MacroSystem Akaba – New Concept User Manual

User manual

Akaba – New Concept

for Casablanca Avio, Prestige and Kron

Safety notices

To avoid making mistakes during operation, we recommend that you carefully follow the instructions provided in this manual. We would also like to point out that Akaba – New Concept has been designed with the hobby enthusiast in mind. We have taken a great deal of care while programming and checking this software. Nevertheless, since it is not possible to guarantee totally error-free software applications in all environments and at any time, we unfortunately cannot rule out the possibility that some errors may have crept in. If, contrary to all expectations, this is indeed the case, we shall remedy any errors in the program and supply the affected customers with the new software free of charge. We cannot, however, accept any liability for loss of data/time or any consequential damages that may occur as a result, particularly since we have no inuence over correct software installation and operation by the customer. MacroSystem Digital Video AG and its dealers therefore cannot be held liable for any defects or unintentional damage in connection with the installation or use of Akaba – New Concept. MacroSystem Digital Video AG and its dealers do not guarantee error-free use of the software or complete awlessness of the program. Any implied guarantee is null and void, including guarantee of suitability of the software or operating instructions for a particular purpose. Neither MacroSystem Digital Video AG nor its dealers are responsible for any damages resulting either directly or indirectly through the use of the software or the operating instructions, e.g. for prot loss, costs, hardware or software problems or other issues.

Contents

Page

1. General............................................................................................................... 5

1.1 General................................................................................................... 5

1.2 What is Akaba – New Concept? ........................................................... 5

2. Installation and Starting the Program ............................................................. 7

3. Operation ........................................................................................................... 9

3.1 Operation controls ................................................................................ 9

3.1.1 General buttons ........................................................................ 9

3.1.2 Palette, pencils & brushes........................................................ 9

3.1.3 Tools........................................................................................... 10

3.1.4 Editing functions....................................................................... 11

3.1.5 General ...................................................................................... 14

3.2 Margin areas.......................................................................................... 15

3.3 Display ................................................................................................... 15

3.4 Notes on the Power Key Option .......................................................... 15

3.5 Individual buttons / functions .............................................................. 15

3.5.1 Palette ........................................................................................ 15

3.5.2 Pencils & brushes ..................................................................... 16

3.5.3 Fill options................................................................................. 17

3.5.4 Mask........................................................................................... 18

4. The Three Operating Modes ............................................................................ 19

4.1 Draw mode ............................................................................................ 19

4.2 Retouch .................................................................................................. 19

4.3 Gamma .................................................................................................. 20

5. Application Examples ....................................................................................... 21

5.1 Setting sun............................................................................................. 21

5.2 Retouching a distorted image ............................................................. 23

5.3 Partial brightness correction................................................................ 25

5.4 Title with transparency gradient.......................................................... 27

5.5 Cutting out a brush............................................................................... 29

1. General

1.1 General

Thank you for buying Akaba – New Concept!

We thank you for your trust and hope that this

product will meet your expectations.

Akaba – New Concept will let you get more use

out of your Casablanca than ever before.

We are at your disposal for any questions or

suggestions you may have.

You will nd addresses and telephone numbers

in the Casablanca manual.

undesired elements. You will nd special copy

stamps in addition to the normal drawing tools.

Gamma lets you correct brightness, contrast,

saturation, RGB, etc. - and not just for the entire

frame, but also separately for self-dened areas,

even with variable intensity.

For example, say the image in the lower area is

too dark, but the sky is appropriately exposed.

Normally the video would be unusable, but

correcting it is no problem for the mask function

of Akaba – New Concept (see application

example 5.3 Partial brightness correction.).

Akaba – New Concept saves all settings, pencils

and brushes for each of the three operating

modes.

Please have your device’s serial number or your

customer number ready when contacting us.

1.2 What is Akaba – New Concept?

Akaba – New Concept is a completely new

program for manually editing single frames or

video scenes. You can retouch, modify or extend

your own individual frames in many ways.

Three different operating modes give Akaba a

wide range of possiblities that are easy to use

and implement.

Draw mode (drawing and animation mode)

features all the usual possibilities for drawing.

Lines, circles, polygons and surfaces can

be drawn with widely varying pencils and

attributes. You can create graphic images or

extravagant titles. The drawing you create can

be moved during the course of the scene, (as is

done in the program PIP Studio).

Retouch lets you select and manually edit each

individual scene frame. The supplied tools let

you easily conceal small dropouts or other

2. Installation and Starting the Program

In order to install Akaba – New Concept you will

need the SMART EDIT system software (at least

version 2.3).

The system version is displayed in the

information eld of the System Settings menu

(lower left).

Leave your Casablanca turned on and select

the Install Product button in System Settings.

After the corresponding window has appeared,

insert the installation SmartMedia card into the

Casablanca SmartMedia reader so that the gold

contacts are facing down and the folded corner

is pointing forward to the left (in the direction of

the Casablanca).

function representations and descriptions in

this manual may differ slightly from the actual

software.

After you have installed Akaba – New Concept,

you will see it listed alphabetically in the Edit

menu under Special. After selecting Akaba

– New Concept you will see the three possible

operation modes displayed to the right (effect

options):

After you have inserted the card, you will see the

software Akaba – New Concept displayed in the

window. Select it in the list and click on Activate.

A number block is displayed for entering the

enable code you have obtained from your

dealer. After that, a message is displayed

indicating that installation is nished. You can

then remove the SmartMedia card.

If you want to install the program as a demo

version, click Activate, and then click Cancel

in the number code window. The word demo

now appears after the program name. Click on

OK to close the window and then remove the

SmartMedia card. Akaba – New Concept is now

installed as a demo version.

Notes on other products:

Akaba – New Concept supports the Power

Key option. Separate instructions for keyboard

control of this program are not available - press

the F2 key to see the possible key abbreviations.

Read also section 3.4 Notes on the Power Key

option.

You initiate a mode by clicking on the

corresponding button.

Akaba – New Concept always operates on the

activated scene in the scene bin. As long as the

same scene is always active when the program

starts, Akaba – New Concept automatically

saves all modications so that you can always

continue your interrupted work.

If you select a scene other than the scene that

was active during your previous session with

Akaba – New Concept, then the system warns

you that if you continue, all changes made to the

previous scene will be lost. With Cancel you can

prevent this and then select the previous scene.

Within a scene you can switch among the three

modes Draw mode, Retouch and Gamma.

Akaba – New Concept saves all three modes

independently of each other. The most recently

used mode is always used for calculation.

Modes are never superimposed!

Note: Because of possible software modication

after this manual has gone to print, some of the

The operation panel is displayed after you have

started the program and selected an operation

mode. You will then see the rst frame of your

video scene in the background.

3. Operation

This chapter rst discusses the functions

generally available in all three operating

modes. The individual buttons are described in

sequence, and then the differences of the three

operating modes are explained.

3.1 Operation controls

The operation panel of the main menu is divided

into ve subpanels, each of which contains

several buttons and functions.

3.1.1 General buttons

3.1.2 Palette, pencils and brushes

1.) Palette

Clicking on this button activates the Palette

window. Akaba – New Concept lets you use

an extended palette allowing a choice of color,

pattern and color gradient. The selected color

and pattern are then displayed within the palette

button. Further details are explained in section

3.5.1 Palette.

2.) Pencils and brushes

Clicking on this button activates the Pencils and

Brushes window. Various predened pencils can

be used (and changed). The currently selected

drawing pencil is displayed in the button.

Brushes you cut out yourself cannot be used for

drawing.

You can nd more information in section 3.5.2

Pencils and brushes.

1.) The Info button opens a window displaying

data on the program version.

2.) This button minimizes the menu panel, as

you already know from Casablanca.

3.) This button is used to move the panel to the

opposite screen edge.

3.) Undo

Clicking on this button causes the previous

drawing operation to be discarded. It is usually

possible to undo several operations, but the

specic number of undoable operations cannot

be known ahead of time because it it determined

by the surface size of previously made changes.

4.) Eyedropper

An eyedropper is used to select a color present

in the frame that can then be used for further

drawing operations. Position the eyedropper

at the desired spot in the video frame and

press the left trackball key. You will see that

the selected color is then displayed in the most

recently active color eld of the palette.

Assuming you have not previously set the

option Solid in the Palette window, the color is

nevertheless used and appears in the Palette

button.

5.) Mask mode

This button is used to switch to mask mode.

You can read more about this powerful tool in

section 3.5.4.

6.) Activate mask

Here you choose whether the current mask

should be used when drawing. If the checkmark

is visible, then the mask is used. If a dash is

visible then it is not used. We recommended

that you use the mask mode after you have

become acquainted with Akaba – New Concept.

3.1.3 Tools

Optically vertical, horizontal or diagonal lines

(45°) are indicated during drawing by a change

in the trackball cursor (dash next to the symbol).

2.) Polygon (unlled, lled)

Either a lled or unlled closed polygon can

be drawn. Do the same as when drawing a

line; with the rst click you set the start point

and with every additional click you add a line

segment.

To close the polygon and terminate the drawing

operation move the trackball cursor over the

start point. The start point is indicated by a

change in the cursor and you can click to nish

the polygon.

Depending on the pencil, the corner points

may show minor discrepancies during drawing

but will appear correctly after the polygon is

nished.

If you are drawing the polygon with a color

gradient and a selected color, then the polygon

is shown as a single color until it is closed, at

which time the color changes again.

1.) Line

Clicking on this button causes the menu panel

to disappear, allowing you to draw a line in the

video material. A diagonal line segment (45°) is

displayed so that you can precisely position the

line.

The cursor is positioned to the upper-left end

and the point can now be positioned. A click on

the left trackball key sets the start point of the

line.

Now the cursor changes to the other end of the

line and you can set the end point of the line

with a second click.

Clicking on the left trackball key without having

moved the trackball itself causes a diagonal line

(45°) to be set.

In order to freely draw the line simply change

the position of the trackball before you conrm

the end point by clicking on the left key.

During the entire time, the line is displayed as it

will appear using the current pencil and color.

The next line can be drawn immediately after

setting the end point. Clicking on the right

trackball key returns you to the operating panel.

3.) Fill

A certain region of the frame is lled with a color

(like from a paint bucket). This is a complicated

operation that requires you to make several

settings under Fill options in order to obtain the

desired result. More on this in section 3.5.3 Fill

options.

The ll operation is started by clicking within the

desired region. The object is lled with the color

dened in the active “color eld” according to

the ll options you have set.

4.) Freehand

Clicking on this symbol starts the drawing mode.

Move the trackball cursor to the desired start

position and click on the left trackball key.

Do not hold down the trackball key!

Move the trackball to draw under the cursor.

A second click with the left key terminates the

operation.

Large pencils and fast movement might result

in drawing individual points and not continuous

lines.

So don’t move the drawing pencil with the

trackball too quickly!

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