Still editor

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.

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.

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.

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.

• 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 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.

On the application screen you can see a characteristic grid in the background. It indicates an alpha channel, that is transparency.

Everything that will be placed on the working area, for example a text, an picture, a frame, or a rectangle, will be visible on a transparent background. The working area is of the same size and proportions as the production screen. This means the text’s position and size corresponds to the real view on the screen later.

On the application screen, the following can be distinguished:

1. Menu bar,
2. Horizontal toolbar,
3. Vertical toolbar,
4. Working area (image below)

Menu bar is located in the top left part of the screen. You can find 8 main options there:

• File,
• Edit,
• View,
• Object,
• Text,
• Scene,
• Options
• Help.

Below the menu bar, you can find a horizontal toolbar. It allows for quick access to tools related to the text’s font (font type, size, italic, bold, underline), positioning of the inserted objects (picture, text, frame, or rectangle), and changes in the view of the scene (zooming in – zooming out).

On the left side of the screen, starting from the top, a vertical toolbar is placed. Its icons allow for a quick access to editing options – Add: insert object (picture, frame, rectangle, text) and select object mode.

In this area, the items (text, picture, frame, rectangle) are placed. What is visible in the working area will later appear on Preview or Production screen. It is therefore important to select an appropriate image system at the start of the Still Editor module, for example 1080×50. Image system in which you are working is displayed at the top of the screen, next to the name of the file.

Still Editor module is launched from the start screen. First, choose the appropriate resolution from the drop-down menu, then click on the Start editor button. The image system of your choice should match the system of Production module that will be launched later on.
If, for example, the signal format from your camera is 1080p60 (which corresponds with a resolution of 1920×1080), it is recommended to open the editor in the same resolution.

At the Still Editor module startup, you can also load a previously saved file by selecting it from the drop down menu after clicking on the Load Still icon (a list of recently opened files will be displayed) or by searching your hard drive by clicking on the icon with three dots.