Adobe Visual Communicator 3 User manual

Using Adobe® Visual Communicator 3 for Windows®

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3

Contents

Chapter 1: Installing Visual Communicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Install Visual Communicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter 2: Feature and control overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Visual Communicator windows, Action window, and Media libraries . .11

The Output Monitor window and buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

The Teleprompter and Action window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

The Media libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

The Coach area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

The tabbed control panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

The Project tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

The Director tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

The Actions tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

The V-Screen tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

The Setup tab for audio and video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

The Audio setup button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

The Video setup button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

The Menu bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

The File menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

The Edit menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

The Director menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

The Teleprompter menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

The Hosting menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

The Settings menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

The Tools menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Dialog boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

The Application Settings dialog box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

The Performance Settings dialog box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Chapter 3: Making your first show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

4Contents

Save the show file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Rehearse and record a show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Publish a show. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Chapter 4: Setting up a studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Chapter 5: Creating a show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Creating a show using the wizard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Use the wizard to create a show based on a style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Use the wizard to create a blank show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Creating a One-Click Video template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Chapter 6: Managing projects and media files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Best practices for organizing projects and media files . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Locate and store projects and files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Edit project files on a single computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Change the default path for project files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Save a project to a different path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Save, package, open, and delete projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Save a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Package a project with Pack and Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Delete a project and cleaning up your hard disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Planning shows and writing scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Planning your show. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Planning checklist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Making a show outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Contents 5

Writing a script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Chapter 8: Using the Teleprompter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Chapter 9: Adding closed captions to a video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Chapter 10: Media inputs, video effects, and external events . . .67

6Contents

Trim video and audio clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Review a trimmed clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Save a trimmed clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Adjust the color of a video clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Adjust the volume of an audio or video clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Save a DV clip from tape. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Add an audio clip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

About title graphics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Edit the text in a title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Customize effects in a title graphic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Save a custom title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Adding PowerPoint files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Video effects: transitions and more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

About types of effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

About effect icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Selecting effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Customize an effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Updating an effect with a newer version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Triggering events outside the video. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

About events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Add a web link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Trigger a web page or image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Display a caption. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Set up a Chapter Marker or hyperlink. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Set advanced web scripting options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Digitally replacing the background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99

Chapter 12: Rehearsing and recording a show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

7

Recording a show. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108

About flex recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108

Use freestyle flex recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .109

Use existing action trays to flex record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Manually controlling the script and effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Altering timing in a recorded show. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Edit dynamically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Calculating disk space for a recorded show. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Clear recorded content for a show. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Review a show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Use the Review feature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Using real-time scrubbing to review a show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Save an image of the current frame. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Chapter 13: Presenting live shows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Set up for a live presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Set up a projector or second monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Set your microphone to be live . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Set up an audio or video loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Set up live video from a DV camera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Giving a live presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Manually triggering events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Use the Mini-Switcher to switch from one camera to another. . . .120

Dynamic editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Chapter 14: Publishing a video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Select the publishing method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Publish a video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Publishing to an FTP server on the Internet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

Publish to a vlog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

Publishing to web pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

Publish to DV tape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

Setting file and account information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Selecting the file type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Setting the output path and file name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Send an e-mail regarding a new web-hosted video. . . . . . . . . . . . .128

Manage account information for web-hosted videos and vlogs . .129

Getting through the firewall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Set the destination path for output files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Setting video publishing options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Set the video size and quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

FLV video encoding settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133

Real video encoding settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

AVI video encoding settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136

8Contents

Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Live streaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Chapter 16: Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Chapter 17: Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

9

1

CHAPTER 1

Installing Visual

Communicator

Check that your computer meets the system requirements, then install and start Adobe®

Visual Communicator® 3.

Installation

If you haven’t installed your new software, begin by reading some information on installation

and other preliminaries. Before you begin working with your software, take a few moments to

read an overview of Adobe Help and of the many resources available to users.

“System requirements” on page 9

“Install Visual Communicator” on page 9

System requirements

To review complete system requirements and recommendations for your Adobe software, see

the ReadMe file on the installation disc.

Install Visual Communicator

1. Insert the Visual Communicator installation disc into your computer’s DVD drive.

If the installation program does not start automatically, use Microsoft® Windows®

Explorer to view the contents of the disc and double-click the setup.exe file.

2. Follow the on-screen instructions.

10 Installing Visual Communicator

3. When the installation is finished, click Finish.

NOTE

The devices attached to your computer, such as a mouse or web cam, are controlled by

software called drivers. Most device manufacturers release new drivers periodically that

can increase performance or fix compatibility issues. If your devices work with Visual

Communicator, you do not need to update their drivers. New drivers can sometimes

cause performance or behavior issues. However, if you are having problems, try

updating your drivers.

2

CHAPTER 2

Feature and control overview

The Visual Communicator 3 main window is designed to be easy to use and simple to

understand. You can resize the window to suit your preference.

Visual Communicator windows, Action

window, and Media libraries

“The Output Monitor window and buttons” on page 11

“The Teleprompter and Action window” on page 12

“The Media libraries” on page 13

The Output Monitor window and buttons

What it does

Output Monitor The Output Monitor, in the top-left corner of the interface, displays the

video from the show. If you’re in a live video segment that is not yet

recorded or have the Setup tab open with Video selected, the Output

Monitor displays the live feed from the camera. When you double-click

an effect or media in a library or action tray, the monitor shows a

preview of that item. When you rehearse, record, or review, it displays

the show.

Depending on your computer’s processing power and settings, the

video displayed in the Output Monitor may preview at a lower quality

than that of the finished show.

Rehearse Plays the show without recording so you can check and adjust action

timing.

Record Runs the show and records both the video from the cameras and audio

from the microphone.

Review Plays back the show.

12 Feature and control overview

See also

Chapter 12, “Rehearsing and recording a show,” on page 105.

Chapter 14, “Publishing a video,” on page 123.

Action window

The Teleprompter and Action window are scrollable areas where you build the show. Enter

the script in the Teleprompter and drag effects and media into the Action window to create

the sequence of events.

See also

Chapter 8, “Using the Teleprompter,” on page 57

Opens the Video Publisher wizard.

Stop Stops the show in Rehearse, Record, or Review modes. Also stops any

previewing source or effect and returns to the show.

Teleprompter The area in the top-center portion of the interface for the script or

outline. When you are rehearsing or recording, read the text as it scrolls

through the pink action bar along the top. The controls for the

Teleprompter are on the Director tab.

Action window The area in the top-right portion of the interface where you arrange

action trays that contain media, such as prerecorded video, audio,

camera input, and effects. While rehearsing or recording, the trays scroll

up the Action window along with the text in the Teleprompter.

Tickmark ruler This is a multipurpose element at the left edge of the Action window:

•

• Scrubbing

Visual Communicator windows, Action window, and Media libraries 13

The Media libraries

The Media libraries area at the bottom of the interface provides access to the effects and

content that you add to the show. To assemble the shows, you drag icons from these libraries

into the Action window. Most tabs let you access library folders that store content that is

installed with Visual Communicator. You can also store your content in the same folders for

easy access. The Browse tab lets you browse to any folder on your system, and you can add

content that you use on a regular basis to a Favorites library.

Video Effects The Visual Communicator video effects.

Styles An assortment of title graphics.

Topics More title graphics, which are used for shows created with the Topics

option in the New Show wizard.

Videos Video clips, and the three icons for video cameras.

Graphics Still images for use as backgrounds for V-Screen effects or as

supporting images in the shows. This library is also home to the Pop

Ups and Text Effects folders, which contain special title graphics.

Audio Audio clips that Visual Communicator includes, including TV-quality

music tracks and sound effects.

Browse Folders to locate and load files from outside of Visual Communicator.

Projects Projects created with Visual Communicator and saved to the folder that

is currently set as the home directory for the Projects library.

Output Videos published from Visual Communicator to the folder that’s set as

the home for the Output library, the reference files for trimmed video

clips and customized title graphics, and video clips captured using

Visual Communicator to this folder.

Address bar pop-up

menu

Displays the path of the currently selected folder. Click the arrow to

view and navigate to other folders. This pop-up menu also contains a

link to the user-specified My Favorites folder.

Back button Takes you to the last folder to which you navigated in the current library.

Forward button Returns you to the folder that you navigated from.

Up button Moves up one level from the current folder.

The Coach area

The Coach area provides descriptions of the user interface elements you are currently using

and hints about how to achieve the best results with Visual Communicator. Click Next to

view the next tip or description about the part of the application you are currently using. To

display detailed about the current part of the application, click Help .

You can show and hide the Coach area from the Help menu.

The Visual Communicator Coach area

The tabbed control panels

“The Project tab”

“The Director tab”

“The Actions tab”

“The V-Screen tab”

“The Setup tab for audio and video”

“The Audio setup button”

“The Video setup button”

—as

thumbnails (the default), a simple list, or a detailed list.

IP

Control Description

The tabbed control panels 15

The Project tab

The Project tab provides options for creating and saving project files. From here, you can start

the New Show wizard, start capturing video from a video device, and print the Teleprompter

script. You can also set whether to use web or television-quality media in the shows and zoom

to view the Video Safe area only. The following table describes the controls on the Project tab.

Set Thumbnail

button

Creates a new thumbnail for the show file based on the current contents

of the Output Monitor.

Project Name box Contains the name of the current show file, with the .msh extension.

New button Creates a new show. Visual Communicator gives the project a default

file name, which you can change by revising what appears in the Project

Name box.

Open button Opens a browser, which defaults to the folder that is set as the home for

the My Projects library.

Wizard button Opens the New Show wizard, which helps you create a new show

based on a style or topic.

Capture button Opens a control panel through which you can copy a video clip from a

tape in the connected camera to your hard drive. You can then include

the resulting clip in a project like any digital video clip.

Save button Saves the project.

Save As button Opens a dialog box where you can enter a new file name and

destination for the current project. This also sets the default directory

for new projects.

Print Script button Opens the Print Setup dialog box and sends the contents of the

Teleprompter to the printer.

Clear Recordings

button

Deletes all audio and video recorded within the current show. This is

useful to regain valuable hard drive space for shows you have already

published and never intend to republish in the future.

TV Content and

Web Content

buttons

Determines the format of the content you see in the media libraries.

Selecting TV Content makes the media in the show compatible with

high-resolution television-quality format. Selecting Web Content

optimizes media for viewing on computers or the web.

Zoom To Video

Safe Area check

box

Causes the Output Monitor to display only the area that will be visible on

a television screen.

16 Feature and control overview

See also

Chapter 6, “Managing projects and media files,” on page 49

Chapter 3, “Making your first show,” on page 31

“Save a DV clip from tape” on page 82

The Director tab

Use the Director options to run the Teleprompter and navigate the Action window while

rehearsing and recording. The following table describes the controls on the Director tab.

See also

“Using the Teleprompter” on page 57

“Selecting Pass-Thru To Speakers” on page 145

Enable Mini-

Switcher check box

Switches the Mini-Switcher on and off. The Mini-Switcher allows you to

dynamically insert camera input from any one of up to three cameras

while you are recording or rehearsing a show.

Camera Insert

buttons

Switch the camera input to any of up to three active cameras. The

action uses the default effect assigned in the Application Settings

dialog box. Alternatively, by clicking on the mini camera preview icon,

you can insert a cut instead of the default effect. If you hold down the

Ctrl key when you click the icon, a dissolve is used.

Pause/Resume

button

Pauses and resumes scrolling of the Teleprompter and Action window

while rehearsing and recording. The keyboard shortcuts for these

actions is Ctrl+Spacebar.

This has no effect on recording—if you are recording when you pause

the Teleprompter, recording continues.

Advance button Causes the paused Teleprompter to scroll down one line of text.

Next Effect button Advances to the next tray in the Action window. If the Teleprompter is

paused when you manually go to the next effect, the effect plays out as

programmed but the Teleprompter remains paused.

Scroll Speed slider Adjusts how fast the Teleprompter scrolls. The box to the right of the

slider shows the numeric setting.

Timer Display Displays the current position in the show.

Live Streaming

status indicator

Indicates the live streaming status.

The Actions tab is where you adjust timing, volume, and other settings specific to the

currently selected video effect or content file. Click an effect, image, or audio or video file in

an action tray to display its properties and controls. The controls that you see change

depending on the type of media or effect selected.

The following table describes the controls on the Actions tab.

Common controls

Video effects

Title graphics

Audio & video clips

“Media inputs, video effects, and external events” on page 67

“Trim video and audio clips” on page 78

Still Images

Video clips

“The Video setup button” on page 21

“Trim video and audio clips” on page 78

The V-Screen tab

If you add virtual sets or greenscreen effects to a show, use the V-Screen tab to select the

background, set and adjust the key, and make color corrections.

The following table describes the controls on the V-Screen tab.

See also

“Selecting the V-Screen background or virtual set” on page 100

“Create a key with the V-Screen wizard” on page 103

V-Screen

background

thumbnail

Shows the image or a frame of the video that is assigned as the virtual

background. The file name appears to the right of the thumbnail. To

replace the current background, drag the desired file onto this icon. You

can also change the V-Screen background in the middle of the show by

using the Change Background effect.

Active check box Switches the V-Screen effect on and off.

Input pop-up menu Sets which camera you are setting the V-Screen options for. Each

camera has its own V-Screen settings.

Wizard button Starts the V-Screen setup wizard.

Auto-Set Key

button

Automatically calibrates the V-Screen settings.

Adjust Key button Opens the dialog box for manually refining V-Screen settings.

Don’t Show V-

Screen During

Rehearse/Record

check box

Disables the V-Screen effect during rehearsal and recording to improve

performance on slower computers. This does not affect the published

video.

Freeze V-Screen

Background check

box

Displays an animated background as a still image to conserve system

resources.

Adjust Colors

button

Opens the Color Correction dialog box where you can change the

brightness and colors of the V-Screen background.

V-Screen Tips

button

Opens Help for Using The V-Screen.

20 Feature and control overview

The Setup tab for audio and video

Use the Setup tab to configure audio and video input devices like microphones and cameras

and to test their connection. Click Audio or Video to view these controls.

The Audio setup button

Input pop-up menu Sets which audio device is selected for setup purposes.

Audio Input Device

pop-up menu

Displays the name of the audio device that’s assigned to the currently

selected input (Audio 1, Audio 2, and so on). If the audio device is

connected but not listed here, either it or its driver is not installed

properly.

Input Source pop-

up menu

Select from multiple input sources available for the current device, such

as Microphone or Line-In. Some devices will not have any Input Source

options.

Audio Output

Method pop-up

menu

Allows you to choose either wave out or kernel streaming for the audio

portion of your recorded shows.

Hardware Level

slider and meter

Controls the volume level of the currently selected audio input card and

affects the volume at which audio is recorded. Adjust this level so that

the meter stays mostly in the yellow range.

Digital Boost slider,

meter, and clipping

lights

Sets the hardware level amplification by degrees. Adjust this level only if

the volume is too low even with the Hardware Level option set to

maximum, or if the prerecorded audio volume needs to be increased or

reduced.

The meter shows sound levels. The clipping lights at the top indicate

that sound levels might be too loud, which can result in some sounds

being truncated.

Pass-Thru To

Speakers

Controls whether the microphone’s output plays through to the

computer speakers while rehearsing or recording. If you are

experiencing feedback, disabling this option can eliminate it.

Mute Silences the current audio input for rehearsal and recording and in the

published video.

Output Volume

Master Volume Adjusts the output volume of the computer’s main speakers.

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