the project OnAir just click the IN button and you can observe on your video output the Ticker showing with IN effect. To stop the project from being displayed OnAir click on FFW button in order to observe on your video output the Ticker disappearing with OUT effect. To stop the project from being displayed OnAir without effect, just click OUT. The project can be controlled in the same manner from project list or from Live Manager application. The Live Manager offers you the possibility to change the speed on the fly and to put the project in a “Pause” state. In “Pause” the ticker will stop displaying but when the “Resume” will occur it will display starting with the last message that has not displayed completely.
You can save the project as a file by clicking on Save or Save As or by right clicking on the project’s name and choosing Save from the menu. By clicking on Remove button the project will be removed from both Preview and OnAir and the Live Manager application will discard the project.
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6.9 Working with Smileys
Smileys provide you the possibility of replacing the sequence of characters with an image or a sequence of images in a way similar to the way chat programs do. That affiliations between a sequence of characters and images is saved in file with an .sml extension. Only one Smiley file can be assigned to a project. Creating a Smiley file To create a .sml file go to Smiley->New to display a Smiley dialog with a list.
Right click list and choose "Add"
In the next dialog that appears you can type at "alias" the group of characters that you want to b e replaced in the text, and select the files that contain the image (or sequence) that will be displayed as replacement for the “alias”. If you want to select a image sequence, just select the first image and click on “Scan if sequence” button and the software will count all images. You can specify how many files from sequence to be used by editing “Count” value. If you want a slower playback speed, select a slow factor greater than 1 by editing “Slow Factor” value. You can add, delete or modify the associations from a .sml file by clicking on the Smiley list. Finally the .sml file must be saved before being used in a project.
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In the following example a .sml file will be selected for a Ticker project (but it can be used on any type of project) From Projects Window select New -> Ticker project and choose a name for the project. Then select a folder that contains the text files that with the information to be displayed by that Ticker. By opening a .txt file you can see that contains groups of characters like #up# and #down# For this example you will make “#up# ” group of characters to be replaced by an image sequence showing a green arrow “#down# ” group of characters to be replaced by an image sequence showing a red arrow
The .sml file will be edited and saved. The .sml file can be assigned to a project by opening Properties dialog of of the project and selecting the desired Smiley file. After selecting the .sml file we can see the Smileys displaying on the Ticker.
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6.10
Working with the Clock Items
The Clock item is used to display the timeand it is based on the time established by the computer that the magicsoft CG application is running on. Magicsoft CG allows you to display a digital and an analog clock.
Digital clock
Start by creating a New Simple project From Projects Window select New -> Simple project and choose a name for the project. In the Items window click on the “Digital Clock” button .
A Clock dialog will appear allowing you to choose to display second , minute, hour .... by checking the
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corresponding check box.
The order can be changed by selecting an element and clicking “Up” and ”Down” buttons. The default separator is “:” but this can be also edited. There is the possibility to edit an offset ( for example if you want to show 2 clocks corresponding for 2 different locations ) After selecting the desired parameters for digital clock and closing the clock dialog a 2DText item will be created having the text like [TIME]%H:%M:%S. You can modify the parameters later by selecting the item and clicking on “Clock” button and the Clock dialog will appear. Basically a Digital Clock item is a 2D Text that is set to display time. Having the same characteristics as a 2D Text item, the Clock can be edited as a 2D Text item. It can be moved or rotated and you can change its color and transparency; it can have a shadow and border.
Analog Clock
In order to make an analog clock you need to make an special image. The image used for the Analog clock has 4 quarters. Each quarter contains one of the clock’s elements. To make the Analog Clock click on “Analog Clock ” button and select the corresponding image.
The Analog Clock is made from an image that contains the clock elements and it is set to display time. An Analog Clocks will act like an Image item. It can be moved and scaled.
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By clicking on Refresh , the modifications will be sent On Air and to the Live Manager application. To put the project OnAir just click the IN button. To stop the project from being disp layed OnAir click on OUT button. The project can be controlled in the same manner from the project list or from the Live Manager application. You can save the project as a file by clicking on Save or Save As or by right clicking on the project’s name and choosing Save from the menu. By clicking on Remove button the project will be removed from both Preview and OnAir. The Live Manager application will discard the project.
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6.11
Masking
Masking is a powerful technique that allows you to obtain a visual effect by combining two items. Masking is used to draw an item by combining the item with the alpha channel of other item (called the mask). The item to be drawn will be visible only where alpha channel is not null.
Start by creating an empty project From Projects Window select New -> Simple project and choose a name for the project. Then select the project in Projects window list. Now in Items window add a 2D Text item by clicking on “2D Text” button. In the Items window add an Image item by clicking on the “Image” button (a rectangle can also used) In this example we will use a single image but a sequence of images may be used also. Now will set the 2D Text to be masked by selecting the 2DText item from items window and clicking on the Masking button, then selecting “Masked Item” Now will set the Image to be used as a mask by selecting the image item from the items window and clicking on Masking button and selecting “Use as mask”. You can choose to draw the mask item or not by checking/unchecking the corresponding checkbox. As a result, the text will be drawn only inside the image that was chosen as a mask if the alpha channel is not null. You can link two items by assigning one of the the masked item as a parent for mask item . This will help in case that you want to animate the position of the item because it will automatically animate the mask in the same way.
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6.12
Working with Lower thirds
The Lower Third project allows to dynamically change the content of text and image items from by feeding them with data from Live Manager program. We will start this example by making a Lower Third project From Projects Window select New -> LowerThird and choose a name for the project.
Now in the Items window there are two Text items . Having the same same characteristics as a 2D Text those items can be modified as such. You can change positions of the items on X an Y by selecting and dragging. To improve the visibility , usually a Rectangle or Image is added behind the text. You can insert other items in the project from Items list. In order to be able to dinamically change the content of the inserted item it is necessary to make that item to be a TCP/IP variable by clicking on the corresponding b utton. In case of the Image item it is also necessary to set the corresponding folder that contains the pictures that you can assign to be displayed . Go to the properties of the project and select the folder that contains the images.
You can manage the LowerThird content by clicking on the Live Manager button. After saving the project (or executing "Refresh") the Live Manager shows the coresponding columns in the grid, allowing to edit text or to preview and select images. From the Live Manager application you can control the information that is displayed by each LowerThirds items.
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The grid contain a column for each Lowerthird controllable item. By clicking on a row and select the play button you will send the data to MagicSoft CG to be displayed.
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6.13
Working with the Timer
The Timer project allows to display and controll a counter. The Timer project can be controlled from Live Manager program We will start the example by making a Timer project From Projects Window select New -> Timer and choose a name for the project.
Now in the Items window there is a 2DText item ,that can be controlled from Live Manager program. You can insert other items in the project from Items list. You can change positions of the 2D Text items on X an Y by selecting and dragging. Having the same same characteristics as a 2D Text those items can be modified as such. When you click on Live Button the Live Manager application will appear.
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From the Live Manager application you can control characteristics of the Timer : - the starting and stopping time - the format of the displayed counter There is a command to hide the counter ( it is not displayed but will incerement/decrement during this time )
By clicking on play/stop buttons you will send the corresponding commands to MagicSoft CG.
6.14
Making a Script (Game) project
This kind of project works by taking the information from .txt files ( Unicode encoding is supported) and displaying that information as text or image items. The software uses .txt files in order in order to facilitate the interoperability with other programs that may generate dynamic content.
The files are processed according to the order of the names in the folder. If their generation is done automatically it is advisable to use a name that contains time (ex : file_name_27_09_2009__15_48_33.txt ) The content of a .txt file that will be used in the following example looks like this: first row of the file this is another row image1.tga image2.jpg
In order to display the information that is written on certain row of the .txt file to a text item of the p roject it is necessary to edit the item text by adding : {LINE row_number}
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In order to display an image by its filename written on a certain row of the .txt file it is necessary to edit the image file path like : {LINE row_number} To edit the Image path, create an Image item by clicking on Image button, skip the “Open” dialog by pressing “Cancel” and edit the image path that appears in the “Image properties” .
Regarding the Image item : - all the assigned images will be automatically resized to match the sizes of the image item - in the project properties dialog you must specify the folder that will contain the images and only the images from this folder can be displayed
Before creating the Game project, make the folder that will contain the images and the folder that will contain the .txt files. Create and edit at least one .txt file according to Game project. After that you can create a new Game script project From the Projects Window select New -> Game (script) project and choose a name for the project. Go to the properties of the Game project and select the folder that contains the .txt files and the folder that contains the images.
You can choose to cycle the messages or to delete them after displaying. There are special cases ( as chat-like games ) when "KeepGameOnLastFrame" must be checked so that if
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folder goes empty the program can display the last state of the game until the other .txt messages arrive.
To display the data that is written on row 1 of the .txt file on a 2DText item it is necessary to edit the text item like : {LINE1} To display the data that is written on row 2 of the .txt file on a 2DText item it is necessary to edit the text item like : {LINE2}
To display the image file that has the filename written on row 3 of the .txt file on a Image item it is necessary to edit the Image path like : {LINE3} To display the image file that has the filename written on row 4 of the .txt file on a Image item it is necessary to edit the Image path like : {LINE4}
The preview window will show the Game project using the data from the first .txt file By clicking on Refresh , the modifications will be sent On Air and to Live Manager application. To put the project OnAir just click the IN button. To stop the project from being displayed OnAir click on OUT button. The project can be controlled in the same manner from project list or from Live Manager application.
Saving the Project as file can be made by clicking on Save o r Save As or or right click on the project name and after that, choosing Save from the menu. By clicking on Remove button the project will be removed from both Preview and OnAir and the Live Manager application will also discard the project.
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6.15
How to work with linked items
Items can be linked to other items by position and size with several constraints. By linking an item to another item, some of the properties of the first one (the child items) depends on the second one (the parent item). By linking an item by position with another one, we tell that the child item will move and rotate synchronously with the parent item, like they are bound together through a rigid bar. When we link two items by size, the child item will increase and decrease in size proportionally with size of the parent item. The link relations are represented by a green line for position, a blue line for size and a cyan line for both. The linkage can be set by the interface from the lower right corner of the screen:
There are several constraints: - an item who is already a position parent cannot become a position child (cannot be linked to another by position); - an item who is already a position parent cannot become a size child (cannot be linked to another by size); - an item who is already a size parent cannot become a size child (cannot be linked to another by size); - a text item cannot be linked by size to another item; - crawl items cannot be linked to anything; For example, we have the following scenario:
where the blue item slides from left to right and increase in size as he reaches the next key frame.
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The other items are linked to the blue item as following: orange by position, green by size and yellow by both position and size. We can see how the items evolve in the ne xt picture:
We observe that at the half way from the first key to the second key, the blue item moved from the first position to the second position and increased inside. According with the linkage setup, the orange and yellow items moved on the same path, but only the yellow item increased in size proportionally, also the green item only modified its size. In the following picture we can see what it happens if we add rotation in the scenario above:
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6.16
Working with color selector
The color selection interface is shown in the picture bellow:
It consists in following elements: - a Hue/Saturation square selector; - a Luminance bar selector; - a Hue/Saturation circle selector; - 20 predefined color slots; - 2 colored boxes: the new color and the current color; - 3 sliders for choosing directly the red, green and blue components; - 1 slider for choosing the alpha component; - 3 sliders for choosing directly the hue, saturation and luminance components; If the user wants to use one of the predefined colors, he needs to select the slot with the corresponding color and click on the Load button. If he wants to keep a new color, he needs to select a slot where he wants to keep it and click Save. Save.
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6.17
Working with Live Item
There is a new feature in this version, the capability to capture video signal and use it for drawing. In the Tools->Options interface:
one can choose the source for capture. The video captured from the source can be used by a new type of item called Live item.
When we click on the Live button, a Live item is created and by default it covers the entire screen, starting from 0, 0 position:
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A Live item behaves very similar to an Image item, except the image provider is not a file chosen by the user, but the video signal captured by the Decklink card; besides that, a Live item has an extra option Deinterlace used to avoid double interlacing artifacts. As we can notice there is a new check box available in the interface:
This check-box is useful when resize during their time-line. When it is checked the visual artifacts of flickering are diminished. When the size of the Live item is 1:1 with the size of the video captured, this option is better to be unchecked.
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6.18
Working with Chroma Key
Magicsoft CG allows you to apply chroma effect on pictures and Live video items. As a result , the selected color will be removed and the corresponding pixels will become transparent From Projects Window select New -> Simple project and choose a name for the project. Then select the project in Projects window list. Now in Items window we can add an Image or Live item.
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Text chroma effect dialog contains the controls that allows you to manage the effect : enable/disable the effect, radio buttons to choose the keyed color and tolerance and saturation of the chosen color.
The project preview can be enabled or disabled by checking /unchecking the associated check box from Project list .That will not influence the OnAir status of the project. In order to show that the Project in Preview was modified regarding the OnAir project in the Project list a star will be displayed after the name of the project . By clicking on Refresh , the modifications will be sent On Air. To put the project OnAir just click the IN button. To stop the project from being displayed OnAir click on OUT button. Saving the Project as file can be made by clicking on Save o r Save As or or right click on the project name and after that, choosing Save from the menu. By clicking on Remove button the project will be removed from both Preview and OnAir.
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6.19
Working with video playout
The video playout feature allows to display video clips that can be controlled from a playlist control of the Live Manager program. The playout can be used for displaying lists of short clips and / or bumpers. Magicsoft CG allows you to play avi materials ( it can play clips as short as 1 second ). All resolutions are supported : PAL, NTSC 720p and 1080i with no restriction for size but the frame rate must be the same as the selected video mode of the CG. The clips may have audio or not but only uncompressed audio is supported. Here is the list of the supported types avi DV compression avi mjpeg
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avi uncompressed without alpha channel ( 24bit ) avi uncompressed with alpha channel ( 32 bit )
We will start this example by making a video playout project From Projects Window select New -> New Video and choose a name for the project.
Now in the Items window there is a "VideoPlayOut" item that has the same characteristics as an image so this item can be modified as such The position and size of the item on X an Y can be modified by selecting and dragging. You can restrict the item to be displayed on a certain area of the screen by adjusting draw area. If you want to resize the item it is recommended to check “Anti-flicker” and “Deinterlaced” and choose “Linear” filtering mode. For a full screen image uncheck “Anti-flicker” and “Deinterlaced” and set “point as filtering mode”. I this case it may be necessary to set the Y position as 1 or 0 depending of the field order (for interlaced clips).
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If you want to change the behaviour of the program regarding displaying video content during PARK and Pause event, go to the CG in "Options" dialog and check/uncheck the options as necessary.
You can manage the list of the video materials by clicking on the Live Manager button.
After saving the project (or executing "Refresh") the Live Manager shows the coresponding control in the grid.
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The control contains : - a title bar showing the name and the status of the project - buttons to control the on air status of the p roject - a graph bar that fills as the current clip plays - a grid that contains several columns showing : clip status, path and name of the clip and the action to be taken at the end of the corresponding clip - check boxes for disabling the sound and looping the entire list - control buttons that acts over the selected clip for play, stop, pause, set next or park - listbox with the action to be set as default for the clips inserted into the playst - up / down buttons for changing the position of the selected clip - load / save buttons that allows you to load o r save a playlist - add / delete buttons for inserting / deleting clips in the list - button to resize the control as necessary
During playout, the materials can be shown in preview window of the program.
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6.20
Working with the flash item
The Flash item allows you to display a flash file ( .swf ) that may contain alpha channel. This item can be used instead image sequence when the working with a large image sequence it is not acceptable. There are no limitation regarding the size or the framerate of the flash file but you should keep in mind that working with flash is a processor intensive task and increases with the flash resolution. We will start this example by making an empty project From Projects Window select New -> Simple project and choose a name for the project. Then select the project in Projects window list. Now in Items window we can add a flash item by clicking on “Flash” button. A browse dialog opens that allow to select the flash that can have extension .swf
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Flash item has fixed and dynamic properties
Fixed properties are - delay ( the item can be displayed delayed regarding the other items from the project ) - file name ( this is editable using the “Change” button ) - type of filtering used for resizing ( “Linear” is the best for most cases, also use the option for Antiflicker and Deinterlaced if the clip will be resized or doesn’t have the same frame rate as the selected mode of the CG ) - mute when checked will disable the sound of the flash file - loop when checked will play the flash continuously Fixed properties are applied in real-time in the Preview window
Dynamic properties - position ( represents the place where an item is located. The Position can be modified by editing the corresponding X, Y or Z value ; by clicking on edit control and spinning the mouse wheel you can have a more precise control ) - offset ( represents the distance between the item’s position and the pivot. Pivot is the point used as the center for rotation ) - rotation ( represents the angle of rotation on each axes . A complete rotation is 360 degrees ) - draw area ( is the area where the item will be drawn. Initially the draw area is full screen but you can reduce it on both axes ) - size ( any value can be assigned for the width and height; in order to revert to original dimensions push the button bellow the width and height edit controls ) - picture transparency (is a percentage of transparency. This works for images with and without alpha channel ) Dynamic properties are applied in Preview window
In some situations it may be useful to lock the item so that it can be moved only on the X or Y axis. This can be done by clicking on the corresponding icons from the toolbar or right clicking the mouse when in the Preview window and deselect “Allow X” or “Allow Y.” That will affect only moving/resizing with the mouse in preview window. An Item can be locked so as not to accidentally modify it . This is done using the mouse and clicking on corresponding lock icon from the Toolbar or by right clicking the mouse when in the Preview window and select ing “Lock”. Like all other items, flash items can be moved and re-sized with the mouse in Preview window.
To put the project OnAir just click the IN button. To stop the project from being displayed OnAir click on OUT button. The project can be controlled in the same manner from the project list or from Live Manager application. The Project can be saved as a file by clicking on Save or Save As or by right clicking on the project name and choosing Save from the menu after the name has been selected.. By clicking on the Remove button the project will be removed from both Preview and OnAir and the Live Manager application will discard the project.
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7 Automation 7.1 Working with automation Magicsoft CG enables you to work with external scripts stored in .bat files in order to implement an automation workflow You can write your own scripts as. bat files and it is required to store them in the predefined location in order to be scanned by the CG server and used by the system ( by default C:\MagicSoft\Utils\Automation ) In Windows OS, you can simply double-click a .bat file to e xecute it directly, butthe goal is to execute it from within the software so you must go to the server's automation settings Tools -> Options -> Automation Tab and click "Refresh" button in order to list the automation .bat files. Only the listed automation files can be used in the system The automation scripts can be assigned to scheduler events and/or macro buttons in the same way as the commands for controlling projects
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This automation mechanism is used in order to implement the comunication with external matrices (Kramer and Leitch) using scripts .
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7.2 Working with Kramer matrices In order to operate the Kramer matrix there is available an application with graphical user interface that allows you to generate the command scripts. The installer for the software it is separated from the main installer and is named “Magicsoft Automation”. By default the software will be installed in C:\Magicsoft\Utils\Automation For the moment only the RS232 communication is supported . A serial port is required( you can also use an USB to serial adapter ) The user interface allows you to test the serial communication in order to work with the Kramer Matrix and to save each command as a .bat file.
The edit box that shows the ID of the command that it is also written in the log in order to identify it Regarding the command for the matix, you can select as parameters : the machine number , the type of the command, the input and output and the serial port
You can send the command to b e executed and you can save it as bat file ( by default the .bat files are saved in C:\Magicsoft\Utils\Automation )
You can simply double-click the saved .bat files to execute it directly, but the goal is to execute it from within the software. After testing and saving the commands that you need for your automation workflow, you must go to the server's automation settings Tools -> Options -> Automation Tab and click \"Refresh\" button in order to list the automation .bat files.
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Only the listed automation files can be used in the system. The execution of each automation command will be written in the log. The log file is named "KramerTalk.log" and it can be found in the same folder as the executable. IMPORTANT: The command will be executed without verifying the result!!!
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7.3 Working with Leitch matrices In order to operate the Leitch matrix there is available an application with graphical user interface that allows you to generate the command scripts. The installer for the software it is separated from the main installer and is named “Magicsoft Automation”. By default the software will be installed in C:\Magicsoft\Utils\Automation For the moment only the RS232 communication is supported . A serial port is required (you can also use an USB to serial adapter ) The user interface allows you to test the serial communication in order to work with the Kramer Matrix and to save each command as a .bat file.
The edit box that shows the ID of the command that it is also written in the log in order to identify it Regarding the command for the matix, you can select as parameters : the machine number , the type of the command, the input and output and the serial port
You can send the command to b e executed and you can save it as bat file ( by default the .bat files are saved in C:\Magicsoft\Utils\Automation )
You can simply double-click the saved .bat files to execute it directly, but the goal is to execute it from within the software.
After testing and saving the commands that you need for your automation workflow, you must go to the server's automation settings Tools -> Options -> Automation Tab and click \"Refresh\" button in order to list the automation .bat files.
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Only the listed automation files can be used in the system. The execution of each automation command will be written in the log. The log file is named "LeitchTalk.log" and it can be found in the same folder as the executable.
IMPORTANT: The command will be executed without verifying the result!!!
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8 Additional software
8.1 RSS manager
The Rss2Txt application allows you to manage news from an Rss feed in order to be displayed by MagicSoft CG. RssToTxt program will download each news item in a .txt Unicode file so a project like aTicker can display the content of the files.
The user interface has - an edit box that contains the address of the RSS - a read only descriptor of the chosen RSS - a location to save the .txt files - z browse button to choose the location where .txt files are saved - a list with the news from the RSS feed. Each news item has a check box that must be checked in order to display the corresponding news. If not checked the news item will be ignored - two buttons to Check All / Uncheck All news from the list - a “Find” feature works by inserting the string to be found in the edit box. By clicking on “Find Next”” or “Find Previous” it will select the list's row that contains the string. Find can be restricted to Case sensitive strings by checking the Case Sensitive checkbox
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If you want to view or edit a news item just double-click it and a dialog will appear showing the title and content.
In the settings dialog you can find several useful settings : - “News are already checked” if checked will automatically allow you to download news in the .txt file so will be displayed by a project like Ticker. If not you must click on every news that you want to be displayed - Save as Unicode will make the .txt file Unicode. This if the default setting. If unchecked it will produce ANSI txt that may be difficult to work with. - Set Title case to upper/lower . After setting this you must click on “delete now all the files from directory” in order to refresh all the news - Set text case to upper/lower . After setting this you must click on “delete now all the files from directory” in order to refresh all the news - “At start delete files older than...” will delete all the files that contain news itmes older than the specified number of days in order to avoid displaying old news - “Uncheck news older than...” will uncheck all news older than the specified number of days in order to avoid displaying old news
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Beside that there is a replace feature that allows you to replace a certain string with another string. Click on “Add Pair” to insert a pair in the lists. To edit that, click on the corresponding row of the list and select it. Click on it again to edit. There is also an option for case sensitive replace. If you want to contact us for feedback or help feel free to contact us at
[email protected]
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8.2 Extended keyboard This application allows you to map multiple commands on each button in order to manage projects and content of the text and images items. It has a powerful wizard that will help you to make this only by mouse clicking.
The user interface has - a read-only box that displays the name of the last button that was used to send commands - a read-only box that indicates the status of the link with the MagicSoft CG - a setup button that starts a dialog that will set the communication parameters (IP and port) and a checkbox to enable working with UBS X-Key external keyboard - a layout of 58 buttons each button will send the assigned commands on click . At right click on a button, a wizard dialog will appear in order to assist you.
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The first dialog that shows when you right-click on a button is the Editor command dialog. Editor command dialog has several elements that will be listed here and explained here : - an edit box that allows you to edit the button name - a list that contains the assigned commands - add command wizard button that will start the wizard command - load commands from file button will start a browsing dialog to select the file that contains commands. It may be useful when you want to concatenate or duplicate some commands. After selecting the file and clicking OK the commands will be inserted in the list - delete selected rows will delete from the list the selected rows - “add time gap” allows you to insert a time gap between a series of commands that needs some time to be executed. For example if you want to stop a project in the middle of execution and after that to play again the project you need to insert a time gap between those 2 commands - “add command” will add a blank command after the selected row. You can click on the new created blank row to manually edit the content of the command. This feature may be useful for debugging. “save commands as file” allows you to save the list of the commands in a file –
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When clicking on add command wizard a wizard dialog will appear in order to assist you to choose the desired command .
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The dialog contains all the commands that can be sent to a project ( Load, UnLoad, Start, Stop, Pause, FFW out with effect ) and requires to select a command and to click on “choose the project ” to open a browser dialog to select the project.
After selecting the project and click “OK” the command will appear in the command list and the wizard can be started again to select another command. By closing the Editor command you will return on the main program and you can click on the button. All the commands that was inserted in Editor command list be sent to Magicsoft CG when you click on the corresponding button .
8.3 Scheduler This application allows you to schedule multiple commands to be send to the CG at a specified time.
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It has a powerful wizard that will help you to make operate only by mouse clicking.
The user interface has - a read-only box that displays the name of the last button that was used to send commands - a read-only box that indicates the status of the link with the MagicSoft CG - a setup button that starts a dialog that will set the communication parameters (IP and port) - a read-only box that displays the computer time and data - a list that contains all the scheduled events -a button to add new events -a button to delete new events -a button to send commands assigned to an event immediately
When click on "Add" or right click on a list row , a Editor command dialog will appear in order to assist you.
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Editor command dialog has several elements that will be listed here and explained here : - an edit box that allows you to edit the row name - control to set the data (year, month, day, hour, minute) - control to set the day of the week - calendar that allows you to set the starting date - calendar that allows you to set the ending date -checkbox that allows you to execute the commands when program starts
- a list that contains the assigned commands - add command wizard button that will start the wizard command - load commands from file button will start a browsing dialog to select the file that contains commands. It may be useful when you want to concatenate or duplicate some commands. After selecting the file and clicking OK the commands will be inserted in the list - delete selected rows will delete from the list the selected rows - “add time gap” allows you to insert a time gap between a series of commands that needs some time to be executed. For example if you want to stop a project in the middle of execution and after that to play again the project you need to insert a time gap between those 2 commands - “add command” will add a blank command after the selected row. You can click on the new created blank row to manually edit the content of the command. This feature may be useful for debugging. - “save commands as file” allows you to save the list of the commands in a file
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When clicking on add command wizard a wizard dialog will appear in order to assist you to choose the desired command .
The dialog contains all the commands that can be sent to a project ( Load, UnLoad, Start, Stop, Pause, FFW out with effect ) and requires to select a command and to click on “choose the project ” to open a browser dialog to select the project.
After selecting the project and click “OK” the command will appear in the command list and the wizard can be started again to select another command. By closing the Editor command you will return on the main program and you can click on the button.
All the commands that was inserted in Editor command list be sent to Magicsoft CG when you click on the corresponding button .
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8.4 GPI The GPI Client uses a serial port to as GPI IN device. Commands can be map for contact on and contact off separately . Each command can be triggered by the GPI event or by pushing the corresponding button from the interface. The program has a powerful wizard that will help you to make operate only by mouse clicking.
The user interface has - a read-only box that displays the name of the last commands that was send - a read-only box that indicates the status of the link with the MagicSoft CG - a setup button that starts a dialog that will set the communication parameters (IP and port) and Serial port - tree buttons corresponding to contact on - tree buttons corresponding to contact off
When right click on a button, a Editor command dialog will appear in order to a ssist you.
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