DekoCast Scene Building

DekoCast is an extremely powerful box that offers a wide range of features and functionalities. The DekoCast is in its architecture fantastic flexible which allows you to build up a scene with the look you require. DekoCast has very few limitations that you have to take into consideration when you build your scene. This document will offer you guidelines that will help you create the output you desire.

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Contents:
The Limitations:..................................................................................... 3 Scene Building Method ........................................................................... 4 Using PostDeko as CreationTool .............................................................. 4 Soft Masks ........................................................................................... 5 Style changes in Crawls andRolls.............................................................. 6 Texture Variations: ................................................................................ 8 Graphical Objects and Cell Animations..................................................... 10 Graphical Objects................................................................................. 10 Cell Animations ............................................................................. 10 Semi-transparent Images ............................................................... 11 Groups ........................................................................................ 12 Clips .................................................................................................. 13 Creating Clips for 16 by 9 Playback ........................................................ 13 Audio Crossfade on Video - and Clip Objects............................................. 14

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The Limitations:
DekoCast has a pixel coverage limitation, which means that you can maximum layer 5 pixels on top of each other, and what does that mean? It means that you can put 5 full screen graphics or 2 clips, 2 video inputs and a full screen graphic or 3 full screen graphics and 2 video inputs or 2 clips on top of each other. This may perhaps sound like a limitation that will cause problems, but it is far from that, because it does not mean that you cannot have more that 5 objects at the screen at the same time. Basically you can have unlimited number of objects in your scene as long you have the pixel coverage limitation in mind. As an example you can have 10 Deko Graphic objects, a clip object, a video object, an audio object and a cell animation, like the scene to the right.

Or like the scene to the left that contains 10 Deko Graphic objects all linked to text files, 4 cell animations and a clip. Common for the two scenes is that that both have general pixel coverage under 5. Customers are known to have more than 50 objects in one scene. So the pixel coverage limitation should not cause bigger problems.

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Scene Building Method

There are several ways to create a scene; below you will find described how you can utilize the power of the full featured character generator PostDeko Lite. The guidelines below should help you to keep your pixel coverage low. Set up as much of your scene as possible in one PostDeko Lite file Use Custom Type faces instead of using layers to create variations of the same texture See how-to in the paragraph about Texture variations below. Avoid using full screen graphics where not necessary See how-to in the paragraph about Graphical Objects and Cell animations below Cell animations should not exceed one fifth of the screen See how-to in the paragraph about Graphical Objects and Cell animations below Leave passive objects totally opaque

Using PostDeko as Creation Tool

When starting on a new scene setting up most your text layers, still background and static logos in PostDeko Lite is a very recommendable way to start, as this would let you see how your output more or less as it will look, when it is assembled in DekoCast. Setting all up in PostDeko Lite will also help you keep your number pixel coverages down. As you by using Deko objects in your scene only bring the pixels equivalent to the sizes of the layers in PostDeko Lite.

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Soft Masks
PostDeko Lite will also give you the option of soft masks over static backgrounds. Follow the procedure below: Set up your background in PostDeko Lite and save it as i.e. Background.dko Create the graphic which you want use as your Main DekoCast graphic in PostDeko Lite

Enable background In the Shader window select texture, browse to background.dko (or what you called your background graphic) Add a rectangle layer, In the Style window select Look, and then select the Face. In the Shader window select texture, browse to background.dko (or what you called your background graphic), set group to page Increase the blur value to the value needed to soften your mask enough. Save the Graphic In DekoCast Create two Deko objects Let both objects look at your Deko graphic. Set Background as selected layer for Object 1 Set rectangle as selected layer for Object 2. The rectangle will now act as soft-mask, when layered on top of any object.

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Style Changes in Crawls and Rolls

By using PostDeko Lites Preset Styles you can change style during a crawls and rolls.

<preset file="d:\dekocast\styles.pst"/><preset id="2"/>A <preset id="1"/>Reuters AlertNet - Philippine police blame faulty jail for rebel's escape <preset id="3"/>AlertNet The line above is a line from a text file used as a continuous crawl. <preset file=" d:\dekocast\styles.pst "/> is used to load the correct preset style file <preset id="2"/> is used to set the Preset Style to style number two. <preset id=1"/> change the style to number one.

For information about how to create Preset styles please attend to page 68 in the PostDeko Lite User Guide

To use style changes during continuous crawls and rolls do the following: Create a text file with the text strings you want to use, and add the style changes you want appear.

In DekoCast Create a Deko Object Browse to a Deko graphic and select a specific layer you want to use for your Crawl or Roll.
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Word-wrap should be turned off on the layer, if used for a crawl, as it otherwise will wrap the crawl into multiple lines. In the Object Editor window set transition type to hscrollthru for continuous crawl or vscrollthru for roll. In the Object Editor window> contents tab select your text file by pushing the browse button. Set Loop to on, if you want to loop the text file infinite.

If you want to have gap between the text lines, this can be accomplished by setting a negative left cropping value on the Deko object. If you want the crawl to run left to right instead of right to left Or The roll to run top to bottom instead of bottom to top Set the rate on the Deko Object to a negative value.

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Texture Variations:
Very often a scene will be containing a large number of Deko Objects. Some of these will be text layers, where others will be graphic layers which are used to hold textures. In cases where the scene must be able to show variations of the same texture this can result in a large number of objects in the DekoCast scene, as every variation would be a separate object with extra complexity as result.

Using the PostDeko Lite Custom Typeface feature will bring the variations from being separate objects to being one object, where you use the text override functionality on a DekoObject in DekoCast to replace the texture. Create a Custom Typeface For information about how to create Custom Typefaces please attend to page 41 in the PostDeko Lite User Guide In PostDeko Lite create a new Deko Graphic Add a text layer Set the font on the layer to be your Custom Typeface Save the graphic In DekoCast create a Deko Object Browse to your graphic Select the layer you assigned the Custom Typeface to. Set the transition type you want when you change the texture Type a character in the Text Override field, to test that the texture is replaced as expected.

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The action above replaces the texture 4 times.

To create an action that replaces a texture over time, do the following: Create a new action Press the Animate button Enter the character that represents the texture you want to display in the text override field on the Deko Object. Move the scrub button on the timeline and redo the above

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Graphical Objects and Cell Animations

Graphical Objects Most graphic designers work in full frames when they design graphical elements for broadcast purposes. Which means that if they want to place a 100 x 100 pixels square in the top left corner of the screen, they will create a full frame (720 x 486 NTSC or 720 x 576 PAL), place the square in the top left corner, and leave the rest of the frame transparent. This is not recommendable for DekoCast as such graphical object would act like a full frame in DekoCast and thereby take up one of the pixel coverages (see paragraph about limitations). Graphical objects designed for use in DekoCast should be created in the size they will be used in DekoCast. The 100 x 100 pixels square, mentioned above, should be created as a 100 x 100 pixel image. Thereby it only covers 100 x 100 pixels and not the full frame. Please also note that al graphical objects inserted via the Cell animation-button is imported as rectangular pixels. This means that a graphic build as 720 x 486 or 720 x 576 will appear geometrically distorted when displayed via DekoCast. The procedure to correct this with Photoshop or other square pixel paint programs is: Make your image size 720 x 540 for NTSC and 768 x 576 for PAL. This is a 4 x 3 aspect ratio in square pixels. Save a copy of the image at this size in case you need to edit it later. Resize the image to 720 x 486 for NTSC and 720 x 576 for PAL. Use 486/576 because Deko's video buffers are exactly 486/576 lines tall. The resized image will appear geometrically distorted on your computer monitor, but will display correctly when imported by Deko. Crop the image so the image only contains the information you want to use in DekoCast Save the image as a .tga file or a .tif file.

Cell Animations A Cell animation is a sequence of graphics. Many graphic designers create these as a set for full frame (720 x 576 / 720 x 486) images, and then they create an alpha channel that covers the area they do not want to show, as this is the The Cell Animation Player still sees it like a full screen graphic. This will make the animation stutter during playback.

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So the rule is, never make the workspace bigger than necessary to contain the graphic you want to animate, and never create cell animations bigger than a fifth of the screen and keep the frame count below 300 frames. That means if the object you want to animate is 100 x 80 pixels make your workspace about the same area.

Semi-transparent Images When creating TARGA images to use in DekoCast it is very important to follow the guidelines below. The file must be saved with alpha channel The file must be saved as 32 bit Transparent areas in the fill signal must be black.

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Groups
Using groups is a very handy way to organize your scene. Groups also allow you to perform DVE effects on several objects together, without having to setup events for each object.

You can also use groups to mask objects. To create a video- or clip object with a custom shape, do the following: In PostDeko Lite create and save a graphic with the shape you want the video object to have. (The shape should be kept in black & white, similar to a linear key) In DekoCast create a group In the group add the Deko object and the video object On the group tab on the group itself choose the Composite style appropriate for the mask you have created Mask will use the combined fill and key signal of your Deko object Mask using Key Only will only use the key signal of your Deko object Mask using Color Only will only use the fill signal of your Deko object Wipe will use your Deko object as key for the Wipe transition Crossfade will crossfade between your objects in the group, and thereby not work as a mask. Please note using the group object to mask with does take up one full pixel coverage for the mask and one for each video object. It will therefore very quickly take up pixel the 5 pixel coverages, if you have more that one object where you use this feature.

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Clips
When creating clips for the DekoCast Clip server the following guidelines should be followed: Keep the video levels between 16 and 235 Key must be pre-multiplied, when rendering the fill signal Select Field-based rendering. Select the appropriate Blur Settings based on your source material Render the clips as .AVI using the Pinnacle DV codec or as .DV The codec can be downloaded from http://www.pinnaclesys.com/SupportFiles/DV25_Codec.zip

Creating clips for 16 by 9 Playback Pinnacle DV25 codec can not render clip in 16 by 9 aspect ratio, but there is a workaround to achieve the correct aspect ratio on the output from a 16 by 9 TARGA sequence: In Pinnacle Commotion (PAL): Create a new project Create a new Composite (D1/DV/PAL 720 x 576) Frame Rate: 25 FPS Aspect Ratio: 1.066670:1 Field-based Rendering Appropriate Blur Settings based on your source material Import the TARGA sequence Drag the imported footage the timeline Click the Triangle on the object Click the Properties triangle on the object Unlock aspect ratio on the scale parameter Set X-scale to 75% Render the Composite The resized clip will appear geometrically distorted on your computer monitor, but will display correctly when played back by DekoCast

When playing back the clip in the 16 by 9 the clip will display in the correct aspect.

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Audio Crossfade on Video - and Clip Objects

To create an audio cross fade on Video- and Clip objects, following the guideline below should result in a correct sounding crossfade. For the audio that fades out - set a key frame at 0 for the proper full audio level and then stair step key frame values down equally over the prescribed time. For a 1 second fade out do the following: Set the 0 key frame at 0.0 Th .25 key frame at -50 The .75 key frame at -100, The 1.0 key frame at -150. For the audio that fades in do the following: Set the 0 key frame at -150.0 Th .25 key frame at -100 The .75 key frame at -50, The 1.0 key frame at 0.0 Now offset the ranges of key frames for these 2 parameters by .25 seconds so the audio fade up starts sooner then the audio fade out. Basically beat the midpoint of the audio fade out with the audio fade in. In this way you should have a nice clean audio crossfade between Input A and B and also with clips.

For More Information

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Pinnacle Systems, Inc. cannot be held as responsible for the information in this document. This document is for information purposes only. Pinnacle Systems, Inc. makes no warranties, expressed or implied, in this document. All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are used for identification or reference purposes only, with no intent to infringe on copyrights. 2003 Pinnacle Systems, Inc. www.pinnaclesys.com

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