Video Device Support Enhancements

Support for live video devices was added to SongShow Plus quite some time ago, version 5.5 if I recall correctly. This capability let's you cue up and present live video feeds from devices connected directly to your computer through USB, Firewire, and capture cards. With the May 2012 Edition, this feature received its first significant changes since it's original release.

First, video devices are now handled in the same way as other video files. The video files themselves contain references to the video device, but by using the file system mechanism, they integrate better with the other areas of SongShow Plus, such as importing, searching, etc. You'll notice this change in the Video Devices panel. It now looks like the panels used for Video Files.

Second, the video device files are now available to the Improv plug-in. This means that video devices can be used for Overlay Improv and Background Improv. The change essentially eliminates the need for the much older Live Video plug-in, a plug-in that was introduced much earlier and has been deprecated for some time now.

Third, the selection of video devices for motion background has changed. Previously, this mechanism did not use the same video device settings as those in the database panel. Instead, for motion background, you would specify the device and its parameters for each motion background setting. Now, the video device motion background uses the same files as the rest of SongShow Plus.

Finally, this entire feature can now be disabled from within the plug-ins utility window, just in case you don't want any of its features lurking around.

The video devices support in SongShow Plus is useful for certain limited use of inexpensive cameras. For a high-quality text-over-video solution, you should still consider the SongShow Plus's DeckLink Support and ProKey Systems from GoFishMedia that are built using that feature.

(BE267)

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