Animation Effects

These are short duration full-motion video effects prepared in your favorite graphics, video application or the add-on utility Animation Store Creator . These sources are compiled into an effect by loading them into a buffer.

• Looping effects: These animations endlessly repeat, useful for applications like station ID ‘bugs’.

• Auto-run effects : These effects auto-run on display following a Take or Auto . Playback runs the effect, and then holds the last frame.

Graphics

• Images: 24-bit or 32-bit (with embedded alpha channel) images.

• Title pages: Editable title pages, identical to those served up by your media players.
  Layered PSD files are automatically converted to editable CGXML files with layer visibility support in the Title Editor.
  Please refer to section Title Pages for more details.

• LiveGraphics (optional): Animated graphics and titles.
  See sections Animation Features and Live Link.

HTML

You can display a live webpage in Viz Vectar Plus as a switcher source by using HTML in a buffer. Alternatively you can bring in live graphics from a website that provides graphics as ready-rendered HTML output.

For these HTML web pages, you can:

• Scale and crop using the Viz Vectar Plus input and key layer tools.

• Use keyboard input and mouse movements such as click, back/forward, refresh, scrolling and keyboard input.

• Ingest web output from CG providers.

• Work with audio, macros, and alpha transparency.

To select content

1. Open the Media Browser menu by either:

   1. For an in-use buffer: Move the mouse over a Buffer display (top right) to reveal the Add Media [+] button. Click on it.

   2. For an unused buffer: Click in the Buffer display to open the Media Browser menu.

2. In the Media Browser, menu add media by either

   1. Selecting from the listed sources.

   2. Selecting a file to populate the buffer with either Browse or the + button.

   3. Selecting a Web Browser source.

3. From the Live Panel, you can also populate a buffer by:
   

   1. Dragging the displayed content from a media player to a buffer.

   2. Right-clicking a still image or title page in a media player and choosing Send to from the context menu and then choosing a buffer slot (1-15) from the selection menu.
      

      

To control ASC effects in a buffer

• Select a Slow, Medium, or Fast preset value from the drop-down menu, drag the mouse left or right over the time to change the current value, or click to enter a number directly using the keyboard.

• For auto-run animation effects, mouse-over the buffer to display a Rehearse button (top-center)
  Click to play the animation from first to last frame, before freezing the image.

  In addition to providing a way to preview the effect (by displaying it on the Preview monitor, for example), Rehearse enables rerunning animated alerts and similar overlays.
  This is useful in conjunction with the Macros feature for driving what a buffer displays.

To work with Live Link

1. Click the Buffer's + (add) icon to add or replace a buffer slot source.
   

   

2. The Media Browser menu opens.
   Click the Web Browser button to open an integrated browser.
   

   

3. Enter the web page (URL) to assign to the specified buffer slot.
   

   

4. Click OK.
   It may take a few seconds for the thumbnail to update.

To create an Internet shortcut

You can also assign a web page to a buffer by creating an Internet shortcut URL file by dragging a link from a web browser onto a file folder.

1. Click on a buffer's + icon to open the Media Browser menu.

2. Select Browse and find your internet shortcut file.

3. Click Open.

4. With the web page displaying in your buffer, hover-over the buffer's thumbnail.
   A Web icon (globe) appears in the bottom left corner of the buffer.
   

   

5. Click the Web icon.

6. The Web Browser opens, allowing you to make changes to the web page.
   Interaction includes mouse movement, back/ forward, scrolling and keyboard input.
   The URL being viewed can also be changed in the Address field.
   

   

7. Use the Web Browser to preview the web page.
   Once you are happy with your changes, click OK.
   This closes the Web Browser and applies the URL to the buffer.
   
   To remove web browser borders
   Once you have delegated the buffer to Preview or Program, the web page borders might appear in the monitor.
   

   

8. To remove the border, hover-over the buffer thumbnail in the DSK channel.
   

   

   
   A gear icon appears on the lower right of the buffer.
   Click to open the buffer's Configuration panel.

9. Click the DSK n tab.
   

   

10. In the buffer's Configuration panel, from the Position panel, you can position the webpage, crop, and zoom-in to remove the outer borders.

HTML Buffer Graphics

You can use professional live graphics in your production by bringing in HTML graphics ready-rendered on a CG website.

To work with rendered HTML graphics

1. Locate the CG site, running on a separate system.

2. Copy the URL into an HTML Buffer Web Browser.
   In this example, the site singular.live. There are numerous CG websites online.
   

   

3. Changes made on the CG webpage (on the separate machine) appear in your system in real time.
   Transparent files are easy to bring into Viz Vectar Plus, as the alpha is sent from the render-based platform.
   

   

To share the frame buffer folder

The Frame Buffer folder for the current session can be made accessible across your network when sharing is enabled. This allows, for example, still image buffers to be modified across a network, using an editor such as Photoshop®.

1. From the File menu on the Dashboard, select Share Media Folders and Buffers (this operation can be performed during a live production).
   A Warning that system resources may be affected by this operation, is displayed.

2. If you understand the network performance situtation, click OK.

3. The files which serve individual still image buffers are located in clearly named sub-folders of the Frame Buffer folder for each session.
   These folders are arranged as follows:
   Sessiondrive: \Sessions\sessionname\Frame Buffer\Buffer(#)

To edit a title page in a buffer

• Clicking the edit icon Aa at lower-left.
  

  

  
  See section Title Pages in Buffers.