These notes are provided for use with both VideoStar and VideoStar Pro products. References made to motion JPEG compression deals with the VideoStar Pro model only.
Adobe Premiere is included with both VideoStar models. The software package includes video editing, video capture and a runtime version of Microsoft Video For Windows. Details about the installation of Adobe Premiere are provided in the included User Guide.
VideoStar and VideoStar Pro have been designed and tested to be Microsoft Video For Windows 1.1 compatible. The runtime version of VfW included with Adobe Premiere contains basic video control utilities such as MEDIAPLAYER. In order to execute MEDIAPLAYER it will be necessary to create a new program itsm within Windows Program Manager and selecting the MPLAYER.EXE file from within the C:\WINDOWS directory.
VideoStar Installation and Drivers Release Notes
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This is version 1.01 of the VideoStar and VideoStar/Pro Installation and Drivers disk set.
Capture and compression drivers are provided for VideoStar 2:1 and Motion JPEG video formats (vscapt.drv, vsmjpg.drv and vscodec.drv).
Two DLLs are also provided (h5_drv.dll and vswin.dll).
Also included are the utilities VSCONFIG and VSSNOOP, and the initialization file VSWIN.INI.
VSCONFIG is a software utility that provides control over the input video including type of video format, selection of input connector, display alignment, video image adjustment, and color & chroma key.
VSSNOOP is copied into the STARTUP window within the Windows Program Manager and will therefore be executed upon entering Windows. VSSNOOP continually monitors the state of the VGA palette and resolution, so that motion video and graphics can be combined correctly on the screen.
VSWIN.INI contains the video settings for startup, capture and playback. The user should not edit or change these settings.
Tseng Labs W32i based graphics cards including the Genoa Phantom 8900 VLB may exhibit a blank screen when VSSNOOP is loaded. This is a known issue with the Tseng Labs chip and therefore you should contact your graphics card supplier for a possible fix.
Installation Notes
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See the document entitled "Typical VideoStar Installation Procedure" for a summary of the installation procedure and for troubleshooting.
Setup will copy all the VideoStar required files into the default directory of C:\VIDSTAR. The drivers and associated DLLs will be copied to the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM directory.
When VSSNOOP is executed when first entering Windows it is possible that there will be a small shift in the screen position and in the color. This is due to the video being redirected through the VideoStar which may have slightly different properties to the graphics card. This is normal functionality.
When selecting a memory address between 640K and 1MB it should be noted that some motherboards reserve the range E000-EFFF for their own use. If a system conflict is exhibited when E000 or E800 is selected then try an alternate address in the D000 range.
Diamond Computer Systems designed and tested the VideoStar to be Microsoft Video For Windows 1.1 compatible.
Video Capture
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When setting up for video capture it is important to select the correct format, resolution and frame rate for the desired video image. Resolutions above 320 x 240 are not available in VideoStar 2:1 and motion JPEG formats due to hardware compression limitations. Full screen live video can be viewed in any of the RGB modes. For motion video it is recommended that you use resolutions of 320 x 240 or less in either of the VideoStar hardware compression modes (VideoStar 2:1 and motion JPEG) as the preferred video format. If you are dropping a high percentage of frames during capture then generally better quality results will be achieved if the resolution is lowered. If an unreasonable frame rate relative to the resolution is selected then you may receive an error message. If this occurs reduce the frame rate or resolution and try again.
When viewing live video in ADOBECAP or VIDCAP it is important to keep the overlay window selected. If the overlay is not selected then the live video will be displayed using the graphics interface and will give a significantly reduced quality of image. In motion JPEG format the graphics interface is not sufficient to deal with the amount of information required to display the video and therefore a blank screen is often exhibited if overlay is not selected.
When capturing in motion JPEG format there is a variable compression setup ratio available. The range is from 16:1 up to 120:1 with the default as 24:1. In order to obtain reasonable quality video it is recommended that you do not go much above a ratio of about 40:1.
During video capture a frame count summary will be displayed at the bottom of the image. This will be updated periodically depending upon the available system bandwidth.
If a full screen format is selected while in 640 x 480 graphics resolution Adobe Premiere will display the video image in a reduced window of 320 x 240. If this image is scaled then it is possible to temporarily lose video sync. If this occurs move the window again and the video should return.
Video Playback
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The default palette when capturing in 8 bit palletized mode is black and white and therefore any video clips captured will be displayed without color.
VideoStar is designed to playback AVI video clips using a Video For Windows compatible media player. Care should be taken when opening more than one video clip because of the video overlay function. Only one window can control the overlay window at a time and therefore any other open video window will have to use the graphics interface for display. In general it is best to play back only one video clip at a time.
Video Editing With Adobe Premiere
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When using motion JPEG format it is always necessary to output to file in 320 x 240 resolution. If different size and format images are combined together into a single motion JPEG file then the output must be set to 320 x 240 resolution. Similarly a motion JPEG file can only be input at 320 x 240 resolution but it can be saved in any other format at a different resolution. Motion JPEG can be played back in different size windows in Media Player by scaling the image to the desired size.
During certain tasks Adobe Premiere will endeavor to provide an indication of how long it will take to perform the operation. The calculations are based upon estimates generated from known operations and therefore the times are not always accurate. For example the time taken to perform Make Movie is not only dependent upon the format, resolution and frame rate but it is also highly dependent upon the complexity of the images. A complex transition period will take significantly longer than a standard image recompression.
The time taken to perform MAKE MOVIE is proportional to the complexity of the video sequence. A motion JPEG image is the most complex available and this will typically take about 4 seconds to calculate, compress and write each frame of video to the hard drive. Long video sequences may take a significant time to compress into motion JPEG format.
The Preview window in Adobe Premiere can be used to view small sections of video clips while editing. However, it should be noted that the utility has limited use when handling compressed video in complex editing situations (such as motion JPEG). Adobe recommends the use of the command MAKE WORK AREA to get a good representation of the image without using the full blown MAKE MOVIE command. For further details see page 46 of the Adobe Premiere User Guide.
Contacting DIAMOND
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Diamond can be reached through a number of ways:
Postal Service : Diamond Computer Systems, Inc.
1130 East Arques Avenue
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Voice (Main) : (408) 736-2000
Voice (TechSppt): (408) 736-2000 [M-F 6-7; Sat 8-4 PST]
[plus 24hr automated help]
FAX (Main) : (408) 730-5750
FAX (Support) : (408) 773-8000
BBS (to 2400) : (408) 730-1100
BBS (9600+) : (408) 524-9301
CompuServe : GO DMNDONLINE
America Online : GO DIAMOND
All product names listed are trademarks or copyrights of their respective owners.
