CompuServe Thread

#CG

24 messages in this thread
#93762From: Fred BerneyOct 31, 1994 8:54 PM
I'm going to through this open to anyone. Is there anyway to TAB when using the CG. I needed to type in credits and for the life of me could not line them up. ie Producer Moneybags Director The Brains Sound What did he say You get the idea. Because of porportional (sp?) fonts, the right hand column would not line up. Also, I just spend two hours discovering that if you chance the font size in a line on a scroll page, the space between the lines does not change. I had a scroll that lasted 40 seconds. Then the client made some changes in the names. The scroll took longer. So I tried using smaller fonts. However, the spacing between lines (and we were also double spacing) was not even. Finally after two aganizing hours, I discovered that I needed to delete the blank line under each line and then re-enter it. Anybody found an easier way. I couldn't use a globle font size change, because the top 10 lines were one size and the rest were another. So, I changed the entire page and then changed just the top 10 lines, one line at a time. Fred S3
#93766From: Gary KleinerOct 31, 1994 9:31 PM
Fred, When you have to typ in a lot of information for a scroll page that is subject to change……create the text in a word processor, then save it as ASCII text so it can be loaded directly into the CG. If you had done it this way and made changes on the ASCII file, You could have created an entirely new scroll page, automatically having even spacing. Regards,(again) Gary
#93848From: Fred BerneyNov 1, 1994 7:53 PM
Gary, I did create the text in a word processor, but in order to bring the text into CG, I had to use a small font and then resize it. Although the text may have been created with tabs in the word processor, once I changed the font size, certain letters would not line up. Then the client added several lines of text. This caused a chance in the time of the scroll. Since the video was edited and this was an insert, it could not exceed the time we had before. So, I thought that by changing the size of the font, the scroll would go just a little faster. Then I found out that changing the font size on just one line does not change the size of the blank line in between the lines. The double spaces. We finally got it to work, but gee, what a hassle. Got to be an easier way. Does Montage do a better job? Fred
#93852From: Gary KleinerNov 1, 1994 8:12 PM
Fred, I hope you charged your client appropriately. Tell him to get it right the first time in the future (the amount of tact depends on how much you need/want this guy's business.) Regards, Gary
#94027From: Fred BerneyNov 3, 1994 11:05 PM
Gary, The client pays me by the hour. Need I say more. Fred
#93892From: Arnie CachelinNov 2, 1994 12:57 PM
I think the point of the text file is to add the lines in that file, and even do most of the line formatting there, then import the text file. To change the font size and line size simultaneously, re-import the file with a different current font.
#94028From: Fred BerneyNov 3, 1994 11:05 PM
Aki, I'm still not sure where our problem was. I started with a text file. Loaded it into the CG. Had the CG's font set to 10 point so everything would fit across. There were about 50 lines. The first 6 or 7 needed to be a 40 point. The rest at 30 point. After everything came in, I blocked the entire page and changed the font to 30 points. Then I went back and changed each of the 7 lines to 40 point. The text was set up with a single space between each line. In other words, double spaced text. What seemed to mess me up was the blank lines. When I first changed everything to 30 point, these lines probably became 30 point. Then when I changed the 7 lines of text to 40 point, the blank lines stayed at 30 point. What is confussing is that the scroll should have run faster, but it actually ran slower. Anyway, I ended up going through each blank line – all of them, not just the top 7 – and deleted it and then entered it. This did the trick. NewTek needs to write a full fledge word processor into the CG. Bringing text into the program is fine, but if you need to make changes it is a bummer. Fred
#93905From: Wayne ColeNov 2, 1994 3:16 PM
The scroll page in Montage is not fun to work with. It is probably the first major area of work Innovision will undertake when they look at the next Montage release – at least I hope it is. wmc – via Autopilot!
#93924From: John BunnellNov 2, 1994 5:50 PM
Wayne, agree on that point. Most of the time Montage is more of a hassle than it is worth. jmb
#94041From: Wayne ColeNov 4, 1994 3:06 AM
OTOH, AlphaPaint is MUCH nicer than ToasterPaint. And, except for scroll pages, it does much of what Montage does only better. (Not GPI triggerable, but has better PostScipt handling, letter texturing, compositing… with Alpha I find myself looking for excuses to do some paint box work! wmc – via Autopilot!
#94052From: Frank VanellaNov 4, 1994 10:10 AM
Wayne, Major Dittos on the Alpha Paint comments!! I also find myself using any excuse possible to play with Alpha Paint. Once you use it, there's no going back to Tpaint. Frank
#94077From: BRAD HAYESNov 4, 1994 6:46 PM
Wayne: Thanks that is what I'm looking for, a "Nicer paint program." Come on, break loose with some details. Boo-Radley Happy Halloween!
#94108From: Wayne ColeNov 5, 1994 4:24 AM
Brad, Will do Monday or Tues – I'm too beat at the moment (snoozing at the keyboard). wmc – via Autopilot!
#94086From: John BunnellNov 4, 1994 10:10 PM
Wayne haven't had the pleasure yet. Will wait to see what 4.0 brings before I invest in another paint program. Looking at a ShaBlamm at the moment and trying to figure out if I'm making the right move. jmb
#94109From: Wayne ColeNov 5, 1994 4:24 AM
If you are 2000 based, I think Alpha will definitely be the paint program of choice even with the TPaint 4.0 release. And TPaint for 4000 users even has a few neat things I did not see listed in James Hebert's article on TPaint 4.0. More details in a few days when I get caught up on some work and sleep! wmc – via Autopilot!
#94292From: Wayne ColeNov 7, 1994 2:11 AM
ARRRG! I meant Alpha Paint for 4000 users evne has a few neet things that I did not see lieted in James Hebert's article on TPaint 4.0. wmc – via Autopilot!
#94093From: Tom Patrick-InnoVision TNov 4, 1994 10:58 PM
I don't mean to make light but…Gee John the over 50 Major Market TV stations, Cable Broadcaster's and two networks who use MONTAGE for the Video Toaster don't think so….wonder why? If you have a problem please contact us—we want to help. We still have lots of great things planned and would love your input. MONTAGE, while not perfect yet, is still the best CG output on the Toaster and (provided it is given the power it needs) the best upgrade a Toaster user can purchase. It's not just us as a co. saying it, its the thousands of professional MONTAGE users. We are very thankful for those user's that have supported us and are commited to continuing to service them I look forward to hearing from you. Tom Patrick
#94125From: Michael MiloffNov 5, 1994 10:06 AM
Tom, For those of us not so familiar with Montage or Alpha (which seems to have some strong text capacities), it would be useful to know what are their advantages compared to Toaster Paint 4.0 – at least what you know of it? Do the pros and cons change if one has a Flyer. Michael
#94286From: Tom Patrick-InnoVision TNov 6, 1994 11:17 PM
Hi, I'll be post some info on that later this week. Both Alpha Paint and MONTAGE have their strong points! It is hard to say how things will best work within the Flyer enviornment becuase we haven't recieved ours yet. We do plan on full compatibility for both products. Some of the features MONTAGE had when it first was announced we later saw in the 3.0 CG so… We endevor to give the professional Toaster user the tools he or she needs, can't find anywhere else and at a price that, when compared to traditional high-end answers, is very attractive indeed. "MONTAGE gives me Chyron quality without the cost!" and "Alpha is the poor man's Video Paintbox!" etc. The InnoVision Team looks forward to continuing that tradition our clients, especially the TV and Cable ones, demand it. With the new additude from Topeka towards 3rd party developers Toaster user are hopeful of exciting new products. Both MONTAGE and Alpha Paint provide the ultimate quality with features unavailable eleswhere! I'll post you some more info later this week. The Nov. Video Toaster User has an article (which I suggested) about NBC's The Tonight Show using the Toaster and MONTAGE as well as a mention in the article on the CG, it should be out now…great issue! All The Best, Tom Patrick InnoVision
#94287From: Michael MiloffNov 6, 1994 11:25 PM
Tom, Thanks for your thoughts. I definitely look forward to hearing the fuller comparison of Alpha, Montage and Toaster Paint 4 Michael
#94029From: Fred BerneyNov 3, 1994 11:05 PM
Wayne, I was kind of hoping it was better. Fred
#94096From: Tom Patrick-InnoVision TNov 4, 1994 11:04 PM
The Roll is and it's a tradeoff currently. The future may not have all the current features either as a 4096 color roll at 1ns eff. with interactive speed control seems to really max things out. Perhaps this will change as NT says they'll help 3rd part dev. after the flyer is out! We still have lots of ideas and products coming out. We appreciate pros like you who take time out of their busy scheduals to let us know the tools they need. Your input has been invaluable now if we can just get some other Amiga Mfg's to listen to the users and continue to dev. while things sort out we'll be in Fat City! Talk to ya soon, TP
#93814From: Arnie CachelinNov 1, 1994 1:02 PM
There are no tabs, but you can use 2 different 'lines' which happen to be at the same level. This won't work for scrolls however. For scrolls, it is EXTREMELY useful to have your text in a text file, and re-load that with different fonts set.
#93849From: Fred BerneyNov 1, 1994 7:53 PM
Aki, See my message to Gary. I did start with a text file, but things got changed. Fred