Autocue Ssp17 Operating instructions

SSP17 or SSP10

& QStart

17” or 10” Starter Series Prompter

Installation and Operation Guide

Contents

Latest additions ...................................................................................................................................................................3

Getting started.....................................................................................................................................................................4

Prepare and connect the prompting hardware .......................................................................................................4

Install the QStart software.............................................................................................................................................8

Using your Starter Series Prompter .............................................................................................................................9

Make the most of your prompter.................................................................................................................................. 13

Import, edit and prompt scripts ................................................................................................................................ 13

Format your scripts....................................................................................................................................................... 15

Dividing long scripts or using multiple presenters ................................................................................................ 16

Different ways to control scrolling ............................................................................................................................ 19

Improve the performance of your prompter .......................................................................................................... 21

Using a single monitor................................................................................................................................................ 21

Alternative operating systems you may use........................................................................................................... 23

Use your prompter in different situations.................................................................................................................... 24

Upgrading Starter Series Prompter components ...................................................................................................... 33

If you need to contact Autocue or QTV ....................................................................................................................... 34

Installation and Operation Guide

Latest additions

This document was written for build 2006 of the QStart software, released on 4 March 2011.

Any changes since that point have been referenced below. These changes have not been reflected in the

rest of the document.

Revision history

Build number

Release date

Changes

2006

4 March 2011

New button mapping for

the ShuttleXpress

Getting started

- Prepare and connect the prompting hardware

Getting started

This section is designed to get your Starter Series Prompter setup as quickly as possible so that you can start

writing and prompting your scripts.

Prepare and connect the prompting hardware

It is strongly recommended that you view the demonstration video showing the preparation of an Autocue

starter series prompter. Click “Play Demonstration Video” on the main menu of the installation CD.

You can also view the video on the Autocue web site: http://www.Autocue.com/autocueppvid

1. Remove the unit from the shipping box.

Check that the following items have been received:

a. Starter Series Prompter (SSP)

b. 2 x camera securing screws

c. 4 x long camera plate support pillars (with countersunk screws

attached)

d. 4 x short camera plate support pillars

e. Wide monitor mounting plate

f. Software CD

g. USB hardware licence dongle

h. 10 m VGA cable

i. Power cord and DC adaptor

Attach to tripod

2. Remove the camera mounting plate from your tripod. (Refer to the manufacturer’s

manual if you have difficulty doing this.)

h c e

d b

Getting started

- Prepare and connect the prompting hardware

3. Carefully turn your SSP unit over and place on a smooth padded surface to protect

the mirror and monitor screen.

4. Use the screws of the camera mounting plate to attach it to the underside of your

SSP unit.

5. Secure the whole assembly onto your chosen tripod.

Note: It is likely that the position of the unit will have to be adjusted after you have

mounted your camera so that it is balanced on the tripod. A balanced camera and

prompter assembly will make it easier to perform smooth pan and tilt shots.

Getting started

- Prepare and connect the prompting hardware

Position hood

6. Loosen the four thumbscrews of the hood assembly.

7. Raise the hood to the vertical position.

8. Secure in place by tightening the four thumbscrews.

Prepare camera mount

9. Remove the camera mounting plate.

Adjust camera mount height

Depending on the size of your camera you may need to use the supplied pillars to raise the camera

mounting plate. The smallest cameras will most likely need the longest pillars. Larger cameras require either

no pillars or the shortest ones.

Combine raising the camera with adjusting the position of the hood so that the camera lens is centred in the

mirrored glass.

Getting started

- Prepare and connect the prompting hardware

10. Screw in the appropriate length pillars that raise the plate to the required height for

your camera.

11. Adjust the position of the pillars to align with the screw holes of the camera

mounting plate.

12. Re-attach camera mounting plate

if the camera is to be at the lowest level use the four thumbscrews

if the camera is to be in one of the raised positions, use the countersunk screws

to attach the plate to the tops of the mounting plate pillars

Getting started

- Install the QStart software

Attach camera to mounting plate

13. Use either the supplied ⅜" or ¼" mounting screw to attach your camera to the

mounting plate. You can place the screw through any of the slots in the camera

mounting plate depending on the camera you are using. Ideally the camera lens

should be close to the mirrored glass.

Connect power and video cables

14. Plug in the power for the on-camera unit monitor and connect the supplied VGA

cable between the monitor and your computer.

Note: If necessary, you can adjust the position of the whole unit forwards or backwards so

that it is balanced on your tripod.

Install the QStart software

1. Insert the software CD into your computer

Note: Do not insert the hardware licence dongle until after the software has been installed.

2. Click Install Software on the QStart installation window.

3. The installation wizard will display a screen showing the options available. If this is

the first time you have installed QStart, click the Install software button.

Getting started

- Using your Starter Series Prompter

Note: If you are re-installing or upgrading your software, refer to “Upgrading Starter Series

Prompter components”for further information.

4. Read and accept the licence agreement and click Install.

5. On the next dialog box click OK to use the default installation folder.

6. When installation has finished, click OK on the dialog box.

Using your Starter Series Prompter

The remainder of this section assumes that you are using a computer to create/edit/scroll scripts that will

appear on the monitor of the Starter Series Prompter you have just assembled.

1. Insert the hardware licence dongle into a spare USB port on your computer.

2. Double-click the QStart icon on your computer desktop.

3. Click on the System Options button to access the configuration interface.

4. The Prompt Output tab is displayed.

Getting started

- Using your Starter Series Prompter

Prompt output

You can configure a secondary output monitor by changing the Windows display properties. The most

important property to change is the option to extend your computer desktop across both screens.

Refer to the user manuals for your computer or graphics card for guidance on

changing the display settings.

QStart provides a button to access the standard operating system display controls for your computer if

required.

If the computer desktop has been extended over the two screens, the QStart software automatically detects

whether you have an additional monitor connected to your computer.

D e f a u l t d u a l m o n i t o r

Dual screens

Click the teleprompter icon and the image representing the script being prompted automatically moves

under the second output and inverts. When you prompt your script the output will appear on the

teleprompter.

B e f o r e s e l e c t i n g A f t e r c l i c k i n g

s e c o n d a r y d i s p l a y s e c o n d a r y d i s p l a y

Enable a prompt monitor

If your script is being displayed on the teleprompter you can follow its progress using the in-built Prompt

Monitor window. When it is first enabled the Prompt Monitor is set to Full Screen mode.

Change the size

Click on the required thumbnail in the Size of Monitor panel. The value in the Size field automatically changes

and the red rectangle changes accordingly.

Getting started

- Using your Starter Series Prompter

Change the position

Click in a different quadrant of the screen in the Position of Monitor panel. The red rectangle will move to this

location.

Note: You should not need to change any parameters on the other tabs of the QStart

Options interface. If required, there is detailed information in the “Make the most of

your prompter” section later in this manual.

Create and prompt scripts

Prepare your text

It is presumed that most scripts will be imported from some other text editor.

QStart can import Word (.doc), Rich Text (.rtf), Text (.txt) files.

1. Click the Import File button.

2. Navigate to select the required file.

3. If requested, select the appropriate file format.

4. The text is inserted at the position of the cursor.

Save your script

Getting started

- Using your Starter Series Prompter

When you have finished typing your script you should save the file so that you do

not lose your work. It is good practice to regularly save your work.

2. Click the Save button.

3. If your script has not previously been saved you will have to give it a name and

save it to a folder on your computer.

Prompt your script

When you have finished preparing your script you can display it on your Starter

Series Prompter so that a presenter may read it.

4. Click the Begin Prompting button.

5. Your script will appear on the teleprompter.

Scroll the script

The default scroll control is a standard computer mouse. If you have ordered a

dedicated scroll control device, refer to the “Different ways to control scrolling”

section later in this manual for guidance on configuring the device.

6. Use your computer mouse to control the movement of the prompt output.

7. Press the ESC key on the computer keyboard to stop prompting and return to the

Script Editor window.

Make the most of your prompter

- Import, edit and prompt scripts

Make the most of your prompter

QStart allows you to quickly and simply create, edit, format and prompt the scripts you write.

The QStart user interface is illustrated below.

Import, edit and prompt scripts

N e w F i l e O p e n F i l e I m p o r t F i l e S a v e F i l e E x p o r t F i l e B e g i n P r o m p t i n g

Prepare your text

Create a new script

QStart opens with a blank script already open in the Editor window. You can start typing directly into this

area. Alternatively, click the New File button to open a blank file.

Open an existing script

If you already have a saved script file, you can click on the Open File button and navigate to the appropriate

location and open it into QStart. Existing files will have been created in a previous version of QStart. File

names will be in the format: *.wss

Write text directly

1. Start typing your script directly into the Editor window.

Import text

QStart can import Word files (.doc), Rich Text (.rtf), Text (.txt)

1. Click the Import File button.

Make the most of your prompter

- Import, edit and prompt scripts

2. Navigate to select the required file

3. If requested, select the appropriate file format

4. The text is inserted at the position of the cursor.

Don’t lose your work

Save file

Click the Save button to save any changes you have made to the current script. If the file has not been saved

before, the standard Windows save file dialog will be displayed.

Export file

If you wish to change the name of the script you are editing, click the Export File button. This opens the

standard Windows save dialog where you can specify the name and storage location of the script.

Change words and phrases

Search and Replace

1. Click the Replace button

2. Enter the word you are searching for in the “Find what” text field

3. Add any special characters by clicking either the Internal Chars or Special Chars

buttons and selecting the required character to be searched.

4. Click the Find Next, Replace or Replace All button.

Undo changes

Click the Undo button to remove all unsaved changes made to your script

Prompt your script

Click the Begin Prompting button to send your completed script to be displayed on the monitor of the SSP.

Make the most of your prompter

- Format your scripts

Use your selected scroll control device to prompt your script.

To stop prompting, press the ESC key on your computer keyboard.

Format your scripts

If no text is selected, changes made using the Format All interface will apply to the entire script. Most of the

buttons of the Format All interface have three states.

Leave: retain formatting already applied to the selected text.

On: apply the formatting to the selected text.

Off: clear the formatting from the selected text.

The individual format buttons at the left of the QStart script editor pane apply the same changes as those of

the Format All interface but only apply the changes to any selected text or new text entered at the cursor

location.

There are five colours available for the text in the script editor pane. Click the required colour button to

change any selected text to that colour

Change the appearance of the prompt output

You can add extra space between the lines of the prompt output and also change the colour of the text on

the output monitor.

Note: Any changes made using these controls do not show up in the Editor window.

Click the System Options button and select the Prompt Output Format tab.

Make the most of your prompter

- Dividing long scripts or using multiple presenters

Extra line spacing

The default value for text line spacing is 0. Use the up/down arrows or type the required spacing in directly.

The space between each line of text of the prompt output will be increased. The distance added by each

increment is proportional to the size of the text in your script. For example, if your text is set to 100 and you

set the extra spacing value to 0.4, the gap between the lines of the output will be increased by 40. A value of

1 is equivalent to double line spacing.

Text and background colour

Use the slider controls to change the colour of the text and the background of the prompt output. (These do

not change the appearance of your script in the editing window.)

Dividing long scripts or using multiple presenters

Sometimes you may want several people to read different sections of a script. To make it easier to navigate

to the place in a script where a new presenter starts to speak, you can insert markers. Alternatively, you may

have a single long script which you want to divide into sections.

Add markers

1. Position the cursor where you want to add a marker

2. Click the Marker button

3. The Markers list window is displayed

Make the most of your prompter

- Dividing long scripts or using multiple presenters

4. Click the Add button

5. Enter a description or name for the marker in the Comment field

6. Enter a sequence of keystrokes that you can use to jump to this marker position

while the script is being prompted

Note: If an inappropriate key sequence is selected, the dialog box will show this.

7. When you have entered a comment and valid shortcut click OK and the marker will

be added to the list.

The number in the first column of the list refers to the relative position of a marker in

the script. If you have two markers already and add another marker at a position

between them, the new marker will be numbered 2 and the previous marker 2 will

be renumbered as 3.

Note: If you use the same shortcut for two markers, the shortcut will only find the marker

with the lowest number.

Make the most of your prompter

- Dividing long scripts or using multiple presenters

Delete markers

You can remove markers by highlighting a marker symbol in the script and deleting it. This will automatically

remove the entry from the Markers list.

You can also remove them using the controls of the Markers dialog.

1. Click the Marker button

2. The Markers list window is displayed.

3. Select an entry

4. Click the Delete button

The entry is removed from the list and deleted from the script.

Edit markers

You can alter the comment and shortcut of a Marker using the controls of the Markers dialog.

1. Click the Marker button

2. The Markers list window is displayed.

3. Select an entry

4. Click the Modify button

Make the required changes to the various fields and click OK.

Moving between markers

The shortcut keystrokes allow you to jump to the related position in the script in both

edit mode and prompt mode.

Make the most of your prompter

- Different ways to control scrolling

Different ways to control scrolling

When prompting a script, movement of the text on the screen is controlled by a scroll control device. The

default device is a standard computer mouse. QStart supports a range of other dedicated scroll control

devices that you can connect to your computer.

Select an alternative scroll controller

1. Click on the System Options button to access the configuration interface.

2. Click on the Controller tab.

3. Click on the appropriate picture for the type of controller you will be using to control

the movement of the prompt output.

4. Click OK to return to the Script Editor window.

Default button actions

Note: The actions of the various keys on the scroll control devices cannot be changed or

adjusted using the QStart software.

Keyboard number keys

Each number gives a faster scroll rate. 1 is the slowest

and 9 the fastest

0 stops scrolling

Backspace toggles between Forward and Reverse

Make the most of your prompter

- Different ways to control scrolling

Keyboard arrow keys

The Up arrow key increases the speed each time it is

pressed and the down arrow key decrease the scroll rate.

Press the left arrow key to change direction and the right

arrow key to stop scrolling.

Use the Home key to jump to the top of your script and

the End key to jump to the bottom of the script.

Mouse

Move the mouse forward to increase the scroll speed.

Move the mouse backwards to decrease the speed.

The left button changes direction and the right button

stops the scrolling.

ShuttleXpress

The default actions of the ShuttleXpress buttons are, from

left to right:

Previous Item

Next Item

Forward/Reverse

Reset Item

Reset Runorder

Foot controller

The pedal of the controller varies the speed at which the

text moves up or down the screen.

The button on the top of the controller changes the

direction of scrolling.

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