cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) (02/20/88)
Well after a couple of false starts I finally got my version of TV*Show
to work. What follows is a mini review ...
TV*Show - By The Zuma Group, $99.95 publ Brown Waugh Publishers
TV Show is a 'titler' program for the Amiga. The main use of this program
is to create flying logo type stuff that can be recorded on video tape
or displayed as a running narration. This program is especially useful if
you have a GenLock attached to your Amiga, although this is not required.
The program consists of two parts, a script editor and a script player.
The editor allows you to build up your sequences quite easily and is
patterned after a television studio's titler system. A script is a series
of 'events' that occur in order. Events are things like displaying a screen,
cycling the colors, adding an 'object' or speaking. Say you had just
video taped this years chrismas on your handy Camcorder and wanted to
annote the tape so that 5 years from now you could remember what Aunt
Mabel gave you. You could do something like this :
First event - Open a 'transparent' screen which basically makes
the video signal fully visible from the Genlock.
Second Event - Title arrives (a title is an 'Object') the easiest
way to create a title object is to go into Deluxe Paint and
use the Text option to type out a string and then save it as
a brush. Alternatively if you have TV*Text you can generate the
title with that and save it as an overlay.
Every event has a start point, a 'dwell time' and an end time. A the start
time the Object appears, you can have it pop into existence, slide onto the
screen from any of eight directions, or have it 'wipe' onto the screen.
Once the object is in place it will 'dwell' on the screen for some number
of seconds, and then execute the end action. Which like the start action
can be a wipe, or move off the screen in any direction, or just cease to
exist.
Third - N events - Text appears describing Gift and giver, maybe
an arrow appears to point out a particularly embarassing moment :-).
Last Even - credits of course :-)
Other things you can do are start and stop color cycling, and have the
narrator 'Say' something. In general I think that with the companion
program TV*Text there is quite a setup for the 'home pro' video studio.
Of course if you are going to rent out your time may I strongly suggest
the Digital Creations 'ProGenLock' or whatever it is called. That thing
makes a signal NBC would be proud to send out over the airwaves.
With a > 1Meg amiga and, ProGenLock, and these two programs you could
rent time on your Amiga for serious money. The cost of the complete
setup
A2000 with 3M, Hard disk, Monitor, and Software - $3500
ProGenLock $800
=======================================================
Total $4300
Next system capable of doing this : $32,000
U-SAVE $28,000! :-)
Believe it or not you can put together one of these systems, walk into
a TV station, sell it for $10,000 and put together another one for yourself.
But hurry, as soon as they figure it out the market will evaporate.
--Chuck McManis
uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis BIX: cmcmanis ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com
These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.