Virtix Sample Version 1.3

Installation of Virtix Sample

This package contains an installer which installs the Sample plug-in file into the appropriate folder for most installations of iMovie.

Manual Installation of Virtix Sample

If iMovie is in an unusual location, it may be necessary to manually install the software.  This is a simple matter of moving the Sample plug-in file to the appropriate folder on your system.  The manual installation instructions in many languages for OS 9 are in a file called "Installation_Sample 9.html" The manual installation instructions in many languages for OS X are in a file called "Installation_Sample_X.html"

Effect Documentation

This package contains documentation for all 38 effects in Bravo and Echo.  The main page of the documentation is called "Virtix Documentation.html"

Improvements in Version 1.2 & 1.3

Various changes were made to make the software compatible with as many platforms and versions of iMovie as possible. Memory handling was improved for dual processor machines and the custom help button was removed because of incompatibilities with iMovie 2.1.

Improvements in Version 1.1.1

This package is version 1.1.1 fixes certain incompatiblities with iMovie version 2.1 for OS X, which caused iMovie to refuse to start.

Improvements in Version 1.1

This package is version 1.1 of Virtix Sample Effects for iMovie.  A number of improvements have been made in this version that were not available in version 1.0.  These improvements include:

• Context Sensitive Help
• More efficient memory usage in OS 9
• Improvement of frame and field handling to eliminate flicker on television monitors

Context Sensitive Help

Context sensitive help is now available for Virtix effects. This help contains tips regarding how to use the effects. Access the help by holding down the option key while clicking on the effect name in the effects list or the transitions list in iMovie.   If you bring down the help dialog while effects are rendering, this can temporarily stop the rendering process. Click anywhere in the iMovie window to resume rendering.

More Efficient Memory Usage in OS 9

Under OS 9, Apple recommends that users allocate 28.5 Meg to iMovie.  We recommend that users of Virtix Effects allocate 40 Meg to iMovie, or more if many effects are to be applied simultaneously.

The Virtix effects and transitions have been modified to use much less memory in version 1.1 under OS 9, which reduces the likelihood that you will run out of memory in iMovie under OS 9 when rendering many effects at once.

Frame and Field Handling

Your Mac and your television work at two different speeds.  Your Mac pushes 30 video images called frames to the screen per second for an NTSC (American standard) iMovie project and 25 images per second for a PAL (European standard) iMovie project.  Your television pushes 60 partial images called fields to the screen on an NTSC TV and 50 partial images per second on a PAL TV.

Version 1.1 of the software has been optimized to yield smooth motion and non-flickering images for both NTSC and PAL, for both the television screen and the computer monitor.  (Version 1.0 sometimes yielded flickering images)