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<tt class="label">Record_Anima</tt></td>
<td nowrap width="150"><tt class="label">10/16/91</tt></td>
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<tr><td align="left" colspan="3"><p>Used to record AVS animations to videotape or laserdisc, one frame at a time. It works by talking with either a Lyon-Lamb Minivas videotape controller, or a Sony Laser Videodisc recorder/player. Record Animation sends the appropriate commands to initialize the recording device, to tell the recording device when to record a frame, and to wait for the recording device to complete the frame record before continuing with the next frame. Usually, the Record Animation module is used in conjunction with an animation module of some sort which produces geometry for each frame of the animation. This geometry is then fed into the "render geom" module to be rendered as a pixmap output. The pixmap would then be connected to "display pixmap" and also to the pixmap input of the Record Animation module. The Record Animation module uses the pixmap to tell when the current scene has changed so that it will know to send the appropriate record command to the recording device.</p></td></tr>
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<tr valign="top"><td><b>Author:</b></td><td>Brian Kaplan, Center for Innovative Computer Applications</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Version:</b></td><td>2.300</td></tr>
<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>C</td></tr>
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<title> Record Animation - record an animation to videotape or videodisc
via Lyon-Lamb Minivas or Sony Laser Videodisc
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<h2> Record Animation - record an animation to videotape or videodisc
via Lyon-Lamb Minivas or Sony Laser Videodisc
</h2>
<h3>Name</h3>
<blockquote>
<pre>
Record Animation - record an animation to videotape or videodisc
via Lyon-Lamb Minivas or Sony Laser Videodisc
</pre>
</blockquote>
<h3>Summary</h3>
<blockquote>
<pre>
Name Record Animation
Type data output
Inputs pixmap (optional) -- pixmap pulse in
integer (invisible,optional) -- integer pulse in
Outpts integer -- animate pulse out
Parms Name Type Description
Videodisc Cntls radio buttons Videodisc movement controls
Minivas Cntls radio buttons Minivas tape movement controls
Shuttle Speed islider Controls the tape movement
Record Device radio buttons device to record animation to
Frames / image integer # of discframes per AVS image
Start frame integer first tape or disc frame
Number frames integer total number of frames in anim
End frame integer last tape of disc frame
Number images integer number of AVS images to record
Search frame integer used as input for searching
S integer disc operation input and output
E integer disc operation input and output
Size of block integer disc operation output
<EDGE oneshot edge backward during blank inq
Blank Search radio buttons select type of blank inquiry
EDGE> oneshot edge forward during blank inq
Device Type choice browser type of VTR being controlled
Record radio buttons record operations
RS170mode radio buttons RS170 recording on/off
</pre>
</blockquote>
<h3>Description</h3>
<blockquote>
<pre>
The Record Animation module is used to record AVS animations to
videotape or laserdisc, one frame at a time. It works by talking
with either a Lyon-Lamb Minivas videotape controller, or a Sony
Laser Videodisc recorder/player. Record Animation sends the
appropriate commands to initialize the recording device, to tell
the recording device when to record a frame, and to wait for the
recording device to complete the frame record before continuing with
the next frame.
Usually, the Record Animation module is used in conjunction with
an animation module of some sort which produces geometry for each
frame of the animation. This geometry is then fed into the
"render geom" module to be rendered as a pixmap output. The pixmap
would then be connected to "display pixmap" and also to the pixmap
input of the Record Animation module. The Record Animation module
uses the pixmap to tell when the current scene has changed so that
it will know to send the appropriate record command to the recording
device. After the frame has been recorded, the Record Animation
module will send an integer on its "animation pulse" output which
should be sent back upstream to the animation module to let it know
to produce the next frame of the animation. See EXAMPLES below for
more information on how to set up such a network.
To record an animation, you first need to choose the device you wish
to record to. Make sure that the appropriate button is lit (either
the "Sony Laser Videodisc" button or the "Lyon Lamb Minivas" button).
When you select your device, certain buttons may disappear or be
replaced by new buttons since some operations are different for each
device.
You will need to consult the manual of your recording device to see
what switches and inputs need to be selected in order for it to be
controlled by the computer, and to insure that the device is connected
properly to the computer. If you are using a Minivas to control a
VTR or other recording device, make sure that the device is properly
connected to the MiniVas.
If you are using a Minivas, you can check to make sure that the
Minivas is set up to control the proper type of recording device by
pressing "INQUIRE" from the "Device Type" browser. A popup window
will appear giving you the code for the recording device. You can
scroll the browser to see if the code is the right one for your
device. If not, select the correct device from the browser to tell
the Minivas to temporarily change the type of device you are
controlling (it will be reset back to its default value when the
Minivas is turned off). To program the Minivas to remember the type
of recording device you have when the Minivas is turned off, press
"SAVE DEVICE" in the "Device Type" browser. The Videodisc device is
controlled directly by the computer, so the "Device Type" browser will
not be visible if you have selected the "Sony Laser Videodisc" button.
You should now be able to use the movement controls (Stop, Play, etc.)
to control the movement of the videotape or videodisc. These controls
are similar to pressing the physical buttons on the front of the
videotape recorder or the videodisc recorder. The operations available
are limited by the capabilities of the recording device. Both
devices have "Stop" which will stop the tape or disc and allow live
video to pass through, "Play" or "Play Forward" which plays the tape
or disc forward at normal speed, various other speeds of forward and
reverse play of the tape or disc, "Still" or "Clear/Still" which
freezes the current frame (same as PAUSE on some videotape recorders),
"Search" which will search for the tape or disc frame specified by the
"Search frame" text input, and "Status" which will return a window
with some status information for the device. The "shuttle speed"
slider is an alternate way of controlling disc or tape playback.
As the slider moves further to the right, the playback will get
faster in the forward direction. The further the slider is moved
to the left, the faster the playback in the reverse direction. A
slider value of zero will still the videodisc or videotape. The
movement control buttons will set the slider to the position
corresponding to that button where appropriate. It can be extremely
useful to drop the "shuttle speed" slider widget into the Dialbox
Manager (from the "Layout Editor" menu) so that it is controlled by
a real dialbox.
In addition to the regular movement control buttons, the Minivas
device has a "Preblack Tape" option which will prepare a new tape
with the proper timecode for recording. This must be done to every
new tape before the Minivas can record to it. This operation will
wipe out all of the video on a tape, so it is important to make sure
that the tape has nothing of importance on it before using this
command. The Videodisc device has a "Repeat Play" button which will
repeatedly play a range of frames from the disc beginning with the
frame specified in the "S" text input and ending with the frame
specified with the "E" input. "Disc Eject" will cause the disc to
be ejected from the videodisc recorder. "On-screen Ind" toggles an
on-screen display of information such as the current frame number
and playback speed.
Once everything has been set up to record, you need to enter some
information into Record Animation's text input parameters so that it
will know what frames on the tape or disc you wish to record to.
This is done with the "Recordframes per image", "Start recordframe",
"Number of recordframes", "End recordframe", and "Number of images"
text inputs. Not all values must be entered; when certain values
are entered, other values will be automatically calculated and
filled in for you. First, start with the "Recordframes per image"
input. This input tells how many frames on the tape or disc will
be recorded for each image on the screen. This is usually "1", but
to slow down an animation or to hold a single image it might be
necessary to record an image to more than one consecutive frames
on tape or disc. If you know exactly where you want the animation
to go on the tape or disc, enter the frame number into the "Start
recordframe" input. Note that the "End recordframe" input and
the "Number of images" input will change automatically based on the
"Start recordframe", "Number of recordframes", and "Recordrames per
image" values. Also, the "Search frame" will be changed to the
"Start recordframe" so that you may then press "Search" if you wish
and verify that the frame is empty. Now you may enter either the
number of tape or disc frames you wish to record into the "Number
of recordframes" input, or you may enter the frame number of the
last frame to record into the "End recordframe" input. Either one
will fill in the appropriate values for the other. You might also
know how many AVS images you wish to record to tape or disc, in
which case you may enter that number into "Number of images"
and, based upon how many frames per image were specified, Record
Animation will fill in the appropriate number of frames and the
end frame.
Once you have confirmed that all of the information for the five text
inputs are correct, you are almost ready to begin recording. If you
are recording to the Minivas, you might want to double-check and
make sure that you wont be recording over anything important using
the "Search" and "Play" controls. Since the videodisc is write once
only (you cannot record over frames that have previously been
recorded), it is important to make sure that there is indeed a blank
space on the disc large enough to hold your animation. The "BLANK INQ"
and "SIZE INQ" buttons allow you to do just that. "BLANK INQ" will
begin searching for the blank spot (or "block") on the disc which is
nearest the current "search frame". The first time you do a blank
inquire, it will take the videodisc recorder about 60 seconds to scan
the entire disc for blank areas. The start frame, end frame, and size
of the found blank area are shown in the "S", "E", and "Size of block"
text areas. You can then use the "EDGE >" and "< EDGE" to go to the
next or previous blank area. This allows you to insure that the entire
area you plan to record onto is blank. If you already know how many
frames you want to record, you might want to limit your search only to
those empty blocks which are large enough to hold your animation. Use
"SIZE INQ" instead of "BLANK INQ" to search for blocks which have at
least the number of frames specified in the "Number of frames" text
input. Like "BLANK INQ", the search will begin at the block closest
to the "search frame" and the start, end, and size of the empty
area are returned in the same text areas. "EDGE >" and "< EDGE"
will find the next or previous block of the specified size. Although
you cannot damage the disc or overwrite any frames if you attempt to
write to an area of the disc that isn't empty, it's always best to make
sure before you record an animation. If you try to record on an area
that isn't completely blank, Record Animation will bring up an error
window informing you of the problem and nothing will be recorded. It
is therefore usually best to enter the "Start recordframe" value after
doing a "SIZE INQ".
Most systems use only a portion of the high-resolution screen for
recording, usually the upper left 640 by 480 or so pixels. Special
hardware is required to record the entire screen. If you have no
special hardware, you will need to resize the window you wish to record
(usually the one produced with "display pixmap") so that it is
approximately 640 pixels wide by 480 pixels tall and move it to the
upper lefthand corner of the screen. You will also need to move the
AVS menu window from the left side of the screen to the right side
so that it will not interfere with the pixmap.
Also, the average setup requires that the computer be put into "rs170
video mode" before recording. This will allow your color encoder to
read the input signal and convert it to NTSC. If the "rs170 recording
on" button is lit, Record Animation will take care of putting the
display into rs170 video mode during recording of an animation and put
it back into normal video mode after the animation is recorded. While
in rs170 video mode, the computer's high resolution display will go
crazy and will be pretty much unreadable. For most systems, the "rs170
recording on" button should be lit, but for dual-head systems (systems
with more than one display), it may be desirable to turn on rs170
mode by hand, and so it might be useful to press the "rs170 recording
off" button before recording.
Now you are ready to begin recording. To skip an image without
recording it to tape or disc, press the "Skip one image" button, which
will send an animate pulse to Record Animation's integer output without
actually recording the frame. Generally, this is only done to test
your network and make sure that everything is connected properly
without actually recording the frame to tape or disc. Use the
"RECORD" button to begin the actual recording. You will get an
information window reminding you of some of the necessary button
settings on the front panels of the various devices used in recording.
You are then given a chance to abort the process if you like. The
recording should now be completely automatic, and if everything goes
right the Record Animation module will take over, putting the machine
into rs170 video mode if the "rs170 recording on" button is lit.
When all the frames you have defined have been recorded, Record
Animation will automatically exit rs170 video mode (returning your
screen to normal), deselect "RECORD", and select "Record off" to
signify that it is done. You may also press the "Record off" button
during a recording session to abort it, although this can be difficult
while in rs170 video mode.
Note that each time an image is recorded or skipped (with the "Skip
one image" button) the "Start discframe" is incremented by the value of
the "Frames per image" input, the "Number of discframes" is
decremented by the same value, and the "Number of images" is
decremented by one. When the animation is done, the "Start discframe"
and "End discframe" will both be left at the frame following the last
frame recorded, so that you can continue the animation by simply
specifying a new "Number of discframes" value.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<h3>Inputs</h3>
<blockquote>
<pre>
The "pixmap pulse" input is a pixmap, usually supplied by the
"render geometry" module. Each time the Record Animation module
receives a new pixmap image, it will record it to tape if you are in
"RECORD" mode, or skip it if you press "Skip one image". The same
pixmap which is input here should also be input to the "display
pixmap" module that is responsible for the 640 by 480 window in the
upper left corner of the screen which is being recorded to tape or
disc. See the EXAMPLE networks below.
For some applications, it might be desirable to use an integer input
instead of a pixmap to inform the Render Animation module that the next
image is ready to record. For this reason, the "integer pulse" input
is supplied, but it is invisible by default since it is seldom used.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<h3>Outputs</h3>
<blockquote>
<pre>
Animation pulse out (integer).
This output is used to tell the animation module when a frame is
done recording and we are ready for a new pixmap image. The value of
the integer is the current tape or disc frame.
</pre>
</blockquote>
<h3>Examples</h3>
<blockquote>
<pre>
Network to record an animation to an external device:
The Keyframe Animator waits for the "Record Animation" module to
send it a pulse after the current frame has been stored to the
videotape or videodisc. Record Animation waits for "render geometry"
to complete the rendering process and send the pixmap downstream before
it fires and records the frame:
,---------------------------------------.
| |
V |
Keyframe Animator |
(animation module) |
| (upstream pulse) |
| |
render geometry |
| |
|------------------. |
| | |
display pixmap Record Animation |
(to record to tape or disc) |
| |
`--------------------'
</pre>
</blockquote>
<h3>Related modules</h3>
<blockquote>
<pre>
render geometry, display pixmap
see AVS3 documentation for more information.
Keyframe Animator, written by Brian Kaplan
an animation module which allows the interactive animation of
geometric objects by using keyframe interpolation.
created by Brian Kaplan
kaplan@cica.cica.indiana.edu
Center for Innovative Computer Applications (CICA)
Indiana University
</pre>
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