Monthly Archive for: "September, 2018"

The Talent layer (source A or B) is the last layer to be inserted into the set design. Normally, one or two Talent layers are used in the project.

After loading the Talent layer into the set design, a white frame appears surrounding this layer. This white frame indicates the size and location of the camera image in the studio’s set design.

When the Talent layer is loaded, you can properly adjust its size and location to a desired position.

At the end, save your set design on the disk by clicking: File > Save as. At this point, you can enable mark set as not writable option at the bottom left of the window to protect your set design from any changes made to this file, e.g. overwriting it.

When the set is saved on the disk, you can close the editor. Now, if you have Reckeen LITE virtual studio running, you can load your set design into the LITE Production module and make a live show.

This function allows you to crop the loaded image, but you can only use it with the Object layer. Let’s examine an example. In the image below, you can see an image loaded into Virtual Space Maker editor. Only a fragment with a dragon is needed from this image. You enable the crop function by clicking Layer Crop button.

Now, change the image borders using the sliders – top and bottom, left and right. This way you can limit the image area to the desired fragment.

The Object layer’s image obtained in this manner can be further adjusted to your needs by using other functions, such as enlarging or using the Points mode.

The set design editor provides you with various options of editing a single layer. Let’s examine an example.

Example: The goal is to insert into the set design a layer with a screen so that it fitted into TV housing. Image below: a studio with two TVs without screens.

Keep in mind that, when you add another layer, it will be placed in front of those previously added in the studio, i.e. the lowest layer is the furthest layer from the camera’s perspective. Therefore, most often the Talent layer is added at the very end (it will be at the very top), so that nothing obscures the form of a presenter.

Let’s use Rectangle mode to load the first Screen layer into the TV housing, and Points mode for the second TV to show you the difference between them.

Load the Screen layer.

Note that, after loading, the Screen layer fills an entire screen area, covering all the other layers.

Let’s use Rectangle edit mode. This edit mode is enabled by default. There is a control panel for this mode at the bottom, it comprises of five elements: a joystick, a vertical controller and three rotary knobs.

1. Joystick – changing the position of a selected element / layer. The position can be also changed by ‘grabbing’ the element with the cursor and dragging it with the mouse.
2. Vertical controller – resizing the element, scaling.
3. Rotary knob: X plane – rotation of the element in the X plane.
4. Rotary knob: Y plane – rotation of the element in the Y plane.
5. Rotary knob: Z plane – rotation of the element in the Z plane.

There are two ways to operate the vertical controller:

1. Click on any place on the controller’s knob and move it up or down
2. Use the arrows located next to the numerical value field for precise movement of the controller’s knob.

In the case of rotary knobs, there are the following ways to operate them:

1. Click on any place on the knob and turn it to the left or to the right.
2. Click on one of the four triangles around the knob to turn the knob setting the knob’s dot exactly at the point indicated by an arrow. It will be a rotation of exactly 90 degrees or of a multiple of this value.
3. Use the arrows located next to the numerical value field for precise movement of the knob. Use the vertical controller to reduce the size of the Screen layer’s green rectangle.

Since immediately after loading, the Screen layer fills up an entire area, the controller’s value is 100 (in%). After reducing the layer’s size, the parameter’s value also decreases.

The layer can be rotated along its X axis with the use of the first rotary knob. Click on any place on the knob and rotate it.

The Screen layer can be also rotated along its Y axis. Use the second rotary knob for that purpose.

You can also rotate the layer along its Z axis. Use the last rotary knob on the right side for that purpose.

Use the vertical controller to get the appropriate size of the Screen layer. Then use all the rotary knobs to set the correct position. At the end, the goal has been achieved: green Screen is correctly placed inside the TV housing.

You can achieve the same effect, but much faster, by using the edit mode: Points.

Just as before, after loading the Screen layer, scale it as so that it doesn’t cover an entire area. Use the vertical controller to reduce the size of the Screen layer’s green rectangle. After resizing, activate the Points mode. When the program warns you with a message, select YES option.

Points – this edit mode allows you to perform various types of transformations on the selected layer.

After switching to this mode, square points will show up in the corners of the green Screen layer. When you hook the cursor on the corner point (the point’s color will change to red), you will be able to move it to any place. By changing positions of the points, you can freely modify the shape and swiftly adjust the Screen to the TV’s housing. Just change the positions of the 4 points.

To facilitate the task, use the icons: Zoom Out, Zoom In and Zoom 1:1.

1. Zoom 1:1 icon – deletes all zoom changes made.
2. Zoom In icon – enlarges the image – for example, if you want to precisely set the points in the Points edit mode, you can enlarge the area. After adjusting the points, change the view back to 1:1 by clicking Zoom 1:1 icon.
3. Zoom Out icon – reduces the image’s view.

Edit mode: Points. Setting the points. Image enlarged with Zoom In.

If there are many layers in your project, remember to mark the layer’s thumbnail before introducing the changes. It will allow you to click with the mouse only on the selected layer.

After selection, a blue border in the shape of an arrow will appear around a letter D.

After this editing, there are two green Screens inserted into TV housings in the studio.

You can edit the Talent and Object layers in the same way as the Screen layer.

There are various options of layers’ editing available in the control window in the lower left corner of the screen. The image below. Options available for an object layer – there is an image loaded from the disk on the layer.

Below, you can see a description of individual buttons’ operation.

1. Name panel – a place where you define the layer. A description ‘Source’ appears for the Talent and the Screen layers, while a ‘Static logo’ is shown for the Studio layer and for the Object layer, just as in the image above.
2. Image panel – a path on the disk to a selected file for Studio layer or for the Object layer. Click on an icon with 3 dots to choose a different graphic file from the disk and load a different Image in its place. In order to delete an image from a layer, click on an icon with bin mark.
3. Source Index – select a source for the Screen or the Talent layer from a drop-down list: A, B, C and D.
4. Source Type selection – from a drop down list: Talent Full, Talent Desk, Talent Middle, Screen and Other.
5. Layer’s Edit Mode – available modes are: Rectangle and Points.
   • Rectangle – in this mode, you can change shape, size and position of a layer with the use of icons set at the bottom of the Screen (joystick and knobs). A detailed description in the further part of the manual.
   • Points – this edit mode is available when you choose Talent, Screen or Object layer. It allows you to perform various kinds of transformations on a selected layer. You can move it anywhere on
     the Screen by hooking the cursor on a point located in the corner. You can change positions of the points to be able to freely modify the layer’s shape. A detailed description in the further part of the manual.
6. Solo – by default this option is disabled. By enabling it, you hide all the other layers except the selected one.
7. Visible – this option is enabled by default. Disabling this option hides the selected layer.
8. Opaque – opacity. This option is available for the Talent, Screen and Object layer. It is enabled by default for the Screen layer, while for the Talent and Object layer, it is disabled by default. By enabling this option a transparent area on the selected layer changes to black.
9. Reset Transformations – you can restore the selected layer to its default initial size and shape by clicking on this icon. All operations performed on this layer will be deleted.
10. Crop Layer – this function allows you to crop the loaded image. You can only use it on the Object layer. Description further in the text.

You can see Layers window on the right side of the screen – area 2. This window renders accessible the following 4 functions. Function icons are located at the top of the window.

Starting from the left:

• Create: Add a layer
• Delete: Delete the existing layer
• Move up: Move the layer up
• Move down: Move the layer down

In order to start editing, click the first icon on the left: Add a layer. A window will open: Select layer type.

In this window, you can find four different types of layers that can be added by clicking on a layer:

• Sources A and B (Talents),
• Sources C and D (Screens),
• Object layer,
• Studio layer.

After marking Studio Layer, click Add button. You can now browse graphic files on your hard drive. A single click on a file will open the file’s preview. To load a graphic file, press Open or double click on the file name.

After loading the image file, it appears in the workspace, while its thumbnail shows up in the Layers window. There are two icons on the right side of the image’s thumbnail: Visible and Solo.

Their functions are described below:

• Icon: Visible – by default, the visibility of a given layer is enabled, and you can disable visibility of a given layer in the studio by clicking on this icon. This way, you can, for example, turn off the visibility of a desk or other object in the studio, without removing it from the list.
• Icon: Solo – this icon is disabled by default. Click on Solo icon to hide all the other layers. Only the selected layer will be visible in the workspace. All the others will disappear. This feature is especially useful if the studio contains a lot of objects and some layers’ visibility is hindered.

Menu bar is located at the top of the screen. You can find four main options there: File, Edit, Configuration and Help.

The table below shows the following sub-options available after clicking on a main option.

• New – creates a new file.
• Load – loads an existing file.
• Save – saves the changes made to the current project.
• Save as – saves the project file under a different name (There is a function preventing unintentional overwriting of a file).
• Go to Startup – exits the editor.

• Undo – deletes the last introduced change. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Z.
• Redo – reverses the undo command. Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + Y.

• Language – allows you to choose the application’s language.
• Styles – changes the application’s appearance: black or white version.

• Help – About the program – User license agreement (EULA)
• QR Code- Here, you can scan the QR code to open the support Reckeen website.

After loading the software on your computer, double click Virtual Space Maker Software icon on your desktop. The program will launch in English language. To change the language, click Configurations on the top bar and then Language on the drop-down menu that appears. Select the language afterwards.

Before opening the start screen, make sure that your computer monitor has its resolution set to 1680×1050 or higher.

Virtual Space Maker – apart from being an element of Reckeen LITE virtual studio software, this set design editor has also its stand-alone version. This software can be installed on your computer, just like any other standard software. But before installing, make sure that your computer meets the minimum requirements.

• CPU: i3 or faster
• Memory: 4GB RAM
• Graphics Card: GPU with DirectX 11 drivers
• Operating System: Windows 7 (64-bit) SP1 with ‘Platform Update’ , or higher
• Monitor resolution of 1680 x 1050 or higher
• CPU: the x64 processor must support the AVX2 instruction, i.e.: here
  • Intel
  • Haswell processor, Q2 2013
  • Haswell E processor, Q3 2014
  • Broadwell processor, Q4 2014
  • Broadwell E processor, Q3 2016
  • Skylake processor, Q3 2015
  • Kaby Lake processor, Q3 2016(ULV mobile)/Q1 2017(desktop/mobile)
  • Coffee Lake processor, Q4 2017
  • Cannonlake processor, 2018
  • Cascade Lake processor, 2018
  • Ice Lake processor, 2018
  • AMD
  • Excavator processor, Q2 2015
  • Zen processor, Q1 2017