From: ldo@waikato.ac.nz (Lawrence D'Oliveiro, Waikato University)
Newsgroups: comp.multimedia
Subject: Re: Quadra 950 and VideoSpigot
Date: 9 Oct 92 11:14:31 +1300
Organization: University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

In article <1992Oct8.025807.11054@mailer.cc.fsu.edu>, Dave Poindexter writes:
> In article <1992Oct6.120725.11244@waikato.ac.nz> ldo@waikato.ac.nz (Lawrence
> D'Oliveiro, Waikato University) writes:
>
>>ScreenPlay has one annoying characteristic if you run it on a machine with
>>built-in audio input (like the LC or Quadra): if you want to grab a movie
>>sequence with simultaneous audio, it won't let you use any other audio input
>>devices you may happen to have connected. For example, I have a MacRecorder
>>hooked to my LC, that I prefer to use for most things, mainly because it
>>has a manual recording level control. But ScreenPlay won't give me the option
>>of using it! So if I want a decent-quality soundtrack, I have to grab the
>>audio separately, and combine it with the video using something like Premiere.
>
> Mr. D'Oliveiro may still be using the pre-MacroMedia version of MacRecorder.
> The new version, MacRecorder Pro, comes with a system extension which is
> compatable with ScreenPlay. All you have to do if you have a Mac with built-in
> audio digitizing capability is plug the digitizer in one of the serial ports
> and then go to your Sound control panel and click on the MacRecorder icon on
> the bottom of the panel.

The software you're thinking of is actually the "MacRecorder Driver", which
Farallon first released nearly two years ago. Yes, I have that, and I have it
chosen as my default sound input device in the "Sound" control panel.
ScreenPlay still insists on using the "Built-In" sound input device. I have
complained to SuperMac (in their tech support forum on AppleLink), and they
admit that this is a problem, but I'm not aware of any specific plans to do
anything about it.

On the other hand, it probably won't be a big improvement on my LC, anyway.
Recording sound through the MacRecorder is a fairly CPU-intensive process,
because the serial controller chip only has a three-byte buffer (unlike the
built-in sound input device, which has a 256-byte buffer). So I'd probably be
sacrificing a lot in video frame capture rate to do simultaneous sound
recording with the MacRecorder.

>>All in all, I think the Spigot is a neat product, that has no competition in
>>its price range.
>
> I agree that for the price, its a very good product. Digital Vision has just
> started shipping Computer Eyes RT for the Mac for close to the same price(?).

According to a recent announcement on AppleLink, SuperMac have dropped the
price of the LC version of the VideoSpigot to US$299. The version of Premiere
bundled with it is now called "Limited Edition" rather than "Version 1.0"
(but I assume it's still the same version). There've been some other pricing
changes elsewhere in the product line as well.

Lawrence D'Oliveiro                       fone: +64-7-856-2889
Computer Services Dept                     fax: +64-7-838-4066
University of Waikato            electric mail: ldo@waikato.ac.nz
Hamilton, New Zealand    37^ 47' 26" S, 175^ 19' 7" E, GMT+13:00
I often do follow-up questioning after user tests, where I ask people what
they remember. Then I try to rework the design so the next group of subjects
won't have to remember.              -- Bruce Tognazzini, "Tog on Interface"