Videonics PowerScript PS4000S, Instruction Manual

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Videonics PowerScript Displaying a Graphic from a Remote Location
119
Note
If a project does not exist on the PC Card with a corresponding name for the PLA file,
PowerScript normally displays an error message on the Preview monitor. The error
message reads, “A request to play a project (
filename .PRJ) failed.” You can clear the
message by clicking the Continue button. In rare cases, the error message appears on
all outputs but the cursor is not available, preventing you from clicking Continue . In
this situation, enter Ctrl+Alt+Delete to restart PowerScript.
Other Issues About
PLA Files
Immediately upon receiving the PLA file, PowerScript searches all PC Cards to find a
project file with a matching name. If it finds such a file, it begins playing it immediately.
If it does not find such a file, PowerScript displays an error message (see note above).
As mentioned, PowerScript begins playing a project as soon as it receives a matching PLA-
type file. If a PLA-type file already exists with the name of the file you are sending, Power-
Script replaces the original file with the new file without performing any checks. You can
use this to re-invoke playback whenever you want it to occur. Therefore, you can use an
FTP application (such as Fetch) to
put the file to PowerScript without bothering to deter-
mine if there is already a file by that name. The put command overwrites the existing file
and the project begins playing immediately.
To delete a PLA-type file from PowerScript without playing it (using Fetch), send an rm
( r e m ove) command with the file name—such as rm CARTOONS.PLA . You can use a
wildcard character ( * ) to delete all PLA files—such as rm *.pla .
Displaying a Graphic from a Remote Location
You can create a graphic file at your remote location, then transfer it to PowerScript for
immediate display. The primary difference between this procedure and playing a project
from a remote location (as described above) is that you do not need a PowerScript device
at your remote location to create the graphic. You can create the graphic on a desktop
computer (using a software application such as Adobe Illustrator), then send it for imme-
diate display.
Here again, to use this feature you must have a connection between your remote location
and PowerScript.
To display a graphic from a remote location:
1 Create the graphic on your desktop computer.
2
Save the graphic file with the name AUTO followed by the appropriate file type exten-
sion—for example,
AUTO.EPS or AUTO.APS .
If your graphic file needs to have transparent areas (to allow video to share the screen),
save it as an APS type file. See “Creating Transparency Channels” on page 142 for more
information.
3
Use an FTP application (such as Fetch) or PowerScript Communicator to transfer the file
from your remote desktop computer to PowerScript.
The same rules and conditions apply when transferring a graphic file as when transfer-
ring a project file (as described in the preceding section).
PowerScript displays the file in the center of the screen with no scaling. If you want to
scale the image, do so before transferring it. To control the position of the image, create a
screen-sized rectangle (that is, 640x480 pixels for NTSC, 864x576 pixels for PAL) and
position the graphic within the rectangle.
You cannot use transitions with this procedure.