Reckeen LITE: Virtual studio Configuration Panel – selection of signal sources A,B,C,D

Unlike Reckeen 3D in Reckeen Lite, the setting of sources A, B ,C and D is different for each camera V/C.

The fundamental part of studio configuration is a selection of a source. Usually, a studio project allows you to place there 4 input signals A, B ,C and D that are set on the mixer in an additionally opened panel.

In a studio design, the first two of them, namely A and B, are almost always images of presenters (Talents), from CAM 1 to CAM 4 sources. A keying filter is applied to these sources.

The applied key removes a uniform background (e.g. green), on which the presenter is filmed.

The third and fourth signal source – C and D may be a film or a still image. They are usually displayed on virtual screens that are a part of studio scenography. Everything depends on the project. In the picture, you can see two images of presenters (source A and B) and studio screens, where a film (source C and D) is displayed.

Most often the default A, B , C and D sources were defined by a studio designer, but you go to the VSM Lite Editor and create your own settings, e.g. remove a Talent or add a screen. In each studio, signals can be used in a different way. Due to this flexibility, the signals have been described in a studio configuration panel in a universal way – symbols A, B , C and D.

There are four separate rows of buttons with identical descriptions for sources A, B ,C and D. This enables a separate regulation of parameters for sources A, B , C and D.

The input signal for studio composition can be: a transparency (Off), a camera image (CAM_1, 2,3,4), a video file (Media 1, 2), an image/bitmap (Still 1, 2),

And so are called the buttons located in four rows below the studio previews. The button with selected source is highlighted . Changing the input source takes place immediately, so you can change it during the live broadcast.

After selecting the appropriate signal sources, a figure of a presenter will be displayed against a studio scenography, and a selected video file or a still image will be shown on virtual screens. If a keying filter has not been enabled for the source with a presenter figure, you have to switch it on and set its parameters.

After applying the correct keying parameters, a background against which the presenter is filmed (e.g. green) will be removed and the figure of the presenter will be visible against the background of the studio scenography.

In order to make the figure of the presenter fit better into set design you have used, you can adjust the figure’s size and position in the studio. A separate window is used for changing these parameters. The window can be opened with a button located next to the buttons used for the studio’s signal sources
selection.

This window works on the same principle as the Placement window earlier described in the DSK section. The only exception is an additional function Aspect Ratio: Keep / Stretch described on the following pages of the manual.

Reckeen LITE: Virtual studio Configuration Panel

After opening a production screen of LITE Production, you will find the virtual studio Configuration Panel in the lower left corner. The Reckeen LITE Studio system will always open a new session with a starting studio loaded.

A studio file’s path on the disk is displayed at the top of the panel.

The Reckeen LITE Studio system is equipped with 4 V/C channels, that is Virtual Cameras. The backlit buttons V/C 1 to V/C 4 on the left side of the configuration panel allow you to choose which group of V/C shots you can currently configure.

The V/C buttons in the panel are fully compatible with the main video mixer. If you change the status of the main mixer (switch the V/C on the mixer), whether it is in PREVIEW (PVW) section or PROGRAM (PGM) section, the button in V/C control panel will switch automatically. V/C tab button is highlighted in red when the virtual camera V/C to which it is assigned, is on the air, that is, in a live signal on the PROGRAM screen. And when the button is highlighted in green, it means the virtual camera V/C image is displayed on the PREVIEW screen.

Each V/C shot of the studio enables definition of virtual camera movements in 4 different phases.

Control panel allows you to define four phases for one virtual camera V/C shot (Phase 1, 2, 3 and 4 previews). The current phase is marked by a highlighted stripe above the preview. Phases can be switched at any time, both when the studio is on the air, and when it is being prepared for broadcast. Clicking on a preview of one of inactive phases switches the view to that phase.

After loading to the control panel a studio’s set design that has several virtual camera shots, the shots will be loaded into V/C 1, V/C 2, V/C 3, and V/C 4 trays. This will correspond to images from 4 virtual cameras in the studio. Switching between the trays allows you to quickly change the virtual camera’s view.

In the Reckeen LITE system, you can also load one studio into the V/C 1 container, which is going to be on the air, and a completely different one into the V/C 2 tray, which we is going to be prepared for broadcast on the PREVIEW screen.

PROGRAM and PREVIEW screens for two different studios loaded into two V/C trays.

Reckeen LITE : Production module screen

After clicking on the LITE Production icon on the start screen, the main module of the system appears on the screen. It’s a kind of an executive center, where most of the Reckeen LITE system production functions are activated from.

The production screen area can be divided into five main areas, the same as the 3D Production version:

  1. Toolbar
  2. Multiview Panel (previews panel)
  3. Vision Mixer (production switcher)
  4. Virtual studio Configuration Panel
  5. Media trays

Areas described in points 1, 2, 3 and 5 are common to both systems: Reckeen 3D Studio and Reckeen LITE . These areas have already been described in the manual.

 

VSM LITE Editor

Virtual Space Maker LITE Editor has been designed to edit and introduce changes to the ready-made sets, but also to allow the users to create their own set designs. Such sets are intended for Reckeen LITE system. Just as with the previous options, in order to start the editor you have to choose the image system in which you are going to create your set design. You can launch the editor with the latest scenery (Start editor with recent studio) or load the scenery from the computer disk (Load studio). Loading a scenery is also possible later on while the editor is already running. VSM LITE Editor is also available as a standalone application to be installed on your PC or laptop.

COLOR FUNCTION

Thanks to the Color function, you can design the text’s filling, including the selection of a fill color or a fill pattern. See the image below.

After opening the drop-down list of Style options, you have the following possibilities: (image below)

  • No brush – the text will be filled with transparency, only the text’s contour will be visible on screen.
  • Solid – transfers you to the color wheel to adjust the text’s color, it is done in the same way as described above, when adjusting the text’s contour color – Outline (see the image below – arrows indicate the possibility to operate using the cursor)
  • Pattern – after opening the drop-down list, select the interesting filling pattern. After selecting the pattern, you can choose the color with the color wheel. See the image on the next page.
  • Gradient – when you choose a Gradient filling style, a window appears, as shown on next page.

After opening the drop-down list of Style options, you have the following possibilities: (image below)

  • No brush – the text will be filled with transparency, only the text’s contour will be visible on screen.
  • Solid – transfers you to the color wheel to adjust the text’s color, it is done in the same way as described above, when adjusting the text’s contour color – Outline (see the image below – arrows indicate the possibility to operate using the cursor)
  • Pattern – after opening the drop-down list, select the interesting filling pattern. After selecting the pattern, you can choose the color with the color wheel. See the image on the next page.
  • Gradient – when you choose a Gradient filling style, a window appears, as shown on next page.

In the case of Gradient, the texts’ filling will be of a gradient type selected at the bottom of the window.
Highlight it with a cursor and click on the select icon.

In the Preview window you can see how the gradient will be applied to your text. You can change the proportions of selected areas of your gradient with triangular markers. The markers are positioned at the colors’ transitions. The color set with a specific marker will be visible in the Color preview window, when you select the marker with a cursor.

OUTLINE FUNCTION

Outline function allows you to edit captions’ contours.

Due to the changing screen background during the broadcast, the entirely monochromatic captions may disappear at certain moments, when the background color is the same as the text’s. For this reason, borders are added to the text with a color contrasting with the caption’s filling. The most commonly used version are white letters with a black outline, and this option is set as a default when creating texts.

The Outline function enables using different kinds of Pen Styles, that is texts’ borders.

We can choose: No Pen – captions will have no contour, or one of the following options: Solid Line, Dash Line, Dot Line, Dash-Dot Line and Dash-Dot-Dot Line.

Width is a next useful option. When you change its value, the width of text’s contour changes. See the image below.

Possibility of setting yet another option – Join Style allows you to change the shape of texts’ contour. See the image below.

The captions can be more rounded (Round, Bevel) or rather sharp (Miter, SVG Miter).

Value of the miter limit can be adjusted, if your font and its contour requires so.

You can also set the color of the text’s contour (border).

The color wheel shown in the picture below is based on the RGB model (Red, Green, Blue) extended with transparency and also Hue, Saturation, Value, and Alfa channel (which is transparency).

Texts’ color can be set using the sliders located on the right side of the screen:

  • Hue – the hue parameter corresponds to the colors on the edge of the color wheel, starting from 0 (red), through 120 (green) and 240 (blue) to 360 (red). By changing the slider’s value, the position of an indicator line on the wheel is changed.
  • Saturation – the value of saturation parameter ranges from 0 (white) to 255 (100% full saturation), by changing its value with a slider, a circle’s position along one of the square’s sides changes.
  • Value – the brightness parameter encompasses the range from 0 (black) to 255 (100% bright color of a given hue and saturation), by changing its value with the slider, the circle’s position along one of the square’s sides changes.
  • Transparency is set with an Alfa slider – the transparency parameter ranges from 0 (fully transparent, invisible border) to 255 (100% full visibility).You can also use the cursor to set all the above values (except the Alpha channel). The cursor has to catch on the line indicator pointed with a lower white arrow in the picture below.

Changing the position of the line indicator on the wheel allows you to set the color by changing the Hue parameter.

If the cursor is caught on the circle indicated by an upper white arrow, you can move it inside the square. This allows you to change all the other parameters apart from the Alfa.

The current color will be visible in the middle of the white circle.

EDIT – CHARACTERISTICS OF ITEMS: TEXT, FRAME, RECTANGLE AND PICTURE

Properties – after selecting an item (picture, frame, rectangle, text) on the working area, it allows you to modify its properties

Here, we will discuss in detail the properties of individual items that can be placed into the working area – on the example of Text item. Other items (Frame, Rectangle, and Picture) have the same number or a smaller one of properties.

Text, Outline, Shadow and Positioning functions

After opening Text Properties window, in the upper left corner you can find five main functions to choose from allowing you to edit captions: Text, Outline, Color, Shadow and Positioning.

Text function

In the image below you can see an open window of text item properties with the Text function. In the highlighted box there is a place to enter caption’s text that is to appear on screen.

The text can also be entered without opening this window, that is directly on screen with a keyboard, after clicking the left mouse button once on the caption’s text .

You can also open the object’s options window with a double-click of the left mouse button and enter the caption’s text in the edit box. The text’s size and font are set by default.

Another way to edit the text is to enable the Vertical option. Selecting this option will result in text’s rotation  by 90 degrees. See the image below.

In this window, you can also set the text’s Row Spacing and Column Spacing. The values of both functions are set by default to 0.

MENU BAR – EDIT

All the sub-options are shown in the picture.

  • Undo – Deletes the last change in the editor
  • Redo – Reverses the Undo command
  • Copy – Copies the last selected item (text, picture, frame, rectangle)
  • Paste – Pastes the previously selected item
  • Add – Enables inserting objects (picture, frame, rectangle, text) into the working area. For quick access this function is also available in the form of icons on the vertical toolbar. See the next image.
  • Remove – deletes the selected item

MENU BAR – FILE

  • New – create a new virtustill file of the text panel
  • New from Image – to create a new text panel a background of which is loaded from an image file.
  • Load – load an existing virtustill file
  • Close – close the currently opened file with a possibility to save changes
  • Save – save changes to the current project in the virtustill file
  • Save As – save the project file under a different name
  • Export – allows you to save the project as an image in PNG file with transparency (alphachannel) preserved.
  • Go to Startup – quit the editor

MENU BAR

Menu bar is located in the top left side of the screen. Below, further sub-options, that show up when you click on the main option, are shown.

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