_______________________________________________________________________ Release Notes for the Intel Smart Video Recorder Pro R1.0 through R1.2aIndeo* R3.2 VideoCopyright 1994, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. _______________________________________________________________________ This file contains important information that wasn't available when the manual went to print. Notes for all releases You must use Asymetrix Digital Video Producer* To use the Intel Smart Video Recorder Pro successfully, you must use it with Asymetrix Digital Video Producer. This is because DVP installs several files that ISVR Pro requires to run.Jerkiness in Preview modeIf you see jerkiness in your video while in Preview mode, don't panic. Preview mode doesn't reflect the frame rate you've chosen for capture. Also, you may see jerkiness if you're in Preview mode but you have the focus on another application (i.e., the DVP window is NOT the highlighted window). To fix this, return the focus to the DVP window. Digital Video Producer: Offline Compression SettingsDVP allows files to be digitized by the ISVR Pro using the "Indeo* Raw R1.1" format, and then compressed "offline" by running the Indeo video compressor on the host CPU rather than on the ISVR Pro. Offline compression is more time consuming, but files created in this fashion will generally display higher image quality at a lower data rate. This technique is particularly important if the files being created are intended to be played back from CD-ROM. Files which have already been compressed into "Indeo Video R3.2" format in real time using the ISVR Pro probably should not be re-compressed offline, since this "double compression" will result in lower visual quality. To save out a file or project using offline compression, pull down the "Video" menu and select the "Compression..." dialog box. There are four options you can set. These options will all initialize to default values, but you can change them if you need to. Some general guidelines for each setting are discussed below. For more details on how to set these values, and some tips on how to achieve high-quality video capture and offline compression, see the Intel technical white paper "How to Create Great-Looking Indeo Video for CD-ROM Publication," (GREATV.EXE) available on Intel's FTP site (ftp.intel.com). Compressor This will default to the offline compressor type of the first file loaded on DVP's Timeline. If you created that file with the Smart Video Recorder Pro, the compressor selected will be either "Indeo Video R3.2" or "Indeo Video Raw R1.1." If you want your final output file to be in Indeo video format, choose "Indeo Video R3.2" here. Compression Quality This slider will initialize to the default value specified by the Compressor that was initially loaded (see "Compressor" above). "Indeo Video Raw R1.1" does not use this slider at all, and so it disables this setting. "Indeo Video R3.2" sets a default value, but if the Data Rate control is enabled and a non-zero Data Rate value specified (see "Data Rate" below) the Quality slider will be ignored. Ignoring the Quality slider and setting a Data Rate value is the best way to compress Indeo video files, ensuring that the compressed files will be as close as possible to the average Data Rate requested and at the highest visual quality. There is one situation in which the Indeo video compressor pays attention to the Quality slider. It is possible to disable the Data Rate control (see "Data Rate" below) or enable it and set the Data Rate value to "0 KB/sec". In this case the Indeo video codec will use the Quality slider's value to determine the visual quality of the compressed file. If you do this, the compressor will run faster, but the visual quality of the resulting file will be substantially lower than a file compressed using the Data Rate control. Also, the average data rate of such a file will be harder to predict or control. We recommend that you use the Data Rate control and disregard the Quality Slider. Key Frame Every (_) Frames The "Indeo Video Raw R1.1" is by definition all Key Frames, and so if you choose that compressor this feature will be disabled. For any compressor that does let you choose a Key Frame interval, DVP initializes this setting to 15. However, the recommended default Key Frame setting for "Indeo Video R3.2" is 4. The valid range of settings is 0 - 15; if you set the value any higher than 15, it will default to 15. In general, setting the Key Frame interval higher will reduce the compressed file's average data rate and can sometimes improve visual quality, but it could cause more frames to be dropped during playback from CD-ROM. Keeping the Key Frame interval lower can sometimes increase the average data rate of the file and/or affect video quality at a given data rate, but it can also help ensure that no excessive frame dropping occurs during CD-ROM playback. Varying the Key Frame interval settings will have different effects on different files. When in doubt and when compressing "Indeo Video R3.2" files, set it to the default value of 4. Data Rate (_) KB/sec This will default to 300 KBytes/second, and at this data rate compressed files will play from almost any hard disk. If you're capturing files for CD-ROM playback you should probably reduce the average data rate. For "single-spin" CD-ROM drives, you should lower the Data Rate to 90-135 KB/sec; Indeo video files at 240 x 180 resolution, 10 frames/second, will give you good visual quality at this data rate. For "twin-spin" CD-ROM drives, a Data Rate of 180-240 KB/sec is probably acceptable; Indeo video files at 320 x 240 resolution, 15 frames/second, will give you good visual quality at this data rate.Be sure to choose CD-ROM padding when you're compressing for CD-ROM. CD-ROM padding will give you smoother playback. Frame ratesWe recommend using these frame rates:NTSC users: 30 24 15 12 10(multiples of 6 seem to work best) PAL users: 25 12 10Offline compression too slow? Try a Pentium processor. You'll notice a dramatic improvement.ISVR Pro sizeYou need about 3 MB of hard disk space for the ISVR Pro files. (This does not include the space you need for Asymetrix Digital Video Producer.) Windows* Sound System If you're using Windows Sound System and you're having audio problems, we recommend that you upgrade to Windows Sound System Release 2.0. (To get this release, contact Microsoft*.) Restart problems If you click Restart Windows at the end of the installation and your screen goes blank, just reboot your system. What's new in R1.1 Uninstall Now Uninstall won't remove the ISVR Pro driver if it's currently being used by another program.DriverLow DOS memory. The driver now uses much less low DOS memory.Changes for video capture application developers. The driver now initializes to the last-used or default state.New Crop control. The Video Source dialog now has a Crop slider for cropping visual artifacts at the visual perimeter (for example, ragged or "torn" edges in the video image). Facts about the Crop control: The Crop slider has nine settings ranging from 0 for no cropping to 8 for maximum cropping. Cropping is applied evenly around all four edges to maintain the correct aspect ratio (so, in effect, it magnifies the image). Cropping is not allowed for NTSC images at 320x240 or 640x480 resolutions. Cropping is not allowed for images that have been zoomed or panned by a video capture application that supports zooming or panning.What's new in R1.2DriverLow DOS memory. The driver now uses even less low DOS memory than Release 1.1.NTSC and PAL Video Signal Format. The driver now detects the video signal format faster and more reliably. You can now save the signal format along with the other video effects in the system.ini file so the driver will initialize to the saved format.Cropping. Improvements were made to the crop control and to the way the driver handles cropping if the video signal format changes from NTSC to PAL or vice versa.Protection against system.ini file data corruption. The driver will now operate correctly if numerical driver data stored in the system.ini file is corrupted.Changes for video capture application developers. The initialization sequence has been made more flexible and the driver will not force restarts as often.What's new in R1.2aA new version of the file CFGBORG.DLL dated 6-27-95 fixes Intel Smart Video Recorder Pro capture board initialization problems when installing in certain Plug and Play systems. This update also fixes erroneous EEPROM test failures that can occur when running the board diagnostics.* Third-party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.