2MPRO User Manual
Contents
1. Software Program User Manual AALLAAAAA E a Aiia A rH 2668 Lata oeas4ena la ap eey sdadsa ap deacacasees 28226 at TE a Pt at Pe Piina ae P a ae rrirrrrryritirrrie ey 4444445444 44444 i aa ee i EEI Fi at E ELC TENE 3 Fees Hn FY HHT T8T r7T9y Fa i rrvtrres aad F i tre asan FYTYFYp AEE HASAS ARARE Software License Agreement This Software was Written Specifically for use on predetermined signs and is not intended for general use This software is licensed in agreement with all parties to be used in accordance with the specific uses only Any attempt to use this software for other than specified herein constitutes a violation of this agreement Use of this software indicates the acceptance of this license agreement 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Introduction 4 Requirements 4 Installation 4 Starting 2MPro 4 Setting the New Animation Options 5 2MPro Main Screen 6 2 Animation Editing 7 Creating a New Animation 7 Text Frames 8 Selecting the Text Type 8 Normal Text 8 Setting the Font 8 Text Colors 9 Backgrounds and Shadows 9 Text Spacing 9 Rich Text 10 Travel Text 10 Time Temperature and Date 10 Using Display Effects 11 Effect Directions 11 Appear Modes 11 Hold Effects 11 Effect Speeds 12 Hold Time 12 Auto Effects 12 Graphic Frames 12 Graphic Tools 12 Importing Bitmaps 14 Importing Video Files 14 Setting a Fram2. the edit properties box and select the Text tab In a graphic frame the text sheet will look as shown here Select the Click Browse button to import bitmap browse button which will bring up a file selection box Find the bitmap file extension is BMP to import and hit Open 2MPro will now import and scale the bitmap for your sign size and color This will appear in the graphic frame NOTE The new graphic frame may not look much like the original bitmap This is because your sign might be a much different resolution than the bitmap you are importing For example if your sign is a 16 x 64 256 shades of red and you are importing a bitmap that is 100 x 100 and full color you do not have the resolution necessary to display this bitmap properly Importing Video Files x 2MPro can also import video files in both AVI and MPEG formats Importing a video file will create a complete animation by converting SR NRO E each frame in the video file and creating a series of graphic frames in Browse the 2MPro animation To do this first create a new animation Then Convertion optione from the main menu select File and then Import Video File This will Shetch to Sign size bring up the Import Video File box There are three conversion options Crop Lett Tap align Crop Center to choose from Stretch to sign size will stretch or shrink each frame of the video file to the resolution of your sign Crop Left Top align will convert the original
3. 2 13 Text Frames 3 18 2004 Page 8 So now let s enter some text in the frame First we need to open the Frame Properties Sheet Click on the Properties icon or select Properties from the Frame Menu or just double click anywhere on the document window to open the Frame Properties You will notice there are three tabs at the top of the Property Sheet Select the Text Tab if it is not already selected Select the Text Type From left to right Normal Text _________ Fii Property Sheet B z U Font Arial 16 Test Normal best Type in your Text Message Here see note Note If you have selected Effects Field e Rich Text e Travel ka b ab zb izmot ia i Time ab I Te 00 1994 e Temperature Spacing Normal e Date Format undefined z Test Bkagd oo Bila Shadow the frame type to be Time Temperature or Date the text field will not be available There are six different type of text frames available which are selected with the buttons just below the text tab The default type is called Normal Text and is the most common format The other formats will be explained a little later in this section Normal Text Text is added to a normal text frame by typing in the text editing box of the text sheet As you type you will notice text being added to the frame data in your document Also notice that this text is automatically centered within the frame both ho
4. More than one entry can be edited at once To select multiple entries hold the CTRL key down while selecting each entry by pointing and clicking You will see each entry hilited by a blue cursor Then select the Event Options icon from the Tool Bar This will bring up the Options Box the same as when adding a new entry Please not that if you have selected multiple entries any changes you make are applied to each of these Simulating Animations added to the schedule list can be played on the simulator This allows you to verify that the animation you have entered is actually the one you want in the schedule To simulate hilite the entry with your cursor and click the Simulate icon This will bring up the simulation window playing the animation When done viewing click the X in the simulation window to close it 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 21 Advertisers The 2MPro scheduler allows you to add advertiser names to your schedule entries This is useful if you are doing any third party advertising on your sign and allow you to track the entries which have been assigned to each advertiser The use of advertisers is optional The Advertiser List To add advertisers to your schedule entries you must first a create an advertiser list To access the advertiser list select Sigi options Advertisers the File and then Properties from the menu This will bring up the Global Options box Select the Advertisers ei oid tab w
5. Page 19 Adding Animations m To add an animation to the schedule click the Add button and select the file from the open dialog box Y Demo imme Images Y Demoz mme _ Schedule Files Y Demo3 mme YF 052600 mme Y Demo3b mme Note The first time this dialog box is opened it may Poo a E not be in the correct directory and you will need to a i yee me locate the directory that your animations are stored under File name Popcom2 mme Animation files have an extension of mme Select Files of type Multimedia Animation mme F Cancel the animation file name from the list and click Open Zz Setting the General Options xj This will bring up the Options box The General Sheet will General Timing display the name of the file you just selected It also has a Hame drop down box for you to associate and advertiser with It is not necessary to fill this in this is a feature only used by ere people doing third party advertising A description of the PlyTime 10g advertisers feature is included in Section x xx A box Fle C nimations 32x64 rgb calors mime containing the playing time of the animation is shown Currently this feature is not active and will always default to 10 seconds Setting the Timing Options To set the times and dates for this entry click on the Timing Tab New entries are defaulted to play all the time Genma Timna every day If you wish to have the animation play betwe
6. came with your sign if ae this is in question wrea E F Color Another drop down to select the color type of your Width Pixels E E sign Again refer to your sign documentation if in doubt o Height Width Use the arrow keys to enter the number of sora ES pixels in your sign Dimming Communications Select the communication method from ota et tie See Aa the drop down list Currently there are three selections 6 12 00 AM 6 12 00 PM available RS485 RS232 and modem You will also need to set the communications details page 24 m A ale 15 Dimming You can program times for the sign to switch between dim and bright mode You may want to enable this Temperature Offset 0 4 feature for outdoor signs that appear to bright in the evening i OF Cancel Use the Sign on Bright section to set the time in the morning aks Ze for the sign to switch to bright Use the Sign On Dim section to set the time in the evening to switch the sign to dim The Dimming Enabled check box must also be checked for this feature to take effect 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 24 Temperature Offset This control allows you to offset the temperature you display on the sign The temperature reading from your temperature sensor is displayed on the status box when you connect to the sign If for some reason the reading appears to be higher or lower than it should be you can change this with the offset The spin
7. mouse button down Now drag the cursor to the opposite corner of the block You will see the outline of the box as you drag the mouse Let the mouse button up when you have outlined your block To move the block around the frame hold the mouse button down while pointing anywhere within the box You can now drag the block anywhere on the frame Let the mouse button up to drop the block in its new position You can also copy and paste a block Use the steps described above to define the block and select the copy button from the main tool bar This copy the graphic block to the Windows clipboard You can now paste the block into the same graphic frame by selecting the Paste button The block is pasted to the upper left corner of the frame You can again go in and drag the block to the desired position on the frame Blocks can be pasted to any graphic frame in the animation or even to a graphic frame in a separate animation 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 14 Ellipse and Rectangle These tools allow you to draw the chosen shape to a graphic frame Select the tool and point to your graphic frame Click and hold the left mouse button As you drag the cursor around you will see an outline of the shape you are drawing The shape will be drawn to the frame once the mouse button is released Importing Bitmaps 2MPro can import Windows bitmap files for use in Text Jetfects Field graphic frames To do this in a graphic frame bring up
8. your text in an outlined box in the document frame Move your cursor into the outlined box Now hold the left mouse button down and drag the box around the frame to position it where you would like You can hit the ESC key at any time to abort the text entry NOTE The text can be set to appear transparently over the frame This is done from the Tool item in the main menu which has a selection for Transparent Selection Text will appear transparently when this item is checked Transparency also is used with the Block tool Pick Color This tool is allows you to select a drawing color from a color in the frame rather than through the palette box To do this first select the Pick Color tool Move the cursor to the frame window and point to the color within the frame you wish to select Press the left mouse button This will set the new drawing color which can be used with any of the drawing tools Fill Fill is used to fill an area of a graphic frame with the drawing color After selecting the fill tool move the cursor to the frame area to fill and hit the left mouse button The original pixel and all of the surrounding pixels of the same color will be filled with the new drawing color Block The Block tool is used to copy paste and move graphic blocks between graphic frames To select a block choose the block tool and move your cursor to the graphic frame Position the cursor to one corner of the block you wish to move or copy and hold the left
9. 3 4 Communications 2MPro provides you with the functions to communicate to and control your sign s Before you can communicate you will need to create the connection details These details are needed for 2MPro to know the communications method to use to connect to your sign To create or edit the connection list select Sign Edit Sign List from the Main Menu This will bring up the Sign Connections Box Sign Connections This box will display a list of sign Sign Connections x connections with their connection types and sign type information T a ETETEAREN GED Most of you will have a single sign 2 unnamed S232 24 bit RGB baxi piei that you are controlling and therefore will need only a single iii entry in your list Some of you will have multiple signs to control with Eec their own communications settings Delte Sign and you will need to create a connection for each Notice the telephone icon beside the connection number This is used to indicate the active sign which is the sign that will be transmitted to when you initiate communications Adding Connections To add a new connection click the Add button This will Add a New Sign Connection X bring up the New Sign Connection box Sign Name The first entry is for a sign name Type a name Siga Mame Sig for your sign in this box SignModet RE AE MediaStar Sign Model This is a drop down selection for the sign TENTS model Refer to the documentation that
10. Unveil Curtain or cover moving off Roll Text rolls on Coalesce Random pixels appear Fade Fades from low to high intensity Effect Directions Some of the appear and disappear effects have directions associated with them After selecting an effect select the arrow on the direction drop down box The direction list will display the directions available for the effect you have selected For example a Zoom effect can be used in an Up Down or Out direction Appear Modes Appear Modes are used to set the way the appear effect of the current frame will remove the previous frame The following is a description of the appear modes e Blank Blanks the screen prior to appearing the next message e Wipe The frame will appear on top of the previous frame e Scroll Scrolls the previous information off as the new message appears e Overlap Overlays on top of previous frame Previous frame shows through any black area of new frame Hold Effects The following is a brief description of the hold effects e Hold No Effect e Blink Flashes the text on and off repeatedly e Snow Random pixels appear on giving appearance of snow e Bijou Lights the outside edge of sign controlled by speed 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 12 Effect Speeds All of the effects have a speed adjustment that is set with a slider bar The slider can be moved in increments between the slowest and fastest which set a r
11. ay not appear exactly on the sign as they do in 2MPro 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 11 Using Display Effects Property Sheet We have shown you how to create text Text Effects Field frames in order to get your message displayed on your sign Now we need to ees Tee nos none add motion to your frames in order to ale attract attention to your message This is 7 slow fast done with the use of display effects Select Speed Mode Seceh Tye the Effects tab on your Frame Property ree Blank E Hod Fl cay i 4 Sheet to bring up the Effects Page This elon e epee page is divided into three areas Appear Disappear and Hold Effects Appear effects determine how the frame will appear onto the sign Once the frame has appeared you can apply a hold effect for the duration of the frame and a disappear effect can be applied to set how the frame will leave the sign NOTE We recommend not using disappear effects other than Stay except for the last frame in an animation This is because a blank period is created between the time one frame disappears and the next frame appears The following is a brief description of the appear disappear effects available in 2MPro Zoom Frame moves in two directions Wave Moves in a wave effect Interleave Horizontal Moves in stripes horizontally Interleave Vertical Moves in stripes vertically Stretch Unfolds in given direction Stay On or Off Immediately
12. bar is only available when you are working on a Graphic Frame Cancel Returns the cursor to nrmal Pencil Draw Freehand Line Draws Straight Line Text Adds Text to a Graphic Frame Pick Copies color from the frame Fill Fills objects with selected color Selection Copies Cuts and Moves selected areas of screen Ellipse Draws an Oval or Circular line Rectangle Draws a Square or Rectangle line Filled Ellipse Draws a filled Oval or Circle with selected color Filled Rectangle Draws a filled Square or Rectangle with the selected color For Help press F 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 13 Before using any of the graphic tools you must first select a color to draw with This done by bringing up the color palette box and choosing your color see page 9 Pencil Use the pencil by pressing the left mouse button to draw while moving the cursor over the graphic frame Pixels will be drawn to with the currently selected color Line Move your cursor to the first end for the line click and hold the left mouse button Then move the cursor to the end of the line and release the mouse button This will draw a line between the two points in the graphic frame Text Text in a graphic frame is entered differently than in a text frame After selecting the text tool you will see a text entry dialog box After entering your text and choosing the font and text color hit the OK button You should now see
13. buttons allow you to adjust this by nine degrees up or down Once all the connection information has been filled in click OK to save the connection in the sign list Communications Details When choosing a communications methods you must click on the Details button in order to set all of the parameters Modern Settings x FSz232 Setti x l a Serial Pot Baud Ra a com am Serial Pott Baud Fate i Rate com 220 cU ee Network diddrecs Above are the settings boxes for the three communications types RS485 Settings Communications via RS485 requires that your computer be equipped with an RS485 converter box This is a box that sits outside your computer and is connected with a cable to your computers serial port PC computers name their serial ports as COM1 COM2 etc You must know the name of the serial port which you are connecting the converter box to Use the drop down list to set this The baud rate is the speed at which you communicate to the sign Presently all RS485 connections are made at 38 400 baud so you should leave this setting at 38 400 which is the default The network address is used when you have more than one sign connected to the RS485 cable This is referred to as an RS485 network and requires that you set a separate network address for each sign This should be left at 255 if there you have only one sign connected RS232 Settings RS232 connections use a cable plugged straight into y
14. ck in the box acs Process Always Events to include animations aaa that are set to play always Check the box Check issn Day of Week to include non excluded days From 4 11 00 To 411 00 Event wil be selected Find First if i s range have any intersection wih specihed range Click the Find First button to locate the first item ae aT fitting the search criteria The first entry on the list will be highlighted Find All If you click the Find All button all entries that fit the search criteria are highlighted 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 22 Saving The Schedule File Once you have finished editing the schedule you need to save it to a file Click the Save icon from Save in ca SchedueFies A el the Tool Bar or select File Save from the menu New mms If you are editing a previously stored schedule it a es will be automatically updated If this is a new schedule the Save As dialog box will appear Enter a name for your new schedule The extension for a schedule file is mms When you i File name Demot mam Save save a schedule file the program will ma s s F Save az lype UAESch Files mms Cancel automatically give it a mms extension You may Zi store your schedule file anywhere on your hard drive but we suggest storing it in the same folder with your animation files 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 2
15. e Rate 15 General Frame Functions 15 Adding Moving and Deleting Frames 15 Editing Multiple Documents 15 Copying Frames Between Animations 16 Using the Simulator 16 Field Boundaries 16 Saving Your Animation Files 17 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 3 3 The Scheduler 18 Scheduler Window 18 Adding Animations 19 Setting the General Options 19 Setting the Timing Options 19 Adding Deleting and Moving Entries 20 Editing Existing Entries 20 Simulating 20 Advertisers 21 The Advertiser List 21 Finding Entries 21 Find First 21 Find All 21 Saving the Schedule File 22 4 Communications 23 Sign Connections 23 Adding Connections 23 Communication Details 24 RS485 Settings 24 RS232 Settings 24 Modem Settings 24 Changing the Active Sign 25 Saving your Connection Settings 25 Connecting to Your Sign s 23 Connection Via Modem 25 Connection Via RS485 or RS232 25 Sign Status 26 Sending Commands 26 Play Schedule 26 Play Animation 26 Stop Sign 27 Format Flash 2 Update Status 27 Disconnect 27 Sending an Animation Directly to Sign Zi Appendix A Updating the Sign Firmware 28 Appendix B Adjusting the RGB Palette 29 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 4 1 Introduction 2MPro is a software package that provides all the tools you will need to control your Multimedia LED display Animations can be quickly created combining text and graphic frames to dynamically appear in your sign using on
16. e first position in the list and the original entries will all be pushed down one location TestSched1 mms 2 iPro Sign Software Dj x TestSched1 mnis 2MPro Sign Software File Edit few Schedule Help File Edit View Schedule Help Djem sez I eld se neej 2B L s SeN Start Date End D Name pari ba Start Date End D 2 X l ASS pete Haye l0 x videol mme Ways Always Tei blowout mme Ahass Always colors mime signature2 mine Abheays tez colors mme Ahass Always eS signature mme Ahwer s Always Hj E For Help press Fl a For Help press Fl g To add an entry to the end of the schedule list click in the list window below the last entry so that none of the entries are hilited Any new entries are added to the end of the list in this condition Similarly entries can be moved within a list by dragging and dropping Use the cursor to hilite the entry to be moved and hold the mouse button down Now move the cursor to the new location in the list and let the mouse button up This will drop the entry into the new location Entries may also be deleted from a list Again you must first hilite the entry to be deleted Now select the Delete icon from the tool bar and the entry will be removed from the list Editing Existing Entries i It is possible to change the time date settings of any entry in the schedule after it has been added To do this first select the entry s to edit
17. e of the built in display effects 2MPro also provides a scheduler so that each of your messages will appear only during the times and dates that you specify Finally once your content has been created 2MPro provides you with the tools to communicate to and control your Multimedia sign Requirements 2MPro is intended for use on PC computers running Windows NT or Windows 2000 98 operating systems The computer will require several megabytes of free hard disk space for the 2MPro software and more storage for the animations to be created It is recommended the computer have a minimum of 128 MB of RAM Also the computer will require one unused serial port for communication to the sign via RS232 RS485 with converter or a modem if the sign is to be communicated to via phone line Installation 2MPro is provided on either a single CD or a series of floppy disks Place the CD or the diskette labeled Disk 1 into the appropriate drive Through Windows Explorer or the Windows Run function start the program Setup exe from the drive You will see a Multimedia logo message appear while the setup is loading The 2MPro installation screen will appear next You will be asked to agree to our software licensing by selecting the Next button The next screen will prompt you to enter the location to install the software to We recommend leaving this at the default folder which by selecting the Next button You may change this to any folder on your hard drive if you
18. ed down to 80 in order to balance the colors This may take a few attempts to get the balance just right Once you have set your values click the Save Palette button to store a plt file Updating the Sign s Palette The palette file can be sent to the sign from 2MPro Connect to the sign to bring up the Sign Connection Status box Double click the left mouse button in the status box This will bring up a file open dialog box where you will select you palette file plt Once selected the file will be transmitted and stored in the sign controller and will automatically change the sign to use your new settings 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 30 Gamma Control The Small Sign Controller uses a table known as a Palette Table to translate input intensity values for each color Red Green and Blue that can range from 0 255 into the appropriate output color values These output colors can range from 0 4095 The intensity value of each LED may change with each frame One typical Palette table may represent a Linear change in intensity The output value would change be a constant amount K multiplied by the input value So OUT Kx IN However our eyes see light intensity non linearly That is the perceived color change for a change in intensity is not a constant value Therefore we generally need a palette table that provides a non linear change in output value for a given input value The general equation for this is
19. elative speed for the effect Hold Time A hold time can be set for each frame This is defined as the amount of time a frame will remain on the sign after it has appeared and before it will disappear When a new frame is created this is set to one second by default You can change this by clicking in the hold time box and typing in a new hold time You can enter this as a whole number or use a decimal point to enter a time down to 1 100 of a second The spin control arrows next to the hold time box can also be used to adjust this time Auto Effects In the document window you may have noticed a check box entitled Auto Effects This is a quick and simple method to have your messages run with display effects created at random rather than having to set these by hand Simply check this box in order to apply the auto effects function Once checked most of the effect selection tools will be disabled all except the hold effect and hold time You can uncheck this box and manually set the effects for each frame at any time Graphic Frames Graphic frames allow you to draw to each pixel within a frame to create a series of pictures 2MPro has a number of graphic editing tools which can be used to create your own graphic frames Graphic frames can also be created by importing Windows bitmap BMP files A whole animation consisting of a series of graphic frames may also be created by importing a video file AVI or MPG Graphic Tools The graphic tool
20. en eee Eee Days certain dates uncheck the Always check box in the Dates tot SF rm To set a start date click on the start date drop box which ed a fn x no will bring up a calendar Select the date you wish the E ered animation to start playing Now click on the end date drop L i i EI box and select the last day for the animation will play To set a start and stop time first uncheck the Always box Start and stop times are set by clicking the appropriate box You can use the arrow keys to set the hours and minutes or type directly into the box The Exclude Days feature allows you to program the entry to play on particular days of the week To do this first uncheck the Always box then put a check mark next to each day of the week you do not want the animation to play For example if you want this entry to play only on weekdays check off the Sat and Sun boxes Once you ve finished with the timing options click the Apply button to add this entry to the schedule 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 20 Adding Deleting and Moving Entries New entries can be added anywhere within the schedule list The position of new entries is determined by the position of the hilite cursor For example if you wanted to add a new entry to the beginning of a schedule list you would hilite the first entry by pointing and clicking it The first entry will now be hilited in blue If you now add a new entry it will be inserted into th
21. er NOTE The following procedure does not apply for locations that use a telephone modem for communications to the controller Upgrades for these signs must be done with an external RS232 cable Rebooting the Controller The first step in the update is to reboot the controller This is done in 2MPro from the Sign Status dialog box The reboot is a hidden command Double click the right mouse button within the dialog box This will bring up the box asking Are you sure you want to reboot the sign Click the YES and the sign will reboot and be ready for the download Exit the 2MPro software NOTE Download exe requires that the communication to the sign be done on the serial port ee FPGA COM1 If your computer is not configured this way please Download Browse contact Multimedia Reboot Verify Reboot fe Download Execute Using the Download Program Use the following procedure to download the new firmware 1 Run download exe Notice the Begin Download button is grayed out 2 Hit the Reset button The Begin Download button should no longer be grayed This means you received a response from the controller 3 Select the Browse button and choose the ControllerROM srec file 4 Hit the Begin Download button You should now see data packets in the status window 5 The message Download Complete will appear when done 6 Hit the Execute button The controller will now restart using the new firmware Wait
22. ext you can enter into a travel frame A message box will alert you if you have attempted to type in more text than is allowed Time Temperature Date These text frames display real time information on your sign meaning that the information will change Time frames of course display the current time of day This time is set according to the time on your computer so this must be set correctly for it to be accurate on your sign The format control in the text sheet will allow you to set the time to be either twelve or twenty four hour format Date frames operate similarly and the information is also derived from you computers calendar The format control on date frames allow you to select between D M Y and M D Y formats Temperature frames allow you to display the current temperature at your sign Your Multimedia sign should be equipped with a temperature sensor this is what allows you to display the correct readings However the computer you are running 2MPro on has no sensor and therefore you will always see the temperature default to 0 degrees Celsius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit Celsius and Fahrenheit types are set from the format control Fonts and colors for all of these text types are set the same way as for the other text types NOTE The signs are not capable of displaying time temperature date frames using all of the Windows fonts It instead will attempt to use a font that it can display which is a similar size Therefore these frames m
23. frames with no scaling and will start at the top left Stat of the video frame This will result in only the top left portion of the video image being used How much of the image is used depends on the relative size of the video frames and your sign size Crop Center is __Chee _ similar except it will crop the images from the center of the video frames Once you have selected the type of conversion hit the Browse button to choose the video file In the file selection box you can use the Files of Type drop down menu to choose to import either an AVI file or an MPEG file Once you have chosen the video file hit Open to return to the Video File box Now hit the Start button to begin the importing process Once started you will see the number of frames in the document title bar advance as new frames are added You will even see each graphic frame in the document change The status bar in the Import box tells you how much of the video file is left to import You can hit the Stop button at any point to stop the operation When completed you will have a series of graphic frames The hold times of these graphic frames will have automatically been set to play at the speed of the original video file 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 15 Setting a Frame Rate 2MPro provides a function for setting the frame rate of animation This function is normally used only with an animation that has been created by importing a video file To
24. hich will bring up the list Select the Add button to Super Modet Ing enter a new advertiser Enter a name and a number in the appropriate box Numbers are arbitrary and are just there for your reference Click OK when complete and the new advertiser will be added to the list You can use the cursor to hilite entries and the Edit button to change the name or number Advertisers can be deleted by hiliting and pressing the Del button Hit the OK button when done to save the advertiser list Your list of advertisers will now be available to add to schedule entries when editing their General Options Finding Entries The find feature is handy when your schedule file contains so many entries that scrolling through would be very time consuming Select Find from the edit menu and the find dialog box opens You can find an entry in the list by a animation name advertiser date or a combination of the three To search by animation name check the box next to Search in the Find by Name section and type Find Event E3 in the full file name including extensions p Find by Name To find by advertiser check the box next to Search M4 Search eyeball2 mme mms in the Find by Advertiser section and select an advertiser from the pull down list Find by Advertiser To search by date check the box next to Search in M Search Mulimedia the Find by Date section then select a date from each of the pull down calendars Che
25. is first displayed and in response to a Play Schedule or Play Animation command You can update the status information at any time by hitting the Update Status button Disconnect Hit the Disconnect button when you are finished communicating with the sign If you are connected via RS485 or RS232 this command will close the serial port and close the Sign Status box If you are connected via modem this will hang up the phone line and close the Sign Status box Sending an Animation Directly to Sign Ey You can also send an animation you are currently editing in 2MPro directly to instantly display on the sign You must have an animation file open for editing in 2MPro for this feature to work Press the red telephone icon to connect to the sign If this is a modem connection the dialing operation must be performed Once connected the animation you are currently editing will be sent to the sign and played When complete the Sign Status box will appear showing the animation being played at the sign 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 28 Appendix A Updating the Sign Firmware The software that resides in the controller that runs the sign is referred to as firmware Updates to the firmware are periodically released and you may want to load the newest version into the controller Multimedia will provide you with a new software application called DOWNLOAD EXE This will be used to send the firmware file ControllerRom srec to the controll
26. ith the sign you will get a No Response From Sign message Possible causes of this message would be cable not plugged into serial port cable not plugged into sign bad cable bad serial port bad RS485 converter box Consult with the Multimedia Installation manual for a further diagnosis of communication problems 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 26 Sign Status Once connected the sign status box provides you with the following information Status Indicates whether the sign is currently playinga PE EAE EES schedule or is turned off Commands Playing Is the name of the animation currently playing on the sign This field will be blank if the sign is Olas currently off Play Animation Schedule Entries Is the number of entries in the eee schedule currently playing on the sign ap es Animation Files Is the number of animations stored in the sign controller Format Flash Drive Used Memory Animations are stored in the sign Update Status controller in FLASH memory FLASH is a type of memory that holds its information even when powered Status eT down Used memory is the amount of FLASH being Sea eno used for animation storage Playing Free Memory 27192320 Free Memory The amount FLASH memory still Schedule Entries 5 Temperature 55 available for animation storage Animation Files 7 SoftwareRev 12 Temperature The sign controller is equipped with an external temperature sens
27. log box will appear Choose the 2MPro animation file to send and click OK If this animation already exists in the signs FLASH memory you will be asked if you wish to overwrite it If you answer yes the animation will be sent and will overwrite the version of the file stored in the sign controller Answering no will cause the version of the animation already stored at the sign to play immediately In either case you will be returned to the Sign Status box which will indicate the sign is playing the animation you requested Stop Sign Pressing the Stop Sign button will cause the sign to stop and go blank immediately Format Flash Similar to formatting a hard drive this command will format the FLASH memory of the controller This will delete all the animations that are currently stored at the sign NOTE You should only format the FLASH when you have exceeded the available storage After selecting the Format button you will be prompted Formatting will erase all animations are you sure You can abort the format by selecting No at this point Pressing Yes will begin the format process A box indicating that a format is taking place will appear The format can take a number of minutes depending on the size of the FLASH storage in your controller When complete the status box should again appear indicating 0 Animation Files and all memory available for use Update Status The status information shown in the box is only updated when the box
28. m the main tool bar This will paste the copied frame into the second animation NOTE Both animations must be of the same size and color type for this to work Using the Simulator 2MPro comes equipped with a simulator that will display your animations on the video monitor as they would appear on your sign To start a simulation select the Play Animation button from the main tool bar You may receive the following message Would you like to play from the current frame Selecting no will play entire animation Press the NO button to play all the frames in the animation Pressing yes will play only the frames from the currently selected frame to the end of the animation The simulator window has three zoom level buttons These can be selected to vary the size of the simulator window Click the X of the simulator window when you wish to stop Field Boundaries Normally text or graphic frames are the same height and width as the sign However it is possible to change the size of the any frame This allows you to create some interesting effects by leaving one message on part of the sign while having a new frame appear on another portion For example if your sign were 32 pixels high and 64 pixels wide you could have a sale message appear on the top 16 pixels and in your second frame have information travel across the sign on the bottom half of the sign Fields can be set two different ways The first way is to drag the b
29. me For instance in the list shown here frame number four is the current frame The current frame can be selected by pointing and clicking or by scrolling to it with the arrow keys If the user were to select the Insert Text button a new text frame would be inserted as frame five and the rest of the frames would be shifted down Frames can be moved by selecting them with the cursor dragging them to the new location on the list and dropping them by letting go of the mouse button Frames to be deleted are first selected with the mouse to hilite them You may then either press the Delete key or select the Delete Frame button from the main tool bar Editing Multiple Documents 2MPro is a multiple document editor This means that you can work on more than one animation at a time As you create new animations or open existing ones a new document window is created As in all Windows MDI applications you can choose the document you want to work on by clicking anywhere in its window 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 16 Copying Frames Between Animations Frames can actually be copied from one animation to into another To do this select the frame from the frame list of the animation to copy from Then select the Copy button from the main tool bar This copies the frame into the Windows clipboard Then select the animation to copy the frame to and select the spot in the frame list to copy to Now select the Paste button fro
30. n of text frames To create a new text frame select the text frame icon from the main tool bar or from the Frame menu item select Insert Text 2MPro Sign Software UAES 64432 Z4bit RGB Frame 1 of 1 iol x File Edit Sign View Frame Tool Window Help pelk me amn gt Hal elal zie UAES 64432 24bit RGB Frame 1 of 1 200M E Auto Effects ojoje m Insert Text F You now have an animation that consists of a single blank text frame Notice that a text frame icon has been placed in the frame list view in the right side of the document This list will update with frames as they are added or deleted to the animation Also notice that the title bar of the document has changed to show Frame of 1 There is also a zoom level control in the right side of the document window This can be used to set the viewing size of the document frame Saving Your Animation Files To store your animation click on the Save icon in the Main Tool Bar or use File Save from the Main Menu If this is a new animation you will be prompted to enter a name for the file It is best to create a name which is descriptive of the animation content 2MPro will automatically append the file extension mme to your file name All 2MPro animations will be stored with this extension 2Mpro allows you to store animations anywhere on your drives but we suggest that you use a single folder to store your work 2MPro Sign Software Version
31. of the form OUT IN 2 Which says the output value is the input value raised to the Gamma power Gamma is also known as contrast adjustment A typical Gamma value is 2 4 The palette generation table Normalizes the output from this function to only allow the output values to range from 0 4095 which is the range of output values allowed by the sign hardware The following chart shows a plot of output values as a function of input values for different gamma values Note that the Linear plot is the same as a gamma value of one Gamma Values 4500 4000 Z ff 3500 3000 2500 Gamma 2 4 Gamma 3 0 2000 Linear Full Adjustment 1 7 1500 1000 500 50 100 150 200 250 300 500 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 31 You can see that as Gamma increases output values do not change as much as a function of the input value for lower input values Our eyes don t respond to small changes in intensity so we re loading the output at the higher end to provide for a higher contrast Lower Clipping The Lower Clipping value is to typically make the sign look black at low intensity values You can adjust this value so that any input value below this value is set to zero Also the Lower Clipping value is subtracted from the input value before further calculations are performed This causes the output values to increase faster f
32. olor within the color array or by using the slider bars to select the intensities Once a color is selected you need to move the cursor back to the text sheet and click in the color box next to the text item you wish to color text background shadow The text shown in your document frame will change immediately with the new color selection Backgrounds and Shadows Combining colors and shadows can help you create text messages that really stand out with an almost 3 D effect Shadowing is applied to the text by using the drop down shadow control Shadows can be set to display either left or right of the text A rule of thumb for creating text frames with shadows is that the colors used should be a combination of a high intensity a low intensity and black Text Spacing When adding text to the edit box multiple lines of text can be added by hitting the Enter key to create a new line The text in the frame will automatically space and center the text within the frame All of the text you wish to add may not fit within the frame You have the choice of either adjusting the font settings or creating a second frame to hold some of the information There is a control box in the text sheet labeled Spacing This can be set to either Normal or Compressed This setting controls the amount of spacing between each line of text in the frame The Normal setting spaces each line according to the setting inherent in the font itself You may want to set
33. or This is the reading shown in the temperature status box Software Rev Is the software revision number of the sign controller This is useful when reporting controller problems to Multimedia technical support staff Disconnect Sending Commands Play Schedule This command is used to send the schedule file and all the animations used in the schedule to the sign After choosing the Start Schedule button the software will ask if you wish to overwrite files that have the same name If you answer yes to this question all of the animation files that you have programmed into your schedule will be sent to the sign Previous versions that had been stored in the controllers FLASH memory will be overwritten If you answer no to this question animations already stored in the signs FLASH memory will not be resent This allows you to make changes to your schedule and update the controller without having to send all the animations As animations are transmitted to the sign you will see a status box with an indicator bar that shows you the progress of the file download Once the schedule and all of the animations to send have been received by the sign the Sign Status box will reappear showing that a schedule is now running 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 27 Play Animation This command is used to transmit and play a single animation on the sign rather than a schedule When the Play Animation button is pressed the file open dia
34. or lower input values Upper Clipping The Upper Clipping value is used to raise the output value to full scale 4095 at a point prior to the full input intensity value 255 Video rarely hits the maximum input intensity value so although the brightest portions of the video data will be clipped at the maximum value overall the sign will look brighter Note that decreasing this value pulls the plot to the left giving an overall brighter output for smaller input values Linear Threshold The Linear Threshold value is used to provide faster changes in the output values as a function of the input value for very low input values Any input value that is below the Linear Threshold value but above the Lower Clipping value provides an output that is a straight line linear until the point where the input reaches the Linear Threshold value and then the output is a function of Gamma The Full Adjustment plot illustrates the results of these factors In the chart above the Full Adjustment shows a plot where Lower Clipping 20 Linear Threshold 50 Gamma 1 7 and Upper Clipping 220
35. ors Consult the documentation that came with 54 bit calor Height Set the number of your sign or call Multimedia if you are 34 bit color Pixels that make up the height g2 bit color of the sign uncertain how to set these lt 6 bt RAG a_i ate oe 2 bit AG aly Help 256 Shades Red Number of Colors Set the number of colors that your sign is capable rae ace sia ee 16 Shades Amber Monochrome Red Monochrome Amber Note Colors available are subject to the type of sign you are programming You cannot display more colors than you sign can produce ko Mulittiedia Animation Editor UAE1 192996 Abi REE Frome 1 of 1 a Bie Edt View Fiame Tool Widow Hep ae Once you have selected all of the settings click on the Hau o H mee ee oo Ok button to apply the settings If this is the only sign a you are programming with this software the new setting eee will become the default and you will not have to set this import Animation again If you are programming more than one sign that Ble ales Misi ___ have different settings these can be changed at any time Pin Pen aaa p c6 e e e 99 Print Selg by selecting New Animation Options from the File Sree Menu Once you have changed the settings all new Seite animations will be created with the new settings C Terps popcom mme Ept 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 6 2MPro Main Screen During the course of thi
36. oundaries using the cursor The frame has a blue border surrounding it Within this border are eight black marks When the cursor is positioned directly over one of these marks it will DrepeHt es Shea change its shape to a double headed arrow At this ier Ra point you can click and drag the border to a new location to define a new boundary for the frame lt Poaion fT The second way to create a field is to select the field i PO tab in the properties box The field can be adjusted by width ee Peset Detsut entering the new positions After hitting the Apply Height mz Apel button the blue boundary will move to show the new position of the field for this frame 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 17 Saving Your Animation Files To store your animation click on the Save icon in the Main Tool Bar or use File Save from the Main Menu If this is a new animation you will be prompted to enter a name for the file It is best to create a name which is descriptive of the animation content 2MPro will automatically append the file extension mme to your file name All 2MPro animations will be stored with this extension 2Mpro allows you to store animations anywhere on your drives but we suggest that you use a single folder to store your work 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 18 3 The Scheduler The scheduler allows you to program your sign to run multiple animations and control the exact times and da
37. our PCs serial port The other end of the cable connects to your sign The serial port must be set for the COM port that the cable is plugged into The baud rate in most cases should be left for 38 400 There is one exception to this rule and that is when radio modems are being used to communicate The communications type is set for RS232 when using radio modems but the baud rate must be set to 9600 Modem Settings 2MPro will automatically detect and use any modem which has been installed and configured for the Windows operating system Therefore it is generally not necessary for you to set the port and baud rate settings The phone number that is used to dial to the sign must be configured Enter the exact number needed to dial the modem at the sign If this is a long distance call it must include 1 and the area code If your phone system requires that a number first be dialed to access an outside line this must be entered as well 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 25 When you have completed entering the communications details click the OK button to save the settings This will bring you back to the New Sign Connection Box Changing the Active Sign The active sign is the one that will be transmitted to when you request to communicate with the sign If you have only one sign in your list this will always be your active sign If you have more than one sign in your list you can change the active sign by hiliting the sign in y
38. our list with the cursor and selecting the Active Sign button This will cause the telephone icon to appear next to your new active sign selection Saving your Connection Settings All of the settings you have entered for your signs needs to be saved before exiting the Sign Connections Box Click the Save button and this will be done automatically Selecting the Cancel button will take you out of the Connections Box without saving your changes Connecting to Your Sign s p Once you have created and saved your connection settings you can communicate with your sign To connect press the Connect to Sign icon on the Main Tool Bar Connection via Modem If you are connecting via telephone modem you will see a dialing status box while the modem dials the phone number for the sign and waits for a response You may also hear the modem as it dials out and connects to the sign If the connection to the sign is made you will see the Connection Status Box If the connection is not made an error condition box will appear with further information about the cause of the problem Possible modem connection problems include phone line busy no dial tone sign is not answering can t detect modem Connection via RS485 or RS232 With RS485 and RS232 connections you are directly connected to the sign via a cable Therefore a connection be established immediately after selecting the Connect to Sign icon If for some reason you cannot ocmmunicate w
39. rizontally and vertically The size and style of the text is determined by the font settings Setting the Font To change the font select the font button The font selection box will now appear All of the Windows fonts are available for use within your text frames Choose a font a font style and the size from this box and select the OK button when done The text in the document frame will change immediately to reflect the font change NOTE Most of the Windows fonts do not work well with smaller sign sizes 2MPro has also installed a group of fonts that provide a number of smaller fonts Multimedia fonts are available in the font list and begin with the letters MM eg MM6x10 MM4x5 Font Font Font style 5 arial Regular Arial Black F Arial MT Black Arial Marrow F Arial Narrow Special G F Arial Narrow Special G Arial Rounded MT Bola Script western This ig a TrueType font This same font will be used on both WOU printer and your screen 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 9 Text Colors m Colors can be added to a text frame for the actual text the frame background and a drop shadow To set these colors select the Toggle Palette icon on the main tool bar This will bring up the palette selection box The look of this box will vary according to the color type of your sign The palette box shown here is for a full color RGB display Colors are chosen by either clicking on a c
40. s manual we will be referring to menus tool bars and icons which appear on the main screen of 2MPro Below is a picture with a brief description of the major components of the user interface Main Tool Bar Main Menu h 2MPro Sign aac oie stage ate ta zabit ROS frame 3 of 20 asim 4 jej afm gt ajm GE al a x TR Document Window Document Frame ko cheyvy mme 64432 24bit 1 00 frame 3 of et je Frame List I Auto Elfects A WSlc aphics Elaps PalGraphics a craphics ealc aphics eal Graphics WalGraphics Walcraphics Walc aphics Sl Geachics Palette Box Property Sheet Palette Bar Property Sheet Text Elfects Field Speed i Pare coher i alow fasl 3 Graphic Tool Bar E Ried LEGE aE p p el a 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 7 2 Animation Editing In the introduction we mentioned that 2MPro is an animation editor a scheduler and a communications program We will first look at the animation editing tools To create a new animation document click on the New File icon or select New from the File Menu A new document window with no frames will be created Creating a New Animation A 2MPro animation consists of a series of frames There are three basic type of frames text graphic and inserted animations This section will describe the creatio
41. set a frame rate you must first select the frames you want to apply the new rate to This is done from the frame list window Click on the first frame you wish to apply the new rate to Now scroll down to the last frame to change press and hold the SHIFT key x down and select the last frame with the mouse This will hilite all Paes A tomers the frames in the list between the two you ve selected Now choose Frame from the main menu and select the Apply Frame HoldTime fom 3 Rate function Use the arrow keys in the hold time area to adjust the hold times You will see the frame rate change as well Adjust E this until you achieve the frame rate that is as close to the desired rate as possible Select OK when done This will apply the new hold time to all of the selected frames and in turn the animation will play back at the desired frame rate General Frame Functions Adding Moving and Deleting Frames So far we have described how to add and edit a single text frame As we mentioned most animations consist of a series of frames that can either be all text or can also use graphic frames Additional text frames can be added at any time by selecting the Insert Text button from the main tool bar Graphic frames are added in the same manner with the Insert Graphic button The frame list on the right side of the document will update as new frames are added New frames are always inserted into the frame list after the current fra
42. several minutes while the controller completes start up before attempting to re communicate using 2MPro 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 29 Appendix B Adjusting the RGB Palette RGB signs require a balanced color setting for each color red green and blue to create the best possible colors on the sign The default palette in the controller is ideal for most signs However we do provide you with the tools to adjust the color palette yourself PaletteGeneration exe is a utility that will allow you to adjust the RGB values and store them in a palette file plt 2MPro has a hidden command that allows you to download and store this file in the sign controller Using the Palette Generator Software i Palette Generation Palette Adjustment Lower Upper Linear Red Green Blue All of these controls are used together to create a palette that will make your RGB sign look as good as possible The next page has a technical description of how all of these functions work Typically you will want to leave the gamma at 2 4 Normally palette adjustments are made because the red green or blue value is not balanced With RGB on full brightness the sign should appear white If for example the sign appeared a little pink you would want to decrease the percentage of red The simplest method to accomplish this is to use the brightness percentage controls The blue and green values might be set for 100 and the red turn
43. tes of when each animation runs The scheduler is used to build a schedule file This file contains a list of animations along with the time date information Once the schedule file has been created and stored it can be sent to your sign for playing Delal e calm gt wells x To access the scheduler select the scheduler icon from the Main Tool Bar This will bring up the scheduler window ale Scheduler Window E TestSchedi mms 2MPro Sign Software Oj x File Edit View Schedule Help Delal e wl x a r Mum Mame From to Start Date End Date Excl Days Mem used Play Time Advertiser Status teg signature mme Always Always 55433 10s Ok tei videot mme Always Always 154961 10s Ok le effects mme Always Always 21766 10s Ok For Help press F1 This is the 2MPro scheduler window This is a popup window which means you can switch back and forth between this window and the main 2MPro window at any time The scheduler will automatically load the schedule file you were last working on Here you can see a file with three animations in the list When the schedule runs on the sign the animations are played from the top of the list However each schedule entry is first tested to see if it is scheduled to run at the current time and date If it is not the next entry is tested and so on When the last entry is reached the loop repeats from the top of the list again 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004
44. this to Compressed to allow you to fit more text on the frame The amount of compression that occurs is dependant on the font and font size you are using 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 10 Rich Text Rich text is a text type that allows you to combine various aB fonts and colors within a single frame Select a Rich Text frame by pressing the Rich Text type button Rich text is entered into a frame in the same method as Normal text by typing into the text editing box The text will appear with the current font and color settings Now you can change these settings for part of the text by clicking and dragging your cursor over the text to hilite it Changing the font settings or colors will now change only the text which is hilited This example shows a rich text frame that uses different colors and fonts on two lines of text Travel Text Travel is a text frame that allows you to display a long string of text with a single frame It does this by scrolling all the text across the sign from right to left Travel text frames are limited to a single line of text and therefore the text edit box will not allow you to enter multiple lines The frame view in your document window will display the text as left justified and will not display all of the text you have typed However when the animation is simulated or played on the sign your entire text string will scroll across the display NOTE There is a limitation to the amount of t
45. wish by selecting the Browse button and choosing a folder Select the Next button for the next two screens and the Finish button to complete the installation This will automatically copy the 2MPro software to your computer Starting 2MPro To start 2MPro select the Windows Start button and then hilite the Programs menu item The list of programs will include 2MPro Sign Software G ip A Programs d E piRRe Soc hes Microsoft Excel ry y Documents t FR Microsoft Word Fk Settings i Microsoft visual Studio 6 0 d E 7 ay InstallShield For Microsoft visual C 6 sE Search fa siinz Foundation Series 2 Li d 3 P Fea OrCAD Release 9 A CorelDRAW 9 m 2MFro Sign Software Shut Down This was automatically created for you during the installation Point to the 2MPro entry and select it This will bring up the main screen of the 2MPro software 2MPro Sign Software Version 2 13 3 18 2004 Page 5 Setting the New Animation Options The first time you launch the program you will get a setup screen like the one shown TISERE wian saa dad This screen allows you to set the matrix and DT E ies es SEF that are across the width of the sign available colors of the sign being programmed In order to set these fields a you must know the specifics of your signs p width a Note Ensure this is set correctly for your Height ee sign Animations created with the wrong N settings will not work with your sign Number of col
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search