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COMPUTER BITS BY DARREN YATES Record real-time video with the Video Blaster FS200 Creative Labs have released the second version of their popular video package. We take a look at the improvements which include real-time video recording & playback. These days with movies such as Jurassic Park, as much work is done on the computer (in this case Silicon Graphics) as there is on the actual set. While these computer systems can cost beyond the million dollar mark, Creative Labs, the makers of the Sound Blaster, have made some big improvements in their graphics package, the Video Blaster. The original version (see our review in the April 1994 issue) could display real-time video on screen but the only manipulation you could do was to grab a frame and edit it or save it to disc. The FS200 provides a pretty dramatic improvement by allowing you to record and replay full-motion video at up to 30 frames per second – not at full VGA resolution but good enough to make watching video on your PC worthwhile. What you’ll need As you can imagine, capturing video signals is a pretty time consuming task so don’t expect an XT to do the job. In fact, you’ll need a minimum of an 386SX-25 (25MHz) processor with 4Mb of RAM and at least 4Mb of spare The Video Blaster FS200 lets you display full-motion video in a moveable window. It comes bundled with a comprehensive range of software, including Aldus PhotoStyler & Aldus Gallery Effects so that you can edit captured video. 72  Silicon Chip hard disc space. The manual quotes 2Mb but by the time you’ve installed the Video Blaster software, as well as the Microsoft Video for Windows software, plus some space to work with, you’ll need at least 4Mb. The Video Blaster software itself only allows capturing of a video frame for editing but it does allow you to do some spe­cial effects with a live video feed such as chroma keying and rotation. To record and replay full motion video, you’ll need to install the Video for Windows software. Here, the user’s guide suggests a minimum of a 386 processor and 2Mb of RAM, or 4Mb of RAM if you wish to capture video. As with most software, the more RAM you have, the faster it will run. Both packages require a VGA card with at least 16-colours and 640 x 480 pixels resolution. You’ll also need a CD-ROM drive to access the video images located on the CD-ROM that accompanies the package. Microsoft suggest also that you have at least 100Mb of hard disc space free to store your captured video and your drive will need a write speed of at least 320Kb/second. Any of the Sound Blaster audio cards can also be used to record and replay audio with your video as well. Note that you’ll need this just to get the audio/video signals into your computer. You’ll need the TVCoder to export the video to your VCR if you wish to store it on tape. If you use one of the 16-bit stereo sound cards, then you’ll need a hifi VCR to record the sound at the same quality. Video accelerator card One aspect that is a little disappointing is the fact that to get full Software The software for both packages comes in both DOS and Wind­ ows versions. Also bundled in with the FS200 are a couple of Aldus packages – a special edition of PhotoStyler and the first volume of Gallery Effects. Both of these are designed for single-frame editing and for creating special effects. PhotoStyler allows you to alter the screen image by remov­ing unwanted objects from a picture as well as allowing you to convert a captured image to CYMK colours. You can also produce colour separations if need be. One of the more stunning effects is the ability to cut out a portion of an image and paste it directly onto another, called “merging”. This is similar to an effect that can be done with Windows Paintbrush but with much greater control. Gallery Effects allows you to change the texture of a captured image. Some of the textures you can use are chrome, emboss, mosaic, watercolour and spatter. These can give your images a more artificial, “painted” look. System requirements for these packages are the same as for the Video Blaster except for hard disc space. The Gallery Effects manual suggest that a scanned 8 x 10-inch image can require up to 7Mb of space so we recommend that you have at least a 200Mb drive if you wish to use this for serious work. Overall, the Video Blaster FS200 system is a very desirable improvement over the original version but you’ll need to have a few extras such as the video accelerator card and others men­tioned previously to get the maximum benefit. The package comes complete with a video card, software and manuals, plus connection cables for your PC and video equipment. At $599, it has to be one of the cheapest solutions for editing full frame rate video. For further information, contact your nearest SC Rod Irving Electronics store. SILICON CHIP SOFTWARE Now available: the complete index to all SILICON CHIP articles since the first issue in November 1987. The Floppy Index comes with a handy file viewer that lets you look at the index line by line or page by page for quick browsing, or you can use the search function. All commands are listed on the screen, so you’ll always know what to do next. Notes & Errata also now available: this file lets you quickly check out the Notes & Errata (if any) for all articles published in SILICON CHIP. Not an index but a complete copy of all Notes & Errata text (diagrams not included). The file viewer is included in the price, so that you can quickly locate the item of interest. The Floppy Index and Notes & Errata files are supplied in ASCII format on a 3.5-inch or 5.25-inch floppy disc to suit PC-compatible computers. Note: the File Viewer requires MSDOS 3.3 or above. ORDER FORM PRICE ❏ Floppy Index (incl. file viewer): $A7 ❏ Notes & Errata (incl. file viewer): $A7 ❏ Alphanumeric LCD Demo Board Software (May 1993): $A7 ❏ Stepper Motor Controller Software (January 1994): $A7 ❏ Gamesbvm.bas /obj /exe (Nicad Battery Monitor, June 1994): $A7 ❏ Diskinfo.exe (Identifies IDE Hard Disc Parameters, August 1995): $A7 ❏ Computer Controlled Power Supply Software (Jan/Feb. 1997): $A7 ❏ Spacewri.exe & Spacewri.bas (for Spacewriter, May 1997): $A7 ❏ I/O Card (July 1997) + Stepper Motor Software (1997 series): $A7 POSTAGE & PACKING: Aust. & NZ add $A3 per order; elsewhere $A5 Disc size required:    ❏ 3.5-inch disc   ❏ 5.25-inch disc TOTAL $A Enclosed is my cheque/money order for $­A__________ or please debit my ❏ Bankcard   ❏ Visa Card   ❏ MasterCard Card No. Signature­­­­­­­­­­­­_______________________________ Card expiry date______/______ Name ___________________________________________________________ PLEASE PRINT Street ___________________________________________________________ Suburb/town ________________________________ Postcode______________ Send your order to: SILICON CHIP, PO Box 139, Collaroy, NSW 2097; or fax your order to (02) 9979 6503; or ring (02) 9979 5644 and quote your credit card number (Bankcard, Visa Card or MasterCard). ✂ motion replay on your VGA screen, you need a video accelerator card. The only place I saw this mentioned was at the beginning of Chapter 2 of the Video for Windows user manual. I would have thought that this was a pretty crucial point consider­ing that the major selling point of the FS200 is its full motion record and replay. March 1995  73